Page 32 of Jasper

Jasper nodded. He knew this already. “You’ve been jumping out of your skin since I met you. It’s how I knew something was wrong. You don’t trust me yet, but I’m going to prove to you that you can.”

“Can I ask a question and you not get mad?”

The timid way she asked made him wary, but he nodded.

“You said you came here to figure out how you failed to keep someone safe twice. Are you sure you’re up to this?”

That cut. Deep. But it was a valid question on her part. One he should have expected. It stung, though.

“I did fail, and Iamhere to figure out why. And you have every right to be worried about my frame of mind. That said, I’m still a trained Marine with instincts to match. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

Considering everything he’d blabbed to her, it was no wonder she doubted him. He’d told her too much, and that was unusual in and of itself, but he knew she’d been in trouble. Telling her about his own problems seemed like a way to entice her to tell him all about hers.

Only it backfired.

Now she had every reason in the worldnotto trust him.

“We’ll see.”

“Yes, we will. The offer to give me a hand still open?”

“Sure.” Her arms left their defensive position, and she walked over. “What did you get?”

“Stuff to set up a makeshift security system until the one I ordered can get here.”

“Security system?” She reached in and grabbed two of the boxes.

“Yeah, Jay needed one anyway. It’ll give me eyes where I need them, like in the barn.”

“Why would you need cameras in a barn?”

She scrunched up her nose, and he found himself wanting to lean over and give said nose a quick kiss. It was adorable. He almost did before he caught himself.

Damn Jarrod and his stupid nonsense last night.

“It’s a perfect hiding spot,” he explained as he gathered up several more boxes. “If I were going to launch an attack, it’d be a key spot for defense. You can see the house from there, and you’re hidden from sight. With concealed cameras, I can monitor both entrances to the barn and won’t be caught unaware.”

“That’s…I never even considered…”

He reached out and took her hand, and he felt how badly it was shaking. “It’s okay, Sloane. You don’t have to worry. I’m here, and it’ll be fine.”

“They probably aren’t even looking for me.” She took a breath and attempted a smile. He didn’t point out she failed miserably. “You’re right. Things will be fine.”

She didn’t need to know he had feelers out to his contacts in Miami to see if anyone was looking for her. It would only frighten her more, and until he heard for sure, there was no point in upsetting her.

“I’m always right, sweetheart.” He winked and tugged her along with him to the house.

“Is your sense of self-delusion always this big?”

“You call it self-delusion. I call it confidence.”

She snorted, and he found himself smiling. Making her laugh filled him with a peace he hadn’t felt in a really long time.

He only hoped he didn’t fail her like he had Angel.

Jasper groaned and rolled out of bed. The clock blinked a horrendous 5:00 a.m., mocking him. One thing he’d purposefully forgotten about farm life was the time of day one had to get up. Animals needed to be tended to, especially in the winter. They waited on no man. He yawned and got up, pulling on jeans and a hoodie before going downstairs to start a pot of coffee.

It had been a week since he installed the security system, and he was still waiting on the good one. If he’d used his KSI credentials, it probably would have been here the day after he ordered it, but he was hiding from them as much as Sloane was hiding from her cartel mobsters. What he had up was sufficient, but he’d feel better when the bigger system came.

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