He swallowed hard, but didn’t pull away, his heart thumping frantically against mine.
Slowly, I lifted my head. “This isn’t pity, Adrik. This is friendship and understanding. It’s compassion and caring. It’s connecting with someone who is special to me. I’m hugging you because Iwantto.”
He inhaled sharply, his chest rising beneath me, then slowly falling. “I don’t…know what to make of you.”
The breath whooshed out of me in a soft chuckle. “Neither do I, most of the time.”
He laughed softly, his gaze filling with tenderness, the tension leaving his body. “You’re sweet, you know that?”
My heart warmed. “Okay. I’ll take sweet over weird any day.”
Adrik rose, helping me to my feet. But he didn’t set me back in my chair. It was as if he knew I needed to do it on my own.
Holding onto his arm, which was every bit as hard as it looked, I settled into my chair. “Thank you for letting me do that on my own.”
He jerked his head in a nod, sending me another hesitant smile. “We understand each other.”
Yes, we do.
Adrik’s guard was slowly coming down, and it was a miraculous thing to see.
I squeezed his hand again, smiling up at him. “Are we good?” While I was dying to know what had happened to him, I wouldn’t ask. I would let him tell me when he was good and ready. When he was comfortable with sharing his story with me.
“Yeah.”
A moment of silence stretched where we simply stared at each other.
“So,” I broke the silence. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, do you know anything about physical therapy?”
His dark, soulful gaze searched mine. “A little. Why?”
“I haven’t had PT since we left L.A. My left leg and foot are starting to cramp and my right leg and foot—which is my paralyzed side—need some exercises to keep the muscles from atrophying. I don’t have a physical therapist here, but I know the exercises. I just need someone to help me with them. Can you do that?”
He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Yes.”
Relief filled my chest. “Perfect. Let’s go to my room.”
I wheeled down the hallway toward my bedroom with Adrik trailing behind me. This time, he left his hoodie off, and when I glanced back and caught his gaze, warmth filled my chest.
He reddened, quickly lowering his head, but it only made my heart thump in a breathless excitement. Adrik Volkov was finally opening up to me. He’d finally shown me his face. I couldn’t wait to spend more time with him. Peel back the rest of his layers and get to know the man underneath it all. He truly was a special guy.
I wasn’t the girl who noticed men. Yet, I noticed Adrik Volkov, the scarred man with a kind soul. Somehow, he’d gotten under my skin.
The dark wolf.
I’d just invited him into my room. Innocently, of course.
But there was nothing innocent about the thoughts that filled my mind as we entered my room moments later.
A delicious tingle trickled down my spine. I’d thought about him constantly the past few days, and some of those forbidden thoughts had involved his large hands and lots of naked skin. Completely inappropriate.
Was I crushing on my bodyguard? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was I liked being with Adrik and I was willing to do just about anything to ensure he spent more time with me.
I waited for him to come all the way inside before I closed the door behind him.
Adrik stilled, his throat bobbing as he swallowed, his gaze darting to mine. I marveled at how dark his eyes were, yet also, how soft. If I’d been able to look into his eyes that first night, I would have seen his sincerity, and never would have believed—not even for a second—that he was my stalker.
There was no way the man who was staring at me now could have done anything like that.No way.He was as real as they came.