She looks up, biting her lip.“Well, Mr.Xander , you mentioned last night that you wanted to have a relaxing weekend, so I figured I better get out of your hair so you can do that. I don’t want to overstay my welcome, but thank you so much for your hospitality,” she babbles while struggling to get her jeans all the way on. “I know that technically, I wasn’t welcome at all because I sort of broke in, but—you get what I’m saying. Sorry.” She shakes her head in apology, staring at the floor. I shoot her an amused look.“Honey, you really think that after what we shared last night that I want you to leave?”She’s still staring at the floor.“Oh, I don’t want to intrude any more than I already have, Mr.Xander .”I get out of bed then, stark naked, and stand in front of her before putting a big hand beneath her chin to tip it up at me.“You’re not intruding, baby girl. I mean, yes, you broke in, but I’m fine with it. It was unexpected but you’re my daughter’s friend, so it’s no big deal. Be

What’s going on?” I ask in a small voice. “What happened?”He takes a deep breath.“Well, let’s start at the beginning. You knew that man, right? The one on the stretcher who was wailing and screaming? He’s your ex-boyfriend, right?”I blink a few times.“Yes, that’s Vinnie. We came up to the cabin together, but as I mentioned, we broke up and he took off. What was he doing back on the mountain?”Xander sighs, shoving a hand through his hair and leaving the black strands ruffled.“Well, it seems that Duke had a change of heart after leaving you handcuffed and alone in the cabin. He decided that he was going to be the hero. So he turned tail and came back to the cabin to allegedly ‘save you.’ I guess he thought he was going to find you still handcuffed, and begging to be released.”I stare at him.“But by then, you’d come,” I say in a slow voice.Xander nods grimly.“Yes. I’d arrived by then, and it seems that when Duke peered in through the window, he saw us. Making love,”Xander clari

I just hope that she knows she’s safe now. As long as she’s with me, no one will ever harm her again. Hell, I’ll do worse than take out a knee next time. I’ll physically smash their head in, not to mention beating their brains into a pulp. My hands flex and clench as I snarl under my breath. No one hurts my girl, and that is my vow.But now, we’re safe and she leans against me, letting my warmth seep into her form.“Sweetheart, are you okay?” I murmur against her hair. “I know it’s been a rough night and you’re probably exhausted right now. Do you want to go up to bed? You don’t have to sleep in the master bedroom with me if you don’t want. I have plenty of space, and a very comfortable guest room too.”Sophia turns to look at me and my heart throbs painfully in my chest as she blinks a few times, tears pooling in her eyes. She’s so beautiful that it breaks my heart, but she nods.“Yes, I’m okay,” she whispers before taking a long, shuddering breath. “I just can’t believe today has unf

But are we celebrating something in particular?”Oops, I almost gave away my surprise. Quickly, I shake my head.“Nope, I just wanted to bake today. Sweet tooth, you know,” I say in a sassy tone before handing him a knife. “Here, cut.”He takes a moment to look it over and I can’t help but sigh again, looking at this damned thing. The cake’s pretty funny-looking, with a huge crater right in the middle, and the icing all lopsided because it’s spread too thin on one side and way too thick on the other. Plus, I attempted to add some fruit decorations, but it looks more like the fruit fairy barfed all over the damned thing. Well, at least I tried my best.But Xander knows better than to comment. Slowly, my man positions the knife and then cuts deep, showing off a deep blue interior.“Blue?” he asks, nonplussed. “That’s an interesting choice for cake.”“It is, isn’t it?” I ask mysteriously. “Here, take a bite.”With that, I feed him a large morsel of cake, and he chews and swallows before s