Page 85 of A Whirlwind of Color (The Light to My Darkness 2)

“You weren’t depressed…”

“Stop lying, James. Please stop lying. For one minute can’t you…”

He grabbed the back of my head and pulled me into a kiss. I tried to push him off, but within a second I was completely captivated by his lips. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I was paralyzed by that kiss. A hot, passionate, mind-blowing kiss. God. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was everything. Every. Single. Thing.

He pulled away far too soon. “I can prove to you we were happy. Just…don’t move.”

When his hands left my body I immediately felt cold. The reaction I had to him was all-consuming. He disappeared out of the living room and I silently cursed myself. I meant to just ask him about the letter. I didn’t mean to fight. And why was I so turned on whenever we fought? What the heck was that all about?

I smoothed down my hair and tried to even out my breathing. But all I wanted was his fingers in my hair again. I wanted his hands on the small of my back, pulling me closer. I wanted more. I swallowed hard. There was no way I was ready for more. Besides, he was healing from his cardiac episode. And I was healing too. Nothing heals the past like time. That’s what he had said earlier. I didn’t know if that was true. It felt like every time James and I took one step forward we took two steps back. And he wasn’t being patient with me. He was suffocating me. And intoxicating me.

James reappeared with a huge stack of papers in his hand. No, not just papers. He handed me my manuscript. Temptation by Ivy Smoak. The pages were worn, like he had read through it a lot. “You’ve read it?”

He pressed his lips together. “Several times. I may have tried to recreate a few scenes. I didn’t remember every detail. But you did. When you wrote it.”

“And Ivy Smoak is my pen name? Why wouldn’t I use my real name?”

“We have enough publicity. You wanted to do this on your own. Anonymity has its perks.”

“Do I have a publishing deal or…”

“Read it. We can talk about everything after you’ve read it. I just need you to understand how we started. How hard and fast we fell in love. How much we love each other. How real everything I’ve said is. Read it and then we can talk.”

I looked back down at the worn pages. He said he had read it several times. That was touching. “What did you think of the writing?”

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever read.”

I laughed. “Yeah right.”

“It’s emotional, and raw, and real. I barely made any notes. And I’m all about making notes. I’m a professor.”

“So you didn’t go all professorly on me and mark everything up?”

He smiled. A genuine, knee-weakening smile. “Professorly isn’t a word, Penny.”

“Really?” I scrunched my mouth to the side. “It feels like a real word. I’m the author though. If I want to use professorly, I think it’s okay.”

“Yeah. I think it’s okay too.”

My eyes drifted to his lips. “I didn’t expect you to kiss me.”

“I can only resist so much temptation.” He nodded to the manuscript.

“Hence the name Temptation?”

He smiled. “I don’t know…you’re the one that titled it.”

I looked back down at the book. Now that I was holding it, I felt like I finally had all the answers. I didn’t know what time frame it covered, but I hoped it was everything I was missing.

“Full disclosure, it’s pretty detailed,” James said.

I met his gaze. “What does that mean exactly? Too much detail?”

“No, I think it’s the perfect amount.”

I didn’t recognize the look he was giving me. Amused maybe? “If there’s something wrong with it you can tell me. It’s not like I remember writing it.”

He smiled. “Just read it, Penny. I’m going to head back to the hospital for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”

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