Page 95 of Blake

For a long moment, she gave herself permission to stay just like that.

“Billy’s still out there,” she murmured.

“Yeah. He is.”

“If he’s not the one from my apartment, that means whoever is after me is likely connected to the medical billing fraud we found.” Devon swallowed. “They killed Carol, and now they’re trying to kill me, too.”

Blake’s expression hardened. “That’s not going to happen.” His jaw tightened. “I won’t let it. We’re going to keep digging until we find out who’s responsible.”

“You sound pretty sure of yourself.”

“When it comes to keeping you safe?” He palmed her cheek, his thumb caressing her skin. “You’re damn right, I am.”

Devon couldn’t help but smile.

“I can’t tell if you're confident or cocky.”

“Both.” His lips curved. “Definitely both.”

The wink he gave made her heart twirl.

For what felt like forever, she’d allowed her fear to dictate almost every decision she made. When she worked. When—or if—she left her apartment. Whether she answered the phone or her door.

Her fear had even decided whether she let anyone get close enough to matter. Spoiler alert, she hadn’t.

But now . . .

Devon lifted her head and looked at Blake. Somewhere between their late-night conversations, his lame jokes, and the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention, she’d fallen for him.

Hard.

The realization wasn’t new. What surprised her now was that she no longer wanted to fight it.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked.

She hesitated. “Just thinking.”

“Uh, oh. That’s dangerous.”

“Especially around you.”

He chuckled, then brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Blake?” She caught his hand before he could pull away.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

His brows drew together. “For what?”

“For believing me when I wasn’t even sure I believed myself.”

Something changed in his expression.

“Dev—”

“Let me finish.” She smiled faintly. “I spent so long trying to control everything because I thought that was the only way I could feel safe. But you make me want things I stopped letting myself think about.”