Page 58 of The Eleventh Hour
“Can you feel how bad I want to be, sweetness?”
She mumbles something and nods tightly, but her eyes are half-closed, and she’s lost. I press another kiss to her lips. She is so beautiful. So responsive. I can see why Terrance fell in love with her.
Thinking about him cools my ardor, not by much, but it’s enough that I reluctantly draw back from her.
“Tonight, because you need it, I’m going to be a good guy.”
She shakes her head, but I press a finger to her lips.
“Let me do this for you. Let me be something good.”
Her eyes widen. I can see the uncertainty and nerves dancing across her face. But she nods, just a small little movement. I sit up, slowly disengaging our limbs, ignoring that voice screaming at me that I’m an idiot. I take her hand in mine, tug her to my bedroom, and turn the light on.
“Sleep here. No one will disturb you, and in the morning, we can track down Jacob Keylore.”
“He won’t be hard to find,” she murmurs. “He’s the pastor.”
“Huh.”
She strips out of her jacket and boots and sits on the edge of the bed. Her hair falls over her shoulder, hiding her face from me.
I turn to leave.
“Wait.”
I pause.
“Can you…stay?”
I turn back towards the bed and sit next to her. “What’s wrong, Jax?”
“I think about everything when I’m alone.”
I pull off my shoes, lift the cover, and she climbs in. I climb in beside her and pull her into me. She rests one hand on my chest and closes her eyes.
I’m getting too close. I stroke her hair and wonder how I’m going to untangle myself from how much I like her. She’s fresh and down to Earth, so broken, with more mysteries that I think I could spend a lifetime knowing. I stroke her hair and turn my head as the door opens.
Dane stands there, silhouetted by light, and gestures to me. I carefully slide out of the bed, making sure not to disturb her, and pad to the door.
I follow the light and sit down at the island counter. He slides a mug to me, and I take a sip. The coffee is hot, but it’s nice, just the way I like it.
“She lied to us.”
“Yup.” I take another sip and wait him out. It doesn’t take long. His anger surfaces, and he starts to pace.
“If she’s lying about that, what else is she hiding? Maybe she knows where Terrance is. Maybe she is involve-”
“Don’t say it,” I say harshly. “She’s not.”
“Not what? Involved? Lying? Helping?” Dane growls in frustration. “We don’t know her.”
“Terrance would say to trust our instincts.”
“And where’d that get him?”
I fall silent because I don’t know what to say to that.
“Look, I thought I saw something at the school. In the basement, there was something. I felt it.”