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Before I realized my feelings for her were bigger than I can handle right now. Bigger than what’s acceptable.
Sam bounces up and down, clapping her hands together. “That settles it, big bro. She wants to go!”
Nora giggles at Sam’s excitement, which makes my heart roar to life at how perfect that sound is, and damn, have I missed it.
“We can go?” Nora asks with a tinge of uncertainty in her voice, and I hate it.
I hate so much that bastard David Miller has done this to her, and I hate myself a little, too. She’s worried about upsetting me, even though I’ve spent the week trying to reassure her I’m not mad. That my reaction was out of pure panic and fear for her safety.
But every time I tell her that, her eyes cloud a little, and she withdraws even more. I can’t figure it the fuck out. I don’t understand her reaction or why it would upset her. I’ve spent the past week stewing on how to fix it, and maybe getting out of the house for the day is just the key.
“Only if you want to,” I say earnestly.
I want to make sure it’s something she wants to do and not something she feels pressured to do because of Sam. Over the past week they’ve spent more and more time together. I’m grateful they get along, but I’m unsure if Nora is just using Sam as a buffer between the two of us.
“I think it would be fun and good to get out of the house. We haven’t done much besides work at the store and hang out here.” She smiles at Sam as she eases up off the couch. She’s needed less help over the week, taking away my excuses to touch her.
At first, I was thankful because I thought I needed the distance to place our relationship back in the friend zone, but my fingers itch to feel her soft skin under my rough palms. I have an overwhelming desire to reach my hand out and run my fingertips along her sharp cheekbones, and to feel her cradle her head into my palm. To pull her into me and comfort her how I want to. The desire is so strong that I’ve had to stop myself several times this week from doing just that.
“Let me change really quick, then I’m ready to go,” Nora says as she makes her way to the stairs.
I’m still worried if her ankle can handle walking around for over thirty minutes, but if she gets tired, that would be my chance to feel her in my arms again. I’m also worried about David, but at this point, I welcome an opportunity to beat his ass to a pulp.
Nora stops and looks back at me, a questioning glance in her gaze. She spins the ring on her finger, and I zoom in on the motion. It’s like she can hear the worries playing in my head, but I decide to keep my trap shut and take the girls to the mall.
“Go get ready. I’ll make sure nothing happens,” I say encouragingly, even throwing in a shooing motion with my hand.
There is no way I would ever let anything happen to her. I would die before I ever let David fucking Miller put his dirty, tainted hands on her. I hope she knows that.
Chapter 28
Nora
I’m having the best time. Sam is a freaking hoot to hang out with, and SJ is even playing and joking around with her. Some of the tension in his shoulders from the past week finally subsides. I’ve felt guilty every time I’ve looked at him this past week.
It’s my fault. All of it. I made him worry he would lose his job and fail for the first time to not keep his client safe. That’s kept me up at night. The look of failure on his face before he left his room haunts me.
What eats me alive is how I fell heavy and hard for a man who doesn’t feel that way for me. I spent the past week trying to figure out how to turn these damn feelings off, but so far, all I’ve managed to do is give myself an ulcer. I feel so freaking stupid.
I’ve tried to put distance between us to save myself from the utter humiliation of unrequited love. I laugh internally. Figures I would finally fall for a man, and it’s someone who doesn’t feel the same way about me.
His feelings were loud and clear when he told me it was his job he was worried about.
“Nora, you want to go in here? They have the best body spray!” Sam practically shouts as she drags me into the store.
I look around, realizing where we are and only turn the faintest of pinks as I go over and pick up the first bottle of lotion I see.
“Sam, what the hell are we doing in here?” SJ hisses. His response makes me chuckle as I continue my perusal of all the good smelling lotions and body sprays.
“This is where I get all my favorite scents, bro. You got a problem with that?” Sam asks innocently.
We both know she’s not innocent, though. The look of mischief on her face says it all. SJ quirks his eyebrow and crosses his arms in a showdown of sorts.
Sam throws it right back at him. “Is there something wrong, big bro?”
“I can’t be seen in here with my seventeen-year-old sister and my client. Let’s go. You can get this other stuff later,” he gruffs.
I stiffen at his response, my heart tearing in two. That’s the first time since the incident that he has referred to me as his client. It’s like a sucker punch to the gut, and it hurts as much as it did that night. The smile I had on my face just moments before dies a slow and painful death.
