Dare to Hold by Carly Phillips Read Free Book Online

she’d obviously been sitting with her open laptop and notepad. He sat down, pulled her onto his lap, and she immediately curled into him, seeking comfort he was only too happy to give.
    “It’ll be fine,” he assured her, wrapping his arms around her smaller frame. She felt so delicate, so perfect in his arms.
    “I hope so.” She curled her fingers into his shirt and rested her head against his chest with a small quivering sigh.
    “I won’t let him hurt you.” He stroked the back of her hair, inhaling the fragrant scent of her shampoo. Memories of sliding into her wet heat hit him without warning, and his body responded.
    He swallowed a curse, reminding himself she sought reassurance, not sex, but his stiff cock wasn’t listening. It didn’t help when she wriggled deeper into him, her face tucked against his neck, her breath hot on his skin.
    He needed to think with his head. The one with common sense that knew she was frightened. “Hey.” He brushed her hair out of her face. “You’re safe now.”
    “I know. I just feel so stupid, thinking a piece of paper would keep him away. And I don’t know what to do now.”
    “Well, first thing, let’s get this visit documented by the police. You want everything on record.” In case something else happened, which Scott wouldn’t say to her out loud. For one thing, he didn’t want to frighten her further. And for another, he wouldn’t let that bastard near her.
    She eased back to meet his gaze. “I can’t prove Mike was here.”
    “I’ll talk to your neighbors. See if anyone heard him yelling or recognized his voice. Okay?”
    She remained silent, not looking at him. Clearly he wasn’t helping. “What’s wrong?”
    “Everything.” She pushed off him, sliding into her own space on the sofa.
    He immediately missed the warmth and heat of her body, but she obviously needed distance. “Tell me.”
    She blinked her thick lashes. “I promised myself I’d stand on my own, and at the first sign of a crisis, I curled up in your lap and let you take over. How’s that for falling back into old patterns?” she said, frustration and annoyance in her tone.
    “Listen to me.” Needing to touch her, to maintain the contact they’d been sharing, he placed a hand beneath her chin and tilted her head.
    She met his gaze with wide brown eyes, and he was struck with a connection, a sense of knowing he’d felt from the first time they’d met. This woman tied him up in knots, made him want to fix things so he could see her smile and light up just for him.
    Shit. He shook his head, not understanding how the hell he’d gone from never again to invested so quickly.
    “What is it?” she asked, breaking into his too-serious thoughts.
    He swallowed hard. Forced himself to concentrate on the thread of their conversation and not his emotions. “There is a huge difference between accepting help from a friend who is experienced in these things and falling back into bad patterns,” he explained.
    “Do you trust me?” he asked.
    She nodded slowly. “I realize I barely know you, my judgment sucks, but that said, yes, I do.”
    The notion was humbling. “Good. So go make yourself a cup of tea or get some water. I’ll talk to the neighbors and be right back.”
    “I wish I could do something useful,” she muttered, but she rose and walked into the kitchen.
    He couldn’t tear his gaze from the sexy sway of her hips or the way her hair swung against her back. He bit the inside of his cheek and spent the next few minutes getting his dick to calm down so he could to talk to her neighbors.
    His canvass of the two next-door apartments yielded only one result, but at least it was a good one. A middle-aged woman had heard the whole thing. And, she informed Scott, she was the same person who’d found Meg’s phone and called her friend after Meg had ended up in the hospital because of her ex the last time. Scott told her the police would be by to interview her and returned to