“She was.” Memories of better times floated through my mind. Little moments like back-to-school shopping, hikes in the woods, or pancakes on Saturday mornings. Birthday parties, her smile, and the time we got stuck in the rain walking home after I crashed my bike. “She was also kind. Maybe too kind.”
“What do you mean, too kind?”
The memories twisted. Her long brown hair caked with blood. I tried to hang onto the older ones, before he’d started drinking. “She stayed in situations she shouldn’t have. Kept believing things would get better.”
Grace’s hand found mine in the darkness. Her fingers slid between mine, offering me the same anchor I’d given her on the plane. “And they didn’t?”
“No.” Why was I talking to her about this? Because she needed to hear it, so she’d grasp her carefree way was a path to pain? Or because she reminded me so much of the better times that I wanted to hang onto them? “She was wrong. She was so fucking wrong.”
Her thumb traced across my knuckles, slow and gentle. “Is that why you’re so protective?”
Overprotective, Carissa had said. Of course she had, because she’d had a good childhood, full of rainbows and fucking unicorns, and she didn’t understand the shit world we lived in. What was wrong with trying to watch out for the woman I loved? Even if she hadn’t loved me enough to stay faithful?
“Garrett?”
I turned my head.
She’d pushed herself up on one elbow, facing me. My eyes had grown accustomed to the dim light, so I could just see her silhouette. She rose further, until she was sitting beside me.
Letting go of my hand, she wrapped her arms around me. Hugged me. The same way I’d thought about hugging her every time she’d blinked away tears, while her world slowly unraveled. She was my job, my protectee, but for some unknown reason, my hand finally did what it had been itching to do for days, and it wrapped around her.
Who was comforting whom now?
My mother had kissed my bruised knee, told me we’d get an ice cream, and we’d walked home in the rain. I’d loved her so much, my heart ached, but I’d forgotten that memory. Too many of the bad ones had been crowding it out for years. Grace Laurent apparently had some sort of magic inside of her.
She loosened her grip on me, but as she backed out of the hug, she pressed her lips to my cheek. It was brief. Nothing more than her mouth against my skin for a moment before she pulled away.
Her smile was in my head. Those bright green eyes I could imagine glinting in the moonlight. She was so close. Close enough I could smell her toothpaste and the lavender from Jean’s soap she’d used. Close enough I could see the way her lips parted slightly as she looked at me.
Don’t, Garrett.
My arm was still around her.
Let go.Stand up and walk out and?—
She leaned closer and kissed me. Her mouth on mine, soft at first. Questioning. Asking me with her body if I wanted her and giving me every opportunity to say no.
Say no, Garrett.
I parted my lips, and let my tongue taste hers.
My free hand came up to cup her jaw, and I let my fingers slide into her hair. She made a quiet sound against my mouth that went straight through me. Under the toothpaste, she still tasted like wine and the chocolate mousse Jean had prepared for us. And when she leaned into me, I pulled her closer.
I’d been trying not to want her. I’d been fighting the attraction since the moment Tristan mentioned that she was single. The way she fit against me as though she belonged there. The way every ounce of her was warm, like she was fucking sunshine trying to defrost every icy wall I’d ever built.
I deepened the kiss, and she matched me, heating my blood. Her fingers curled around my shoulder, and I wanted to lie her back on this bed and learn every fucking part of her. Then her fingers were in my beard, raking her short nails along my jaw, and I could have exploded right then and there.
Stop.
No.I kept kissing her. Her mouth, the corner of her lips, back to her mouth again.
Stop!
I broke the kiss. Pulled away. My hand was still in her hair, and I forced it to let go. Made myself stand.
“Garrett—”
“I should check the doors.”You don’t deserve her, Garrett.
