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You’re safe. You’ve probably never felt more safe.
Ethan has you.
He won’t let you fail.
But she really didn’t want to fail him.
She wanted to try and make this work. For as long as he was here, anyway.
But did he want other people to know?
“I understand if you need to keep this a secret. Will you want me to not touch you in front of others?”
“Why the fuck would I want to keep you a secret?” he snapped.
She jumped, her breath catching in her throat.
Was he angry? She hadn’t meant to make him angry. What had she said?
Idiot.
This was bound to happen because you have no idea what you’re doing.
“Cate. Hey, baby, come back to me. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
She blinked up at him, surprised to find that he’d turned so his feet were on the floor. He had his hands on her cheeks.
“There you are,” he said on a sigh.
“I didn’t go anywhere.”
“Not physically, but you were retreating into your head and I don’t think that’s a very nice place to be. I don’t think you’re very kind to yourself there.”
“You’re very good at reading people. Must be an advantage with your job.”
“It is. But I wish I could read you better. I’m so sorry, baby. I wasn’t angry at you and I shouldn’t have snapped like that.”
“I can be frustrating?—”
“Cate, no,” he said firmly. “I am sorry for snapping. I am going to try and work on that. I told you I wouldn’t get angry at you, and I wasn’t but you didn’t know that. So it feels like I broke my word which I do not like.”
“You weren’t angry at me?”
“Baby, no. I was upset because I know that your family, and I use that word loosely, eroded your self-esteem, your feeling of self-worth. Because you should never accept being someone’s dirty little secret, understand?”
He cupped her chin, his gaze intent on hers.
“But—”
“I am not ashamed of you.”
“Oh.” That was sweet, but he was missing the point of her question. “I was thinking about your job. Will Ink be upset with you for starting a relationship with me while you’re working for me? Well, for Rhodes, I guess. He might be upset.”
“Rhodes is definitely going to be upset. He’s already warned me.”
“He what?” Now it was her turn to feel angry. “He has no right to do that. I’m a grown woman.”
“He feels protective of you. I get that since I feel the same way. But you’re right, he doesn’t have the right to dictate who you date. Neither does Ink. Yeah, it skates a line but if the worst comes to the worst, I’ll quit.”
