Page 47 of Keeping Kara

And just like that, the reason for her anxiety hit home once more. She was terrified that Nolan was out there somewhere, waiting to strike.

“I can protect you even if I help you carry those bags,” he said softly.

“No. You need your hands free,” she insisted.

“Okay, sweetheart. You have to let Jen know that you’ve left.”

In response, she leaned over, put the bags she was carrying on the floor, and took her phone out of her back pocket. Her fingers were blurs as she typed out a message. Then she shoved the phone back into her pocket and picked up the bags. “Done. Can we go now?”

Her anxiety was making Chaos anxious. He didn’t know if she’d actually seen something that worried her, if being alone brought back bad memories, or if the rain had been enough to trigger her. But he didn’t want to take any chances.

“Okay. Stay close to me and we’ll get going.”

He took the keys from her after they left and locked the door behind them. He kept his arm around her waist as they rode down in the elevator and headed out into the rain.

Chaos got Kara settled into his Escalade and rushed around to get behind the wheel. To be on the safe side, he took several side roads to get to his house, instead of driving straight there. He didn’t see anyone following him, but if Kara had seen someone or something to worry about, he didn’t want to lead them straight to his house.

He pulled into the garage and waited until the door was shut before getting out and reaching into the back for Kara’s things.

Once inside, he armed his security system, then took her hand and pulled her over to the beanbag. He sat down, and she followed him without hesitation. He’d never been in the thing with another person before, but decided it was twice as comfortable with Kara in his arms.

He felt grateful that a woman who’d been so mistreated by a man trusted him enough to let him hold her. Because he needed that after the scare she’d given him.

“Thank you for calling me,” he said after a long moment.

“I feel as if I should apologize.”

“If you do, I won’t be happy,” Chaos told her.

“I’m not sure what happened. One second I was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner, and the next I was huddled under the window, trying to breathe.”

“PTSD, sweetheart. It happens, and it’s nothing to apologize for.”

“But…I thought I was doing so good, dealing with it all.”

“You’re still doing good. You’re human, and the brain works in weird ways.”

“Yeah,” she said doubtfully.

“You hungry?” he asked. “You didn’t eat tonight?”

“No and no. I still feel a little jittery.”

“Adrenaline dump,” Chaos said. “Why don’t we get you settled in bed and⁠—”

“I want to stay here,” she interrupted. “Will you…” Her voice trailed off.

“Will I what?”

“Stay with me?”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Positive. You make me feel safe, Arrow. I don’t know how. After what happened to me, I should be freaking out to be in a man’s arms. I don’t know why I’m not with you. All I know is that when I was under that bed, struggling to breathe, the only person I wanted to talk to was you.”

Chaos had to swallow twice to be able to speak. He was overcome with the trust this woman showed in him. He wasn’t sure he was worth it, but he’d do everything possible to make sure her trust wasn’t misplaced. “You honor me, sweetheart. Yes, we can sleep here.”

“Thank you.”