I Just Need You - J. Nathan Page 0,60

into my life and made those things impossible.”

“Are you looking for an apology?” she asked.

I shook my head. “I just want you to know the truth. I know you like when I’m honest with you.”

“Will you be able to protect me if we…”

“Take this further?” I asked.

She nodded.

I dragged my teeth over my bottom lip, searching for the right answer—the honest answer. “I’d like to say yes. I’d like to tell you being important to me makes me protect you better. But honestly? I’m not sure.”

“Because I’m a distraction?”

“You deserve my undivided attention when we’re together. But, to protect you, your surroundings are what require my undivided attention. So, I’m not sure how to do both.”

The disappointment in her eyes nearly leveled me. I wasn’t trying to hurt her. But everything out of my mouth just kept doing that. “So, what does that mean?” she asked.

“It means we need to figure out how I can do both.”

A small smile tipped her lips.

And knowing she could still smile, after everything she’d just been through, told me she was it for me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Kresley

I woke up the next morning to Tristan’s arms wrapped around me and soft kisses to the back of my shoulder. I kept my eyes closed, enjoying the fact that Tristan wasn’t bolting out of my room this time. Instead, he was showing me how he felt about being with me.

“I know you’re awake,” he said, his voice all raspy and sexy.

“I didn’t want you to stop what you were doing.”

He didn’t, only moving his lips to the nape of my neck and kissing me there.

“I could get used to waking up like this,” I said.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m okay. I slept.”

“You were up a lot,” he countered.

“But as soon as I felt your arms, I knew I was safe and fell back to sleep.”

He tightened his arms around me, and it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

“Did you sleep?” I asked.

“I don’t sleep much,” he admitted.

“By choice?”

His lips stopped moving. “Not really.”

“The nightmare?” I said.

“We’re going right for the deep stuff, huh?” he said.

“I want to know you, Tristan. Not just what you decide I get to know. What I deserve to know because I care about you. I know it’s why you tried to push me away before. I don’t care that you have nightmares. That doesn’t make you weak. I just want to know what I can do to help you.”

He remained quiet, and I wondered if I’d pushed him too far.

I spun around in his arms and looked him in his eyes. They were so tired, and I knew he hadn’t slept at all. “Did you hear me, Tristan? I want to help you because I care about you.”

“I heard you.”

“So?”

“I care about you too,” he said.

I smiled, and despite the previous day, it felt good to smile at him. “I wasn’t looking for affirmation.” I lifted a hand and cupped his cheek, the day-old stubble bristly beneath my hand. “I was looking for you to tell me the truth about your dreams.”

“You’re not gonna let this go, huh?”

I shook my head.

He avoided my eyes, and I could sense he was weighing his options. Tell me and he’d be vulnerable. Don’t tell me and I’d be hurt. “I grew up rich.”

My mouth parted, but I closed it quickly because I wanted him to keep talking.

“My parents owned a tech company that made a necessary part for the bigger companies.”

I stayed quiet, needing to hear where his story was going.

“We lived in a gated community. You’d think security would be tight, but not that day.” A far-off look clouded his eyes, as if seeing the day play out in his mind’s eye. “I was nine and some men broke into our house. They must’ve thought my parents were at this big tech convention since all the big wigs were in town for it. But my mom had been feeling sick that day. I remember her asking my dad if she could stay home. He hated to go anywhere without her, so he said he’d stay home too. She didn’t want that, but he insisted, saying he hated all those tech geeks.” A soft chuckle slipped past Tristan’s lips. “She responded by telling him he was the biggest tech geek out there.”

I forced a smile that didn’t reach my eyes, fearing what he was about to tell me.

“The men showed up in broad daylight. We didn’t have the security that’s available today, so they