Protect Her

Chapter Nineteen

Camryn

When I woke up the next morning, I felt disoriented under the weight of something. I opened my eyes, realizing that Derek was still lying in the bed next to me with his arm draped over my body. He must have fallen asleep last night before he could go to his own room. I had to admit that it felt good to wake up to him like that, but I tried to shut off that mindset before it even started.

The awkwardness between us before I got the picture was still looming in the air and I knew he'd want to talk about it once things settled down. I wanted to avoid that for as long as possible, though, so I wiggled out from underneath him and did my best not to disturb him or Riley as I snuck out of the room.

It was quiet in the apartment and, as I stepped out on the balcony, I felt sad that we were going to be leaving this place. We'd only been here a few days, but it felt so magical. We were so high in the sky you could see for miles, and it was like we were in our little world. It had felt a little like home, and once again, we were leaving. Kids were resilient, but Riley was having to deal with so much in such a short amount of time I was getting a little worried. She was incredibly attached to Derek, and when he left, it would be heartbreaking for her.

I had let my guard down again last night with Derek, and this morning I was kind of regretting it. The more I let him in, the more I was just setting myself up for failure and heartbreak of my own. He came rushing back like the knight in shining armor he was, and I had let him save me once again. The only problem was I needed to figure out how to save myself.

The door opened behind me, and I turned to see him.

"You're up early." He joined me at the railing. "Couldn't sleep?"

"I actually slept really well. I just wanted to come out here and take advantage of our last minutes with a view like this." I leaned against it, folding my hands together.

"You'll like the new place even better, if you can believe that." Derek flashed me a dimpled grin. "It's my favorite out of all my properties."

"How many houses do you own in Canada?"

"A few." He smirked. "You can never have too many safe houses in my line of work."

"Yes, I've heard the financial industry is highly dangerous." I teased. I was well aware of the fact that Derek was involved in some seriously shady shit. He just hid it behind his legal, financial company.

"She's got jokes this morning." He laughed. "I'm glad to see it, even if you are giving me a hard time."

We stood in silence for a few minutes, and then Derek spoke again.

"So you want to tell me why you've been so standoffish the last few days...?"

"Standoffish?" I frowned. "I've just been trying to give you space."

Derek let out a sharp laugh. "Space? Why?"

I could already feel the embarrassment blanketing my cheeks. "I thought that's what you wanted. Isn't that why you went back to New York?"

Derek looked at me, completely dumbfounded. "Camryn, I went to New York because I needed to take care of some things for work. Exactly like I told you."

"Oh." I blushed, looking away. "I just thought..."

"You thought I was trying to get away from you?" He arched his eyebrow at me.

"Well... yeah. It was the day after we kissed the first time and I guess I thought you might be having seconds thoughts."

Derek shook his head. "You are something else, you know that?"