by Sofia Romano
TO PROTECT
& TO LOVE
A POSSESSIVE
ROMANCE
* * *
A MAN IN CHARGE - BOOK 2
Sofia Romano
CONTENTS
Copyright
A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series
To Protect & to Love
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by Sofia Romano. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.
A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series
Book 1: Claiming Alexandra
Book 2: To Protect & to Love (this book)
More to come...
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To Protect & to Love
I wanted her to be mine since the first time I saw her.
I want to handcuff her for my own enjoyment, but she's the victim in an armed robbery.
I'm the officer in charge of the investigation but I can hardly control myself. She's beautiful. I’ve never seen a woman like her in this town and people don't just go unnoticed around here.
I won't stop until she's mine and the whole world knows, even if that means losing my badge.
Is it right to pursue a victim in need of the law? Maybe, maybe not, but nothing is going to stop my obsession To Protect and to Love.
*To Protect and to Love is an insta-everything standalone instalove romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
Chapter 1
Joseph
I’ve never seen a woman like her in this town. I’ve lived here my entire life, and people don’t just go unnoticed here. So why is this beautiful girl sitting across from me?
Her hands shake as she takes a styrofoam cup of coffee from me. She’s trying so hard to keep it together, but I can see the tears in her eyes, how she’s fraying at the edges. I’ve never seen this woman before, but I want to scoop her up in my arms and hold her close.
“Is that everything you saw?” I ask.
“Yeah, I think that’s everything. I don’t know how much he stole from the register, but it was at least a few hundred dollars.”
“Do you think you could pick him out of a lineup?”
Her face falls. I want to put the words back into my mouth.
“He wouldn’t see me, would he?”
“No, of course not.” I rest a hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to keep you safe.”
She gives me a small smile.
“Thanks, Officer Monroe.”
I feel like I’m going crazy. I know I need to stay professional while I’m at the station. Cops are supposed to be totally straight-laced, completely professional. I know it’s not right to be having these kinds of thoughts about someone I’m here to serve and protect. But all I want is to know how her lips taste, to protect her and to claim her.
Chapter 2
Naomi
It seems like bitter, hilarious irony that the first nice guy I meet in town is a cop. It’s literally his job to be nice to me, to serve and protect. Even after my cousin Tina picks me up, I’m still thinking about his kind blue eyes, and the way his sandy hair fell in his face when he looked down at his clipboard.
“I’m so sorry, Naomi,” she says in a quiet voice.
“It’s fine,” I say with a shrug. “It’s not your fault that guy robbed the place. It could’ve happened to anyone.”
“Yeah, but I own the diner. I feel at least a little responsible.” She sighs and stares out the window as we pull into my apartment complex. “Maybe we should get rid of the overnight shift.”
“No way. We get so much business after the bars close. And besides, I really need this job.” I stare down at my hands. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“I guess.” She leans over and gives me an awkward hug from the driver’s seat. “Get some rest. I’m giving you the next two days off to take it easy. I don’t want you coming back until you’re ready.”
“Thanks,” I say as I get out of her car.
She stays in the road, watching me as I climb the metal steps up to my tiny apartment. From the window, I watch her car pull away.
Chapter 3
Joseph
At first, I just come by the diner on accident. Saturday was a late shift, and I needed coffee to get through it. But I didn't see Naomi. And then, when I didn't see her, I decided to come back again. And then again. And pretty soon, I’m stopping by to look for her for three days. On the fourth day, Naomi’s smiling face is behind the counter when I walk in. She doesn't seem to recognize me at first, but as she pours my coffee, she gets a funny look on her face.
“Do I know you?” She asks, putting a hand on her hip.
“I don't know, do you?” I say with a cock of my eyebrow.
“You look familiar. But maybe you just have one of those faces.”
“Well, I'm a man of the law, so if you know my face then you might be a troublemaker.”
I watch her face light up with recognition.
“You're the one who helped me after the robbery. Officer Monroe, right?”
“Guilty as charged.”
“So what are you doing here?” She slides into the booth across from me, placing an elbow on the table and leaning her head on her hand. She looks so beautiful and so effortless. She has no idea how sexy she is.
“Can't a guy get a coffee and some bacon without a good reason? There aren't too many places open 24 hours in town.”
“I'm sure there are even fewer places that were robbed by gunpoint.” She smirks at me.
“True, but none of them have you.”
She blushes and looks down. I want to lean across the table and kiss her right now.
“I'd like to go on a date with you.”
She chews at her bottom lip.
“Are you going to cuff me if I say no?”
“Seems more like an activity for if you say yes,” I say, taking a sip of my coffee.
She smiles and pulls a pen out of a pocket of her apron. She pulls a napkin out of the metal dispenser and scribbles her phone number on it.
“See you tomorrow,” I say as she stands and turns away.
“Tomorrow? You're awfully fast.”
“I know what I want,” I say back.
Chapter 4
Naomi
Tina senses something is up on the drive home. I can’t stop fidgeting, turning the radio up and down, adjusting my seatbelt, and staring at my eyes in the rearview mirror.
“What is going on with you?” she asks, rolling her eyes.
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“That cop asked me on a date.”
“What?” she shrieks.
“He wants to see me tomorrow.”
She lets out a whistle. “You’d better watch it, girl. If a guy is that hot to see you, it might just be a booty call.”
I feel a deep spike of anger. She doesn’t know that. She doesn’t know Joseph at all. He isn’t like that. Or at least, he doesn’t seem like he is.
“I think he’s a good guy. I don’t think he’s just after sex.”
She shrugs. “I’ve certainly never heard his name come up in the gossip mill.”
We’re quiet for the rest of the drive. When I pull up to her little brick house, she looks at me before she gets out of the car.
“Be careful, okay? I know you’re tougher than you look, but men can be dogs. Don’t get tangled up with him unless you’re sure he’s one of the good ones.”
“I will,” I say, waving at her as she climbs out of my car.
Chapter 5
Naomi
Six o’clock takes forever to arrive. It feels like I spent all day getting ready. I’m not usually the type of girl to wear a dress, but I find myself wanting to prove I can wear something other than my grubby work clothes. I want his jaw to drop a little when he sees me. And at six, when he knocks gently on my door, it does. His full lips part, and his clear blue eyes widen. It fills me with far more pleasure than it should to see him look at me. He escorts me down the narrow stairs to his car, a shiny red truck. I let out a little laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asks defensively.
“I guess I should have expected that a small town cop would drive around in a big pickup truck.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I have horses, too.”
I laugh. “Of course.”
We get in and onto the highway that leads out of town. We drive for about fifteen minutes before I get nervous.
“I wanted to take you somewhere really nice, so we’re going a bit far. One of my favorite restaurants is in the next big town. I hope that’s alright with you.”
“That makes sense,” I say, the knots in my stomach loosening.
“How long have you lived in that apartment?”
I shrug. “Two months. I moved out here about three months ago.”
“That’s a pretty rough neighborhood. I think you’ll be better off somewhere else when your lease is up.”
I sigh. “It’s what I could get on short notice.”
“I’m sure. But you’re also a beautiful young woman living on her own. Your safety is important.”
“Yeah,” I say, looking out the window and watching the cornfields pass us by.
Chapter 6
Joseph
Naomi has clearly never eaten French cuisine. She’s asked the waitress about a dozen questions about the ingredients, and she can’t pronounce half of them. I can’t help but find her adorable.
Naomi presses her lips together into a hard line. “If I had known you were taking me somewhere so fancy, I would have worn something nicer.”
“You look perfect.”
She rolls her eyes, but she smiles as she does it.
“Did you used to work here?”
“Why do you ask?” I say, taking a sip of wine.
“Everyone seems to know you.”
“My brother owns the place.”
Her eyes go wide. I watch her gaze drop to her lap. An emotion passes across her face, but I can’t read it. The distance between us, physical and emotional, feels impossible. I want her so much closer to me.
“My family owns a lot of property in the city. Most of them live here, too. But I’ve never been able to give up the small-town life.”
She nods. “I can see both sides of it. But there’s nothing like fresh country air.”
“You have to come out to my ranch sometime. It’s not huge, but it’s got all the fresh air you could want.”
She gives me a coy smile, looking up at me through her thick, dark eyelashes. “Let’s see how tonight goes.”
I feel my cock stiffen. I couldn’t possibly want her more.
Chapter 7
Naomi
The orange hues of the sunset are broken up by a thick layer of dark clouds above the tall grey buildings. We stroll through the neighborhood, and Joseph has a story for every block. He points out places near where his brother and sister live, a theater his mother owns, and memories on so many sidewalks. It feels like something out of a fairy tale. My arm is looped inside of his, and he walks on the outside edge of the street. How is this man real? And how is it me that he’s looking at?
“I have something I need to admit to you,” he says during a quiet moment.
I’ve been waiting for the bomb to drop. Nobody can be this perfect. He has to have something wrong with him. A wife? An illegitimate child? A terminal illness perhaps? Men like him don’t just happen to women like me.
“Go for it.”
“I feel the need to protect you, Naomi.”
I have to fight off laughter. “What do you mean?”
“Ever since the first time I saw you, I feel this deep need to keep you safe. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and I can see so much strength in you. But I know you’re scared, too. And I just want to keep you safe. And the best way I know how to do that is to make you mine.”
I realize, when he pauses, that we’ve stopped walking. We’re standing on a street corner with both of my hands in his, and the fading light of the sunset overhead. He’s looking at me with the sweetest, most genuine expression. There is softness in his eyes, but his grip on my hands is hard. Just in that one point of connection, my hands in his, I can feel the power of his desire, and it makes me tremble to my core.
He leans down to kiss me, and I move to meet him. His mouth is sweet and perfect. I place a hand on his sharp jawline; the rough stubble pulling at my skin. His arms snake around my middle and he pulls me hard to his chest. I’ve never been kissed like this before.
It feels so good that I don’t notice the raindrops. It takes a fat, cold drop falling on my forehead for the rain to register. I pull my face away, but he still has a grip on my body. I look up at the dark sky as the rain starts to fall faster. I laugh, and when I look back at him, he’s smiling.
“I have a place nearby,” he says softly. “We could wait out the rain together.”
“Let’s go,” I whisper.
He grabs my hand and we run down the slick streets, laughing.
Chapter 8
Naomi
He stops at a high rise building, one of many huge concrete monsters, and pulls open the big glass door. There is a small lobby, and the man in it greets Joseph as Mr. Monroe before leading us to the elevator. We go to the 37th floor of the building. I swear my ears pop on the way up. The hallway only has four doors, which I didn’t expect. Joseph leads me to the one in the back left, inserting a key and flicking on lights. Most of the back wall is a window, floor to ceiling, with a gorgeous view of the city. The furniture is sleek and modern, with bright, light wood floors and a thick, black sofa.
I shiver in the doorway as he moves to the kitchen.
“I don’t spend much time here; so, it may take a few minutes for the heat to kick on.”
“That’s okay,” I say through chattering teeth.
“I’ll make some coffee. Do you want to take a shower?”
I drift into the kitchen and catch my reflection in the glass door of a double stacked oven. My hair is stuck to my neck in thick, wet ribbons, and my mascara is starting to run.
“Would that be alright? I don’t want to impose.”
He smiles. “Make yourself at home. I insist.”
“I don’t have anything to change into.”
“Wear something of mine.”
I’ve never had a better shower. It’s stocked with a small hoard of soaps that smell amazing, and the water is powerful and hot. The water heater in my apartment is painfully fickle, and my body was craving this heat. When
I’m done, I wrap myself in an impossibly fluffy towel and pad into the bedroom. I dig through the drawers and pull a plain, white undershirt and a pair of red boxers over my naked body.
I pad barefoot into the kitchen, and Joseph slides a mug of coffee into my hands. I feel the steam on my face and luxuriate in the sensation before looking back at him. He’s watching me with an odd look on his face.
“What?” I ask with an embarrassed smile.
“I like the sight of you in my clothes.”
Chapter 9
Joseph
Every fiber of my being wants her. As I watch her sip coffee, my mind goes wild with fantasies. I want to know what it feels like to pull my clothes off of her body. I wonder if she put her underwear back on, or if there are just a few thin layers of fabric between her nude body and my eyes.
“I want you so fucking bad,” I breathe.
She blushes. “Here I am. You have me.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“Tell me.” She sets her mug on the granite countertop and leans against it, cocking her hip out to one side.
“I want you to be mine. I want you to give yourself to me completely. I want to protect you fully, from anything and everything.”
She bites her lip. I take a step closer.
“And I want to fuck you. I want to make you cum and cum. I want to fill you up with me, and I want you to have my children.”
She drops her gaze, but she takes a step closer to me. I can feel the warmth of her body through our clothing.
“I’ve never let anyone this close to me before,” she says.
I grab her hips and pull them to mine.
“I want to feel you close,” I tell her.
