Protected by Him Read Free Page B

have told the truth. But I didn’t.
    “Right,” I said, and I could taste acid burning the back of my throat. “There’s nothing going on between us.”
    “Oh,” Amanda said, sounding relieved. “I’m Amanda, Declan’s girlfriend.” She stuck her hand out to for me to shake. There was an expensive-looking watch on her wrist, with a white leather band and tiny diamonds around the oversized face that sparkled under the lights. Her nails were neatly manicured and painted a muted pink, not too bright, not too flashy.
    I took her hand.
    Her skin was cold, and when she smiled, her teeth were white and perfect.
    She was the exact kind of girl that Declan had said he’d never end up with.
    She was the exact opposite of me.
    “Are you staying for dinner?” she asked.
    “No,” Declan said quickly. His eyes flashed to mine, and I could tell immediately what he was trying to tell me – don’t say anything, we’ll talk about this later when we’re in private. I thought it was crazy how I could still read him, even after all this time.
    “No,” I said, swallowing around the lump in my throat and trying to force a casual brightness into my voice. “I’m not staying.”
    I picked up my bag, and then I was out the door, rushing down the sidewalk, Declan calling after me. When I didn’t turn around, I heard his footsteps behind me.
    “Hey,” he said when he got to me. I turned, watching as he ran his hands through his hair nervously. “Olivia, I’m sorry.” He shrugged. “I just… I didn’t know what to say, how to tell you.”
    “It’s fine,” I lied. It wasn’t fine. It was dishonest and horrible. He hadn’t just lied to Amanda, he’d lied to me, too. He’d told me he’d kept his promise to me. And yeah, I’d broken my promise, too, but at least I’d been willing to own it. Declan had been about to to kiss me back there, to let me believe that he’d never kissed anyone else.
    “Listen, I want to see you again,” he said.
    “Why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why do you want to see me again?”
    “Because I missed you.”
    I squeezed my eyes shut tight. How could I have gotten this so wrong? This whole time, I’d been thinking about Declan, missing him, planning my life around him, pinning all my hopes on him. And meanwhile, he’d been pinning his hopes on himself, creating a job, a girlfriend, a home, a world.
    All the things I should have been doing.
    I turned.
    And I ran.
    He called after me, but when I glanced over my shoulder a few seconds later, he wasn’t following me. He was just standing there at the end of his driveway. I kept running and when I looked back again, he was gone.
    I ran all the way down the hill, back toward the end of the street, faster and faster, my legs pumping. Soon I got caught up in the momentum of the downward slope and I couldn’t control it and before I knew it I fell to the pavement, scraping my hands against the gravel.
    I caught myself before I fell to my knees, but not before the rough surface of the road burned against my skin and one of the cuts on my wrist opened up.
    “Shit,” I swore, and biter tears filled my eyes.
    And then, suddenly, a car turned onto the street and pulled up next to me, so close I could smell the rubber from the tires and the exhaust from the tailpipe, and I thought for sure it would be that FBI agent, Caleb, that he’d followed me here. I wouldn’t be able to stand up to him this time, I decided. He was catching me at my lowest moment and I wouldn’t have the strength.
    Maybe he would arrest me. I didn’t even care. I had nowhere to spend the night tonight, anyway, it might as well be in jail.
    Then someone was calling my name.
    “Olivia.”
    And then he was there, Colt, his arms encircling my waist, picking me up from where I was collapsed on the pavement.
    You’re safe. The thought burned in my brain automatically, but I rebelled against it. I wasn’t safe with him. I wasn’t safe with anyone but myself. Still. He felt so