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type.” Well, that was kind of a lie. He’d been attracted to her since he’d met her, but now that he knew her history, the best he could do was help her feel like she was finally in a safe, non-threatening environment.
    She’d had enough unwelcome advances to last a lifetime, it sounded like.
    “I… appreciate that,” she said, sounding hesitant. “I just… I’m not into men that way.” But even as she said it, her eyes swept over him appreciatively.
    Wyatt told himself to ignore it, hoping his body would listen.
    He was a cat, and the cat in her called out to him. But he was also a good man, and he would be this woman’s protector because she needed one.
    And he couldn’t very well do that if he was one of the men causing her problems and attempting things that were unwanted.
    “I’m really sorry that happened to you,” he said. “I want you to tell me if you’re ever feeling afraid or worried. If anyone makes you uncomfortable…” He looked out in the direction of her cabin. “If you’re ever concerned out there, you’re welcome to move closer. You can come see me anytime.” He wrote down the number for his upstairs suite on a Post-it note and handed it over to her.
    “Thanks,” she said, looking at it blankly like she didn’t know what to make of it.
    An awkward moment followed.
    “Thank you for trusting me,” he said. “For letting me know what’s going on.”
    She nodded. “You’ve done a lot for me. It’s not like you didn’t deserve to know.” She stood and gave him one last look before heading to the door.
    If Wyatt didn’t know better, he’d think she liked what she was looking at.
    But she hated men, so that wasn’t possible, right?

5
    V alerie watched the man beside her as they walked to the cabin.
    He was so handsome in the moonlight, his broad shoulders outlined in a crisp jacket, his long legs taking easy strides over the lawn.
    It had felt good to finally tell someone what happened to her, and in the few days she’d been at the Fifty Star, she’d come to trust him as a good friend.
    It didn’t hurt that Wayne, her mentor and friend that she worked with, had known Wyatt since he was a child and liked to go on and on about him.
    All he’d said was nice things about him, how generous he was as an employer. How fair he was. How he always stood up for someone in trouble.
    She’d definitely seen that in the way he’d been with her.
    If she hadn’t been so angry and defensive at the time, she’d have seen his inherent goodness in following her to the bar, rescuing her, and convincing her to come back here.
    Thanks to him, she had a safe place for the first time in her life. Maybe that was why she was starting to feel odd around him whenever he was close.
    When they reached her cabin, she felt awkward and she didn’t know why.
    She was glad she’d told him what had happened. It had felt good to let someone in.
    And she trusted him, mostly. So why was she still nervous, caught off guard?
    He seemed to sense her mood and he looked over. He put out a hand, as if to set it on her shoulder to comfort her, but then reconsidered and dropped it.
    His short blond hair rustled in the wind and his beautiful gold eyes glimmered in the reflected light over her small porch.
    “I meant what I said,” he stated, leaning on the wall of the cabin and shoving his hands into his pockets. “You have nothing to fear from me.” He looked out at the wide, sprawling land around them. “Or from anyone else.”
    She simply stared at him. The words and the sentiments he was uttering were so foreign to her. Protection? Not for her. Not in this life.
    “No, I promise,” he said. “I see that doubt in your eyes, and I want to make this perfectly clear.” He pulled his hands from his pockets and rested one against the wall of the cabin, and she could see it was balled in a fist. “No one will ever hurt you again. Not as long as I’m breathing.”
    Warmth shot through her, uncomfortable and