Page 17 of Unzoned

His hot breath washed over her face as he held her close to him.

“Spend the night?” He asked quietly. Was there a bit of fear laced in the question? Was he afraid they’d ruined everything now?

Had they ruined it all?

“I don’t work until the afternoon tomorrow.” She said as way of answering.

“Good.” He scooped down and picked her up in his arms. “In my bed, then.” He carried her through the living room and down the hall to his bedroom.

Shouldn’t the bells of regret starting ringing right about now? There was no way they could go back to being friends after this, not after he’d fucked her throat with such possession. So where was all the fear and the remorse? Friends should be able to fall so easily into such passion as they shared.

Why wasn’t she scared anymore?

Chapter 10

“You’re quiet this morning,” Garrick slid the creamer across the table to Jade. She looked up from her bowl of oatmeal.

“Just tired.” She lifted a shoulder.

“Tired?” He leaned back in his chair. “You remember the punishment for lying,” he stated flatly. “You’ve never had trouble talking to me before.”

“This is different.” She poured cream into her coffee. “We were friends then.”

He reached across the table and captured her hand. “We’re still friends, Jade. Just more, much more to each other, I hope. You can tell me anything- just like before.”

She smiled. “I’m just getting used to it, that’s all. Plus, I have to meet with Carissa to go shopping. I need a dress for the New Year’s Eve party. And I’m having lunch with my dad tomorrow.”

“Your dad.” He pulled his hand away and went back to eating his own breakfast. “He’s in town.”

“Yep, for a meeting. So, he’s granting me an entire meal while he’s here.” She rolled her eyes. Her father was a sore subject for her, and he wouldn’t make it worse by probing it.

“What sort of dress are you looking for?” He changed the topic.

“Something shimmery, I think. Silver?”

“Nothing too low cut,” he said and took a sip of his coffee.

“Of course not.” She agreed.

“And longer than that thing you wore to the Mistletoe party.”

“I can do that.” She smiled. “Is it always going to be this way? Easy like this?”

“Wasn’t it easy before?” he asked. They’d been such good friends for so long, they had very few secrets from each other. Aside from the main one.

“There was less riding on everything before.” She pointed out.

He tilted his head. “What are the stakes now?” he asked.

A soft blush blotted her cheeks. “Well, if we mess this all up, we can’t exactly go back to being friends.”

“That’s probably true. I don’t think I’d survive in the friend zone again.” He nodded. It was a big risk. Before having Jade in his life, even only as a friend, was enough. Just to have her there. It had sustained him.

“So, you know- it’s easy now but we could ruin- “

“It was already ruined, Jade.” He cut her off, leaning across the table to grab her hand again. The warmth of her skin beneath his hand fed his craving for her. “I was tired of playing friends. When I saw your application for Dark Lace-” he paused a beat. “It woke something in me. Having you around as a friend- it wasn’t enough anymore. I wanted more. Either we were going to give this a try, or we weren’t, but I wasn’t going to sit quietly in the friend zone anymore.”

She slipped her hand from his. “So, if I had said no at the party, you would have dropped me? Just walked out of my life?” The fear in her tone shook him. He didn’t like her scared. Scared Jade ran.

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