“You know what I mean.” Sarah shot him a small smile. “They’re for going out to dinner, or to a wedding. They aren’t made to work in all day.”
They drove in a companionable silence for a while, Sarah rubbing each of her feet to get rid of the cramping.
Finally, she approached a subject that she knew he wasn’t going to like, but something they needed to discuss. “Dante?”
“Yeah?”
“You know that we can’t live like this forever. I need to start living a normal life again. Joe says that John might not surface until he sees me going about my normal routine.”
“Not happening,” Dante snarled. “I’m not leaving you vulnerable.”
“You can’t stay here forever. And I’ve lived most of my life isolated. I’m grateful that you’re protecting me, but I have to move on from this. If putting myself back into a normal routine will help flush John out, I’ll do it.”
Dante accelerated through the gate of the peninsula so hard that his tires burned rubber. He didn’t speak as he drove into his driveway and parked the truck. Sarah waited, as usual, in the truck while Dante checked out the surroundings. He jerked open the passenger door.
“Get out,” he ordered, unfastening her seat belt with one smooth motion of his hand.
“You’re not being rational,” Sarah told him calmly as she slid out of the seat. Honestly, he’d never levelheadedly discussed the possibility of her going about her normal life again to get John to come out of hiding, but she needed him to understand. “I can’t hide forever. I need to give him an opportunity to show himself if he’s going to.”
“You go to work every day,” Dante argued irritably.
“Yes . . . with an armed guard. No offense, but you’re pretty intimidating even if he doesn’t know you carry a weapon.”
Dante unlocked the door and let her in after he’d entered first to shut down the alarm system, closing the door with more force than necessary behind her.
“I’m not putting you at risk, Sarah,” he answered, giving her an angry stare that would have scared the bejesus out of most people.
Sarah wasn’t intimidated. She knew his facial expressions, and she’d seen every one of them, from playful to homicidal. She might not have him totally figured out, but she knew he’d never hurt her, no matter how angry he might be. “It’s my choice to make,” she informed him sedately, dropping her purse on the dining room table and heading up the stairs to take a shower.
Her heart was aching as she stripped off her work clothes and tossed them into the laundry basket in the guest bathroom. Sarah usually enjoyed using Dante’s fancy shower, but she stepped into the enormous tile enclosure distracted. Water hit her from both sides and above her head, the pulsating multiple jets relaxing her as she shampooed her hair.
He’s never going to agree. I’m going to have to make this choice on my own.
Showing herself in public again would have to be her decision, and after all Dante had done for her, making that decision when he was so adamantly against it was going to hurt him. That was the last thing she wanted to do. The way he cared about her safety and protected her touched her more than she wanted to admit. Nobody had ever looked out for her the way Dante did. Lately, she’d stopped trying to analyze why he did it, and why they had the connection that they had together. She just enjoyed being with him. Still, reality was reality. He wouldn’t be here in Amesport much longer—he was nearly healed—and she’d have to deal with making the decision of how to end her isolation herself.
She rinsed conditioner from her hair as she thought about how painful it was going to be to see him go back to Los Angeles, back to a job that had nearly gotten him killed. Everything inside her rebelled at the thought, and she understood how he felt about her being in danger. She feared the same with him.
Sarah squeaked, startled as Dante entered the shower, completely nude. Before she had a chance to form a single thought, he pinned her against the tile, crowding her with his massive, muscular body, her wrists held captive over her head. Desire flowed through her body like liquid fire as she looked up at his face. His expression was volatile and feral, like a hungry predator on the prowl. His fierceness beckoned to her like a mating call, her nipples hard, her pussy flooding with wet heat, and the rest of her body trembling with need.
“First of all, I’m not leaving until that asshole is either in jail or dead. Do you understand?” His voice was grating and harsh.
“How can you—”
“Don’t talk. Don’t even try to reason with me. I’m not in a rational mood. Just tell me you understand,” he demanded, his chest rising and falling with every labored breath.
Sarah could tell he was fighting for control, but she didn’t need him to hold back. She liked him like this: dominant and urgent. Although she really didn’t understand how he could keep his promise if the situation dragged on forever, she knew that he would.
She simply nodded, not knowing exactly how he planned to stay. However, she’d learned that when Dante made a vow, he meant it.
“Second, I don’t want to risk anything happening to you. When I lost Patrick, I wanted to be dead. Then you came along and brought me back to life again. You’re mine, Sarah. I think I knew that almost from the moment I saw you. I know you’re willing to take the risk of putting yourself out there, but don’t you know losing you would kill me?”
Tears started to flow down Sarah’s cheeks as she nodded again. The intensity of his emotions was flowing from him to her, waking the same response that had been inside her for a while now. She hadn’t acknowledged it because she was afraid of getting hurt, but she knew if she lost Dante, her entire world would go dark. Her defenses shattered as the tears flowed. She wasn’t thinking analytically. Dante treated her like a woman, and she was reacting with her heart. When it came to him, it was as though her brain totally disconnected and her heart took over her thinking for her.