Page 64 of Catch Me When I Fall

I’m not either.

My next words were dangerous—foolish—but I didn’t care. “Do it again.”

His stony face changed then, giving me something I’d never thought I’d see—a small smirk. “If I even kiss you again, I won’t leave.” He pulled down my shirt, and his eyes dropped from my face, scanning my body as his hand slid over my hips up to my waist, squeezing. “So fucking soft.”

My cheeks heated as my heart stopped beating.

You can’t look like that, Carrie. We have an image to protect. Stop being so selfish.

My father’s words echoed in my mind, threatening to take me somewhere I didn’t want to be.

“I have to go, Sunshine.”

Blinking, I looked back up to find him studying me, his jaw set, eyes soft. I nodded. I started to move but yelped when he stood, holding me in the air. Instinctively, my thighs tightened around him, my arms locking around his neck.

“You done in the bathroom?” he asked.

“W-what?” I breathed, still stunned he was holding me up.

He jerked his chin towards my bathroom. “You done with all your girly shit for the night?”

“Yes, I—” I jerked my head back. “What’s wrong with girly shit?”

He said nothing and moved, carrying me to the bed before reaching down to yank the covers back. When he was done with that, he looked at me. “Gonna move your stuff off the bed after I put you in it.”

“But I have—”

“You need to rest. You were up late last night,” he cut me off.

“That was you,” I breathed.

“You and Humbly are getting close,” he noted.

I nodded. “She’s a friend.”

He held my eyes for moment longer before replying, “Good. You need good people in your life.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “You dug into them too, didn’t you?”

“Part of the job.”

“Is that what I am?” I asked, softly, my eyes going to his scar. “A job?”

“I don’t know what you are, Sunshine, but you stopped being a job the second I walked out your door.”

“Sunshine?” I questioned, wondering where he came up with that nickname for me.

He exhaled softly through his nose, shaking his head, muttering, “She’s got no idea.”

“No idea about what?” I pressed.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he lowered me to the bed, swooping my legs onto the mattress before pulling the covers over me. I watched, heart pounding, as he rounded the bed, grabbing my camera and laptop before turning and putting them on top of the dresser.

“You do realize I’m a grown woman, right?” I asked his back.

When he turned back around to face me, my stomach flipped at the sight of his hungry gaze. “Oh, I’m well aware,” he said darkly.

I rubbed my thighs together, wanting more than what he’d already given me. “Why won’t you tell me your name?”

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