Page 68 of The Seduction
“We’re going to make it okay. You and me. Together.” He held her gaze. Her eyes had turned the gray of an afternoon thunderstorm, the kind with lightning flashing deep in the clouds. “And you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because it’s important to both of us. One way or another, it’s going to work. Because it has to, and therefore it will.”
“You sound awfully confident.”
“I am.”
“You don’t ever freak out about this situation?”
He gave that question some thought. “I haven’t so far. I’ve been focused on keeping you safe from Thai baddies. But if I do, will you help talk me off the ledge? We’re in this together, isn’t that what you said to get me on that plane?”
Her lips twitched, then a genuine smile lit up her face. This wasn’t the smile she gave the cameras. This was the real one, the one that showed her teeth and created wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and reached right into his soul. “Me, talk you off the ledge? You did just see me have a full-blown panic attack, right?”
“Yes. But I’ve also seen you take care of business in a smart and capable way. You got us here, didn’t you? This was all you.” He waved at the high-tech haven of the Mason house. “I trust you, Bliss. You’ve got a lot going on up here.” He tapped the side of her head. “Maybe you don’t believe it, but I’ve seen it. You know me. I don’t fluff people up for no reason.”
She rested her hands on her belly. He noticed shadows under her eyes. They made her eyes even more beautiful, less pixie and more elven queen. It was hard to believe that not long ago her lips had been wrapped around his cock. He shoved that image to the back of his mind.
“See, that’s part of the problem, Granger. Do we really know each other?”
Fighting the urge to flee, he straightened up with a grunt. A twinge deep inside him let him know his internal organs hadn’t appreciated that movement. “Of course we do. We’ve lived together twice now.”
“No. You knowme.Probably better than anyone ever has. I don’t put on any kind of act with you. You’ve seen me at my worst. But you…I only know what you’ve allowed me to see. You keep everything else locked up inside there.” She waved at his body. “You’re like a fricking Medieval fortress. When you were in the hospital, I didn’t know who to call, besides Kirk.”
“You’re just as cagey as I am,” he pointed out, feeling defensive. “You didn’t tell me about the Thailand situation until you absolutely had to.”
“That was before I knew you.”
He cocked his head at her and lifted an eyebrow.
“You know what I mean,” she said impatiently. “I know you much better now, well enough to know you’re still keeping something from me. Something important.” Her gray eyes filled with light now, as if those clouds had cleared. “Is it more important than us? Our relationship? The podling?”
That question struck him right in the heart. That was his entire life story, right there. The fact that he didn’t know his father—at all—had affected him in so many ways. Hell, it had brought him here to Lake Bittersweet. It had landed him in this very situation.
“No,” he said slowly. “It isn’t.”
His gut was really bothering him now. He’d been standing too long, and that was after waking up to the sound of wheezing and racing upstairs with no concern for his stitches at all. “I’ll tell you. But right now I need—“ he swayed a little.
She clambered to her feet in a movement that was somehow ungainly and also endearing. “Sit. Go ahead. Sit down. Oh my God, did you run up those stairs for me? Of course you did. God, Granger, you have to be more careful.”
She guided him to the chair and he lowered himself onto the cushions with a groan. “Want to know me better? First thing you need to know is I probably won’t be careful if I think someone’s in danger.”
“Actually, I think I already knew that one.” She bent down and ever so softly pressed a kiss onto his lips.
He stilled. Stunned, he froze under the warm touch of her lips. They’d never kissed likethisbefore. This wasn’t a sexual kiss. They’d shared plenty of those. This was a kiss that cherished, that appreciated. Her kiss spoke of gentleness and care. Tenderness. How much tenderness had he received in his life? So little that he barely knew what to make of it.
Were they made of living silk, those lips? They were so soft, so fresh. They made him want to abandon every shield he’d ever put up against the world. He’d throw himself at her mercy and beg her to kiss him like this forever.
He didn’t know how to handle such feelings. They were brand new to a guy like him.
He pulled back, and caught her quick look of hurt, before she hid it away under one of her smiles. No! He didn’t want to wound her. The opposite.
“There is something I haven’t talked about.” The words practically blurted out of him. “I should have told you before. It’s only right that you should know.”
She gazed down at him, eyebrows quirking over her luminous eyes. Another of her summer tops floated around her, this one with a cheerful pattern of polka dots in retro shades of pistachio and orange sherbert. The aftermath of her panic attack lingered in the form of puffy eyes and the tracks of tears on her cheeks. “I may need to sit down again.”
He looked around. Was there really only one chair in this little view nook? “All the security in the world, and only one damn chair.” He pushed himself to his feet. “Where’s the nearest couch?”