Page 50 of Sex Coach

I jolted in surprise .

His eyes caught and held mine as I lifted onto my elbows to stare at him .

"I got drunk. I...hell, I don't even know what happened." Now the lines of strain bracketing his face, the tension inside of him made him seem like the one who would break. "I was eighteen, at a party. We'd been drinking. I remember walking to the car with friends. It wasn't my car. I didn't have one. My parents did okay, but they weren't rich. I don't even know how my mother ended up there, unless somebody called her...maybe I did, I don't know. All I do know is that I woke up in the hospital handcuffed to a bed, and they told me she was dead and I was responsible ."

He eased me away from him and sat up, staring at the far wall. "I'm an ex-con. One of the reasons I got into this was because it was too damn hard to find any other work. This is something I just fell into ."

Out of all of the things I expected to hear him say, that was the last. Slowly, I sat up, curling my knees to my chest and hugging them. What I wanted to do was hug him, but he sat so...set apart, almost locked in on himself

As if sensing my gaze, he looked back at me, eyes shuttered .

"I'm still the same man I was when I walked in here," he said gruffly. "But now you know the weight I'm carrying. My shame is mine. I was the dumbass who went to a party and got drunk...everything that happened after ?"

With a shrug, he looked away. "We all have shit in our past. But you didn't do anything to ask for what happened to you, Michelle. It was done to you." He got up, twisting around to kneel in front of the bed, watching me with raw, naked emotion. "You know more about me now than almost anybody. Does it change anything between us? Should I leave ?"

The sheer challenge of his words was what inspired my answer and there was only one thing I could do or say. I sat the rest of the way up and threw one leg over his hips. Then, still not speaking, I cupped his face in his hands and bent low to press my mouth to his. "No," I said against his lips. "You're still the same person you were five minutes ago ."

His hands closed around my wrists, blue eyes burning into mine. Our faces were close, so close our breaths could have been one. "You're the same woman you were when I walked in the door, Michelle. Stubborn, strong, sweet..." He slid one hand through my hair, tangled it. "And beautiful. Whatever happened to you...it happened to you. You didn't cause it ."

His mouth spasmed, and he said gruffly, "Sometimes bad shit happens because of choices we made, but sometimes it happens to others. That's you, Michelle. Don't blame yourself or feel guilty, baby ."

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