Page 12 of Dearest Protector

This definitely wasn’t his part of town. Overall, Fort Myers was a decent place to live, but I resided in one of the pockets outside of the downtown that wasn’t exactly a desirable address. But I couldn’t afford to be picky when I needed an affordable rental.

“You left last night before I had another chance to talk to you,” he said, his expression displeased. “And you didn’t call me. I just spoke to Katie and she gave me your address. Should I assume you had no intention of following up with me?”

Well, yeah, that would probably be a safe assumption.

Did he honestly think I would call him after what had happened? And if so…why? We were essentially strangers.

I had to force myself to breathe.

God, for all of his obvious kindness, this guy was intense.

And large.

And…overpowering.

I felt like a tiny mouse trying to scurry away from a predatory big cat.

“I’ll figure it out,” I told him, trying to sound nonchalant. “I already knew that I needed to find a new job. Things with Leland were getting out of hand. I’ve been…looking.”

Okay, that was true. I’d put in close to a hundred job applications over the last several months, but there wasn’t a lot of positions available for prima ballerinas who were no longer able to dance.

Honestly, I’d actually been surprised when Leland had offered me a job as his assistant. My office skills were minimal, and I had no prior experience with clerical work at all.

He lifted a brow. “I did tell you that I’d find a job for you.”

“You did,” I conceded. “And I appreciate it, but you’re a very busy guy. I really don’t think you need to add finding me employment to your to-do list. It’s not like we’re friends. You hardly know me. And you already helped me out by intervening when Leland started to get grabby last night. I’m not sure I could have handled that myself without screaming at the top of my lungs for help.”

Ben glanced at the bruises on my wrist and frowned as he corrected, “He wasassaultingyou, Ariel, and you were his employee. You should have screamed for help. He was probably counting on the fact that you didn’t want to make a scene. No one ever has a right to treat someone who works for them that way. Who does that to a person who is dependent on them for their living? He took advantage because he knew you were vulnerable. He knew you needed that position. I’m here to make sure that never happens again. Can I come in so we can discuss this?”

The last thing I wanted was for Ben to see the small space I inhabited. My crappy, secondhand furniture and the rest of my sad furnishings were threadbare, but I opened the door to let him enter.

How could I not?

Hewastrying to help me, and he’d obviously gone way out of his way to accomplish that task.

I also needed time to convince the tenacious man that I didn’t expect him to do any more for me than he had already.

I released a long breath while I waited for him to enter.

Katie was right. Obviously, when Ben Blackwood made a promise, he took itveryseriously.

His statement about helping me had obviously been more than a casual comment, and for some damn reason, I couldn’t help but admire the fact that he was a man who seemed hell-bent on keeping his word.

In my experience, a promise was something easily broken most of the time.

My studio apartment was extremely compact, and having someone like Ben inside it seemed to suck all of the oxygen from the small space.

As I closed the door behind him, I realized just how odd it was to see Ben in my surroundings.

The two just didn’t mesh.

The sophisticated billionaire and the rundown apartment were so incongruent that I would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so utterly depressing.

I waved toward the sofa that was also my bed when it was folded out. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water?”

He shook his head and lowered his massive body onto the couch. “No, thanks.”

I sat on the other end of the sofa. No doubt my discomfort with the whole situation was written all over my face, but I couldn’t help it.

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