Page 19 of Fall Into Me

“What do you want me to say?” The timbre of his voice made the room too full. Every moment in his presence made it harder and harder to breathe.

“I want you to say you’ll pack up and leave.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both.” His controlled and calm stance used to be something I relied on. It was the very thing that pulled me back from whatever panicked edge I was standing on time and time again. Now, it just made me want to pull him up on the ledge with me and shove him off.

“You don’t know anything about Darling.”

“So you keep saying.” His broad shoulders lifted on a big inhale before they dropped back down, drawing my attention to the tattoos on his neck that hadn’t been there the last time I’d seen him. They spanned up the sides and wrapped around to the back, disappearing under the waves of his hair.

I refused to let myself fall back into the habit of taking stock of every piece of art that covered his body. I didn’t care how he decorated it anymore or the reasons why.

“—around?” His voice trickled into my head like I was coming out of water.

“Around what?”Crap.

“Darling?” He lifted one full eyebrow at me, and when I stayed silent, his eyes took on that mischievous shine I remembered when he was particularly entertained…or turned on.

God.Whatwas I doing? No.No.I hadn’t entertained any thoughts of him in the last two years, and I wasn’t going to start now. I knew where that led, and I knew how it ended.

“I said,” he went on, taking obvious pleasure in having to repeat himself for me, “Are you going to show me around?”

I didn’t want to. I didn’t actually want to spendanytime with Fane. I didn’t want to see him in a crowd, and I definitely didn’t want to see him one on one.

So, when I opened my mouth to release the screaming “Nope!”that was floating around my brain, I physically jolted when I said, “Yep.”

Even when my brain was still screaming, “No, you dumbass! You meant to say NO!”nothing else came out. Not a freakingpeep.

He nodded like it was no big deal. Like none of this was a big deal. “When?”

“After work.” The words were delivered with the sort of calm that didn’t align with the alarm I was feeling at volunteering some of the only time I had to myself. “And weekends,” I added on because, apparently, I needed to torture myself further.“Not both, obviously. Or maybe, I don’t know I—”

“Need to make a list?” Fane pressed his lips together like he was trying not to laugh.

“Are youlaughingat me?Again?” I was having déjà vu. This wasn’t my life. At least it hadn’t been my life this morning. It wasn’t even my life this afternoon.

“No ma’am.” He just shook his head, that glint in his eyes telling me he absolutely was.

“Stop calling me ma’am,” I huffed, doing my best to scowl at him and not just flip him off again. After the second time I did it, I realized it was actually very therapeutic.

“I have some rules.” I crossed my arms tighter and popped my hip out further.

“Okay.” He nodded, brow furrowed and arms crossed.

I held up my hand and unfurled one finger. “I am the guide. You’re the guidee.”

“That’s not a word.”

“Next rule, I’m right,allthe time.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Next rule, you’re not allowed to interrupt me.”

“I didn’t.” His shock was almost convincing.

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