Never to Hope by Aimie Grey Page A

have happened. “Did you have it with you in the bathroom?”
    “No, I keep it hidden in the linen closet. When I heard a noise, I jumped out of the shower, grabbed it, and then found him with his hands on you. Trust me, baby, there was no way he could have turned it on me.”
    “I-I do trust you.” Probably more than you trust me.
    “Would you feel better if you learned how to shoot?”
    “Maybe. I don’t know. I panicked when I woke up, and I forgot everything I was supposed to do. It’s probably for the best I didn’t have a deadly weapon within reach.”
    “I swear I’ll protect you from now on.”
    “You d-did protect me. You saved me. I froze, I let him have the upper hand, I couldn’t breathe, and you saved me.” I buried my face into his shirt to hide my ugly cry.
    “It shouldn’t have happened to begin with. I should’ve been out of the shower before you got home. I promise you, there will not be a next time. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

Chapter Ten
    “What can I get for you, baby?” I asked one of the frat boys who sat in my section along with five other guys in matching T-shirts. All six of them stared at my tits for almost a full minute before ordering a pitcher of the cheapest ale on tap. They could stare all they wanted since it usually made for better tips. However, college kids were notoriously stingy, and with their order, I’d be lucky to get more than five bucks. But at least I wouldn’t have to fuck any of them.
    When I turned to head to the bar, I nearly bounced off of a solid wall of man. “What are you doing here?” I tried in vain to cover my exposed nipples as I stepped around him.
    “I came to talk to you about something.” He glanced around the space and then back to me as we continued to cross the room. “I see other servers wearing bras. Why are you putting on a peep show?”
    “Well, I recently took a huge pay cut,” I explained as I pushed by him to continue on to the bar. “I have to boost my tips in any way I can. Plus, the more I make, the sooner I can get out of this hell hole.”
    He grabbed me mid-stride and pulled me against his chest. “These are mine,” he said as his thumbs grazed the sides of my breasts. “You need to keep them covered up.”
    “And if I don’t?”
    “If you don’t, I’ll haul your naked ass back to my bed and not let you out of it until you remember exactly who you belong to.”
    “You aren’t exactly encouraging me to be good, you know.” He was being an ass, but his possessiveness had a way of turning me on. Before Carter, no one had ever cared one way or the other.
    “How much longer do you have?”
    I looked over to the clock above the bar. “Another hour.”
    “I’ll wait, and then we are going to talk.”
    “You don’t need to babysit me. I know what I’m doing.” He turned his gaze to the floor. “You don’t trust me. You think I’m going to sleep with everyone in this room.”
    “Can you blame me? The last time I was here that’s exactly what you were doing.” Regret washed across his face as soon as he’d said the last word. “I’m sorry. This place just brings out the worst in me. I do trust you; I just don’t trust these perverts, and with good cause.”
    “Fuck you.” He gently grabbed my upper arm so I couldn’t storm off.
    “That’ll come later. Until then, I’m keeping an eye on what’s mine to make sure no one else touches.”
    For the next fifty-eight minutes, Carter sat at the bar and followed me around with his eyes like an overprotective guard dog, only getting up once to growl at a customer who looked at me a little too long for his liking. When my shift was finally over, I changed into my street clothes and found him waiting for me right outside of the dressing room.
    “Go ahead and say whatever it is you want to say. I’m hungry, tired, and my feet are killing me.”
    “Let’s go eat, it would be better to talk somewhere else, anyway.” His anger was still