Protecting My Hart (Protectors Series Book 1) (17 page)

Holy shit. My family. Where did that thought come from?
I like it. I really do, and that brings peace to my mind and a smile to my face.

“Momma, I put all my toys away. Can we go to the park now?” Ethan asks when I walk into his room. I put the folded clothes in the dresser that Slyde already had in here. I take note of the bins and drawers that Ethan and Slyde brought in from the garage and set up for his toys.

“You did a good job, sweetie. Yes, I think we can go to the park. Put a jacket on for me it’s getting a little cold outside.”

“OK, can I bring a toy?”

“You can bring one toy if you promise to take care of it.”

“I will. I promise. Thank you, momma.”

“Sure thing, sweetie. Let me put these clothes away and see if Slyde wants to come with us.”

“M’kay Momma,” Ethan calls out as I leave. I drop the basket in Slyde’s room and go to find him. I know that the guys are here, and I don’t really want to bother them, but I also know that if I don’t tell him where we are going, he’s gonna be upset.

“Did you figure out what name she’s been using?” Kash asks

“No. I haven’t asked her, but it honestly doesn’t matter now that she’s here.”

“Look, Slyde, I know you are happy she’s here and we are going to do what we can to protect her, but we need her last name so I can set up a tap on her. That way we’ll know if someone checks her out, or is tryin’ to find her,” Mack urges.

“OK. I see your point. I’ll ask her. Just give me some time. She’s been through so much, and I’m trying not to overwhelm her.”

“Just don’t take too long. Time is not a luxury we have especially since you want to end this before we had planned.”

“Yeah well, you know my reasoning behind that.”

I leave my spot in the hallway and head back to Slyde’s room. I probably should not have overheard that conversation. Slyde was smart enough to catch Ethan’s slip about my last name, and it makes sense that he would need to know, I’m just not sure how well it’s going to go over.

I’ve left his clothes on the bed since I’m not sure where they go. Mine are folded, and I’m laying them back in my suitcase in the corner. Standing up, I turn toward the door to take the basket back to the laundry room and jump in surprise when I see Slyde in the doorway watching me.

“Jeeze, you scared me. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“What are you doing?”

“Um, putting my clothes away. I just finished another load; your stuff is on the bed.”

“Why are you putting your clothes back in the suitcase?”

“Um,” is all I can say because I don’t really understand his question. My clothes are in the suitcase because that’s where they belong, and to be honest, as much as I love sleeping in here with him, I’m not sure he’s going to want me to continue. I mean, the first night we slept together I woke up from a nightmare, then when we got here, I kind of asked to be here and last night I was crying again and he comforted me. It’s not like we have gone to bed normally together. Yeah, OK, so he’s told me to make myself at home, and he’s told me he loves me, but honestly, I don’t want to get my hopes up for something that’s not really there.

“Hart, why are your clothes back in the suitcase?”

“Because that’s where they belong?” I state question-like and his face grows firm.

“You’re supposed to be unpacking, not putting your stuff back in boxes and suitcases.”

“It’s fine. Really.”

“No, Hart, it’s not. Unpack your clothes and put them away in the dresser and closet.”

“Slyde, your stuff is in the dresser, and I’m not going to take your stuff out to put mine in there. That’s rude. Besides, I’m not even sure you want me sleeping in here so I figured…” I stop mid-sentence, and I do this because Slyde is no longer standing at the door. He has now walked over to his beautiful, long, nine-drawer dresser. He opens all three top, small drawers and removes his belts from one drawer and then combines his socks and boxers into the one drawer leaving two empty. He then opens the three, middle, larger drawers and pulls out the contents, and then puts some of his clothes into the bottom three drawers. The rest he places on top of the dresser.

He spins to look at me. “Now you don’t have to be rude.” His gaze never leaves mine as he walks to me, an arm snaking around my waist, his hand cupping my face. “Put your clothes away in the dresser, and if you need more space, move my shit, I don’t care. We can go shopping for a new dresser for you in a few days if you want. As for wanting you in my bed, that’s a huge fuckin’ yes. I want you in my bed in my arms every night. On the nights that I don’t make it back here, I want to know that you are still in my bed, understand?”

“I understand. I just feel like I’m overstepping.”

“You’re not, Hart. Listen, I’m trying not to overwhelm you here, but I don’t want this to be a temporary situation, you feel me?”

“Slyde.” I let out on a breath. I don’t know what to say. Hope continues to build stronger inside me, and I let it, for the simple fact that I need something good to believe in right now.

“Momma? I got my jacket on and my toy. Are we going to the park?” Ethan’s voice comes from the door.

“Yeah, sweetie.” I turn my head slightly and smile at him then my eyes come back and meet Slyde’s. “I was going to see if you wanted to join us at the park.”

“Sounds good to me.” He smiles and leaves a soft kiss on my lips. Even with the kiss being soft, it still sends shocks through my body. Being so close to him still causes my entire being to react, and it’s not something I can ignore any longer. The attraction to this man is still strong, if not stronger than it was. “Tesoro, when we get back, you finish unpacking, and that includes putting your clothes away and putting up your pictures. Understand?”

“Yes,” I whisper and nod so that he knows I heard him. I’m rewarded with his huge heart-stopping smile.

We spent a couple hours at the park, and I like that one is so close. Ethan loves playing outside, and I enjoy spending as much time with him playing as we can. He’s growing up so fast, so I want to cherish every minute I have with him. He seriously is my reason for living; I never thought it was possible to love someone so much. There isn’t anything in this world that I would not do for him. I want so much for him to be happy and have a good childhood and despite what has been happening, he seems to do OK with it all. I have noticed that he is much calmer and at ease since being here and around Slyde and that is something that I can’t ignore.

When we got back to the house, Ethan and Slyde did some work out in the back yard. I finished the laundry and yes, I put my clothes away in the dresser and closet. I also took it upon myself to consolidate Slyde’s dresser drawers and hang the rest of his clothes in the closet. After that, I made dinner. I enjoyed cooking again tonight. We cleaned up, and I gave Ethan a bath and we both put him to bed. I could get use to this kind of thing every night.

Slyde is in his office doing whatever it is he is doing, and I’m going through my boxes. He told me to unpack my pictures and things as well, so I am. I place a picture of Ethan and myself on the dresser, along with a small box that holds the few pairs of earrings I have. I have another picture of Ethan that I take out into the living room and place it on the mantel over the fireplace. Yes, Slyde’s house has a fire place.

His house is actually a ranch-style with an open floor plan. When you come into his front door there is a small hallway before you arrive in the kitchen. To the right is the dining room, through the kitchen and dining room is the wide open living room, and Slyde’s office is off to the side of that. Just next to his office is the doorway that leads to the basement, which he said is mostly storage, but does have a small work-out area. Then you walk through the living room and down the hall, the first door on the left is the laundry room, which is spacious—it has a basin sink and cabinets for storage and a small broom closet. The next door, again, is on the left and it’s a large bathroom. Across from that is the linen closet and right next to that is the door to Ethan’s room, and there is another spare bedroom next to that. It has a single bed in it and that’s about it. Slyde’s bedroom door is at the end of the hall and to the left; his room takes up the entire back of the house, including the master bath.

I love how much space he has, and I’m curious as to why he has such a large house to begin with since he’s the only one living here, well
was
. I take in my surroundings more, I haven’t really had much time to explore his house, everything has just been happening so quickly. I notice bookshelves off to one side and I get excited. Hell it’s been so long since I’ve read a book. Chances are his shelves are filled with books about cars and motorcycles but I’m still curious. So I start to scan them, I’m right, books about cars and motorcycles, athlete biographies. He has some suspense books, some thrillers and mysteries too, and I smile knowing he likes to read. I continuing scanning the shelves when I hit the third shelf down and see a couple titles I recognize, and think it’s odd he has them, I keep looking when it hits me—these are my books. No, that can’t be right, and then I see them. The last two books he bought me. The blue butterfly and next to them sits my little wooden box that holds all of my notes from him.
Holy shit. He kept my books? He kept my books.
Pulling out the book where the blue butterfly is the tattoo, my fingers trace over the cover. I give the book a hug while a few tears trail down my face. I’m really not sure what to make of this. I can’t believe he took my books and didn’t just keep them, but he put them on his bookshelf in his house.

“You know that blue butterfly is pretty incredible.” His voice floats in behind me, and I spin to look at him, still hugging my book. “He knew what he wanted and he never stopped fighting for it.”
Holy shit, he read it?

“You…You kept my books?”

“Yes.”

“You kept my books and put them on your bookshelf?”

“Yes.”

“You kept my books and you
read
them?”

“Yes, and just the two with the butterfly since I never got to hear what they were about.”

“I can’t believe you kept my books. You took them out of that house and brought them to your home.”

“Yeah, Hart, I did.”

“You have my box too.”

“I do. I don’t know what’s in it. I never looked, I promise. I just knew that it should be displayed next to your books.”

“You have my books and my box,” I state again, my mind having a hard time wrapping around these facts.

“Tesoro, I have all of your stuff from that house, most of it is downstairs in boxes, and you can go through it all anytime you want. I couldn’t leave your books in a box however; I know how much you loved them, and I know it must have hurt to leave them behind. I felt they needed to be displayed. I needed them to be displayed; it felt like a part of you was here every time l saw them on the shelf.” My eyes fill again at this realization, and it sinks in a bit more that he really does care about me. I lay my book back on the shelf and turn back to him.

“You kept my books,” I state.

“I knew I’d find you someday and then I could give them back to you,” he states honestly. I step to him and place my hands on his chest, lean up on my toes, and press my lips softly to his. When I pull back, our eyes lock.

“I don’t want them back. If you give them back to me, that means I’d be leaving and, I don’t like that idea. If they stay here on your shelf, with your books where they belong; then I can read them whenever I want.” My words come out on a whisper.

His hand gently cups the side of my head, his lips curl into a glowing smile. “Yeah, Tesoro, you can, anytime you want.” I kiss him softly again and decide that since I know another one of his secrets, I think it’s time for him to learn another of mine. I take his hand and lead him back to his bedroom. Then I walk to the dresser pulling open one of the drawers, and pull out the thin box I hid under my clothes. Climbing onto the bed I sit cross-legged. Slyde follows and sits down on the bed as well. Opening the box, I find the piece of paper I’m looking for, pull it out, and set the box on the bed next to me.

“What’s that?” he asks.

“Another one of my secrets. I overheard you earlier with the guys. I know you need to know, I just don’t want you to get upset about it,” I state quietly, watching his face.

“What is it?” he asks again, and I hand him the piece of paper. He watches me for a few moments before they fall to the paper. I watch as his eyes glide over the words, and my heart stops when his eyes get wide and shoot up to mine.

“Are you fucking serious?”