Chance: A Small Town, Enemies to Lovers, Protector Romance (Ghost Ops Book 2)
Chance: Chapter 9

As expected,she lost her shit. Chance folded his arms over his chest and let her rant about how there was no way in hell he was moving in, she didn’t need his help, didn’t want him in her space, and had no intentions of letting it happen. She’d bar the door with Liza Jane if it came down to it.

“Not afraid, Rory,” he said when she sputtered out of things to say. “You can threaten me with that gun all you want, but you’re too smart to shoot me.”

“Wanna bet?”

Her head was tipped back, her hazel eyes fiery, her blonde hair clipped on her head in a messy knot. Her skin was flushed, and her chest heaved beneath the thin T-shirt she wore. She’d said that stress affected her blood sugar. He knew he couldn’t stop her from stressing, but he was damned sure going to be ready to get more apple juice, or whatever she needed.

That’s why he’d stood in the first place, but now he appreciated the dominant vantage point as he stared down at her and watched her cycle through a range of emotions. She didn’t stand, maybe because she was too shaky—which he didn’t like—but his was the position of authority and she was damned well going to listen to him.

“When do you plan to tell the kid you shot his or her father, huh?”

Just saying those words boiled up a whole lot of emotion inside, but he kept a lid on it. Rory was lashing out because she was angry and maybe a bit scared. She wasn’t truly violent, not even when she’d punched him in the arm that day. She wasn’t like his mother.

Charity Hughes had always been a bit broken inside, so when she’d shot and killed his father that awful day, it wasn’t as much a surprise to most people as it had been to him. She’d been stonily silent when the police found her, stonily silent during her trial. Not that he’d been allowed to go to the trial, but he’d read about it when he’d gotten older.

Guilty. Life in prison.

Rory wasn’t that kind of person, no matter how she blustered. Her cheeks were red as she dropped her gaze.

“You play dirty, Chance.”

“Told you that last night, didn’t I?”

Her chin lifted. “I’m not going to shoot you, but you still aren’t moving in.”

“Wanna bet?”

She glared at him. He glared back. “It’s been fifteen minutes,” he said softly. “Check your sugar.”

She picked up her phone to read the monitor. “Another glass of apple juice, please.”

He went to get it, fuming inside and frustrated that she seemed to despise him so much. She hadn’t for at least a couple of weeks. He’d preferred that relationship over this one. Hell, he’d just like a smile when she saw him instead of a frown. That would be enough for a while.

Chance poured the juice and returned to her. She drank it, frowning the whole time.

He wanted to tell her to calm down, but he knew how that would go. Like tossing a match onto jet fuel.

“Thank you,” she said when she finished. “I’ll check again in fifteen.”

Chance looked at his watch. He needed to be on the way to Research Park if he was going to make the client meeting at Griffin Research Labs, but he didn’t want to leave her. Not when she was like this. And not when some asshole had been creeping around her property last night. Could be someone after her grandfather’s stuff like she said, but it could be the construction company too.

He didn’t know which possibility he liked least. Neither one was safe, especially when she lived alone.

Chance took out his phone and sent a text to Seth. A few seconds later, the reply pinged back.

Seth:

Yeah, I can do it. Everything okay?

Chance:

I’m fine. But somebody was at Rory’s place last night and I’m concerned it was the construction guys. She’s having low blood sugar issues too. Says stress causes it.

Seth:

Damn. Good you’re staying with her. I’ll let the boss know I’m taking your place.

Chance:

Thanks. I’ll call him soon. Is the range covered for the day?

Seth:

It’s handled. Daphne continues to amaze with her organizational skills.

Chance:

Kane still denying he’s hovering like a big brother?

Seth:

Oh yeah. Denial is his middle name these days.

Chance couldn’t figure it out. Kane was one of the most womanizing dudes he knew, always dating a new lady, always flirting, always soaking in the female adulation. But for some reason, he didn’t flirt with Daphne. He didn’t try to charm her. He literally hovered over her like a protective big brother and denied he was doing it.

Whatever. Wasn’t Chance’s problem.

He turned to look at Rory, who was scrolling through her phone instead of haranguing him about moving in. He knew the conversation wasn’t over, but if ignoring it helped her blood sugar normalize, then he was all for it.

“Seth’s going to take my client in Research Park today, and the range is covered. I can do a more thorough sweep of the buildings now that it’s light, and I can fix breakfast. I let the chickens out and fed them. Collected the eggs. Anything else you need done?”

She looked up, her eyes tired instead of angry for a change. “Thank you, but you don’t have to stay with me today. Everything will be fine soon. I was planning to do some laundry and I need to cut the grass before I head over to the Dawg later.”

“Too late, Rory. I’ll cut the grass for you.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Will you now?”

Damn he loved her spirit, even if she pissed him off with it sometimes. “If you prefer to do it, I’ll do laundry. Just tell me which one.”

Because he knew insisting wasn’t the way. Give her a choice, let her make the decision.

She sniffed. “I don’t trust you with my laundry.”

“Afraid I’ll steal a pair of panties and sleep with ’em under my pillow?”

She blinked. “No. I was more afraid you’d wash my Alabama sweatshirt with bleach or something.”

He snorted. “I wouldn’t. But it’s a good idea. Filing that one away for the future. Just in case.”

“In case what?”

“In case you try to hide the Ole Miss gear from our kid.”

Her eyes widened for a moment. “Oh my God. If you think for one second my child is wearing Ole Miss colors, you’ve lost your marbles.”

“We’ll come up with a schedule. Some days are Ole Miss, others are Alabama.”

“I think whoever’s won the most national championships should be the primary. The only, in fact.”

She said it primly. Made him laugh. “Wonder why you think that?”

“Seems fair to me.”

“It would.”

“So you admit Alabama is superior?”

“I admit no such thing, Aurora. But I’ll consider it.”

“Can’t deny the truth, Chancy Pants.” She grinned then and it was like watching the sun come out. In that moment, he didn’t want to deny anything if it kept her smiling at him.

“You feeling better?”

She checked the numbers on her phone. “Yes. All is normal again.”

He couldn’t help but frown. “I don’t like how fast that happened, Rory. If you were here alone, then what?”

There went the smile. “I’ve been living alone for five years. Think I got it.”

“You nearly fainted. How would you have made it to the kitchen and poured juice if that happened?”

She looked uncomfortable. “That was because of you. I didn’t expect you to know about the pregnancy yet. I wasn’t prepared for it.”

He didn’t think that was entirely true but he wasn’t going to argue with her. “Okay, but you have to acknowledge that you don’t yet know what being pregnant is going to do to your body and your blood sugar. Maybe having somebody around for a while is a good idea.”

She arched an eyebrow. “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to convince me you need to move in here and take care of me instead of insisting you’re going to do it anyway.”

“Is it working?”

She growled. “I don’t like you. I don’t want you here.”

That pricked his pride. “You liked me well enough to make a baby. Were you even planning to tell me?”

“I liked your dick and your mouth and the way you use them when you aren’t saying things that piss me off. I didn’t know we’d get a baby out of it. Definitely wasn’t my plan. And yes, I was going to tell you. I just hadn’t figured out how yet.”

“It’s your plan to keep the baby, so that means you keep me in your life too. Can’t have it both ways, Rory.”

She closed her eyes. “I know. Dammit!”

Really, he was trying not to let her dislike of him hurt, but it did. He wasn’t a bad guy. Sure, he liked women and he’d flirted with a lot of them in the Dawg in plain sight of her. But since the first moment he’d seen her standing behind that bar, he hadn’t taken a single one of them home. Hell, he hadn’t even gotten laid since he set foot in Alabama other than the two weeks he’d spent with her.

“I’m gonna make this easy for you, babe. I’m staying, at least until we know who was creeping around here and why. Maybe by then you’ll have your doctors in place and you’ll know what you have to do to keep your blood sugar stable. You can argue with me, but I’ll be at the Dawg tonight, telling everyone who’ll listen about how sweetly you sound screaming Hotty Toddy in my ear.”

Her eyebrows arrowed down. “That worked last night but it’s not working today. First of all, nobody will believe it. Second of all, even if they do, why should I care? I’m a grown-ass woman, not a girl desperately trying to fit into her high school. And finally, you may be a badass who can take down evil guys John Wick style, but Theo is my big brother and he’s going to clock you for daring to speak so crassly about me in public. And you’ll let him because you know you’re wrong.”

Well, fuck. He was impressed with her logic because it was pretty much spot on. Still wasn’t deterring him, though.

“Okay, you got me there. But I’m staying for the glaring reason that I’m the father of that kid you’re carrying and keeping you both safe is my responsibility. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you both, you hear me? If I go back to my place and something happens to you, either because your sugar crashed or because some jack-off breaks in here again and hurts you and our kid, I’d never get over it.” His blood was boiling, his temples pounding, and he had to work to keep his voice steady. “I know what it’s like to lose people, Rory. Suddenly, unexpectedly, and violently. I won’t let it happen again.”

She stared at him, her eyes wide. He thought she might argue, because that’s what she usually did, but then she swallowed and clasped her hands in her lap, her gaze dropping.

“I’m really sorry you lost someone like that,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Is that why you moved to Sutton’s Creek?”

“No. I was thirteen when it happened. Even if I’d known it was going to happen, there was nothing I could have done. I didn’t know how. But I do now. And I won’t hesitate to kill anyone who tries to hurt you.”

She shuddered, and he wondered if he’d gone too far. He was a warrior, he did what he had to do, but she wasn’t used to it. Maybe stating it so firmly was a mistake. She’d see him as a monster instead of a protector, and that wasn’t what he wanted.

“Okay, Chance. You win. Guess you’re staying. But only for a little bit, you hear me?”

It was enough for now. “Heard, understood, and acknowledged.”