Page 35 of Point of Contact

“It’s not a lie.” Reed forced his focus to her instead of the list of untruths he hid behind every day. “You’re starting to grow on me.”

Courtney’s finger continued sliding over his skin as she offered another soft smile. "I'm sure you say that to all the girls."

Her tease eased a little of the emotional hurricane battering him from the inside out. "I have been told I'm pretty charming."

Courtney snorted. "By who?"

Reed toyed with a dark strand of her hair. "Careful, Princess. You might offend me."

Her head tipped, pressing deeper into the pillow as she cocked one brow. "I’m sorry. Did we decide we were going to stop offending each other? Because I'm not sure I want to make that deal."

He let out a low laugh. "That does sound pretty boring, doesn't it?"

"It sounds fucking miserable." She went quiet for a minute, eyes dropping to where she continued touching his skin. "How'd it happen?"

He wasn’t surprised she already knew what the call was about. Courtney was more perceptive than most people. Maybe even him.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

She nodded, pressing her lips together. "I always knew it would probably happen, but part of me hoped—" She stopped.

"I know." His fingers moved from her hair to her face, brushing over the soft skin of her cheek. "I wish he could have been what you needed him to be."

Courtney's eyes came to his. "Me too."

He wanted to ask more. Dig deeper into the ways her father had let her down. Find out who else had fallen short of being what she deserved. Friends. Family. Learn everyone who forced this woman to believe she was not just unlikable, but unlovable. Made her into someone who behaved in a way that proved them right so she didn't have to risk feeling like it was genuinely true.

Because that’s what Courtney did. She used carefully crafted words and performative actions to build a wall, so that when it crumbled she could remind herself it was fake. That it wasn't really her everyone always let down because they didn’t even know the real her.

It made him want to be someone she could count on. Someone she could trust.

"If you want, we can call and get more information later." He didn't offer to do it now because she deserved the right to rest. To wrap her head around this new information and let it digest before trying to shove more down her throat. “Once you’ve had time to recover from the last couple of days.”

Courtney’s lips lifted at the corners. “Okay. That sounds good.” Her eyes moved over his face. “Thank you for looking out for me.” She leaned in and brushed a soft kiss across his mouth.

It was sweet and chaste and gentle. So many things he didn’t think she was capable of being.

He’d been so fucking wrong about her on so many damn levels and every new one he learned about sent him places he shouldn’t go. Made him consider things he shouldn’t entertain. Made him do things he shouldn’t do.

Like letting his fingers continue sliding across her skin, tracing a line along her jaw before following the column of her neck. “Thank you for looking out for me.” His eyes held hers, locked in by a connection he couldn’t explain. “Most people would have left me where I laid.”

“I almost had to.” Courtney’s hand lifted to his arm, giving his bicep a light squeeze. “I didn’t think I could get you into the RV.”

She brought up an interesting point. “How did you get me in here?”

She blew out a breath that buzzed her lips. “Determination.”

It was yet another characteristic he didn’t expect her to have. Not like this anyway. “Why were you so determined?”

Courtney’s touch moved over his shoulder before sliding down the center of his chest, one finger pausing to flick against his nipple. “I wanted the chance to look you in the eye and say, I told you so.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

COURTNEY

REED'S EXPRESSION TIGHTENED in the dim bit of moonlight peeking through the threadbare curtains. "I deserve it."

That was… surprising.

---