Page 45 of Falling Hard

“The man stalking me. His name is Kurt. He was a club hang around, and he asked me out a few times. His beard is long, and that’s why I didn’t pick him.” I clicked the missing pieces together. Kurt was my stalker. If I had put that together earlier, I would have been able to give myself the answer a real person was watching me.

The wind whistled against the window loudly, and it caused me to shudder. The storm was picking up. A thought kept running through my mind,he is going to break your heart.

“Emmie, what did I tell you the night we were together?”

I shook my head. “Something about claiming me.”

“Exactly. I claimed you. I want you.” He took a step into the room, and shadows danced across his skin. I now took in the fact he was still wearing the clothes I had last seen him in. He looked like he hadn’t slept. Hell, he looked like he hadn’t rested since I’d disappeared if that was possible.

“I remember the first day I saw you.” His gazed locked with mine. “You climbed off the back of Hammer’s bike, your violet hair out and beautiful. I remembered thinking, fuck, I hated the prez before I saw you climb off his bike, but I hated him a bit more knowing he’d scored you.”

I frowned.

“You never have looked your age, Emmie, you always looked older than you are. I mistook you for eighteen back then. But now it’s like you haven’t aged a day. Then I found out who you really were, and you know what I thought?”

I slowly moved my head from side to side, not knowing what he had thought.

“I thought the day I call her mine is going to come closer than anyone expects.”

My hard expression softened.

He linked his fingers with mine. “You rode from me back then, and I never want that again.” With his free hand, he pulled out his phone. I thought it was a mighty weird time to be making a phone call when he was meant to be proving his love for me.

“Prez, I found her.” He was speaking to Dad. “Yeah, she was at the estate.” He looked at me. “And I need to tell you something.” I quickly started shaking my head. “I’m fucking your daughter.” And with those words said, he hung up.

I gasped loudly and roared, “What the hell were you thinking? Call Dad back and say you were joking!” When he didn’t do as I said, I knew I was going to lose it. “You’re mad telling Dad in that way! You’ve completely lost it! He will hunt you down and kill you!”

He smirked a little, and his gaze went back to running over me. “I expect Lynx up here in a minute to tell me to stay the fuck away from you.”

“I heard his bike take off,” I muttered, pointlessly sharing a fact. “I think you’re in the clear until Dad gets his hands around your neck.”

He shrugged. “So be it. If it means you won’t doubt me anymore, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“You’re mad.” I blew out a breath, and my hand went to his cheek. “Nearly as mad as me.” My lips twitched up, and he was quick to plant a kiss on them.

“Want to tell me what the outfit is about?”

“It is my cousin playing matchmaker. I think she likes the idea of me with you.”

“Libby tends to get pissed at me easily.” Maiden moved forward, backing me back toward the bed. “Perhaps it is a Paxton trait.” He nipped at my bottom lip. “You know our first time?”

“Hmm,” I said, tracing his jawline like I had so many times before.

“I wanted it to be special, and it wasn’t.”

I was taken aback by that, and my gaze snapped to his.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I didn’t make it special for you. In a garage wasn’t ideal for us.”

“Well, like you said, it was our first time.” I moved my lips to his. “Not our last so why don’t we make the most of now.”

“Yeah,” he said, his hands running down my sides. “Fuck, you’re beautiful, sweetheart.”

“It’s the makeup.”

“It’s you,” he corrected me. “But speaking of which,”—he grabbed a face washer from the dresser where I still had them and the towels in a pile after getting them from the linen cupboard—“take it off.”

“My makeup?” I couldn’t believe he was suggesting such a thing.

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