Page 8 of Fall Back
“I don’t think it would be a good idea,” I hedge.
Jared grins at me like he can read my mind and all the reasons I’ve come up with as to why this would be the worst idea ever. He shakes his head slowly. “If you’re worried about your brothers, don’t be. I’ll take care of them, but I’m not going to let this opportunity pass me by. I saw the woman you became at the wedding months ago, but I didn’t make a move because I knew you were heading back to Denver. If you’re here and staying, I’m not giving any other asshole a chance with you,” there’s a possessiveness in his voice which has my thighs squeezing together.
I bite my lip, uncertainty making me want to run. But I’ve been running from things for as long as I can remember. First it was this town and then it was Dave. Look where I am now, right back in the small town I was so sure wasn’t for me and standing in front of the man who was once a boy I crushed on.
Is it a sign or is it just life coming full circle? Does it matter?
“Okay,” I whisper before I can second guess myself.
“Good,” he breathes out as the smile on his face grows into something that makes me want to leap into his arms and tell him to never let me go. I made him smile like that; I want to see it again and again. “Now,” he nods toward the window, “let’s get you back inside before anyone else sees you like this.”
His eyes heat as they sweep over my outfit again before he’s crouching next to the window and offering his hands, which he’s laced together, like he’s going to boost me up and inside. Well, it beats trying to use my limited upper body strength to get myself there.
When my hands land on his shoulders, we both jolt and I pull my hands back. “It’s okay,” he grits out through his teeth, his blue eyes turning molten as he looks at me.
The feeling of electricity running through me isn’t as pronounced when I place my hands on his shoulders a second time, but it’s still there. I don’t let myself react to it though and the only indication Jared feels it is the way the muscles of his neck strain further. Then I’m up and through the window and looking at him with wide eyes after I scramble to my feet.
“I’ll pick you up in two nights for our date. Seven,” his voice is husky and an octave lower than normal.
He doesn’t give me the chance to respond before he walks away, the muscles of his back moving with every step he takes. The man prowls toward the police cruiser I hadn’t even noticed before, and it’s one of the sexiest things I’ve ever witnessed.
I’m in so much fucking trouble, but for the first time in a long time it’s trouble I welcome and look forward to.
CHAPTER 4
JARED
This shift is fucking never ending. At least, it feels that way and it has nothing to do with the hours I’ve been on the clock. It’s all because tonight is the night I’m picking up Carson for our date.
In the last two days I’ve had to resist the urge to go over to her house and see her. How I resisted, I’ll never fucking know. Now, with her in town, it’s like I can feel her. There’s this tug that wants to pull me closer to her.
Seeing her a few mornings ago, dressed like she just rolled out of bed, which was sexy as fuck, I didn’t know which way was up or down. The last person I expected to see when I got the call about a suspicious person walking around a house was Carson Burns. I’m also damn glad that I was the one who was closest and able to take the call.
Fuck, those sleep shorts she was wearing bordered on indecent fucking exposure. They were so short and just peekingout the bottom of the thin t-shirt she was wearing. It took every ounce of strength I had not to wrap my arms around her, pull her against my chest, and strip her bare. Being out in public would have been my very last fucking thought.
How I managed to control myself is still a mystery to me days later.
The surprises didn’t stop after finding Carson, it was only the beginning. Finding out she was renting the place because she moved back felt like a revelation, one I had been waiting for longer than I could admit to myself. Knowing she’s back in Wintervale before her brothers? It feels wrong, but I’m not going to be the one to break her trust.
Hell fucking no.
Not when she’s agreed to go out with me.
I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass me by. Carson is gorgeous and I’m not going to be the only man in town interested in her, not by a long shot. There will be a lot of guys trying to get her to look at them. Over my dead fucking body will I let that shit happen.
I had an inkling of something when I saw her at the wedding, and it slammed into me the moment she turned around outside of her open window with her hands interlaced on the back of her head and her mouth twisted into a frown. She’s mine.
There’s no way in hell I’ll allow another man the chance to ask her out. If staking my claim on her is what is required, then so fucking be it. I’ll do it. Happily. While whistling.
“What’s crawled up your ass today?”
I look up to find Walker, the man who fell in love with my sister, Morgan, looking at me curiously. His eyes are far tooassessing for my liking, as if he already suspects the truth about my mood. There’s no way he could know or even try to guess what is going on, but there’s something like knowing in his eyes which makes me want to squirm.
“Nothing,” I grumble, trying to deflect.
His eyes narrow to slits, as he abandons whatever paperwork he was doing and comes to sit on the edge of my desk. “You’re full of shit, Jared,” he huffs out lowly. “Now, something is going on, and I think you need to get it off your chest.”
“Nothing is going on,” I insist.
