Page 42 of Imperfection is Beauty

I was headed towards a bookcase that had a lot of pictures on it when something happened.

I heard her let out a yelp, followed by, “Crap!”

After seeing her klutz self in action, it had me walking in her direction to only come to a sudden stop when she slammed into my chest.

Catching her against my body when she let out an “Oomph.”

“Just what is it with you walking right into stuff?” I asked her as I chuckled.

She shook her head in a huff, but giggled, “I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t come out of nowhere.”

I snorted, “Okay, Shortcake. Why the hurry?”

She smiled and then lost that smile and huffed out a breath, “My car.”

I nodded, “Betty drove it here. Then Red picked her up. You missed it in the parking lot. I parked right next to it.”

That was when her shoulders dropped, “Oh.”

And no, she didn’t have time to hide her embarrassment from me before she looked to the side and at a picture she had hung up in her hallway.

Releasing my grip from her hip I moved my hand up until I had one finger underneath her chin, and carefully, I lifted, and moved it until I had her eyes.

I didn’t care if her neck hurt from looking up at me or not, “Let’s make something crystal fucking clear here, okay? First of all, you’re a klutz, and it’s cute as fuck. Second, you just broke your nose because some bitch needed to learn how to tell if a man is taken or not. That’s on her. And Third, you were singing to a song, and having a good time. You didn’t see your car? So, fucking what? You were smiling, and I saw it. So that’s all that matters.”

She nodded, and then I stood there, transfixed as she gave me that soft smile of hers.

And I wanted nothing more than to pick her up, bring her up to my height, and then slam my mouth down on hers.

Just as those thoughts ran rampant in my head, she asked, “Umm, Marcus?”

Not meaning to, I rasped out, “Yeah?”

She still held that small smile, “Are you going to let me go?”

“For now. But just saying, as soon as you’re ready to fall, I’ll catch you.” With that, I released her and then headed to her front door.

Because if I didn’t get out of there with the vision of what she had on, I wouldn’t be leaving, and I would be taking us to a place that I figured she wasn’t ready for.

Because damn if she didn’t have on the smallest little white shorts that showed off her creamy thighs and that perfect ass of hers, and yeah... she had that hoodie on.

It still looked a little like a dress.

Stopping at the door, I looked over my shoulder at her and said, “Pain meds are on the counter, Shortcake.”

And that was when she whispered, “Thank you, Marcus. For everything.”

“You need me, all you gotta do is call. Okay?” At her nod, I nodded then walked down the hall, but not before I chanced a look back.

And yeah, I definitely caught her eyes on my ass.

I was chuckling all the way down the steps at the way her cheeks heated, fucking adorable.

Chapter 10

Scarlett

Last night’s conversation before I went to bed once Marcus left.

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