Page 81 of Fall Into Me

To her credit, she managed to both fight him off and punch him definitely close enough to the dick region that he relented.

By the time she was back on her feet, her face was beet red, her hair was disheveled, and I had settled into my usual corner of Sunshine.

Without a word, I got into work, shielded in part by all the caffeine deprived patrons that had bustled in after us.

All the presentations Ash had gotten everyone to refine showed me exactly what I thought it would. The best part was that, essentially, I now had enough to put together a case for no one to touch this town with a ten-foot pole.

Normally, if the project was viable, this would mean moving on to budgeting and project projections—allocating funds, estimating returns, and putting together a plan to present to the board. But none of that mattered anymore. Darling wasn’t just resistant to development; the data painted a clear picture of how spectacularly it would fail.

The numbers didn’t lie. Any attempt to develop the town in the way the original plans suggested would result in a tanked investment and a PR nightmare for Mackenzie Co.

In plain words, I didn’t need to be here anymore.

All the work that needed to be done, to finalize and then present it to the board, didn’t need to be done here, but no one needed to know that. At least, not yet. Leaving wasn’t an option. The very idea of it made my organs twist uncomfortably.

Darling had never been the whole goal, and that was selfish, I know. It had been the excuse to finally make my way back toCalista Grey. To face the possibility that I might not be able to fix what I’d broken, but that I’d be damned if I didn’t fucking try.

There were ways to delay. A few tweaks to the timeline, some loose ends that needed ‘tidying up’. The first step was giving the crew a few days off, which conveniently gave me the breathing room I needed.

That was the last email I sent before Cali stopped in front of me, her hip jutted out and those heart-shaped lips of hers pursed to the side in that way that always made me want to bite them.

She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Her narrowed eyes did all the talking as she turned on her heel and headed for the door to lock up.

And just like I always would, I followed her.

26

Calista

After

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Fane asked, turning out of the gravel drive of the cottage he’d so lovingly now dubbed the “Shit Box,” thanks to my dad.

“Nope. Turn left here.” I clasped my hands together and placed them in my lap, to which Fane snorted a laugh at.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Your face is ridiculous.” My comebacks had a lot to be desired, but it was the first thing that came out of my mouth. Fane just lifted his middle finger up between us, and I did my best to scowl at him. It didn’t stick, and I quickly looked out the window before he saw my smile.

“Saw that,” he quipped.

Remember when I said this was entering into dangerous territory? Well, we were so far into dangerous territory I was quickly losing sight of the way out.

I didn’t know what happened.

Mentally, I was still rationalizing the fact that I was one hundred percent going to let him stick his hand down my pants for the good of the town. I was letting him hoist my leg up to drag what had to be an incredibly painful situation–that he was clearly doing his darndest to hide away–along the length of my pussy. My very wet and aching pussy, because that was the only way to get him to leave Darling alone.

I was so deeply full of shit it was unhealthy. More than unhealthy. It was a real, honest to God issue.

Because physically? Physically, when Fane touched me, the last two years didn’t exist. I hadn’t been alone. I hadn’t been a fractured version of myself.

When he touched me, I believed every single word that came out of his mouth. I was someone who saw his actions lining up with his words and felt like if I toed the edge of this abyss I was perilously walking along, it wouldn’t be so bad if I fell.

“Do I need to do anything?”

“To me?” Why that was the response my head churned up and spat out, I had no fucking idea. Fane’s eyebrow raised tentatively, and his eyes tracked over my features curiously.

“My ears are always open to your needs and how I can be of assistance, baby.” Fane’s voice rumbled through the car, and I felt them settle in the pit of my stomach. “But I meant for the drive.”

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