Page 56 of The Mistakes I've Made
“I get that.”
“Do you? Because most people tell me it’s ridiculous.”
“Tragedy has a way of making you second-guess every decision you’ve ever made.”
With his hand still encasing mine, the one he’d never let go of, he squeezed a bit tighter, sending butterflies down to my belly.
“That bit of wisdom sounds like it comes from experience.”
“My mom died when I was a teenager. A car accident,” I answered, not even sure why I was telling him this. “And for months, I analyzed nearly every single second of my life, trying to figure out every combination, every single scenario where I could have prevented that accident from happening.”
“You must have driven yourself almost mad,” he said.
“I’m pretty sure I nearly did. If it wasn’t for some of the hotel staff, I’m fairly certain I would never have made it through that first year.”
“Hotel staff? Where was your dad?”
I swallowed hard, the conversation growing a bit too heavy. “Oh, hey!” I said. “We’re here.”
He looked up to find the inn coming into view. “I guess we are.”
I could see he was visibly let down by the abrupt change, but I just couldn’t continue down that path.
Not when it would have led to conversations regarding my father. I’d already bared enough of my soul tonight.
“So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” he said hopefully.
I nodded, although I knew it’d be much sooner, for I’d see this man in my dreams, a place where there were no rules.
And where I could do whatever I wanted.
A small smile spread across my lips. “Goodnight, Taylor.”
“Ithink it’s time for a report,” Dean announced, not wasting any time.
I’d just finished telling him about my weird run-in with Macon Green the night before, and both of us had decided to keep an eye out on the troubled cop, despite the bad blood between us.
My brother, being the nosy son of a bitch that he was, couldn’t let go of the fact that I’d been stopped by the police with the one woman I seemed to hate more than life itself.
So, here we were.
“A report?” I asked.
“How’s the compromising going?” His lips twitched, and I could see it took him effort to keep from grinning.
Idiot.
I took a long sip from my cup, the hot, creamy liquid jump-starting my brain. “It’s going good,” I said before adding, “I think.”
“You think?”
No, actually, I thought it was a complete disaster, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
My mind and eyes wandered to the very spot in the room where, less than twelve hours ago, I’d pulled Leilani close to my chest and finally taken exactly what I wanted. Closing my eyes, I could still remember every breath she had taken, every whimpered sound she’d made as her body melted into mine.
I’d never experienced a kiss quite like it in my life. It had felt like a live wire sizzling every nerve from my head, right down to the tips of my toes. And then, just like that, her hand had slipped to the center of my chest and pushed me away.
I was a distraction.
