Soul Protector (31 page)

“Gracie, I promise you, I will
never
hurt you again.” He reached towards me, but I stepped
back.

“Please, Gracie, don’t push me
away.”

“I need you to leave now.” I
managed to sound like I meant it.

Hurt flashed across Dan’s
features as he reached for his backpack and slung it over his
shoulder.

I couldn’t bear to look at him
any longer and forced myself to cross the room. I took a deep
breath and pulled the door handle down. Heart pounding, I braced
myself to close the door after he walked out.

I heard his footsteps behind
me, but instead of walking out, he stopped short. I jumped as he
raised his arm above my head and slammed the door shut.

I spun round. He kept his arm
raised above me, holding the door firmly closed, and moved nearer
so I was wedged.

His eyes smouldered as he
spoke. “I know this is crap timing - you’ve got so much going on in
your head right now - but I can’t leave until you tell me how you
feel.”

My breath came fast and
shallow, and I couldn’t find any words.

“Because I know how I feel
about you, Gracie. I’m in love with you.”

I tried to swallow down the
emotion clawing at my throat.

His eyes never left my face.
“The time we’ve spent apart has been so
hard
. It’s made me
realise I need to be with you.”

His looks were an unfair
advantage and I squeezed my eyes shut to try and break the spell. I
felt his hot breath on my cheek, and it turned my insides to
liquid.

“Dan, please don’t do this,” I
managed to pant.

I only opened my eyes when I
felt him back off. He hadn’t moved far.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to
pressure you. It’s okay if you don’t love me back.”

I ran shaky fingers through my
hair, pulling it forwards.

“But I’m not leaving unless you
tell me you don’t love me,” he added.

“I, uh, I don’t know what to
say.”

He moved forward and placed his
hand gently on my face, his fingers grazed my cheek as he swept the
hair back off my face.

“All you have to do is tell me
how you feel.”

What I felt was electricity
flowing from his fingertips and into my skin. Something about the
way he looked at me made my insides melt and I caught my
breath.

He must have noticed a shift in
my expression because he let his backpack slip down his other arm
and crash to the floor. Without breaking eye contact he reached
around my waist and instinctively I wrapped myself around him,
allowing him to lift me up. I looked into his eyes, and I knew I
was past resisting him.

He leant forward and pressed
his mouth to mine and I felt like I’d never be able to get enough
of him. I ran my fingers through his silky hair and down the smooth
skin at the back of his neck. I felt his strong arms supporting me
as we kissed, and we stayed like that until I couldn’t breathe
anymore.

When I paused for air, Dan
spoke, his breath catching wisps of my hair.

“Tell me how you feel.”

I couldn’t believe he needed
words. I leaned in to kiss him again, but he frowned and his voice
took on a more demanding tone. “Tell me, Gracie.”

My eyes flicked from his lips
to his eyes. I put my hands on either side of his face, and traced
his jaw line.

“I love you, Dan. I’ve always
loved you.”

He closed his eyes and let a
deep breath escape from his lips. Then he began kissing me again,
more urgently this time. I was overwhelmed by my hunger for him,
and tried to push myself harder against his body.

I felt his muscles lengthen and
contract as he changed his hold on me and began walking towards the
bedroom. He eased me onto the bed, and I got a jolt of déjà-vous.
But this time was so different from the last time he was in my
bedroom.

He didn’t take his eyes off me
as he pulled my hoodie up and over my head. I shivered as the cool
air hit my skin and folded my arms, rubbing at them. He gently
uncrossed them again. “You’re beautiful. Don’t hide yourself.”

He began to unbutton his shirt,
revealing a tanned, firm body. I held my hands out and began
running them over his warm chest and down to his stomach, enjoying
the delicious contours of his muscles.

He lowered himself onto the
bed, chivalrous enough to support his weight and not squash me like
Mike used to. After smoothing all the wild strands of my hair out
the way, he started to kiss me again, tantalisingly slow this
time.

Later, as we lay side-by-side
in the darkness, still breathless, Dan dangled his arm across to my
face and traced my lips. I was staring at the ceiling, unable to
stop grinning like an idiot.

“What, no wow this time?” he
teased.

I turned my head towards him.
“I’m playing hard to get.”

“I would say you just
failed.”

I took a deep breath. “Dan, did
you honestly have no idea how I felt about you?”

He shook his head, smiling.
“But I do now.”

“Well, I exaggerated. It wasn’t
really love at
first
sight.”

His smile dropped.

“Because I only fell in love
with you
after
I realised you weren’t going to kill me.”

He laughed and leant over to
kiss the tip of my nose. “You know, you should have told me how you
felt before.”

“I couldn’t. I thought it would
scare you off.”

He shook his head. “Believe me,
that wouldn’t have happened.”

He wrapped his strong arms
around me and pulled me in tighter.

~~~

CHAPTER 25

.

Some Things Never Change

.

Months later, sitting in
Vertoni’s with Dan by my side, I couldn’t have felt happier. I’d
passed the Chinese whispers test and was now a fully-fledged
Professional Soul Protector. Although as far as my friends and
family knew, I worked for the same government department as Dan and
Tom, and we weren’t allowed to discuss our work.

All my favourite people had
come out for my birthday dinner. Mum sat across from me, looking
radiant. By her side was James, her
friend
. She hadn’t known
him for long. It certainly wasn’t serious. They enjoyed each
other’s company and had fun going out for meals and to the cinema.
I’d expected her to take a long time getting over Terry, and
although she’d been low for a while, she really was okay. I
obviously helped her along by switching a couple of times, it was
the least I could do.

Lydia and
MyPhil
had
joined us too. After our chat in the café, she decided not to give
up on him and now they were stronger than ever. She was genuinely
thrilled about me and Dan too.

Joe picked up the wine bottles,
and began filling glasses, red or white according to preference. I
was surprised to see Lydia put her hand across the top of her
glass, catching Joe mid-splosh.

“Don’t waste it,” Kerry burst
out, grabbing her glass and thrusting it in place of Lydia’s.

Tom had come along with Dan.
Now the group of CSPs had been busted, they weren’t getting called
on shouts all hours of the day and were enjoying some free time on
their hands.

Tom was sat chatting to Marcus,
who got on well with just about everyone, and my sister, Michelle.
She’d finally moved back home with Mum, and we’d finally managed to
put the whole Mike affair behind us.

The last person to make up our
party was Emily. Since I’d introduced her to Mum, they had become
firm friends. Mum was still helping her break the chains that kept
her tied to her abusive boyfriend.

After I established she was
being physically abused, Dan and Tom paid Graham a visit. Somehow
he’d been persuaded to leave Emily alone. I could only guess at
their tactics. He deserved it, but I was glad not to witness any of
it.

Since then, Emily had blossomed
back into the person she apparently used to be - bubbly and
outgoing. It was amazing to see the transformation and I was
thrilled to have played a small part in her recovery.

A waiter came over with a
bottle of champagne, and started to fill up our glasses. Michelle
raised her glass in the air and proposed a toast. “To my very
special sister. Happy birthday, Gracie.”

Everyone chorused ‘happy
birthday’ as we clinked glasses and drank the lovely bubbly.

I heard the noise of a chair
scraping.
MyPhil
stood up, tapping a spoon against his
glass.

“Can I have your attention
everyone,” he bellowed.

We all stopped what we were
doing, and looked in his direction. I felt Dan’s hand come to rest
on my thigh.

“Lydia and I have a special
announcement to make.”

MyPhil
beamed down at
Lydia, who took her cue to stand up beside her man. He put his arm
around her. “My beautiful fiancée and I…” he closed his mouth,
pausing to gain maximum impact, “… are expecting the patter of tiny
feet.”

We all fell into a stunned
silence. Across the table, I saw Kerry’s eyebrows twitching.

I was the first to speak.
“Well, bloody hell you two… Congratulations.”

Then our table erupted.
Everyone started talking at once, congratulating the pair of them,
asking how Lydia was feeling, and when the due date was supposed to
be.

Dan squeezed my thigh, and I
looked into his eyes, smiling. It wasn’t forced, but absolutely
natural. This time I really was chuffed for my friend.

“Phil and Lydia still grabbing
the limelight, eh?” Dan murmured.

I picked his hand up off my
lap, and squeezed it with my own. I was more than happy for Lydia
to have the limelight this time. I already had everything I
wanted.

###

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