Page 103 of The Making of Marnie Jones

“Never joke about mental illness.”

Jess sobered. “I was out of line. What’s the big deal? Did you force yourself on her?”

“Of course not.”

“Did she kiss you back?”

“Yes.”

“How was it a mistake?”

Well, when you put it like that...How could anything that felt this good be wrong? Marnie enjoyed it. Voluntarily, she’d held his hand in the kitchen. Agreed readily to the second kiss.

Then she’d been the one to overthink things. Memories of the past had torn her from his arms, and instead of being empathetic, he lashed out at her. When she challenged his integrity, he walked away.

“Maybe mistake is too strong a word. I made a misstep.”

“Can’t you fix it?” Jess grinned. “You’re a smooth talker, McGrath. I’m sure you can talk your way out of this one.”

“What if I can’t, Jess? What if I can’t fix this?”

Her gaze sharpened, green cat eyes narrowing. “You’ve known her a couple of weeks. How invested are you in this relationship? What are you not saying? Are you in love with her?” Disbelief.

What the fuck?He was thunderstruck. He couldn’t possibly be in love with Marnie. He had the greatest of admiration for her, of course, because despite moments of darkness, she was strong. Her advocacy of Olivia warmed his heart, and her willingness to take on his niece, despite her problems, amazed him.

How did that influence his emotions? While he was attracted to her, this was deeper. Forces stronger than his own will pushed him to ask her to hold hands. Very little conscious thought’d gone into his request to kiss her. Sexual attraction was one thing, but this was much more powerful. She was beautiful, but other beautiful women existed in the world who weren’t nearly as challenging.

She was a woman who had never been caressed by a man who didn’t have the compulsion to rape her, and she had every right to be skittish. Yet he wanted to be the man who showed her not all men were driven by biology. By baser urges. That, in fact, many men acted with their brains, and not their hormones.

To what end? How would he cope if he taught her to trust men, and sent her out to the wolves? What if the next guy didn’t treat her like the precious gem she was?

“I guess I have my answer.” Jess’ eyebrow arched. “And you have yours.” She stood, scooping up her laptop case and retrieving her suitcase. “It’s okay to settle down, but make sure you’re doing it because you want to and not because you think it’s the right thing to do. You’re not setting a good example for Olivia if you’re not living the life you want.”

“What if I compromise? Is that a bad thing?”

“Only you can answer that.” Her emerald eyes sparkled with amusement and something less definable.

He rose to see her out.

As she hit the hallway, she dropped her case and stepped toward him. “Sometimes you don’t see what’s right in front of you.” Without warning, she threw her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. She thrust her tongue into his mouth and ground her pelvis against his.

For a moment, he was too stunned to react.

This was Jess. His teacher. His mentor. His best friend.

She tasted of coffee, and something less definable and maybe there was a time when a willing woman would’ve been enough to sway him, but this was Jess.What the hell is she thinking?How could she want to change things and believe he’d want that as well? Icy dread enveloped him as he pulled her arms from around his neck and eased her away from him.

She wouldn’t look him in the eye. “I guess I have my answer.”

“Jess—”

“I’ll see you around.”

“I’ll move out—”

“That might be best, but there’s no hurry. I’ve got a lead on a story in the tribal regions for after the election. I could be gone for months.”

“Jess—”

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