Page 56 of Hidden Shadows
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The distanceshe put between them hit like a physical blow to his midsection, so hard and intense it stole his breath. “Finley, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You are. By pushing me away, by not allowing yourself to feel anything, youarehurting me.” She swallowed, a thin sheen of tears in her eyes. “Tell me you don’t want me.”
Fuck, how was he supposed to respond to that? “Finley—”
“Tell me you don’t want me, Nixon.”
“I can’t. Idowant you. I want all of you, all the time. I’ve never wanted anything in mylifeas much as I want you. You’re in my skin. My blood. My bones. You’re everywhere.” The words flew from somewhere deep inside him, and he couldn’t stop a single one of them. “And that scares the hell out of me.”
More tears built in her beautiful brown eyes. She closed that distance between them again, and the second she touched him, a small fleck of his pain disintegrated. “You have me. Take me as yours.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I do. I feel the fear too. But there’s also a different kind of fear. The fear you feel when something so perfect is in the palm of your hand, but it’s slipping through your fingers like sand.”
Him. He was the sand.
Her hands smoothed over his chest, and it felt like she was inside him, her fingers around his heart, claiming it. “The only thing worse than fear is regret. Don’t let that be us. If you want me, take me.”
Her words, the way her breath brushed against his flesh, it caused the last scrap of his resistance to snap. He tugged her against him and took her lips with his.
The kiss was fire, and that fire burned the fear in his chest to ash.
She moaned, softening, her hands running over his chest and shoulders. The sounds she made silenced the world around him. Fuck, they even silenced the voices in his head.
He slid his fingers through her hair, holding her. Needing her.
His. This woman washis. He’d tried running. Hell, he’d tried digging his head into the damn dirt and pretending she didn’t affect him. But none of that had worked. And now, he needed to stop running. To stop letting fear dictate his whole damn life.
He slipped his tongue between her lips, tasting her. Letting everything that was Finley change him. Claim him.
He didn’t know how long they kissed, but when he eventually came up for air, it was too soon. Gently, he touched his forehead to hers. “I wasn’t lying when I said I’m not a safe bet. But for you, I’ll try. Fuck, I’ll tear myself and my world apart to be what you need. Because I’m falling in love with you, too.”
Her eyes closed, relief skittering over her features and a single tear falling down her cheek. He caught it with the pad of his thumb.
“Nixon…” Her eyes collided with his. “Promise me…no more running. We make this work. We figure it out. Together.”
“No more running. It’s you and me, Finley. Together.”
CHAPTER19
Finley’s fingers tapped the keys on her laptop as she responded to emails. She’d been doing admin all afternoon, ever since she and Nixon had returned from their walk.
Her heart was still thudding too quickly at what had transpired between them. At the way he’d kissed her. Admitted to falling in love with her.
She snuck a peek at him. They were on the couch in his room, the heat of his side close to her, almost touching.
He was on his laptop too, although every so often he took a break to kiss her. Touch her.
He almost made her forget everything that had transpired with her stalker. That she’d been in the hospital. Hearing him tell her he wanted to make things work between them… God, it had made all the anxiety she’d been feeling just disappear.
She ran her gaze over the email she’d written, her finger hovering over the send key. It was going to the coordinator of the next event she’d committed to, informing them she could no longer attend. That due to personal reasons, she had to withdraw. She’d recommended a number of other people who had big followings like hers, who would no doubt take her place if asked.
The email said exactly what she wanted…yet she hesitated, something inside her rebelling at the idea of sending it. She’d never withdrawn from an event once she’d committed. Because every event was one she’d carefully selected.
She needed a break. But she also knew that break would hurt the carefully crafted business she’d created. In her line of work, you couldn’t just take time off and return later to where you were before you left.
