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"You faked your death. Gabby is clearly worried that someone will find you." His arm tightened along the back of the cushion, encircling her. "Who are you hiding from?"
She stared at him. "You don't want to know about what happened that last night we were together? Why I left? Why I didn't tell you that you have a daughter?"
His eyes were turbulent. "Oh, I want to know all of that, but none of that matters if you two wind up dead just because Gabby decided to track me down. That would be a pretty crappy Christmas for all involved, and I like Christmas, so I kinda want to keep it on the no-death side this year. So, priorities. What's the threat?"
His need to protect her was exactly the same as it had been when they'd met. Instant. Instinctive. And ridiculously attractive. She shook her head at him and pushed at his immoveable shoulder. "No. You don't get to go all heroic on us. I don't need that."
He raised his brows. "Clearly, you don't need it. You've been fine for the last sixteen years, both of you alive and well. However, I need it. It's in my DNA to protect. That's my kid in the bathroom, right? Because regardless of how you feel about me, I have a vested interest in keeping my own daughter safe, even if I just met her."
Fear trickled down Sofia's spine, and suddenly, she felt trapped. "You don't get to take over our life, Keegan. That's not what this is about. She wanted to meet you, and that's it. When she gets out of the bathroom, we're going home."
His eyes darkened. "Sascha," he said softly. "It's not that easy between us. You know it's not—"
"Sofia. My name is Sofia. I lied to you when I told you it was Sascha. I didn't want those seven days to become more, for you to be able to find me." She was pushing him away. She could feel it. Panic was closing in, and she wanted space, freedom, to run.
He said nothing, but his eyes were thoughtful as he studied her, gently scratching Millie's head, still taking care of the puppy regardless of the tension between them, because he was like that. Always the protector. Always with the kindness.
He didn't rise to her bait. Of course he didn't. He was more chill than that. She'd never been able to get a rise from him, not even that terrible night.
He, however, could work her up with zero effort whatsoever. Like now. She became aware that she had scooted back into the corner of the booth, as far away from him as she could get, her hands up defensively, as if she had to protect herself physically.
She dropped her hand and sat taller, but not before Keegan saw her instinctive response.
"Would you like me to call you Sofia?" he asked, his voice still low and even. Did nothing rattle him? "Or would you prefer I call you Sascha?"
"My name is Sofia."
"That's not what I asked."
Dammit. How could he read her that well? She did want him to call her Sascha. It made her feel like a teenager again, caught up in an illicit love affair. It reminded her of a time when it was safe to fall in love with a teenage rogue who swept her heart up into his kind hands and captured her heart with his. "Call me Sofia."
He nodded slowly. "You're sure?"
"Stop it. Just stop it." Her heart was pounding now, and she could feel every cell in her body screaming at her to run. She wasn't in danger, but old instincts were running rampant with her mind right now. "He was handsome, like you," she blurted out. "He swept me off my feet. I couldn’t think. I didn't even know what had happened before I was married to him. I had no defenses against him, just like I have no defenses against you. It feels the same with you. I know it's not, but it feels like it is." She held up her hand, showing how it was trembling. "I'm literally shaking."
She hadn't meant to tell him, but she'd survived the last decade and a half because she'd learned to process her emotions instead of keeping them bottled up until they exploded. Like before, Keegan had already broken down her walls, somehow transcending the distance she was trying to keep between them.
Keegan's face softened, and he took her hand, curling his larger one around hers and brushing his lips over it. The warmth and strength in his made tears threaten. He was like a giant teddy bear with a black belt in karate. Pretty much a perfect combination. "You're safe with me," he said.
Sofia raised her chin. "He said the same thing. That's how he got me. I was eighteen, in the hospital alone, about to give birth. I had nothing. He told me I was safe. And I needed that. I needed someone to make me safe. Staying with someone because they will make you safe isn't the right reason. It disempowers. It traps. I don't want you to keep me safe. I don't." But she couldn’t make herself pull away from Keegan's touch. "I need to be in charge of my own safety."
His touch felt so good. Safe, but also more than safe. His touch felt like life, like a free spirit, like the liberation of her heart.
"Sascha—"
"When Gabby gets back, I'm going to take her home," she said. "I'm guessing she'll want to keep in touch, so that's fine, if you want to do that. It would crush her if I didn't let her build a relationship with you, if you want to. But not with me. You and I aren't keeping in touch." She met his gaze. "I've been independent for years now, Keegan. I won't trade that in for a trap."
A muscle in his cheek ticked in irritation, surprising her. He never let on with his emotions. Even as she said it, she knew she didn't want to leave with Gabby. She wanted to sit there on that bench with Keegan forever, basking in that pull she felt toward him.
But she would leave. Just like before—
"Mom!" Gabby came bounding over to the table, and Sofia instantly pulled her hand away from Keegan's, and dragged her gaze off his. "Bella said we can go with them to finish this delivery route, and then go back to their ranch. They have a family pre-Christmas get-together tomorrow night, and she wants me to come meet everyone!"
Oh, God. "Gabby—"
"Look!" Gabby grabbed Bella's phone and held it out to her. "Look!"
Glancing at Bella's beaming face and Keegan's frowning one, Sofia took the phone. It was open to a group text called "Hart Family."
