14. Lennox

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

Ghost's gruff voice greets me as I stretch from my silky, warm cocoon. I slowly open my eyes and look around, remembering that I'm in Ghost's bed. The first thing I see is Ghost's face. He's lying beside me, smiling and looking more than satisfied. I let him in last night. I knew better, but I did it anyway, and can't bring myself to regret it either. The way he's looking at me is everything.

"This is different."

"What do you mean?"

"It's the next morning and you're still in bed with me," I laugh.

"You like that?"

"I never have before, but with you I find that I prefer it," I confess with an honesty that isn't easy to come by—at least for me.

"Noted. How're you feeling, Tiger?"

"Better than I should. Thank you for last night. I'm not used to?—"

"Last night was the best that I can remember ever having, Lennox. No need to thank me."

I raise an eyebrow, shaking my head, instantly dismissing his words as fake flattery. "You like it when a woman falls apart on you?"

"If that woman is you? Yeah."

"Ghost—"

"Don't say it," he snaps, shocking me.

"You don't know what I was going to say."

"Unless it's agreeing you're staying here with me, I don't want to hear it."

"I can stay tonight," I laugh with a smile. I want to soak in every minute I can with him.

"Not long enough."

I smile and curl into him, placing a kiss on his chest. "I'll stay the rest of the week."

His hand goes out to capture my hair, and he twists it around his hand, pulling until I feel my scalp sting. "Not long enough," he repeats.

"Ghost."

"You're staying until we see what we have."

My heart slaps against my chest and beats erratically. "Did you not hear anything I said last night?"

"Yep."

"That's it? Yep? Are you insane?"

His full lips stretch into a grin. "Quit challenging me, Tiger. You're making me hard."

"I … You're insane."

"Probably. Let's go shower. I got shit to do today."

"Can you drop me off at the coffee shop? If not, I'll call a?—"

"You're staying here. We packed your shit already."

"So? I want to go see Mrs. M. and then I have some stuff I want to do."

"Then you can wait until I'm with you."

"What? Am I a prisoner now?"

"No."

"You say no, but you're basically saying I can't go anywhere without you," I huff, thinking he might be insane.

"You can go anywhere you want once I know you're safe. Until then, I'm going to have your back."

"Safe?" He nods in agreement, but I roll my eyes. "I can take care of myself, Ghost. I have been doing it for a very long time."

"I saw, babe."

"Then—"

"You also said evil was following you. It's my job to keep it away from you."

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. Keep it away from me? "Ghost …"

"You're mine to protect."

"You don't even know me."

"I know what I need to," he argues.

"You really don't. You have no idea."

"Let's go shower. I want to fuck you. We can talk more this evening."

"How did I ever think you don't talk enough? Now, I think you say too much."

"You like my voice."

"Well, duh. Any woman with a pulse would."

"No, most don't like the sound. I end up straining it to talk more normally. With you, I can talk softer and you like it. You even like it when I strain my voice. So, I don't think about it and I'm just me. You may not realize it, but that's a gift you've given me."

His words leave me speechless. I don't think anyone has ever knocked me off balance like Ghost has. I have to bite the inside of my jaw to keep from telling him everything—and I mean everything. I want to tell him about my brother, my father, why I'm here … but all of that will not end well. He'd kick me to the curb or worse, his club will kill me for my plans against them. Instead, I look up at him and smile. "Shut up before you make me cry. Let's go shower."

Ghost gives me a half smile, stands up completely naked, then bends down and picks me up as if I was a bride going across the threshold. I giggle like a teenager tasting first love. That might not mean much to some, but I was never allowed to be a kid. I've never had a boyfriend that I dated and fell in love with. Ghost is probably the closest I've ever come to a boyfriend. So, for now, I'm going to just enjoy it.