Page 8 of Unrequited

“Thank you,” I whisper, my heart pounding.

“Now, little lass,” he says, his voice dropping low. “I don’t know why you’re here, but something tells me youprobablyshouldn’t be, eh?”

He bends and picks up my phone. Miraculously, it’s unharmed.

He taps something into the screen. “This is my number,” he says. “I’ll be around a bit. Not from around here, you know. Ireland. But I’m not heading back just yet.”

He holds the phone out to show me. “You get into trouble, you call this number. See?”

Why is he protecting me? Why does he care?

I nod. “Okay,” I whisper.

He flashes a grin—bright and devastating. My belly melts.

“Good girl,” he says softly. “That’s a good girl.”

Then he leans in, hooks a finger under my chin. “Now go back inside. Find whoever you came with. Go home where it’s safe, eh?”

I nod again and swallow hard.

Safe. Funny word, coming from him.

Because somehow, I know…

I’ve never been in more danger in my life.

Chapter 2

SEAMUS

She’s sweet.Innocent.

And I don’tdosweet and innocent. Never have.

I don’t know what the hell it is about her, why she’s gotten under my skin like this, but she has. I can’t get the sweet, pretty lass out of my feckin’ head.

Every time I close my eyes, I see her face, those wide, dark-blue eyes, the little smattering of freckles across her nose that makes her look like something out of a fairy tale. Like something pure. Untouched. Precious.

The way she looked at me… It wasn’t just curiosity but something else. Like… hero worship? The way her gaze clung to mine after I saved her from that asshole who thought he could corner her. Who thought he could own her.

Feck my life.

No.

Feck my lifeallthe fecking way. Because I don’t have time for girls like her. Especially not in the form of a sweet, naive little Russian.

Girls like her need to be protected. Kept safe. Cared for.

Cherished.

And that’s notmyjob.

I don’t have the space for that. The time. The fucking energy.

Not now. Not ever.

So I leave.