Page 60 of When the Angel Falls First

“I had to do it; your books deserve better. Yourfinancialbooks, not just the ones on the shelves.”

Josie blushed at the lightly teasing tone, and Fred gave me a final wave before letting himself out.

The door clicked shut, and the comforting silence of the bookshop enveloped us like a cozy sweater. Josie turned to me, a relief in her eyes that I hadn’t seen since we’d reconnected. She stopped a pace or two away, running her hands through her hair.

“This is it, Caleb! Fred gave me a file to show to Mr. Anderson. He handled the B & O issue, and fixed like three more problems I didn’t know I had yet. I’m filed, paid up, and good to go. I’m not going to lose the shop.”

Her voice quavered at the end, and I crossed the scant distance between us, scooping her into a hug. She fit so perfectly there, tucked under my chin against my chest.

Josie was tentative at first, but within a few seconds, she melted against me, letting her hands loop around my waist, settling comfortably on the small of my back. Even the innocent touch over my shirt felt like a brand against my skin. Her soft curls falling over my hands were pure torture, urging me to twine my fingers in them and pull her lips to mine. I dropped my cheek to the top of her head, reveling in a bit more of the silky softness.

I suffered in silence, savoring the little bit of her sweetness I could still let myself have, when she shocked me by moving. Her hands followed along the hem of my shirt until she reached my forearms and traced them up to the back of my neck, fingertips barely brushing my bare skin.

“You’re so warm,” she murmured, pressing her palms flat to my skin.

I hadn’t moved, but heat was pulsing through me, my powers amplified ten-fold by such close contact with her.

“You’re intoxicating,” I whispered to the crown of her head. “And far too tempting.”

“Tempting?” She leaned back, arms crossed and eyebrow raised in a challenge. “You’re anangel, Caleb. How could anything tempt you? Aren’t you all perfect and untouchably holy?”

I laughed and let my hands do what they wanted, sinking knuckles-deep into her hair, scraping my nails lightly over her scalp in a gentle massage. Her eyes fluttered, but she forced them back open, as if she was unwilling to look away, like she didn’t want to miss a single second.

“You’ve been tempting me since the second I laid eyes on you all those years ago. Tempting.”

I dropped a kiss on her forehead.

“Distracting.”

I dropped another on her cheek, next to her long lashes.

“Calling to me.”

I whispered the last against her ear before gently pressing a firmer kiss to the tender skin below it.

She shuddered and gasped at the sudden heat, clinging to me more tightly as I pulled back, watching her eyes as much as her aura. They were dark and wide, full of the same longing I felt. Her aura was turning that rosy hue I now knew meant we were in the danger zone of desire.

After last time, with how dark my own aura had turned… I couldn’t afford to let things between us go any further physically.Temptationwas the least of my worries. I pulled back with regret.

“I should go, Josie. We shouldn’t let things get too far. You have a boyfriend now, and?—”

“Boyfriend? I certainly donot.”

I was rooted to the spot, riveted by the words dripping from her lips.

“But the date, the man…”Do I tell her I saw them kissing?“What happened?”

She shrugged, noncommittal. “It didn’t work out. He was a nice guy but not… the one.” She said the last words succinctly, and I felt like I was missing something. I couldn’t focus on that, though, because what she was telling me was oh-so-dangerous.

Josie, my Josie, was available. Completely free, unencumbered, and in my arms.

Where I wanted her to stay forever.

I was torn, so torn. The right thing to do would be to walk out that door and not look back. Let her be free to find someone who could love her, be with her, give her children, and build a life together. I couldn’t offer her that; I could only offer her temporary. And frankly, that wasn’t safe. If the fall took hold, if I couldn’t get my wings back…

The heat between us, though, wouldn’t be denied. She inched up on her toes, eyes fastened to my mouth. I might hate myself for it later, when I had to leave, but I could not deny her in that moment, any more than I could deny my angelic heritage. Something about her drew me in, no matter how much I tried to resist. Body and soul. It’s why I’d believed she was my Chosen all those years ago, human or not.

She abandoned my back, grabbing onto my shoulders with one hand and pulling me down closer with the other. It would have been so easy to push it further, to take more than I should have.

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