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His words are like a slap to my face and I suck in a breath, step back. “You think I’m a child.”

“No! You are not, you’re a woman, and I’m well aware.” This time he scrubs his jaw before driving his fingers through his hair making the wet strands stick up. “I know there is chemistry between us. I get that you might want me. Now. But I want you for more than the moment. I’m not prepared to step over that line until you know for sure you want more from me than the protection I can offer you.”

I study him, run his words through my head again and again. Pick them apart and put them back together. “You want a relationship. Not just sex.”

“Yes.”

“Wow. Okay.” I wrap my arms around my waist. “And we can’t have one because of my ex?”

“No, not because of him. Because you’ve been forced into staying with me. You’re relying on me to keep you safe and⁠—”

“Wouldn’t you keep me safe if we were together?”

“I...” He sighs, the gust of air lowering his shoulders. “Yes. I would.”

“So it’s because you think I was forced to stay with you?” I can straighten that assumption out. “You didn’t force me. I could have stayed at the Lodge. I wanted to come here. I wanted to be near you. I feel safe when you’re around. I haven’t felt that way often in my life.”

The frown he aims my way has my insides warming. He doesn’t like that and his next words prove it. “If I have anything to say about it you will never feel unsafe again.”

His deep growly voice rolls over my skin like a physical caress and I can’t hold back a shiver.

“Are you cold?” He strides over to the fireplace and picks up the poker. “It’s not too bad in here but we’ll need to keep checking to make sure the fire doesn’t go out.”

My earlier bravery has dwindled and I let him change the topic. If I’m honest, I don’t think I’m quite ready to step over the invisible line drawn between us. I’ve got a lot to think about though. Granger didn’t tell me no, he hasn’t rejected me, he’s just made sure I understand where he’s coming from and I respect that.

He could easily have taken what I offered. Another man might have. My ex certainly would have. But Granger isn’t like my ex. He isn’t like any man I’ve ever met.

And the more time I spend with him, the more I realize I’ve been dealing with boys, not men, and I’ve accepted treatment I shouldn’t have. If I’m not up to demanding someone treat me like I deserve, the man across the room is going to make sure I get that treatment anyway.

GRANGER

Fucking hell.

Head resting on the shower wall, I reach down and grab my dick in a chokehold.

I’m jerking off twice a day.

Thirty-six hours trapped inside my house with Brooke has turned me into a randy teenager.

In my defense, the woman is sexy as fuck. And it’s not just her curvy body I’m attracted to. It’s her intelligence, her strength, her thoughtfulness.

She’s the whole package and I’m now painfully aware of the reason I’ve been single my entire adult life.

Because I hadn’t met Brooke yet.

Fuck. She wasn’t even born when I started noticing girls for the first time. And the idea of wanting her the way I do now when she went to school with Felix should deflate my dick quicker than a hand job.

Except it doesn’t. Because she wasn’t on my radar. Never would have been back then. But now? The woman she’s become? Yeah, she’s on my radar. She’s on my mind. She’s in my blood. And like an addict, I keep putting myself in her space.

Hence the jerking off twice a day.

Not that choking my dick stops the wanting. The only thing it does is stop me from touching her.

I could hide in my room, or brave the snowfall and head out to the woodshed. But I don’t. Instead I’ve stayed in sight except when one of us uses the bathroom or when we go to bed. And going to bed without her is starting to grate on my nerves.

The desire to hold her in my arms while we sleep is just as strong as the lust filling my veins and making me choke my dick morning and night.

Add in her obvious attraction to me—real or situational—and I fear I’m fighting a losing battle.