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“Let’s just hope you haven’t made the situation worse.” He spun around and disappeared inside the house.
Adelia felt her throat tightening, but she pushed the emotion down and marched after him.
He went into his room and slammed the door shut.
She didn’t knock before whipping the door open and entering.
“I apologize, Oliver. Truly. If I did anything to jeopardize us finding out who was doing this to me, that was not my intention.”
His fierce gaze met hers. Why did she find angry-eyed Oliver so hot?
“And you’re right, I should have talked to you first. But the situation called for me to make a quick decision, so I made it.” She stepped toward him, afraid he’d back away, but he didn’t. So she took another step until she was within a foot and laid her hand on his chest, right above his heart. “Please don’t be angry with me.”
He gripped her hand and lowered it from his chest. “You have to stop touching me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want to be with me.”
She touched his arm with her free hand. “I do want to be with you.”
He groaned and stepped away, turning toward the window.
She gathered her strength and walked over to stand behind him, sliding her hands around his waist and up his chest, bringing her body against his back, and resting her cheek against his shoulder.
He didn’t move at first, but then his hands slid up and covered hers. She thought he was going to pull them away again, but he didn’t.
“You’re supposed to let me handle this,” he whispered. “I’m supposed to take care of you.”
“I know. And you are. But I had to take care of you too.”
He turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. “What does that mean?”
She rested her forehead against his back until he turned to face her and gripped her arms, his expression demanding an answer.
“Talk to me.”
“That reporter had pictures of us on the beach last night. He was going to dig around and find out who you were and post the pictures all over social media. I knew you would hate that. So I gave him a better story, and he agreed to lose our pictures. I did it to protect you, Olly.”
He looked taken aback. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. It just proved that what you said was true. Being with me means sacrificing your privacy. I meant everything I said last night, and as much as I think we could have something really great, I will try harder to respect your decision to keep things professional.”
He lowered his head and closed his eyes for a breath. “Thank you.”
“But I hope we can still be friends.” She looked at him hopefully.
He lifted his eyes to hers. “Of course, we can.”