People don’t change.He was the same man, deep down, as the one who had done things that chilled him now.
He tried to turn his face away, but Kat wouldn’t relent. She brushed her lips to his. “People don’t change, so I know that the person you were back then is the same one who is sitting here now. I’m not afraid of you now—I know you’ve got a good heart—so I know that whatever you did before, you weren’t the monster you seem to think you were.”
Dean blinked slowly, her words unexpected. He’d thought she’d write him off, that she’d think this was a horrible idea, that she’d realize how dangerous he could be.
Instead…she’d completely accepted him…
He had no idea what to do with that, with the way she hadn’t condemned him.
“That’s why you hold back, isn’t it? Why you don’t play with the same women more than once or twice, why you’re always going from one to another, why you’re careful to keep things very casual.”
He nodded, the answer pulled from him by the softness of her voice and sweetness of her lips. “I feel like if I go too far, if I give in, that other part of me wins. I can’t risk that. What if I’m really as bad as I think I am? What if I really hurt someone?” He paused, then sighed. “What if I hurtyou?”
Kat’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile. “You worry too much, you know that?”
“You don’t worry enough. That evens us out.”
“Who would have pegged you as the responsible one? I figured that was more Bradley’s forte.”
Even with her joke, Dean couldn’t bring himself to laugh. “If I ever really hurt you…”
“You won’t.”
“But this thing inside me—”
She silenced him with a kiss, one more aggressive than the last, as if to try to get him to focus and get out of his own head. When she pulled away, her breath warmed his lips. “You’re just you. I’m not afraid of you, Dean, not any part of you.”
He stared at her, her eyes so damned honest that they were nearly as scary as whatever was inside him. Still, he forced himself to speak. “You never had the good sense to be afraid.”
“You should take that as a win, then, and stop worrying.”
He wanted to argue it farther, but it became clear Kat wasn’t interested in hearing it. No matter what he wanted to say, how much he wanted to warn her, Kat didn’t seem to believe him.
It meant that even as he gave in, even as he pushed aside his worries, they didn’t go away entirely.
He slid a hand behind her neck and pulled Kat in, ending their conversation with a kiss and headed for more.
He’d do whatever it took to keep her safe…and that included from himself.