Page 81 of When He Defends

She jumped off the bed. Bumped into him. “I did not!”

“Did not count the tables or did not let him rub his arm over yours? Because both things happened. I was there. Watching.” Being a stalker. Doing his due diligence.

“You sound jealous,” Emerson accused as she tipped back her head and glared at him.

“Probably because I am.” Guilty as charged.

There was no fast, angry comeback from her. If anything, she appeared confused. When a bit too much time passed, she questioned, voice lower, “Why would you be jealous?”

“Because I don’t want Rylan or any other jackass touching you.” He’d thought that was pretty obvious. “Because you belong to me, Emerson.”

Again, she sent him a look that suggested he had two heads. “Because I’m pretending to be your wife?”

Yes. Maybe. No. “Because you came harder for me last night than I’m sure you’ve ever come for anyone else.” Savage truth.

“And that means…I belong to you?” Emerson shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Fuck. Gray sucked in a breath. “I’m screwing this up.”

“It seems that you are. Yes.”

His hands clenched into fists at his sides.

“What else have I counted?” she asked, quiet.

“Windows when you’re in a house. Pretty sure you counted the number of books on my shelves at home.”

“I stopped because I got distracted.” She wet her lips. “What other things have you noticed about me?”

Everything.He held that stalkerish retort back. Clearly, he’d made a mistake saying she belonged to him. He wanted to grab tightly to her, never let go, and she wanted…

To taunt a killer. “Wear a neon sign next time,” he rasped.

“Excuse me? I never wear neon.”

“No, you don’t. You typically wear your heels because you like to be taller. You don’t wear any jewelry at all—except for the rings I gave you. I suspect because your mother wears jewelry all the time, and you don’t like anything that reminds you of her. You prefer casual settings to fancy events. You’re shy, but you fight not to show it. You try to fit in with others and talk in crowds, but you would always choose to be in a one-on-one situation. You’re on guard all the time with other people, you keep your feelings in desperate check, and you won’t let your real self show…probably because you’re afraid that you can’t trust anyone to know the real you. The you that’s kept prisoner beneath the careful surface you wear.”

“That’s a whole lot of profiling going on right there, Gray.”

Yeah, it was. “I know a shit-ton about you. But Ineverexpected you to just call out the killer and challenge him to come after you!”

“I thought that was what you wanted. You kissed me and pulled me down to the sand so we’d create a show if he was watching on the camera at the rental booth.”

“Back the hell up,” he barked.

She tried to take a step back, but the bed was right there.

Only he hadn’t been talking about a literal step back.

“You think I kissed you on that beach to attract his attention?” Just so he understood.

Emerson nodded.

“No.No.I did that shit so I could hide the fact that I was telling you about the camera.Iwant him coming after me, not you.”

“That’s not possible. You know that with this killer, it’s always a package deal.”

And Emerson had just made them one very tempting package.