Page 25 of When He Defends

“Fine, you have been avoiding having private talks with me and you have?—”

He had her ass on the mat. He’d taken her down, and he covered her. “You saw me coming, yet you did nothing to stop my attack.”

She stared up at him. One of his legs was between hers. That rich scent of his teased her nose. Gray wore black sweats. A tight black t-shirt. He looked so freaking sexy. She had seen him coming, obviously, but she hadn’t, uh, responded. Probably because she’d been trying to ignore how sexy he was in the black t-shirt. “You usually wear suits,” she blurted.

“Not to sparring sessions.”

Of course. Obviously.

“If I were a real attacker, you’d be dead, Emerson.”

If you were a real attacker, I wouldn’t be lusting after you.“Are you afraid of me?” she asked, bluntly.

He blinked, jerked back, and, using that moment of surprise, she shoved up with her arms, twisted, and flipped Gray over so that when their bodies stopped heaving about, she was on top of him. On top as in, she straddled him.

It took exactly two seconds for her to realize that position was a serious mistake. She flew off him. Took a couple of quick stepsawayfrom Gray.

“Why would I be afraid?” He rose slowly to his feet. “I let you go, by the way.”

“Fair enough. I let you tackle me, by the way.” Another smile. More brittle this time. “I think you’re afraid because one minute you’re trying to fuck me, then you learn my deep dark secrets, and you act like I have the plague. I don’t, FYI.”

Now he surged toward her. “You think I’m keeping a distance because of what you told me about your father?”

Her chin notched up. Her hand also rose, and she jabbed him in the chest. “I think you kissed me like your life depended on it and then—Gray!”

He’d caught her wrist. Using his hold, he spun her around and looped his arm over her. She found herself with her back flush against his chest and stomach, while his arm in front of her was a seemingly unbreakable bar.

“I am the last person who would ever judge you because of your father.” His breath whispered against her ear. “People in glass houses and all of that.”

Surprise rushed through her, even as Emerson drove her left elbow back against him as hard as she could. He grunted but didn’t release her. Instead of trying to rush forward to get out of his grip, she stepped back, looped her foot behind his ankle, and then she slammed her whole body back, making them both fall. But as he toppled, she rolled free and bounded back to her feet. “Why is your house made of glass, Gray?”

He smiled up at her.

Oh, damn.Gray’s smile was absolutely, one hundred percent lethal.

She backed away.

He rose, slowly. “Come now, Emerson. You already know. You profiled me, remember?”

His mother had fled an abusive relationship. I think he is a protector now because he saw his mother abused when he was a child. He wants to protect those who are weak.“I spoke with Misty yesterday.”

“Did you.” Not a question.

“She’s at home in Georgia.”

“Um.”

“With her mom. With Timothy. Really crazy thing—she said that a bank account had been set up for her.” Emerson paused.“She started crying when she told me how much money was in the account.”

There was zero change to Gray’s expression.

“You know anything about the account?” Emerson pushed.

“Maybe it’s one of those crowd sourcing things.” He shrugged. “Or an anonymous donation. Those are really hard to track down. Especially if the donor doesn’t ever want to be found.”

She was staring at the donor. “She also got contacted by the teacher at a hearing-impaired school in her mother’s town. A doctor reached out about Timothy, too. All sorts of contacts are appearing.”

“Emerson, are we going to talk all day or should I just tackle you again?”