Page 40 of Time Stops With You

“Can you sit up? Let me see if I can help.” I guide Cullen to a more upright position and swing my purse flat against my back so it doesn’t get in the way.

Setting my fingers gently on his temples, I make a circular motion. Cullen inhales sharply and I stop, wondering if I’ve hurt him.

A moment later, he settles back down and I keep massaging.

As I work, his thick eyebrows relax and his jaw unclenches. I watch the relief spread over his face and the weight on my heart eases significantly.

“Better now?” I whisper, stopping the massage but keeping my fingers on his temple.

“Yeah. But… how?”

“Josiah practically came out of the womb on a tablet. When he came over here to live with me, he spent hours on my old laptop and he’d get a lot of headaches. When the pills didn’t work, I looked up home remedies and practiced this technique.”

“That’s amazing.”

“That saved me a ton on massage therapist fees.”

“Thank you,” Cullen says softly.

“You’re…”

His eyes burst open and focus on me intently. The grey-blue hue catches me off guard and my heart stumbles over itself.

A beat passes.

Then two.

Then three.

My mind is telling me to look away, but I just… can’t. It’s like I’m caught under a wizard’s spell.

The air around me crackles and pops. A strange tension pulses the air between us until I’m keenly aware of how close his face is to mine.

Cullen is the one to back away. “I think I can stand now.”

“Uh, right. Yes. Let me help you.”

“I’ve got it,” he says stiffly, pulling his hand out of reach.

Oh? So now he wants to be all cold and distant?

“Stop acting tough and take my help, Cullen,” I say.

“We should part ways here,” he says curtly.

“My apartment is closer than the exits.”

“You’re inviting me inside?”

“It’s either that or the ambulance.” I tug him forward. This time, he allows the touch.

I break a sweat as I help him up the stairs. He might look lean on the outside, but Ronan Cullen isheavy.

“How much do you weigh?” I complain.

“Are you asking so you can calculate the right amount of poison to slip into my drink?”

I frown. “Huh?”

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