Page 68 of Run, Run Rudolph
I sighed, my sense of ethics and responsibility kicking in. “I should warn you that we’re likely in really big trouble with the magical world.”
“Okay.”
“And it’s scary, and I don’t know what will happen, but I think we broke some big rules.”
“We’re trying to help.”
“I know, but Hugo said our help could be construed in a bad way.”
“I see.”
He didn’t seem to be listening, even though his focus was on my mouth again.
“We could end up in their court, facing Mrs. Claus.”
His body stiffened ever so slightly, a sign that, as always, he had been listening and I hadn’t recognized it.
I swallowed hard. “What I’m getting at is… I think you should leave.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“I want you to be safe.”
His arms tightened around me again. “And I want you to be safe. That means there is no way I’m leaving, unless you specifically order me to.”
I wanted to roll up onto my toes and kiss him. Instead, I said, “You’re welcome to stay, but bad things could happen to you.”
I shuddered, my imagination automatically filling in all sorts of blanks for me. Blanks which were now filled with hungry ogres. I know, I know. Igor was vegan, but I just couldn’t get that beast out of my imagination. It had locked onto him, and would not let go.
Haden brushed a strand of hair off my cheek. “If bad things are going to happen, then let’s face them together.”
My heart wanted to believe that he meant as more than friends. But all that came to mind was his earlier comment to Kade that he was here because I was family. It was the same reason he wasn’t charging me for his services.
Yes, tonight had been peppered with kisses and sweet words that I wanted to believe. That, however, was lovely and new.
If I looked at the history of the man, it was obvious that he was a natural-born fixer. And there was a very high possibility that he was here tonight not to woo me, but because of some sense of familial obligation.
“Right,” I said firmly, reminding myself to keep my hopeful heart in check. “Family.” At his questioning glance, I realized I’d said family like it was a dirty word.
Chapter 20
~ Haden ~
Family. That word didn’t feel right coming out of Tamara’s mouth, or even in this context. Not when I had my arms around her, craving desperately to kiss her. Her lips were in a pouty frown, and I could sense their gravitational pull. I let out a shuddery breath and focused hard on her words and on what her expression was telling me.
It wasn’t good. I’d hurt her somewhere along the line tonight. She doubted me and my sincerity.
I kept catching hints of her recently reapplied lip gloss. Coconut. I wondered if kissing her would make my lips taste like coconut, too.
I needed to concentrate on her feelings, not her lips and the desire dragging my mind places it shouldn’t go. I couldn’t let this moment pass us by before I fixed it. We’d spent years avoiding each other, and I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
“Family,” I whispered, willing my brain to focus on the problem, to bring it into clarity so I could understand it, remedy it.
She was chewing on her bottom lip, and for an instant, I could read her again. She wanted me here. And not just for my medical skills. But there was something else I couldn’t quite reach.
She was hurt, but what had wounded her?
“I’m not family.” Tamara blinked hard, cheeks flushed. Her delicate, slender hands had been resting on my pecs, and she dropped them, stepping away from me. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking as if she didn’t want me touching her.
