Free Not Your Hero by Anna Brooks Page A

is between us.” She leans into me to emphasize her distaste, and her damn attitude is making me hard again.
    “Why would I lie to you? Hmm? What gain do I get from that?”
    “Because you think if I think you’re not sleeping with her then I’ll magically spread my legs for you again. Not gonna happen. It shouldn’t have happened the first time.”
    I shake my head at the bullshit coming from her mouth. I’ve never argued with a woman before like this. It’s insane. “You’re fucking nuts, Court. You wanted it just as bad as me. And if you’d open your pretty little eyes, you’d see that I’m looking back at you, not just to get between your legs.”
    “Whatever. I don’t care.” Again, she turns to walk away.
    “If you don’t care, then why are you so pissed?” My words make her freeze. She rests her forehead on the door and shakes her head back and forth.
    “You care for the same reasons I don’t want to. Christ, woman. You make me feel. ”
    Without turning around, she answers, “How am I supposed to know that? You haven’t given me a reason to believe you feel anything other than a hard-on.”
    I laugh, but she turns to glare at me and my laughter dies when I see the unshed tears in her eyes. “Come here.” I hold my arms out, and she hesitates a second before walking into them and burying her face in my chest. “I swear to you, this is me trying. What else do you want from me?”
    “This is you trying what?”
    I run my hands through her hair and contemplate my answer. What do I really want? A relationship? A steady lay?
    “How’s this? You don’t go on any more dates, and I won’t, either.”
    Her laughter vibrates across my chest. “You call them dates. How chivalrous of you.”
    “Don’t laugh at me. This is a big deal.”
    She pulls back. “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s okay.”
    “So, since I can’t date, are you going to take me out?” She raises her eyebrows in challenge.
    “I don’t do the whole dinner thing.”
    “Then I won’t be doing you.”
    “You sure about that?” I grip her ass and press her against my hard cock.
    She gasps and pushes away laughing. “One date, Sam. After that, we can see where this will go.”
    “Just one date until I can get into your pants? Why, Ms. Gallagher, you’re a bit easy.”
    “I didn’t say you’d get into my pants. I said that we’ll see. I really think we should talk about this. You’re my landlord, and I have Ben. I can’t risk this getting ugly. I need this place to live.”
    I’m pissed that she’d think so low of me. “Let me tell you this one time. Then I never want to talk about it again, okay?”
    “About what?”
    “I would never kick you and Ben out. And I’d never do anything to hurt him. I can’t promise I won’t upset you along the way, but I would die before I let anything bad happen to that kid.”
    “‘Kay,” she whispers.
    “‘Kay.” I lean down and brush my lips against hers. Sealing my fate.

9
    Courtney
    AFTER MAKING MY LITTLE deal with Sam, I go to bed with a smile on my face. I’m not going to settle, but who wants to go through life alone? Not me. And I know it would be good with Sam. The potential of an ‘us’ makes my heart swell.
    “Mommy?”
    I sit up and turn my lamp on. “What’s wrong, baby?”
    “I had a bad dream.” Ben’s voice is choppy, and his fear breaks my heart.
    “Come on up.” I pat my bed and he jumps on, crawling under the covers to snuggle next to me.
    “What was the dream about?”
    He yawns. “There was a bad guy in the house. He was chasing me.”
    “Oh, honey. There’s nobody here.”
    “I know.”
    I rub his back, trying to soothe him as he catches his breath from the tears.
    “Mommy?”
    “Yes, Benjamin?”
    “I was scared ‘cause we don’t have a daddy, and I’m not big enough to save you if a bad guy comes.”
    In the silence that follows, I can hear my heart crack.
    “We’ll be okay.” I rub his back and turn my head so he can’t see