Page 10 of Flynn

“You okay?”

I swallowed at his gentle tone, at the soft look in his eyes, at the way my heart fluttered and skin buzzed with excitement. My head was a mess of thoughts, memories, and emotions. I wasn’t sure where to start. Panic seemed like a good place, but it was ultimately useless.

“Okay,” he said without waiting for me to respond. He took my hands and tugged me over to the bed where he sat me on the edge before crouching down in front of me, my hands still in his. “Take a breath for me, nice and slow.”

I wanted to cry, but looking down into his sincere green eyes calmed a part of me, and I was able to follow his instructions. My first few breaths were not slow nor were they steady, but with every new inhale, I began to relax and think more clearly.

“There we go, just breathe. Nothing bad has happened, and we can manage this,” he assured.

I gave a broken laugh of disbelief. “How?”

“Easy,” he said with a casual shrug of his strong shoulders, his thumbs stroking over the tops of my hands. “We know these people better than anyone. We have a story to work with. Let’s tweak it where it needs to be tweaked and take some photos. By the end of it all, you’ll feel far more comfortable, I promise.”

Flynn had changed. I mean, I guess I already knew that, but seeing how calm and composed he was only drove the realization home. He was steadier now, and there was less of that barely controlled rage simmering beneath the surface. His confidence gave me courage, and I found myself believing him. My gaze dipped to his hands on mine, big and steady, the kind of hands that could make a woman feel safe. My eyes lingered on thetattoos that started at his wrists and wound their way up his arms to disappear beneath the tight material of his black shirt. How much of him was tattooed? Would I find out? Should I ask?

“Ara?”

I jerked at the sound of my name and my gaze flew back to Flynn watching me curiously.

“Okay,” I whispered and nodded. “Let’s do this. Where do we start?”

He hesitated a moment and got to his feet. I felt the loss of his hands at once as he pulled his phone from his pocket again.

“We’re taking photos,” he announced before telling me how he could get creative with angles and editing to pull this off. I wasn’t big into photography or photoshop, so I decided to trust that process to him.

I was preparing to stand when Flynn sat beside me and held up his phone to take a photo of us.

“First things first: smile!”

He snapped several photos and when he scrolled through them, he laughed.

“What?” I asked, trying to see. He showed me the images, and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing either.

“They’re horrible!”

“You look like I’m holding you at gun point and forcing you to be in the photo,” he said, shaking his head and deleting the photos.

Phew.

“Let’s try again, just relax,” he coached and wrapped an arm around me to pull me in closer. I sucked in a sharp breath, my body flushing with heat, and he turned his head to look at me.

“Think good thoughts, Ara,” he rumbled softly, and it was a mission all in its own. I tried to ignore the flutters his voice created in my stomach. Growing up, there had only been a handful of times he’d let himself be this close to me. I’d constantly offered him physical types of comfort, happy to hughim or touch his hand or arm. None of it had been in a way to urge him to want me inthatway, but I’d always thought he was lonely and lacking real affection. So, I’d tried to fill some of that loss, but I’d always been hyper aware of the fact that he kept himself stiff or leaned away as if he didn’t trust the contact.

It had broken my heart.

But now… he didn’t suffer any such issues, and I kind of forgot about the camera as his gold-flecked eyes searched my face. I couldn’t help taking in the changes to his face. He was older now, obviously, but it didn’t show in a bad way. The scruff on his face only made him look more masculine, dangerous, and yet somehow refined. He was sexy, mature, and radiating confidence while wrapped in an air of command. I didn’t need saving—not really—but Flynn was definitely a man I’d trust to do it.

He leaned forward slightly, and my breath stalled. He reached up with his spare hand, my chin between his thumb and forefinger as he tilted my head back. Everything in me screamed for more, while remaining frozen in place, desperate to charge forward but stuck in fear.

“Flynn,” I whispered, not sure if I wanted him to go further or pull away. I mean, what were we even doing? We hadn’t seen each other in years, and here I was practically powerless against the man, and he’d barely touched me. Something in his eyes flared when I said his name, and the way he clenched his jaw so that the muscle there ticked wildly sent some long dormant, feminine part of my brain into a frenzy.

Closing his eyes, he inched forward. I didn’t pull away, wanting more but fearing reaching for it. Flynn was forbidden fruit. He was dangerous to me on so many levels, now more than ever. I made good choices… but Flynn was a weakness for me.

The moment his lips brushed mine, so featherlight it was barely a touch, my eyes fluttered closed and I let myself feel it for asecond.

Without warning he pulled back sharply and stood. I shot back as if I’d been stung, but Flynn wasn’t looking at me but was instead scrolling through his phone.

“Okay,” he said before he cleared his throat. “I think we have some usable images in here. You should change your clothes and change your hair a little. I’ll do the same and we’ll keep going,” he said, a level of forced professionalism in his tone, all without looking at me.

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