Page 7 of Hard To Stay

Her head snapped towards mine in surprise. The way she stared at me had me feeling nervous and uncomfortable, and I never got nervous. That should have been my first warning. “You would do that for me?”

“Absolutely!” I swallowed, trying to mask the way my body was reacting to her.

Abby leaned in, grabbing both of her shoulders. “See, I told you he was a great guy!”

Abby’s eyes flickered to mine; the affection was obvious. A big part of me wished I could feel more than friendship for her but I just couldn’t seem to get there. I wished I could say the same about the lovely southern belle standing in front of me.

“Well, I think I should get going now,” Lexi sighed, picking her purse up off the floor. “Thank you both for all your help tonight.”

Why did the thought of this girl walking away bother me so much? I wasn’t ready for our time to come to an end just yet and I started to think of any excuse to spend a little more time together.

“You know what, I was about ready to call it a night, anyway. I’d like to make sure you get home safely.”

Both sets of eyes darted towards mine. “Thank you, but I think you have already done enough tonight.” She said, fastening the strap of her purse along her shoulder.

“I insist.” There was no way she was walking out of here alone. I had no idea where Colton, the asshole, went after we chased him out of the building and I wasn’t taking any chances. While feeling the need to protect her was new to me, it felt almost instinctive.

She still looked unsure. I didn’t want to scare her, but I wanted her to be prepared. “Lexi, you know your ex better than I do. But I know his type well. He wasn’t happy when he left. I would feel a lot better knowing that you made it home safe and sound. Tomorrow, I also think you and I should discuss getting an order of protection against him.”

She looked like she was about to give me a dozen reasons on why that wasn’t going to happen when to my surprise, she nodded slowly and said. “Okay.”

I had been involved in too many domestic situations over the years to naively think we had seen the last of Colton Hunt. I knew from experience that things were likely to get worse—a whole lot worse—before they started to get better.

---