Page 137 of His Surrender

He catches me watching. “What?”

“Nothing.” The corner of my mouth lifts. “I was just thinking.”

“That’s always dangerous.”

My forehead creases. “Oh?”

“You get this little look.” He points at my face. “Like you’re about to tease me.”

I put my hands up in defense. “I wasn’t.”

“You were.”

“I was admiring you.”

He pauses. “That’s … different.”

“It surprised me too.”

He laughs, shaking his head. “I missed you today.”

The words come so naturally that neither of us seems to realize what he said until they’re already hanging between us.

My heart stutters. “You did?”

He nods once. “More than usual.”

Something in his expression shifts. The playful teasing fades, replaced by something else.

“Actually …” He glances toward Liana before looking back at me. “Can we talk for a minute?”

A tiny flutter of nerves dances through my stomach. “Sure.”

“I’ll put Peanut in her chair.”

A few minutes later, Liana is happily occupied in her activity seat as she bats at the toys in front of her.

Dean doesn’t take a seat on the opposite end of the couch like he normally does when we’re pretending to be nothing more than employer and nanny.

He sits beside me. Close enough that our knees brush. His fingers immediately find mine.

They’ve done that a lot lately—almost unconsciously—like somewhere along the way, holding my hand simply became the place they belonged.

“I’ve been thinking,” he begins.

“About work?” I ask, dreading what this can possibly be about.

He shakes his head. “No.”

I study him as his thumb slowly traces circles across the back of my hand. I get the impression that he’s nervous.

Dean Ledger—the man who negotiates contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars without breaking a sweat.

The man who can command a boardroom with a single look.

Heat crawls up my neck. “You’re scaring me a little.”

He smiles. “Sorry.”