Candy tossed her purse on the couch and flopped down next to it. She was always drained when she got through at the therapist but this had been a hell of a week. Her psychiatrist and her therapist had wanted multiple appointments. Bitsy whined from his crate. Her heart started fluttering but her appointments weren’t the cause. She’d called him and invited him to dinner. Just dinner and she hadn’t made a big deal about it either. Baby steps, she and her therapist had talked about setting boundaries again. She had thought she’d need a whip and a chair to keep him away but he’d been almost shy when she called him. God, she missed him.

“I’m sorry little guy. I’ll take you out now.” She got Bitsy out of his box and snapped on a leash in between getting covered in dog licks. “Love you too little guy.” Dog kisses didn’t make up for Jameson kisses, or other things. More than just the sex, though she missed that like crazy, she missed laughing with him, just snuggling on the couch. Heck, she even missed his swearing, okay she missed calling him on it, and him looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“We need to get you walked or he’ll be here before I’m ready.” Her cheeks flushed at what she was about to do. This was the part she hadn’t discussed in therapy. It didn’t seem fair to tell her therapist she was in love with the man before she told him. She knew he’d inevitably say something suspiciously like ‘knew you’d come back’. She laughed out loud. She was just beyond caring if he did. She chucked the dog under his chin and set him down. A walk would do both of them some good.

They were rounding the block toward home when she saw Jameson. Her heart jumped into her throat and her stomach did a couple of somersaults. Gosh, it had only been a week but she missed the man with an ache she barely recognized. He must have caught sight of her because he got himself out of the car and into his wheelchair. The sight of those broad shoulders and strong arms working made her suck in an extra breath. How Mr. Snell could think of the man as crippled was beyond her.

“Hi Candy.”

“Jameson.” Should she play it cool or say to heck with her pride and just wrap herself around him?

“You look good.” At her smirk he coughed. “Okay, better than the last time I saw you.”

“Thanks. I’ve missed you.” She waited for him to make a joke, deflect what he was feeling.

“I’ve missed you too.” The way his eyes searched her face almost brought her to tears. He might be impossible and her therapist thought he needed a hard lesson in boundaries but there was so much good in him.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek while Bitsy jumped up in his lap. “He’s missed you too.” The man’s smile was altogether too cocky.

“Sweetheart, it couldn’t be half as bad as I missed you. I’ve been so cranky they all threatened to quit if I didn’t come over here tonight.”

“Like a lion with a thorn, huh?”

“Worse. Any chance I can get another kiss?”

“Maybe later.” She was having a hard time keeping her smile from splitting her face, let alone playing hard to get. She figured she might be able to hold out until after dinner and then she could cave and just deal with his crowing. A girl needed to have a little self-respect.

She ended up serving crepes for dinner but they were filled with ham and cheese so at least they were filling. She saved a couple so they could have them with jam for dessert.

Jameson let out a deep sigh. “Goddamn, I’ve missed you and your coffee. Even the place down the street can’t compare and all the baristas cringe when I come through the door.”

“So you have been abusing everyone, not just your staff.”

He had the good sense to act sheepish. “It wasn’t like I was trying to be a jerk.”

“For some people it just comes naturally.”

“I meant what I said, Candy. I—I love you. I want to try again. I really was sorry for comparing my situation to yours. It wouldn’t have mattered if they were exactly the same. We handle shit differently.”

She was fighting back the tears in her eyes. “Oh Jameson, I love you too.” She reached out to hold his hands, she had to touch him. “There wasn’t anything wrong with what you said. I just wasn’t in a good place and you were right.” She waited for him to get smug and he didn’t. Miracles really could happen. “I needed to see my therapist and I have a standing appointment again. I should warn you though she said it sounded like I needed to work on setting better boundaries with you. But yeah, I’d love to try again.”

“Really? You mean it?” His whole body went into that smile. She could almost see how badly he wanted to pull her to him. She forced herself to take a breath and slow things down. “I noticed you set some hard boundaries with Snell.”

She snapped back from the table at his words and he looked like he wanted to drop into the floor.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. I just figured... Never mind.” They both sat there too long with nothing to say. The first time since he’d come in that the silence felt awkward. She was just wrung out was all and feeling touchy. She just wanted to curl up in his arms and feel safe for the first time in weeks.

“Jameson, do you want to stay the night?”

“Yes.” The word was out of his mouth before she finished the sentence which made her smile. “Wait, um, why don’t you come back to my place?”

“I’d rather just stay here. With Bitsy, I’d have to pack up all his stuff and I really just want to get you into bed.” Her cheeks flamed and it was his turn to grin.

“Candy? I have something to tell you... Fuck, you aren’t going to like this. Axel tried to warn me...” Jameson huffed out a deep breath and started again. “When you came to stay with me I had the guys do a little extra work here.”

“What kind of extra work?”

“They put in a backup generator, for starters.”

“Oh, I haven’t been downstairs since I got back. I didn’t even see it. Thank you, it’s nice knowing if the power goes out like that again I’ll still have emergency lights.”

“It wasn’t for emergency lights.”

“You’re being cryptic. Just spit it out.”

“I had the inside of your house wired for sound and... I had them install cameras and feed the video to our servers back at the office.”

Her mouth was hanging open and she was only able to blink at him for a moment. Then she started looking around to find the cameras.”

“You won’t see them, they’re small.”

“But you’ve been…” She swallowed hard. “Watching me? You have film of me? Oh my God, they’re in the bedroom! That’s why you don’t want to sleep here because then we’ll be on camera having...” She felt her anger wash over her in a blaze that left her skin prickled with sweat. “I don’t think I have ever... I want them out. I can’t believe you would violate my space like this!”

“I wanted to tell you.” She snorted at him. “Really I did! It was just you were staying at my place and then you were so rocky I didn’t... No, the truth is I was worried about you. If, God, if you hadn’t gone back to the shrink I don’t know what I would have done.”

“You knew about that? Are my phones tapped?”

“Yeah. The paperwork almost killed me.”

“Oh God, do you have a camera in the bathroom?”

“Jesus, no, it wasn’t like that. And frankly watching you shower is only fun if I can be there to help.”

“That will never happen again! I want you to go. I want a promise that all of the cameras and bugs’ll be removed tomorrow. Send Axel, I don’t want you here again. Boy, when my therapist said you seemed like the type who had a hard time with boundaries she wasn’t kidding.”

“Candy, I’m sorry. I really was just trying to protect you. Please... I lo—”

“Out! I swear, you should be darned happy I never took you up on your gun offer. Because right now... Just get out!” She snatched Bitsy from him and stood. He looked broken but she was too angry to care at the moment. When they got to the door he looked at her as if she might change her mind.

“Candy, I said from the beginning I would do whatever I had to to keep you safe.”

“But at what cost Jameson?” She opened the door to let him know she didn’t expect an answer.

She waited until he was down the stairs and on his way to his car before she slammed the door. Mostly she wanted to make sure he really left. After that she pulled out the step stool and started searching for cameras. She was not sleeping in her bed without clearing the room first. It took longer than it should have because she kept bursting into tears.

She was entitled. She loved him, her body craved something only he could give her. Pushing her limits in bed was one thing, spying on her, even for a good reason was something else. She didn’t know if she could forgive him yet. Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you can take over their entire life. She’d let that happen in her marriage under different circumstances. She wasn’t going back to that again.