Nate was willing to take a bullet for me. Without being paid to do so.

I literally couldn’t say that about anyone else. I could scarcely wrap my head around the fact, but as I watched the sky lighten as the last police officer drove away, the darkness couldn’t conceal the truth anymore.

“I should have shot him,” Nate muttered, watching the car go.

I glanced at him, slightly amused. My stomach fluttered as I took in his rumpled hair, shadowed jaw, and shrewd expression. “I thought you were a bad shot?”

He snorted. “I’m not that bad. Asshole was right in front of me.”

“Maybe once he’s spent the night behind bars, he’ll talk.” Much to Nate’s disliking, the intruder said not one word about his intentions or even how he managed to get through my state-of-the-art security system.

Nate turned. The giant pineapple on the front of his shirt was impossible not to look at.

“You have the weirdest shirts.”

His eyebrows lifted. “They’re vintage. And thank you.” He patted his chest and the pineapple covering it. His face darkened. “I should’ve shot him.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” I whispered, shivering. I would likely hear the sound of that gun going off over and over again for months. The amount of fear I felt when I heard it shocked me.

Not the fear itself, silly.

If a person didn’t feel fear when an intruder fired a gun inside their house, then they were probably highly overmedicated.

Or insane.

I was neither.

The fear I felt wasn’t for me, though. It was for Nate. That spoke a lot about how I felt about him. About losing him.

“Hey.” His voice was so close it made me shiver. I liked how sometimes it was gruff and deep. More serious. “C’mon. You’re cold.” Without any kind of hesitation, he draped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me into his side.

At the front door (which was still wide open), he stopped abruptly, then moved swiftly, swinging me up in his arms.

Squealing, my wrists looped around his neck automatically. “What are you doing?”

He stopped again and gazed down at me with bright-green eyes. “You saw me in nothing by my skivvies. In some countries, that would make us married. I’m just doing my husbandly duty, carrying my new bride over the threshold.”

I blinked.

Blinked again.

“Put me down!” I wailed.

Nate snickered. “There’s glass on the floor, princess. I don’t want you to cut your feet.”

I stopped wiggling around. His words made me melt. He’s still thinking about me. “What about your feet?”

“Mine are already cut.”

Gasping, I grabbed the front of his pineapple shirt. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“I was busy,” he said, as if it were obvious.

When we got to the stairs, I practically jumped out of his arms and grabbed his hand. “Come on.”

I led him back toward his room but through it and into the adjoining bath. I patted the long counter with two sinks on each end. “Sit.”

He obliged without any kind of snarky comment, which made me wonder exactly what I would find when I looked at the bottom of his feet. After laying aside the first aid kit, I gestured to his foot. “Let’s see it.”

“It’s not that bad,” he argued.

Wrapping my palm around his heel, I lifted. Red smeared the bottom, and I made a sound of distress. “Nate,” I said, part sadness, part frustration.

“I’ll take care of it. Go check on Cheeto.”

“Cheeto’s fine. He’s still in bed.” I flipped open the kit and turned on one of the sinks. “Put your foot over here,” I instructed.

He winced when the water rushed over his bare foot, and I felt bad, but not bad enough to stop. Once it was clean, I wrapped it in a clean cloth and repeated the process with his other foot, which was also cut.

“What do you think they wanted?” I whispered. Some of the adrenaline I’d been drawing on started to ebb away, leaving behind a woman who was tired and afraid.

“Cops said they probably didn’t know you were here and wanted an easy payday.”

“You don’t believe that.” It wasn’t a question. I could feel his doubt.

He didn’t say anything as I drew out a pair of tweezers and lifted the foot that still had some glass in it.

“No. I don’t.”

“How come?”

“Ow!” he howled when I pulled out a sliver of glass.

“Hold still!” I scolded and went back for another.

“Just leave it in there!”

“It will get infected.”

“That’s what antibiotics are for.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” I admonished and pulled out the last two slivers. The cuts with the glass were bleeding again, so I grabbed up some peroxide and a cotton pad.

He glared at me as I cleaned the cuts and scrapes, added some ointment to the worst ones, and placed a couple Band-Aids over the still-bleeding areas.

“You gonna answer my question?” My voice was soft as I reached for his other foot.

He sighed. “They knew you were home, A.”

My face jerked up. “They did?”

He nodded. His lips were a hard line. “They were going upstairs for you.”

The liquid in the bottle sloshed around when I lifted it.

“You don’t need to do this right now,” Nate said, reaching out and covering my hand with his.

“I want to.”

“You’re shaking.” His fingers tightened around mine.

“Just let me.”

His hands left mine, and he lifted his foot, offering it.

This one had no glass in it, so I just cleaned it up and added some ointment. When I was done, I busied myself putting away the supplies and hanging the soiled towels on a nearby rack. I felt his eyes the entire time I worked.

He said nothing. I said nothing. The room wasn’t quiet, though, because the sound of my thundering heart was so loud.

When there was nothing left for me to do, Nate’s hand closed gently around my upper arm and drew me close, fitting my body between his legs.

“Thank you.” The words rushed out breathlessly.

“For what?” His hand left my arm and tucked some hair behind my ear.

“For saving my life. Because you probably did.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “You would have given them hell if I hadn’t been here.”

I ducked my head, suddenly so ashamed. “I’m not as strong as I pretend to be.”

His fingers were gentle when they pushed my chin up so his eyes could search mine. “I think you are.”

He didn’t understand. I didn’t expect him to. I was a toad, but he saw a princess.

I wasn’t sure if I should love him or hate him for it.

I think I probably want to love him.

“Thank you,” I repeated.

His eyes warmed. “You’re welcome.” I couldn’t pull my gaze from his. I felt physically chained by something that wasn’t even physical.

Then he went and ruined it.

“You owe me.”

The words slapped me like frigid water. “Excuse me?”

He opened his mouth, but I cut him off.

“You think ‘cause you saved my life, you have some sort of claim on it now?” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared.

I should have known he was just like everyone else… I was stupid. Stupid.

He made a face. “No…” He moved, somehow sticking his bandaged foot right in my face. “I meant because I let you dig glass out of my foot.”

It took a minute for his words to sink past my anger.

He wiggled his toes, and a laugh bubbled out of me. Those thoughts of love I’d been thinking came back in a rush. “I did that for you,” I pointed out.

“I need something for the pain.”

I frowned. “How bad does it hurt? I have some pain reliever—”

In one movement, Nate hopped down off the counter but lifted me to where he’d just been. “I don’t want pills, princess.”

Tiny shivers shot up and down my spine. “No?”

He shook his head.

“What do you want?”

He tapped his lips with a single finger. The bottom fell out of my belly. A soft buzzing sound filled my head.

“Kiss me, Aerie.”

“W-what?” I murmured, staring at his lips.

He smiled, a knowing light in his eyes. “Can I kiss you?”

I nodded, not really hearing him, but understanding what he wanted. Both arms slipped around me, dragging my ass across the counter toward him. Automatically, my legs wound around his waist and our chests bumped.

His mouth crashed over mine instantly. Kissing Nate was a full-contact sport. He was unapologetic in the way his mouth moved over mine, the way he nibbled my lips and tangled our tongues.

The buzzing in my head grew heavy, just like my limbs. A small moan vibrated the back of my throat. He kissed deeper.

The next thing I knew, I was off the counter completely and he was carrying me into the bedroom toward his bed. Our lips didn’t part when we hit the mattress. One minute I was in his arms; the next his body was lowering over mine.

I sank into the sheets, noting they carried his scent. Remembering my previous regret, I trailed my hands up the back of his neck, delving my fingers into his hair. The strands were thick and cool, wrapping around my fingers like a satin blanket. A satin blanket made of fire.

He moved against me, eliciting an instant rush of need so strong I arched against him. He made a soft sound as his hand slid over my shoulder and down my arm. His lips captured mine in a renewed kiss at the same moment his fingers entwined with mine.

Oh my heart. Oh, it was in danger.

He felt the change in me—the slight tensing of my muscles, the way the vulnerability I felt under his touch scared the crap out of me. He didn’t leave, but his lips pulled back. He lifted, allowing his body to hover over mine.

My eyes fluttered open. As much as I didn’t want to look, I couldn’t deny the call. I thought I would find smugness. Power. Some kind of satisfaction in his stare.

I was wrong.

His eyes glimmered like emeralds under a summer sun. Warmth radiated off him. Hunger, too.

Nate smiled down at me.

He dropped a kiss to the tip of my nose, then rolled away and sat up. On the nightstand, his phone went off.

He didn’t look at it, but he did groan.

I lifted my head off the pillow. “Nate?”

“I have to go.”

“Go?” My brain was having trouble keeping up.

He made a sound. “I was going to tell you yesterday…”

I’d spent the entire day hiding in my room. I pushed up into a sitting position. “You’re leaving?”

Everything inside me crumbled.

He made a sound. “We’re leaving.”

“What?”

He stood, towering over me from beside the bed. “There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you here alone with a shitty security system and those assholes.”

“There are assholes here?” I wondered out loud.

He glowered down. “Pack a bag, princess. You’re coming with me.”

I lifted my chin. “What if I don’t want to?”

He dropped down, planting his palms on the mattress and bringing us eye to eye. “You do.”

I could have the windows replaced, the house cleaned up, and the security system fixed and upgraded while I was gone. When I came home, everything would be good as new. Safer.

No one would know where I was this time. No one expected me to run off with Nate.

Not even Will.

These were perfectly good reasons to go with Nate. He was right, though. I wanted to go with him.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

A slow smile took over his face. “New York.”

I faltered. He lived in New York. “You’re going home?”

“Yep. And you’re coming with me.”

“But why?”

“I have some shit to get in order, and it won’t wait. But I can’t leave you here, princess.” He paused, tilting his head, and turned back to me. “Actually, I could leave you here, but I don’t want to. Now go pack.”

I hid my smile until he turned away to get his bag.

“What about Cheeto?” I asked, almost as though it were some kind of test.

“He’s coming, too.”

My smile turned into a grin.

Maybe Nate wasn’t just like everyone else after all.

He was much better.