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"I’m seeing what’s right in front of me, Keira. I’m seeing you.”
She either doesn’t like being seen or isn’t used to being noticed. I’m not sure which.
“Do you want me to quit watching?” I push from the doorframe and pad into the room. “Would you prefer if I didn’t see you at all?”
“I didn’t say that.”
There’s still distance between us. More emotional than physical.
I want to get her back to the place we’d been before the phone call. To the hot and sweaty. To the imminent fucking.
I stop before her, our position switched from when she first entered the room. I stare down at her, reading a myriad of thoughts in those eyes. She still wants me, but not like she did before.
Cole has her questioning me. Again. And I fucking hate it.
“You regret kissing me,” I mutter.
“I don’t regret the kiss. I regret where we were when it happened.”
“In the bedroom?” I know that’s not the case, but my aim is to keep her talking. To keep elaborating.
“No.” She shakes her head. “In a safe house. Surrounded by drama and obligation.”
“Neither one of us were obligated to participate.” I reach out, ru
“Are you sure we haven’t already?”
I stroke my knuckles over her smooth skin. Slow. Lazy. “It was just a kiss.”
“Just a kiss?” Her brows rise. “It felt like more than that to me.”
Good.
About fucking time.
“Either way, it’s over.” I drop my hand to my side.
She winces, and I leave her with the same sterility she’s given me as I stalk to the head of the bed and reclaim my position on the mattress. I cross my legs at the ankles and put my hands behind my head, waiting for her to bite.
“Why?” she whispers.
It’s always one inch forward, two yards back with her. I always have to be strategic.
She acts like a wild animal, tentatively taking the bites of nourishment I provide, then ru
All I want is her trust. That’s it.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
For now, at least.
“Because if Cole found out, he’d think my interest in you was payback.”
“Payback for what?” She turns to face me, cocking a bent knee onto the mattress.
She feeds on the crumbs I spread before her. She always devours the insight into my life. She craves my secrets. It’s the only trick I have up my sleeve to reel her back in when she flees.
“A fucking lifetime of debt I’m supposed to owe him.”
“Money?” she accuses.
I laugh, the sound caustic to my own ears. “No, not money. Cole demands more of me than that.”
She climbs onto the bed and sits with her legs tucked beneath her. “Like what?”
“You name it.” I shrug. “The debt changes depending on his mood.”
“Why? What did you do?”
“I didn’t do a damn thing.” I don’t restrain my anger. “Sarah took something from him. Something she deserved. And Hunter and I refused to let her take the fall.”
Her expression doesn’t falter. She continues to stare at me.
“You already know the story,” I muse. The knowledge is written all over her face.
“Sarah told me a few things. My sister did, too. The rest I pulled together on my own.” She shrugs. “But I didn’t know about the debt. I didn’t realize you were here against your will.”
“I’m not here working for your brother because I enjoy his generous hospitality. But I’m here, in Westport, because I’d do anything to keep you safe.”
She nods, the movement slow, lazy, and entirely unconvincing.
“You don’t believe me.”
She releases a huff of derision. “Actually, I do.” She crawls toward the head of the bed and lies down beside me. “That’s the problem.”
“One of many.” I shoot her a smirk. “If Cole finds out I took advantage of you, he’ll make the drive-by look like a confetti toss.”
“From what I recall, I’m the one who came to you, remember?”
“I’m not going to forget any time soon.” Not about her lips or the fucking brilliant way she kept grinding against me. My dick is on a hair trigger at the mere memory. “But do you really think it matters? He’s not going to give a shit who jumped who first. Either way, he’s going to want to see me six feet under.”
“Yet you kissed me anyway.” She inches toward me, nestling into my side. “I’ve always said you have a death wish.”
I wrap an arm around her and pull her close. “And I’ve always said you’re nothing but trouble.”
She chuckles. “I think you might be right.”
She places a hand on my stomach and her cheek against my chest. We lie there, silent and comfortable, as my eyes grow heavy and her breathing deepens. I’m seconds away from slumber. I’m sure she is, too.
“Sebastian?” she murmurs.
“Yeah?”
“Is it crazy that despite what you just said, I still want to kiss you again?”
I close my eyes and grin at the ceiling. “No, sugar. It’s not crazy. It just makes things fucking complicated, that’s all.”