Roam (Guarding Her Book 5)

by Anna Brooks

  My outgoing, beautiful saving grace. Her entire life broken by a corrupt career criminal.

  She may be smiling right now, but it’s not the smile I know and love. She’s not the same.

  I’m not the same.

  But now she needs to come back. She needs to be with me. I need her.

  An entire script of dialogue scratches against my skull. Words I want to say to her. Declarations I want to make. Promises I need to keep. Yet when she tucks her short red hair behind her ear, throws her head back, and laughs, I forget how to pronounce the alphabet.

  Waiting three years for her was absolute torture, but watching her, being this close and not being able to touch her or let her know I’m here, is insanity. If I was in my old Tahoe, she might recognize it sitting in front of her apartment. But during all the shit with Marco, I upgraded to have more safety features installed after someone shot at me while I was driving.

  The air around me is thick. I tug at my collar even though I’m only in a white t-shirt. After taking a drink of water and tossing the empty bottle on the floor board, I finally see him starting to leave.

  They hug, and he walks around to the driver’s side of his car. I left my seat belt on so something restrained me from climbing out and ripping this guy’s fuckin’ arms off his body. He gets in a Prius and drives away while she waves. Once he’s around the corner, she goes back into the apartment building.

  As soon as the door closes behind her, I unclench my hands from the steering wheel. Then I release the seat belt. And then I take the keys out of the ignition.

  I wait. One second. Two. Five. When I get to ten, I stop waiting.

  My large strides take me inside, and a security guard holds his tattooed arms out. “Hey there. Can I help you?”

  I flash my badge at him and jog to the stairs, ignoring him as he says something I don’t care to hear. I take the time to appreciate she at least has a security guard in the lobby of her building, but that’s the only second my brain allows it to be distracted from my goal.

  Finding her door, I knock immediately. A lock clicks, the knob turns, and then the door opens. “Forget something, Ad—” Livvie stops talking midsentence, snapping her mouth shut so hard her teeth clatter as her skin pales.

  God, she’s so beautiful.

  “Hi, Butterfly.”

  She becomes paralyzed. I watch as her body stiffens. Her lips barely part, and with one hand on the knob, she doesn’t even blink.

  Nothing.

  “Livvie, baby, you’re safe now. It’s finally over.” I take a step, close enough to get a whiff of coconuts, and it takes me back. It brings it all back. “It’s time for you to come home.”

  Her eyes roll back in her head as her knees give way.

  “Shit.” I reach in and grab her. Pulling her to me, I lift her into my arms, holding her close.

  She’s real. This, right now, is real. I have her back in my arms.

  I kick the door shut and then carry her over to her couch. She doesn’t stir, but when I sit and begin stroking her short hair, her eyes flutter.

  “Livvie, baby. Wake up, sweetie.”

  “Jay.” She whispers my name and tries to sit up.

  “Don’t try to get up yet. Just breathe.”

  Her eyes are closed, but a tear falls out, racing down the side of her face faster than my eye can track it. I lift her upper body closer while I lower mine. Probably tighter than I should, I just hold her. Burying my face in her neck, I slowly rock her back and forth and take a full breath for the first time in three years.

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  About the Author

  The first time Anna tried to read a romance novel, her hair caught on fire when she leaned over a candle to sneak a peek at her mom’s Harlequin. She thinks being hit on the head with a shirtless Fabio until the smoke cleared is what sparked the flame for her love of romance.

  Anna was born in Wisconsin, but lives in Texas with her husband and two boys. She writes sexy romance that always has a happy ending and loves bringing characters back for cameos. Less than six degrees of separation connects any of her novels.

  When she’s not writing or reading, she’s watching reruns of her favorite romcoms, talking to her dog and cat like they’re human, eating carbs, or practicing hand lettering.

  She loves to hear from readers and can be found on social media as @annabrooksauth everywhere, or you can contact her from her website.

  Acknowledgments

  I have made the absolute best friends the past few years, and it wouldn’t be right to start my acknowledgments without thanking them for their support. In order to avoid me being my normal scatter-brained self and accidentally leaving someone out, I’m going to say this to those women I’m lucky enough to call my friends; thank you for being there for me. I know you have your own life, your own books, your own family, so when you take the time out of your busy schedule for me (or listen when I overload your inbox with voice messages), from the bottom of my heart, I love you and am forever grateful for your friendship.

  Thank you so much to Emily for all of your support and the rest of the amazing team at Social Butterfly PR.

  To my super awesome beta readers! Your input is invaluable. Thank you so much for your feedback and suggestions! <3

  Huge shout out to my amazing team who helped me polish up this book, inside and out: Anna, Jenny, Kimberly, and Stacey. You are all the best and I am so grateful to be working with you guys again!

  To all of the readers, bloggers, and reviewers, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you.

  And of course, to my husband and two boys. I love you guys.