Page 13 of Don't Make Me Fall
“It’s not nothing.”
“It’s just me. Being stupid. Nothing new to see here.”
Turning her in my arms until she faces me, I cup her cheek with both hands and use my thumbs to brush away her tears. It’s the exact opposite thing I should be doing if I want to keep us from that point of no return. But I can’t seem to help myself. Seeing her in distress is my fucking undoing.
“What’s wrong?” I ask again, more gently this time.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She tucks her head against my chest, and I hold her there, my hand on the crown of her head, until the sun vanishes behind the mountains. I don’t know what the hell is happening between us. Though Reid has talked about his sister before, I never paid much attention. Until last night, I’d never even met her.
But now?
Now I can’t imagine ever letting her go.
Even with the darkness surrounding us and the last of the daylight retreating, I hold her tighter, as though afraid she might slip right through my hands if I don’t.
It’s only when she starts to shiver that I realize I haven’t set up the tent, much less started a fire.
I kiss her temple.
“Sweetheart, I need to get a fire going so you don’t freeze.”
She nods against me. “I’ll help.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I say.
“I’m not some damsel in distress,” she fires back.
My hand goes to her neck, and I tilt her chin up with my thumb until she looks at me. I pin her in place with a stare so intense it startles even me. “In the short time I’ve gotten to know you Alanna, I’ve come to know that you are many things—headstrong, smart, determined, stubborn, sexy as hell. But thelastthing you are is some damsel in distress.”
She reaches up, gripping my face with both hands. That amber gaze is trained on my mouth.
Fuck, Iwantto kiss her.
I want to taste her.
To savor her.
Not just in this moment.
But inallthe moments.
One nagging question lingers in the back of my mind, holding me back, and it’s getting too loud to ignore.
“Who’s Tyler?”
Her heated expression turns ice cold in a flash, and I know I’ve hit on something. Something too important to simply brush off. She tugs free of my hold and searches her pack for a flashlight.
“It’s just a simple question.”
Her narrowed glare says otherwise. “I’ll get some firewood since it’s clear we have no other way to keep warm tonight.”
Chapter Seven
Alanna
A full body shiver keeps me from drifting all the way off to sleep. For the first time since we arrived in Cinnamon Creek, I’m irritated that I’m not in a tropical climate. I could be sleeping in a cushy hotel bed with a warm, Caribbean breeze softly fluttering my curtains.
But no.
