Page 112 of Unexpected Heroine

My eyelids flutter shut as I search for the words to explain what I don’t even understand myself. “Apparently, he was hiding details about his profession because he was fearful that I would...” The words trail off since I don’t know what he was afraid of, so I divert my focus to what I do know to be true. “He works for a security company with other former military special ops people. They have some type of relationship with the police. He knew the detectives who came here quite well.” I wave toward the door. “Perhaps that’s why he kept it confidential. I don’t know yet. In light of all that happened to me, we decided to set it aside for the time being.”

“You mean he decided,” Stella incorrectly surmises.

I raise my pointer finger in objection. “No. He was ready to tell me everything, but I stopped him. And when we spoke about it, it was obvious that hiding everything has been hurting him. Although I don’t know all the reasoning, I believe he had good intentions.”

Pausing, I rub my palms along my thighs, enjoying the buttery soft feel of my leggings. “With all that I’ve gone through, I’m not emotionally able to deal with relationship revelations. I need him. He’s been here for me with every breath. Every heartbeat. For now, I’m okay knowing that his job is not what I thought it was. But it doesn’t change how he feels about me. That’s what matters most. Sure, he might be more dangerous than I thought, but he’s not a bad guy. If he didn’t have those mystery skills, I’d probably be...” My throat thickens, and the words get stuck, but I push them out. “I’d be stuck in that house still. Fifteen other girls would be too. So if he happens to be running around like Batman or Hellboy or whoever you said, then so be it. He wants to help the cops catch the bad guys. It seems he has the skills to do it. I’m not gonna stop him.”

Stella scoots closer and wraps her arm around me. “Shit, baby. This is why I didn’t want to talk about it. Now you’re upset. I was out of line. It isn’t my place to question your relationship with him. I’m so sorry, Lettie bear.”

Freya runs her hand over my forearm and clasps my hand in a silent show of support.

“No, it’s fine.” I sniffle. “Honestly, I’m glad you asked because now the stupid elephant can get the hell out. I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna share my waffles with it.”

On my right, Freya offers a charity chuckle at my sub-par joke. Stella just groans since she’s never one to let me off the hook. Not even with my current train wreck status.

I nudge her shoulder with mine. “I love you both. Thanks for being here to support me through this.”

“Absolutely, Lettie.” Freya squeezes my hand once more before releasing it. “And for what it’s worth, I’m glad he’s a badass. He saved you. It’s just like you said... imagine if he’d just been Joe Computer Geek and not Liam Hemsworth.”

“Neeson,” Stella corrects.

“Whatever. One of the Liams,” Freya huffs and sticks out her tongue at Stella.

“Keep sticking that thing out, and Ima do something with it,” my bestie warns, a flirty glint in her eye.

A giggle dances up my chest and out my mouth.

I knew it.

Stella releases her hold on me to throw back the rest of her wine. “It’s always the quiet ones.”

“Truth,” Freya tosses.

“Huh?” I look from one to the other, my head on a swivel. “What’s always the quiet ones?”

Stella’s lip quirks. “The quieter the man, the more secrets. And the kinkier.”

Freya raises her glass. “There it is. I know that’s right, girl.”

I cross my arms and huff. “Oh for heaven’s sake. Stop it. He’s not that kinky.”

Stella makes a half-ass attempt to hold back her snort. “Sure, Lettie. Whatever you say, snookums.”

Glancing at Freya, I ask, “Do you agree with her?”

She doesn’t have time to answer before Stella jumps back in. “Lettie, didn’t you tell me he was willing to wear a strap-on so he could fuck your ass and your vagina at the same time? That’s pretty kinky.”

“I told you that in confidence,” I whisper-shriek, my cheeks instantly warming.

With her mouth hovering over her wineglass, Freya’s giggle turns into a hiccup. “Oh please, Lettie. That doesn’t surprise me one bit. He’s a dungeon master at Bask, for fuck’s sake. Plus, you aren’t exactly quiet when he comes over. Of course I think he’s kinky. But you are too. So it’s kind of perfect.”

My shyness is quickly replaced with something resembling... pride? No, that can’t be right.

“You think I’m kinky?” I ask her.

She sets down her glass to count off on her fingers. “Shall we review a list of the things you’ve shared with me over the last few months?”

I start to say no, but she’s already launching into her list.

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