Page 57 of The Closed Off Captain

“Oh, we don’t want to take your bedroom. We’re fine with a spare room, aren’t we?” I ask with a pointed look at Gunner. He doesn’t say a word before leaving me and disappearing down the hallway. I bite back a sigh of frustration. “Seriously, Mrs. Coftman, we really don’t want to take your room.”

She puts two hands over my one hand. “It’s Sheryl, Dear. And I want you to. Please.”

I give up on fighting with her and glance around the room a moment. “You have a beautiful home, Sheryl.”

She beams. “Thank you, Dear. Now, I know you’re being polite, but you don’t worry about that. You have to be so tired. I’ll show you where your room is.” She doesn’t leave me a chance to object, and I find myself following her reluctantly down the hallway. She stops outside the door, and I turn back to her. She surprises me by hugging me again. “Get some sleep, and we can get caught up over breakfast.” Her eyes twinkle when she pulls back.

I open the door and quickly slip inside, closing the door behind me. Gunner steps out of the bathroom. “Were you hiding in here?” I whisper loudly.

He smirks. “I was coming back out.”

I huff. “Sure, you were.” I march over to him. “When were you going to tell me that your mom is friends with your stalker’s mom? And why didn’t you tell me?”

His frown deepens. “It never came up.”

My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “You didn’t think to tell me that the woman claiming to carry your baby and threatening to destroy your name was close to your family?” I walk over to the bed and sit. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me any of this. This situation is so much worse than I thought.”

He unzips his bag and pulls out clothes on the other side of the bed. “No, it’s not.”

I stand up and face him. “Yes, it is.”

He calmly digs in his bag. “That’s part of the reason why I came here this weekend. I’m going to talk to her.”

“Jenny’s mom?” I whisper in a high voice.

“No. Jenny.”

“No, absolutely not.” I walk over to his side of the bed. “You cannot approach her.”

“I am.”

“Gunner Coftman! You can’t. The worst thing you could do is go talk to her.”

He turns towards me, and I nearly stumble back at the anger in his eyes. “She hurt you,” he says slowly. “I’m going to talk to her this weekend and set the record straight once and for all. She touches you again, and she will live to regret it.”

I swallow and tell myself not to react to his words. It has nothing to do with feelings. “You can’t threaten her.”

His eyes narrow. “Watch me.”

“No. If you threaten her, everything you’ve worked to achieve will be flushed down the toilet.” I stand tall. “I’m telling you as your PR agent that you can’t.”

“Don’t pull that on me,” he growls at me.

My anger rises, but I take a breath and keep my voice even. “If I get even a whiff that you are going to talk to her, I will go over your head, Coftman.”

He turns towards me and takes a single step. That step puts him close to me. “You can say whatever you want to say, Chloe. You can threaten me; threaten my position, whatever you want. It won’t change anything. I will talk to her, and I will tell her to stay away from you. And nothing you say will stop me.”

I stare up at him as anger flushes through me. “Well, then you can kiss your career goodbye.” I turn around, but he snags my wrist and turns me back to him.

“Don’t do that.” His voice is quiet. “Don’t get angry with me.”

I steel my emotions against his soft voice. “I won’t let you ruin your career over something stupid.”

He doesn’t move a muscle. “Protecting you isn’t stupid, and I would give up my career today if it meant keeping you safe.”

I gasp. “Gunner, you don’t mean that.”

His face softens, and his lips tip up on one side, making him look younger. His thumb comes up and grazes the side of my cheek. The touch is so soft and over in an instant; I almost wonder if I imagined it. “I’ve been wondering what it would take for you to call me by my name.”

---