Page 13 of Close Contact
Just get over here. If I walk out alone with her, the rumor mill explodes.
Kimi
Copy that.
Bianchi, don’t be a dick.
Marco
LOL
I glanced up atAurélie. She hadn’t moved, but her breathing was a little steadier now. Progress, maybe.
“Kimiand Marco are coming,” I said gently, not anticipating a reaction. “We’ll figure it out. Get you somewhere else without giving the impression we’re…” I trailed off. “Involved.” I hated the word the second it left my mouth. She flinched. Almost imperceptibly, but I saw it.
I shifted forward again, the chair creaking beneath me. My voice dropped to a murmur. “Without giving the impression we’reanything… except whatyouneed.”
Still nothing, but she wasn’t pushing me away either.
I swallowed hard. “Jesuislà,” I said quietly. “I’m here.” I didn’t expect her to look up, but she did. Slowly, her tear-swollen eyes met mine in the dim light. Something quiet and unbearable opened between us.
I moved before I could stop myself, crossing the room in two strides, and sank down onto the couch beside her. Not touching her, not crowding, but just close enough to feel the heat radiating off her skin.
Reaching up, careful as anything, I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Mon amour,” I whispered, barely louder than my breath. It was the only thing I could think of that wouldcapture what I felt for her—this addiction of wanting her near, how deeply she made me feel, how much I’d come to care for her.
Her lips parted as if she might say something, but nothing came. I leaned in, my lips brushing hers, softly, reverently. A kiss that asked for nothing but promised everything. She didn’t pull away; she melted. Just a sigh, the barest shift of her body toward mine, as though gravity had tilted and I was the only solid thing she could cling to.
I broke the kiss, and she rested her forehead against mine with a shaky breath.
“Don’t go,” she whispered, almost inaudibly. “Just… stay. Please.”
I’d always considered myself selfish… until her. Before her, I would have stepped away and given her the space she’d initially asked for without a second thought. I would have let her rebuild without clouding things between us. But instead, my hand found hers, letting her anchor herself to me.
As much as I wanted to be, I knew I wasn’t her answer, but I could be her silence. Her pause. Her breath.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
I meant it more than I’d meant anything in my life.
I sat beside her,our shoulders nearly touching on the worn couch. Her knees were still tucked into her chest, her cheek resting against them, and I could feel the faint tremble in her frame. She hadn’t moved since I kissed her—a kiss so soft it had felt like a secret. But she hadn’t pushed me away either. She’d leaned in, just enough to undo something in me.
I kept my hands to myself now, but I stayed close. Just being there, ready if she needed more. Not asking for anything. Not pushing. Just anchoring.
The knock on the door came quietly.
Aurélieflinched, just barely. I leaned closer and murmured, “Stay here. I’ll handle it.” I pressed a tender kiss to her temple. She didn’t respond, but she didn’t pull away either.
I stood and cracked the door open. Marco grinned at me,Kimijust behind him, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
“Convoy’s here,” Marco whispered, waggling his brows.
“Knock it off,” I muttered. His smirk faded when he sawAurélieon the couch, and to his credit, his whole demeanor shifted.Kimididn’t say anything, but his jaw tightened slightly.
They entered quickly, quietly. The room felt smaller with them inside, the dim window light barely enough to cut through the tension.
Auréliedidn’t lift her head, but her hands fidgeted in her lap, tugging at the sleeve of her hoodie. Her phone lay dark beside her. The hollowness in her eyes earlier had faded a little, but she looked like she was holding herself together by a thread.
“Jesus,Dubois,”Kimimuttered, keeping his voice low. He crouched a short distance from her. “You look like you’ve been through the wringer.”
