Page 83 of Protect Me
“Of me?”
I paused, but not because it was true. I didn’t know how to avoid saying what had to come next. If Vikram knew the depths of my admiration for him, he’d run a thousand miles away.
With the silence, Vik’s concern deepened. He stepped back, giving me space.
“Kate, you—“
“I’m not afraid of you, Vik,” I hurried to say. “At least not like that. I know you’ll never hurt me. I know I’m physically safe with you.”
A storm appeared in his gaze. “Physically. But not in other ways?”
Helpless, I floundered. My shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Vik, you could break my heart.” My gaze dropped. Words cluttered my throat, thickening it. “After our kiss, I think it’s pretty obvious that I care for you. Kissing always meant something different to you than it did to me. I don’t want to go down this road if . . . if there’s not something you feel as well.”
Vik paused.
I closed my eyes, in agony. The courage it required to draw from my heart was a shallow spring.
Why so much silence?
Why didn’t hesaysomething?
Holy coconuts, but I’d laid myself out. Bare. Flayed open like bleeding love. All he had to do was look in my eyes to see the brimming adoration, the years of layered affection. He had to meet me halfway. He had todoorsaysomething.
The clock ticked.
A car sped by outside.
When I gathered my courage to look up, Vik peered at me with a quizzical expression on his face. Bemusement. Terror. I couldn’t tell the rotating emotions apart.
“Vik?” I murmured.
He shuffled closer. My head tilted back, breath caught, a second before his hand cupped my jaw and his lips found mine. He trapped me in a kiss that stole lifeblood. My spirit sparked. Soul sang. His other arm wrapped my back, fisted my shirt, and closed the gap between us.
I melted, held by his firm grip.
When he pulled away, blood raced past my ears. I stared at him, dazed. He studied me, cloudy with passion. The next words almost choked him. Only the pain in his gaze softened how difficult it was for him to say, “I care about you, too, Kate.”
I reached up, touched his face. Though hardly a declaration of love or intent, I recognized the gesture for what it was—an attempt.
Vik tried.
He closed his eyes and leaned into my palm. Something happened between us. A click. A gentle shove forward. I sensed a slow crumbling inside him. A landslide not quiteready to break yet. Brave uncertainty compelled him forward in a way he had never done before. He moved slower than I might have liked, but this time Vikmoved.
Progress.
I leaned against him, head to his chest. He held me there, heart pounding, until all the unease sluffed away.
“Give me time?” he pleaded.
My eyes closed. “Always,” I whispered.
ChapterTwenty
VIKRAM
Not even fishing with Kate put me in a better mood.
The soothing tug of the line in my hands. Quietblipsof water in the lake. All of it moved past a serene backdrop that normally fed my soul. This time, I glowered in the canoe like a dark thunderstorm, a black hole of annoyance in the middle of a wild landscape.
