“I don’t pretend to understand what you could possibly see in me,” he said hoarsely. “I can’t even wrap my head around it. God only knows I have nothing to offer you.”

“I only want one thing, Swanny,” she said gently. “You. Just you.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

She shrugged. “It is. I mean, it can be as simple or as difficult as we make it. I don’t know how to make you understand that my feelings are sincere. I know you don’t trust me yet. But I do trust you.”

“I’ve done nothing to deserve it or you,” he said bluntly. “I’ve been a complete asshole and I’m sorry, Eden. You have no idea how sorry I am to have hurt you twice now. You deserve so much more than me.”

Her lips quivered into a faint smile. “You’re repeating yourself, Swanny. You keep saying the same things. Stop analyzing why and figure out if you want me as much as I want you. That’s the only real issue here. Everything else can be worked around.”

“Hell yes, I want you,” he bit out. “I can’t think for wanting you. You’ve consumed my thoughts since the very first time I saw you walk into that hotel room where we met.”

Her smile broadened and delight formed in her eyes. “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Finally!”

He sighed. “I’m not normally such an idiot. I’m not stupid. Except when it comes to you, apparently. But you have this effect on me that I can’t even explain. I keep asking myself, why me? What does a woman like you possibly see in me?”

She leaned forward and cupped a hand to his scarred cheek, lightly caressing the ridges and the puckered skin. “You keep saying ‘a woman like me,’ but turn that around for a minute. Don’t you think I’m asking myself what a man like you could possibly see in me? You’re a hero. You’re a survivor. You help people for a living. You put your life on the line for others, and that takes a very special person to be that selfless. What could you possibly want with a woman who makes her living selling her looks and her body? You’re paid to save lives, and I’m paid to look pretty and sell a product. So who’s the better person here?”

The way she very matter-of-factly levied her opinion of him blew his mind. Whether he agreed with her assessment or not, it was evident that she was absolutely sincere in her thoughts and her analysis of him and his character. He felt like a complete fraud. Because he felt that what she was seeing or what she thought she saw was not the real Swanny.

Whatever lens she viewed him through was faulty. Was she merely temporarily infatuated with him? Perhaps intrigued by him? And what would happen when she realized that he wasn’t all she seemed to think he was?

He’d prefer never to become involved with her rather than to become emotionally and physically involved with her only to see the way she viewed him change and to see the light dim in her gaze when she looked at him and really saw him for what he was. Flawed. Far from perfect. Still dealing with the demons of his past and the shame over his weakness during his captivity and how very close he came to giving up. The physical scars were certainly no cakewalk, but worse were the scars no one could see. The ones he could feel, ones that would always be there inside him, a stain on his soul.

And yet she sat there, mere inches away, looking earnestly at him as she asked what a man like him would see in her. Her. He couldn’t even wrap his brain around that kind of question. She deserved so much more than what he could give her. She deserved a man who didn’t come with the baggage he carried.

When he still hadn’t answered her question—how could he?—she straightened slightly and gazed steadily at him, her lips firming with . . . resolve? And yet her voice was silky soft, as sweet as the rest of her and so fucking beautiful that it hurt to look at her, to listen to the musical tones of her voice.

“I’m not asking for anything you can’t or don’t want to give me, Swanny. And if you don’t want this, if I’m completely off base here, then just tell me and I swear to you I’ll never mention it again. I’ll back off and all I’ll be is a job to you and I’ll room with Skylar from now on. All I want is for you to give me—us—a chance. To just go with the flow and see where this—whatever this is between us—takes us. But the ball is in your court now. I can’t make you want me. I wouldn’t want to make you feel anything you didn’t on your own. That’s not ever the reason I want a man to be with me, because I pressured him for something he didn’t willingly give me on his own.”

Left unsaid but perfectly understood by him was that this was his last and only chance. If he didn’t make the next move, then she was done reaching out to him. It was a hell of a spot to be in. Scared to death to make a move and at the same time knowing that if he turned her away he’d regret it for the rest of his life. That he could very well be missing out on the best thing to ever happen to him. Even if his time with her was short lived and in the end they walked away and never saw each other again.

His courage had been tested countless times and he’d never felt as though he’d failed. But courage came in many variations and situations. He realized that to reach out and take what Eden was offering would be the toughest test of his courage he’d ever face. To allow someone inside him, where he allowed no one else. To let her see inside his heart and soul and trust that she wouldn’t run as far away and as fast as possible once he did let her see what he hid so effectively from everyone else.

The easy way out would be to simply tell her no. That he didn’t want to become involved and that they shouldn’t. His job was to protect her, not to be fucking her, though he knew the minute he took her to bed, she would become his number one priority and that anyone trying to get to her would have to go through him in order to do so.

But nothing good was ever easy. Only a coward would take the path of least resistance and shut Eden out before he ever let her in. He wasn’t a coward, had never been a coward, and he damn sure wasn’t going to start being one now.

She was right in that he didn’t trust her yet. Or perhaps he didn’t trust what she said she wanted. But she trusted him and it seemed the height of disrespect not to give her his trust in return.

“I don’t want you to go,” Swanny said in a soft voice. He hated how vulnerable he sounded even to his own ears.

“Then what do you want?” she asked, just as softly.

He leveled his gaze at her, determined to be as sincere as she had been. And as honest. He sucked in a deep breath and put it out there. The same thing she’d done for him. Made himself vulnerable, as vulnerable as she’d made herself by putting it all on the line. Her pride. Her courage. Her heart. Because damn it, he’d sworn to her that she was safe with him. That he’d protect her at all costs. And now he realized that his protection had to extend further because he had to protect her heart and soul as well as protect her from any physical threat.

With his next words he’d be committing himself wholly to keeping her safe. Even from himself and any hurt he might open her up to.

“You,” he said bluntly. “I want you.”

CHAPTER 14

EDEN sucked in her breath, almost dizzy with relief. But the practical side of her insisted that she make sure that he did want her and wasn’t just caving under pressure. She’d come on to him with all the finesse of a bull in rut, and he might have seen no other recourse than to wave a white flag of surrender.

And that wasn’t what she wanted. Yes, she wanted Swanny. Was attracted to him in a way she’d never been attracted to another man. But she wanted him to want her in that same way without pressure.