Page 29 of Fall Into Me

“Great, so should I just make the coffee myself?” I turned to face them, glare in place and arms crossed. Cali spun to set her shining hazel eyes on me, and Ash tilted his head to the side with an amused look on his face that told me everything I needed to know about what he thought of my plan.

He thought it was shit.

“I thought you left.” Cali’s shoulder checked me as she walked back around to the other side of the counter, and she stumbled to the side. It was a reflex to reach out for her, my hand sliding around her upper arm to steady her.

We both looked at the point where my hand met the bare skin of her arm. Her small intake of breath echoed around the café, even with the trickle of country music playing softly in the background. The moment my fingers flexed, the spell was broken, and she yanked her arm free of my hold.

“For work, yes.”

“I was hoping more for town limits.” She grabbed the sheet of cooled-down cookies and shimmied them off the tray and into a lidless bowl.

“But you’re so pleasant to be around, Calista.”

“So…” Ash strolled up to stand beside me, stopping whatever was about to fly out of Cali’s mouth. Her face changed immediately, and I refrained from elbowing my best friend in the ribs. “Mr. Soft and Approachable over here tells me you’re taking him around town.”

Cali’s head snapped in my direction so fast I heard it crack.

“You are,” I said.

“Why are you sharing the news like the town crier?” She was glowering at me, like anyone knowing she was spending time with me was preposterous.

“It’s not weird for you to be spending time with yourboyfriend, Calista.” I lifted an eyebrow at her.

“You’renot—”The clink of a cup settling onto a saucer cut her off immediately. We’d all forgotten about the random old lady. Well, Cali had.

“You’renotwrong!” She plastered a smile so forced on her own face that I clamped my lips tight and settled into my own scowl deeper to keep myself in check. “I just know how busy you are with all your…stuff.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that!” Ash chimed in helpfully. “I’ll be doing all the scouting for both Fane and me. He’s free and clear!”

“Free?” Cali looked distraught.

“And clear!” Ash added on. “Getting to know the nitty gritty from a town local is a huge benefit to the entire assessment,” he said, sending her a wink that made her flush a bright cherry red.

“Nitty gritty?” she squeaked, almost going cross-eyed.

“Cali?” We all turned to look at the woman still sitting in the middle of the café.

“Yeah, Mags?” She tried to smile at Mags, but she looked more terrified than anything else.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your fella?”

“Fella!”Ash mouthed to me, and I gave in to my inner temptation and sent an elbow into his ribs. He sent one back into the same spot he’d gotten me before, and the grunt didn’t go unnoticed.

“Right.” Cali walked as slowly as possible around the counter and stood a foot away from me.

That wouldn’t do.

Her squeak of surprise shot straight to my dick. She was wearing a light-yellow sundress, and the warmth of her body seeped through the fabric where my hand curled around her ribs.

I shouldn’t be touching her.

She wasn’t mine to touch.

Even knowing those two things, I did it anyway.

“Mags.” Cali sounded out of breath. “This is Fane.”

“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” I stepped forward and extended my hand to the older woman, who shook it back with a gentle grip.

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