Page 99 of Unexpected Heroine

My inner delulu has made herself at home in our new apartment on Denial Street in the heart of Avoidanceville, population me.

Stella would murder me where I sit for letting Tomer slide the way I have. I can practically hear her now. Don’t make me jerk a knot in your tail, Lettie. You’re worth more than secrets and lies.

The thing is, I don’t disagree. Except she doesn’t get him the way I do.

Even with the recent revelations, I still know him.

His soul.

His pain.

And his tender heart.

He didn’t mean to hurt me. Intentions matter.

Kri tucks a pillow behind me and darts off again. A few seconds later, she joins me on the couch, handing me another glass of water and two ibuprofen.

I throw the pills back and wash them down. “Thank you for looking after me. Didn’t know bodyguards worried about medication schedules.”

She rolls her eyes. “No prob. I was given explicit instructions regarding your care.”

I lean close to her and whisper so the others don’t hear me. “Tomer’s always been protective. He’s extra worried about me lately. Don’t hold it against him.”

Her forehead wrinkles as her eyes widen. “I was there the other night and know you called him by another name. Tonight, when he briefed us, he said to refer to him as James in front of your company and gave no reasoning as to why. I assumed you didn’t know his real name.”

“I figured it out the other night. But they don’t know.” Keeping my volume low, I discreetly point my glass at my friends. “I’m not in a place emotionally where I can get into all that with them. Or with him, for that matter. I imagine they’d be furious on my behalf. Probably pressure me to leave him. I can’t do that; he’s the only thing keeping me sane.” I sigh, the exhaustion seeping into my bones. “It’s pathetic. I know. And now I’m oversharing. Sorry about that too.”

She refrains from commenting directly about my embarrassing rant. “How long have you guys been an item?”

“A year.”

She chokes on her water. Lot of that going around lately.

I tap her on the back. “You all right?”

Gulping air, she waves her open palm to call me off. “Fine.” Another cough. “Went down the wrong pipe.”

Out of nowhere, Stella springs to her feet and does a victory dance, complete with some type of Irish jig. Freya squeals in frustration and slams down her cards. Well, I tried to warn her that Stella’s a cheater.

“Potty break,” Stella announces, then scurries down the hall.

A pang of jealousy hits me in the gut. Imagine being able to just get up and go wherever you want without needing an escort. As normal as I’ve felt tonight, I’m still miles away from being in a room by myself without panicking.

As I swirl the water around my glass, it dawns on me that Kri has kept it full all evening. “My hydration is important to you, huh?”

She lets her face fall into her palms. “Oh my gosh. I’m sorry. You don’t have to drink that if you don’t want to.” She chuckles to herself. “Apparently, my boyfriend has conditioned me to care for people via beverage service.”

“Mind cluing me in?”

“It’s silly, really.” She fails to stave off a cheesy grin. “I was badly injured on the job a couple of months ago. After I got out of the hospital, Shep brought me to his house to help me recover. And he was compulsively bringing me water.”

That grin she was fighting returns, heading straight for sappy territory. No one smiles that way about a guy handing them water unless they’re in love.

“So he’s super into hydration. And you’re super into him, judging by the dopey look on your face,” I surmise.

“He read that drinking lots of water helps with brain elasticity, which is where I was injured in the attack.” She points to the back of her head, highlighting a scar partially hidden by her hairstyle.

My pulse accelerates. Was the comment she made about her right hand referring to her brain injury? What happened to her?

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