Page 159 of As the World Falls

I feel him exhaling, and he looks over his shoulder, his eyes cast downward to meet mine. He was beautiful, the sunshine outlining his body and face, creating shadows from the side that wasn’t facing me. The notion that nothing is perfect is put to shame every time I laid eyes on him.

“I’ve just been mulling something over,” he answers, a sly smirk crossing his face.

“Like what?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Is it for work?”

“Sure.”

I chuckle against him. “You’re being vague.”

“Anyways,” he quickly blurts, changing the subject, which makes me more suspicious. “What are your plans today? I was thinking we could get out of the house?—”

“Oh,” I cut him off, wincing. “I actually was going to stop into work today.”

“Work?” he responds, surprised. “Are you sure? You haven’t been since?—”

“Yeah, I know, but I can’t stay away forever, and I feel…better.” James and I have been locked up in the house for the last couple of weeks, doing absolutely nothing but lounging in bed together, reading books, cooking, walking through the maze, and taking very long showers together. Sometimes more than once a day. It’s been heaven. It was the ultimate healing treatment if you ask me, but it was time I put my big girl pants back on and face the real world. I couldn’t stay away from the library forever. A library can’t run without its librarian. I also had a book club meeting today. I thought it would be a good distraction during my first day back. It had always been something that was just mine, so it would be good for me to be with everyone and do something I enjoyed.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

I laugh again. “Come to work with me? What would you possibly do there?”

He shrugs. “I can do some work there at one of the tables.” He turns in my arms, facing me now and wrapping his own around me. “I could watch you,” he murmurs, dropping to kissmy cheek. “I could picture all the ways I could have you against your desk. The shelves. Against the windows of your office.”

I shiver and swallow, but it’s hard to. My throat was extremely dry now. “As tempting as that sounds, you would be nothing but a distraction. Like I was saying, we need to get back to our normal lives, which means my job at the library and your job in the city.”

He shakes his head, his jaw clenching. “My job is no longer in the city. I’m working solely out of Boston from here on out.”

My brain misfires at this news. It was shocking, to say the least. He was the CEO of a huge crystal organization, one that operated legally and illegally. How could he not be in the city?

“What do you mean? How can that be?”

“I’m the boss, babe. I can do whatever I desire.”

“Okay, but…how will that work? You need someone to run things in New York.”

“Don’t worry about it. I have it all handled.”

“Is that what you were mulling over?”

“Partly.”

“What’s the other part?”

“Like I said,” he rushes out, urging me back into the house. “Don’t worry about it.” He shuts the balcony doors behind him and walks to the bedroom door. “I’ll make some coffee. You go ahead and get ready for the day. I’ll drive you to work.”

I smile at him. It was all I could do because I was still in a state of shock. I hoped he wasn’t making this big change just because we lived together now. I was okay with him being gone some days for work. I didn’t want to be a burden to him.

“Are you sure you don’t want security with you for your first day back?” he asks, hopeful.

I slowly shake my head. “I need the freedom, James. I’m sorry. I know it would make you feel better, but I can’t stand it. Especially now since it’s not Marco.” Marco actually lived tosee another day, believe it or not, but he was still recovering. He lost a lot of blood and damaged his right lung, but he was going to make it. I couldn’t stand the thought of having any other security guard because I grew to be comfortable with Marco, but I also felt guilty for getting him shot, and I wasn’t ready to put someone new in the same position.

“When he returns, we’re revisiting this conversation.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine.” We’d discussed this numerous times in the last couple of weeks, but I would indulge him again, I guess. I believed I wasn’t in much danger anymore, but who knows what will happen in the future. Maybe if it's Marco, I’ll reconsider.

---