Page 35 of Dangerously Tempting

Amelia perks up a bit, jerking her gaze to mine. “Today’s fiasco? What happened?”

I shouldn’t have brought it up. I didn’t intend to, but I’m starting to feel like I’m going crazy. With every problem that arises, I’m wondering if Tori is behind it. With every inconvenience that could happen naturally, I’m wondering if she set it up, or if it is just a circumstance of chance. It doesn’t help that I still haven’t told Amelia what’s going on.

I know she’ll get it. Hell, she’s a beautiful woman who’s more than likely had multiple men that have come on too strong and struggled to take no for an answer. But this is different. Tori is actually stalking me, breaking into my vehicles, and if I’m right, into my work site too. I don’t want to scare her or lose her over this but I know I will have to tell her the full truth about it.

“Some really important blueprints went missing. It’s like they got up and walked away. Poof.” I fan my fingers on both hands out for effect. “Needless to say, my boss was not at all pleased, and although we were able to pull up a digital copy, it’s not the same or as easily accessible by everyone on the job site. We ended up calling it for the day, and will hopefully have a new copy by Monday, but it definitely threw a wrench into things.”

Amelia squeezes my knee under the table, and my throat tightens like she squeezed me there instead. “I’m sorry you had a rough day. Hopefully they get those blueprints to you first thing Monday morning and next week goes a lot more smoothly.”

“Hopefully,” I agree, placing my hand over hers to give it a squeeze back, but my heart isn’t fully behind the word. I get the feeling that issues like this are just going to keep happening. Tori has shown me that she’s one to keep at this shit and not be deterred.

If she was watching the night after I took Amelia home, the cops certainly haven’t scared her off. It’s possible that I really am just crazy and trying to connect dots that aren’t there, but Theo agrees with me that it’s incredibly suspicious, and I trust his judgment more than my own. You’re able to get a much better view of a situation when you aren’t within it.

We finish up with our food, and both women take everything back into the kitchen. There’s some whispered exchanges that I can’t catch, and a, “Behave!” before Kat comes waltzing back out and takes her seat again. I hear the sink turn on and realize that Amelia has been swindled into staying in the kitchen so her best friend can give me a verbal shake down.

“I have nothing but good intentions, and I swear that I won’t ever hurt her,” I say before she can start her interrogation. She lifts an eyebrow and stares at me for a moment with her lips pinched tilting her ear towards the kitchen, before she sighs and shakes her head.

“It’s not you I’m worried about, it’s her. I love her more than anything in this world, but she is the most stubborn, one track minded person that I know. She will fight you every step of the way when it comes to every damn thing under the sun, and it’s not because she’s a bad person, but because she’s terrified of everything. She will never admit that to you, let alone to herself, but it’s the truth.”

“I know,” I reply, nodding my agreement. “I know she’s scared and that she protects herself in every way that she can. She’ll eventually figure out that she doesn’t have to protect herself from me, and that I will do everything in my power to make her feel safe.”

“That better be true, Jameson, because she’s always, always waiting for the other shoe to fall. And it will. It’s inevitable. So don’t you dare let her run when it happens. Do you understand?“ I nod. “Flight is always her response to getting hurt, so be ready for it.”

“I would never—“ I begin, but she cuts me off by holding up her hand.

“Hurt her. Yeah, yeah, I hear you. We can all say that about the ones we love with our best intentions at heart, but it just isn’t feasible. You will hurt her eventually, one way or another. You don’t have to mean it, or to have done it on purpose, for it to happen. Just be willing to catch her when it does.”

I take a moment to absorb her words, knowing that she’s right. Hurting each other is just a part of living and something that we have to at least prepare for, especially when I know that the secret I’m holding onto is definitely going to hurt her. Not because of the secret itself, but that I didn’t trust her with it from the very beginning. I didn’t give her the right to make her own decision when it comes to what’s going on, and how safe she feels or doesn’t feel.

I know that I have to tell her tonight, so that she can decide, even if her choice absolutely wrecks me.

The sink turns off in the kitchen, and Kat knocks on the table before pushing to her feet. “On that note, I’m going to jet.”

Amelia comes out of the kitchen, drying her hands, and frowns at her. “You’re leaving already?”

“Yup,” she responds, popping the p. “I’ve met your boy toy, I like him, he’s been thoroughly warned not to hurt you, and now I’m just the third wheel between two people who really want to get down, so… I’m out.”

She kisses Amelia on the cheek as she moves past her, pushing Amelia’s mouth closed that had fallen open during her little speech. She throws up a peace sign as she moves down the hall, calling out, “Love you, bye!”

“Love you,” Amelia responds, but it seems like she’s running on autopilot as her eyes flick over to me as the door clicks closed behind Kat. “I’m sorry about her, she’s kind of a handful.”

I chuckle. “She is, but I like her.”

She smiles. “Really?”

“Of course. She’s a lot more real than most people, so I can absolutely see why she’s your best friend. Theo is very similar.”

“A sarcastic bitch?”

“Oh, one-hundred percent. They’ll either get along great or rip each other to shreds.” We both laugh at the thought, and I stand up, crossing the room to her. I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, pulling in a breath as I ready myself for the conversation that’s coming. “Can we—“

“Do you want—“

We laugh again at us talking over each other, and she grabs my hand, giving it a light tug before leading me down the hall to the living room. She leads me to the couch and motions for me to sit down, so I do. Before I realize what’s happening, she’s in my lap, her hands in my hair, and her lips are pressing to mine.

I thought Kat’s parting words were just jesting, but I obviously have my head so lost in my stresses that she was doing a better job of reading Amelia tonight than I was. I kiss her back for a moment, because I want this too. There isn’t a part of me that doesn’t want this. But I can’t, not like this.

I pull back, and for a second she tries to follow before her mind catches up to what’s happening and she shifts back towards my knees. Fuck, I haven’t even said a word yet and she’s already pulling away.

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