Page 32 of Always

She drives to the tiny hotel. “Only four rooms. You were lucky to get one.”

“Are they usually booked?”

“I was being sarcastic, Braden. No one comes here.” She pulls into an open spot on the street. “Here you go.”

“Want to come up?”

“Don’t you think my father will notice if I don’t come straight home?”

“I’m not asking you to have sex, Skye. I’m just asking…” I sigh. “Hell, I don’t have a fucking clue what I’m asking.”

“Aren’t they expecting you in New York?” she asks.

“They are. But they’ll wait. Not like they have a choice.”

“I suppose not.”

I grab the car door handle but hold onto it, not opening the passenger door. “Skye…”

“Yes?”

“I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“I can’t stop thinking about you, either.”

“At the dinner table, watching you… God, I want you so much.”

I’m anguished. Not unnerved—or perplexed—but truly anguished. It’s unlike me. I turned off those emotions long ago for my own sanity.

“Braden, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.”

That’s a lie, and we both know it.

“Thank you,” she says.

“For what?”

“For telling me about your mother. It means a lot to me.”

“Oh, Skye… In the grand scheme of things, I’ve told you nothing.”

I don’t grab her or try to kiss her.

I’m in a weird headspace. I told her things I don’t let myself think about often. Hell, hardly ever. In the short time I’ve known Skye, I’ve had to face things that I’ve let lie dormant a long time.

“When are you flying to New York?” she asks.

“Sometime tomorrow.”

She clears her throat. “Would you like to—”

I hold up a hand to stop her. I know exactly where this isgoing, and it’s not happening. No way are we going to Black Rose Underground. Not until she figures out why she wants me to choke the air out of her.

God, the thought of it…

“Take you with me?” I finish for her.

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