Leaning back, she stared up at him with those big hazel eyes. “And who will protect you?”
“That’s not something you need to take on your shoulders,” he told her.
“But it is. Because if something happens to you, it will be my fault. And I’ll never forgive myself.”
He cupped the side of her face. “Nothing is going to happen to me. I live on a ranch with the best security in the state. Every man on the ranch will watch out for and protect you. You wouldn’t be safer anywhere else.”
“He’s right, Marisol,” Ed told her, standing. “You need to go home with Linc and stay with him. Sanctuary Ranch really is the safest place for you right now. I’ll get Steven to take those photos of your neck so I can get out there. Excuse me.” He left the room.
Linc stood and reached out his hand. “Come home with me, Marisol. Let me take care of you.”
“Why would you want to? My life is such a mess. Shouldn’t you want to see the back of me?” she whispered forlornly.
“I want to because I care about you. Yeah, we’ve got some stuff to talk about, to work through. But I’m not going to just let you walk away. I can take care of you. All you need to do is trust me.”
To his relief, he felt her little hand slide into his.
Thank. Fuck.
15
Her hand was firmly engulfed in his. As though he was worried she might run unless she was tethered to him.
That was probably a valid concern. She was still concerned about putting him in danger. Tiger had made his claim on her. And while she had no intentions of ever being with that asshole, she knew that he didn’t care about her thoughts on the matter.
She also had a feeling that Tiger wasn’t used to women kneeing him in the balls and running from him. She shivered.
No, she was pretty sure none of this ended well for her.
Linc led her outside after Steven had taken the photos of her neck. She shivered slightly, even with his jacket still wrapped around her. Silently, he led her to his truck. He opened the door. He already had her backpack in his other hand, he’d refused to let her carry it herself.
“I think you need to start carrying a stepladder around,” she grumbled.
He placed the backpack down in the truck then wrapped his hands around her waist. “You don’t need a stepladder when you have me.”
Aww, that was sweet.
He set her down on the seat then reached across her to do up her seatbelt.
“Well, what if you’re not around? How will I get in?”
“If I’m not around why would you be trying to get into my truck?” He closed her door and walked around to the driver’s side. Climbing in, he started the truck, turning on the heater and aiming it her way.
“What if I had to drive it somewhere? Then I’d need some way of getting in it, wouldn’t I?” She wasn’t sure why she was so focused on his truck. Maybe because it was taking her mind off the mess her life was in.
“Teeny, you aren’t ever going to drive my truck.”
She crossed her arms over her chest with a pout. “Why? Because I’m a girl?”
“No,” he replied calmly. “Because you’re not even five feet tall. You can’t see over the dashboard. You probably couldn’t even reach the pedals.”
Okay, those were valid reasons, but she wasn’t giving in.
“I’m sure I can drive this just fine.” No. She wasn’t.
“Uh-huh, sure you can. Tell you what, tomorrow you can sit in the driver’s seat. If you can see over the dashboard and reach the pedals then if there is ever a time that you need to drive my truck, you can.”
“All right then.”