Page 111 of Fall Into Me

Fane was mid-pancake flip when he saw me, and for some reason that equated tohimpanicking and trying to catch the pancake midair.

“Fucking balls!”He dropped the pancake as quickly as he caught it, and before it even had a chance to hit the ground, Jerry snatched it up and made a beeline for his couch.

“What did I even just witness?” I mumbled, staring between Fane and Jerry and the now-empty pan he still had clutched in one hand.

“Why are you awake?” That same disapproving look from yesterday was back in full force.

“Because I’m alive,” I grumbled, shuffling the rest of the way toward him before performing the world’s smallest unannounced trust fall and dropping my forehead to his chest. “Everything hurts.”

Fane’s hand that wasn’t holding the hot pan wrapped around me, sliding up and down my back in the most comforting rhythm that I may have dozed off for a second. “I’m sorry, baby.”

I lifted my head slowly, looking up at him, and my heart sank when I saw the devastation in his eyes. “Don’t do that.” I reached up on my tiptoes to kiss the underside of his jaw.

“Do what?” If there was any doubt before, the delivery of that question confirmed it: Fane was absolutely moping.

“You know what.” I quirked an eyebrow at him and slowly slid onto a stool at the kitchen counter. The kitchen was tinyso there was only one chair, but up until a month ago, I hadn’t needed more than one chair. “I regret nothing.”

“Calista, you—”

“Are a grown woman who knew what she was asking for. I wanted every part of what happened last night. Okay?”

The muscle in his jaw twitched once, twice, before he gave me a curt nod and, much opposed to the brooding demeanor he had going on, proceeded to pour another pancake while wearing my floral apron.

I didn’t know exactly how to explain it, but despite the soreness of my body and—the soreness between my legs—I felt steady for the first time in a long time. I looked at Fane, and my head felt clear. My chest was free of the lingering heaviness that had become so much a part of me I didn’t fully recognize myself without it.

All I knew was that being here, with Fane, it felt right. It feltgood.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to have to remove myself from the room.” Fane set down a heaping pile of pancakes in front of me, topped with the most mouthwatering caramelized banana you’d ever seen in your life. Right on cue, my stomach let out the loudest, grizzliest growl that ever existed.

“You made my pancakes.” I stared at them in awe. “I think I missed these more than you.”

“Really nice.” Fane kissed the side of my head, and I could feel his grin. It sent a pang through my chest at the realization that we’d lost two years together.

One gentle finger pressed up under my chin, and I looked up into his eyes and felt my bottom lip quiver a fraction before I caught it between my teeth.

“Tell me so I can fix it,” he murmured.

I closed my eyes at his words—words he’d said to me so many times before, pressed them into my soul, etched onto my bones.It terrified me how much hearing them now soothed my racing heart.

Instead of telling him all that, I blurted the second thing making my stomach churn.

“I’m late for work,” I croaked, right before I shoveled an arguably too-large bite of pancake into my mouth, my eyes on him the whole time.

“That was sexy.” He grinned, catching a runaway drop of syrup that was creeping down my chin with his thumb before licking it off.

I’m not proud of the way I froze mid-chew, my mouth hanging wide open. There would have been no doubt in anyone’s mind what was going through my mind right then. I crossed my legs and focused all my attention on the plate of food in front of me.

“What—”

“You know what,” I mumbled, hoping maybe he wouldn’t understand a word I was saying and would just walk away.

“I’m not sure I do.” I saw him cross his arms across his broad chest from my periphery.

I released the mother of all sighs. “If I look at you, I’m going to jump your bones, and I’m afraid that might kill me. So maybe you should just go have your shower and then you can drive me to work.”

I didn’t need to look at him to know he was grinning that stupid, beaming grin of his that wasn’t actually stupid at all. It was totally not what I needed to see in order to maintain my morning of celibacy.

“I’ll take you in to grab a coffee because I want one too, but you’re not working today.”

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