Page 56 of Caught from Behind

He goes still for a heartbeat then. “And when you found out you stopped doing it, but I don’t need you to change for me, baby. I like you as you are. And I know you like this—hanging with your friends and tying one on?—”

My lungs expand in a rush this time, oxygen hitting my blood so quickly that black spots gather at the edges of my vision.

“—so eat, drink, and be merry. It might take me a bit to be comfortable with how we end our night after all those mules, but we’ll find a way.”

Get comfortable.

Jesus.

My stomach twists all over again.

“Riggs,” I say softly. “I don’t want you to have to get comfortable.”

His expression gentles. “And I don’t want you to make yourself smaller for some bullshit that doesn’t really matter.”

It matters.

It fucking matters, but before I can push that—even though this isn’t the time or place—he keeps talking, his lips brushing my earlobe and making me shiver, making me forget why this argument is so damned important.

“And we might need to thank your brother because I wouldn’t have touched you—here or anywhere—without Knox giving me the push.” He brushes his knuckles over my cheek. “As beautiful and tempting as you are.”

My heart feels like fluffy cotton candy—soft and sweet and so light it can float—but at risk of dissolving with the barest bit of liquid.

And below it?

That’s what frightens me.

Which is why I revert to joking. “I would have worn you down.”

His mouth curves, and it’s almost a normal smile, but he doesn’t tease me back, just kisses the tip of my nose. “Likely.”

I start to say something else, to tease him until that smile is absent of the tinge of the past, but before the words can dance off the tip of my tongue, the door slams open, crashing into the wall of the patio.

We both jump.

And see a woman stumble out.

I start to turn back to Riggs to tell him we should go back to the table.

But then I process the woman’s state.

Her dress is torn, her makeup is running from tears streaming down her face, and?—

A man is crowding in behind her.

And Riggs…

Well, Riggs falls apart.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Riggs

One second, I’m enjoying the feel of Ella’s lush body pressed to mine, knowing that she’s slowly letting me in, letting me beyond the Ella she gives the rest of the world.

The next, I’m seeing the woman burst out of the bar, slipping on the icy wood of the patio.

She stumbles then regains her balance and Ella and I both take a step toward her.

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