Free Unlikely Hero (Atlanta #1) by Kemmie Michaels Page B

response:  

    M~
    I’ve had no victory. I haven't let anyone close enough to prove anything to anyone, not to that asshole, not to myself. I don’t feel strong at all. I feel empty. That’s been my thing for a long time.
    ~E

    Marcus touched those words over and over again. His heart broke for Erin. She really had been completely dead to the world for five years. She was a work-robot with no real friends, no semblance of love with the exception of long-distance parents.  
    For the first time in his life, he had the urge to take a woman in his arms and just hold her for hours. He wanted the warmth of his body to melt five years of ice from hers.  
    He would take as long as needed to break through the depth of the glacier she had formed around herself. He wouldn't let her go until she felt soft, warm, and safe in his arms. If she'd let him.  
    He thought of nothing else during the remainder of his shift. He hadn't been able to respond yet; he was too raw from her hurt. He mourned the loss of her five years for her. How do you help someone to grieve their own death? Especially someone you hadn't technically met yet…  
    He was so angry to think of how much she lost at the hands of that entitled, over-puffed college boy. Thank goodness Marcus had no idea who that asshole could be. Marcus's rage was an impressive thing. He wanted to use his anger and training to make an impression on Erin's attacker.
    By the end of the shift, Marcus had thought his way through her note and had decided on a response. He didn’t feel he had any other choice than to ask what he needed to.

    E~
    It truly breaks my heart to think of you scared and alone for so long. I'm sure you're terrified even now for telling me that. Don't worry, I'll take good care of it, just like I have with everything else you've told me. But now I really want to just take care of you , not just your story.  
    I spent a lot of years holding my sister through her tears when she was broken and scared. You have no idea how badly I want to hold on to you, too. Words in this book aren’t enough right now. I hope you don't find that frightening.  
    I will never do anything to hurt you or break your trust and I know I’m probably scaring you right now for asking, but you haven't let anyone in. I think you need that, even if you're scared of it. I want you trust me. I want to help. You’re safe with me. I'm strong enough to protect you. Will you let me?
    ~Marcus Walker

    Erin sat at her cafe table, stared at his note, and started crying again. His name was Marcus and he wanted to take care of her. He wanted to be her champion and hold her while she cried. And even though she wanted to, meeting him already was too much to consider, even after all these months.  
    Suddenly those notes that brought her close to him seemed like a path to her undoing. She had been so safe and closed away from people for so long, she didn’t even realize she had let him in as far as she had. Sharing herself had been too easy in that book, but now look what she had done! She was open and exposed and he wanted to meet her outside of the safety of her journal.  
    The thought of meeting him terrified her — but not because he scared her. That wasn’t the problem. She was so scared of being vulnerable again. She had worked so damn hard to keep that from happening. And she was scared because she wanted to meet him. Allowing herself the potential to feel something, even something good, made her want to shrink back into the chasm and stay there.
    She held back the sobs threatening to rack her body and pulled out her cell phone. She texted Scott and told him she wasn't going to be in to work. She went straight home and locked her door.  
    Erin dropped down onto her couch and started to sob. She never told anyone what happened at that party with the exception of the psychologist she saw. She was too ashamed and embarrassed to tell her family. She tried to tell a roommate from school about how