Page 48 of Even if You Fall

“But I’m supposed to let you see mine?” Gold eyes bored into mine, silently pleading with me and begging me to understand for long moments before Adam rocked back and scrubbed a hand over his face. “This is myfamily, Chloe.”

“I never asked to go to Colorado and meet your family,” I reminded him. “I thought I was going on a completely different trip, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“Trust me, I didn’t want this arrangement either,” he ground out as he gestured between us, making me flinch at the implication. “I fought Briggs on this for hours.”

An oddly dejected-sounding laugh tumbled past my lips. “Well, if you’re worried about your family liking me, don’t be. Other than ridiculously frustrating, tattooed men, people tend to love me. If you’re worried about me getting an inside look at your family, I never asked to meet them.” I tossed my hands into the air, then let them fall until they slapped against my thighs. “Better yet, leave me at a hotel. Then you won’t have to worry about me at all.”

“I’m supposed to be watching you.”

“Because I’m a ‘threat?’” I tossed back mockingly.

“Because you’re in danger,” he reminded me.

Right.

I’d somehow forgotten about the mafia family that wasactuallythreatening me, for whatever reason. Still, I did my best not to let it show that I was bothered by the idea of it and shrugged. “I’ve gone twenty-eight years without you watching me, Superman. I think I can manage another week.”

Before he could respond, I pushed past him and hurried across the small space.

Scooping up my purse, I didn’t stop until I’d made it to the lavatory and had locked myself in. When I twisted to face the mirror, I just barely managed to stifle a groan when I saw the streaks of mascara on my blotchy cheeks.

Fantastic.

What a way to start my trip to not-Aruba.

Chloe hadn’t spoken to me once she’d finally come back into the cabin, after having fixed more than her makeup. As soon as she’d stepped out of the lavatory, I’d zeroed in on the mask she’d fixed back into place.

Even avoiding looking my way, that joy had been unmistakable from the way she’d practically bounced in those ridiculous high heels, to the way she’d curled up in her large captain’s chair and excitedly dove back into her book for the last part of our flight, to the small smile that had graced her full lips when she’d looked out the window to take in the view as we’d started landing.

I’d been so torn between wanting to apologize for the things I’d said, wanting to lose control and grab her all over again—hold her like I had the right to—and wanting to beg her to say what she’d clearly been so close to revealing about her life, that I’d just sat there instead, silently stressing over this girl and what we were about to walk into.

Because it wasn’t just that she was about to get an inside look at my family—something no one got. It was...well, myfamily.

And then I’d watched the pilots become entranced by her in a few short seconds, all because she’d beamed that smile at them and thanked them for the flight. Nothing more, nothing less, but she’d hooked them. And I’d nearly punched them both.

This girl was making me lose my mind.

“This is incredible,” she said with a stunned laugh from where she sat in the passenger seat of my rented SUV, the first words she’d said to me since our argument on the jet. She shot me an amazed look before returning her excited gaze to where she had her hand stretched out the window, her fingers playing in the breeze. “It feels amazing.”

I grunted in acknowledgment, only realizing as my stare lingered on the chills skating along her arms that she probably didn’t have anything packed for Colorado weather.

Not that it would be snowing yet, but the afternoons were still a near thirty-degree difference than where we lived in Texas. The mornings were even more so.

“What’d you, uh...” I cleared my throat and forced myself not to think of what she might’ve packed for a trip to Aruba. Thinking of Chloe in a bathing suit was something I couldn’t afford. Especially when I was already having a hard enough time convincing myself I couldn’t touch her again. “The days will only hit about mid-seventies right now. Mornings are gonna be cold. I’m guessing you don’t have a jacket or sweatshirt.”

Another laugh left her, the sound doing the craziest thing to me. “Not a chance.”

“Right,” I mumbled as I tried and failed to ignore the way she looked beside me. Red hair brighter with the sun shining on it, whipping all around her and amplifying the smell of coconut and vanilla as she laid her head on her arm and happily watched the world pass by.

Other than the wind, silence engulfed the car as I drove, but it wasn’t the same strained silence as before.

This was the silence of a girl taking in views she’d never seen before, and a guy taking in the girl he needed to keep far from him.

I barely managed to hold back a cynical laugh when I was hit with a memory from the jet—Chloe’s wide, hazel eyes filling with surprise and longing when I’d, once again, acted impulsively around her. Reaching for her and curling my hand around her neck because I didn’t seem to know how to stay away from her, even though I knew I needed to.

Or maybe I wasn’t as sure of that as I’d once been.

Now more than ever, I knew she was hiding something. She’d confirmed it on the jet. But my certainty that her secret would bring ruin to the people around me had significantly diminished since Chloe’s first day. I’d been sure my fading assurance had only been because I’dwantedher to be someone I could trust.

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