After reading his confirmation, I slipped out from behind the wheel and walked to the passenger side.
Unfortunately, I woke Nina when I reached over to unbuckle her seat beld.
“Mmm, you smell good,” she said sleepily.
I ignored her words and my body’s reaction to them.
When I lifted her out of the car, she wrapped her arms around my neck and nuzzled into me.
Fuck, she feels good in my arms.I couldn’t remember the last time something felt so right. Why did it have to be with a woman I had no right wanting?
“You’re so strong,” she said into my chest. “Like the Man of Steel.” Nina laughed at her exhaustion induced joke.
I forced a chuckle, but couldn’t laugh with her. Superman was a hero. I wasn’t.
Halfway to the door, Nina fully woke up. And freaked out.
When she flailed, I almost dropped her.
“Shh, it’s okay, Cherry. It’s just me. You’re safe.” I held her tighter so she wouldn’t take a violent plunge to the ground.
“Austin?” she asked.
“It’s me.”
“Put me down.” Gone was the sleepy tone and the admiration.
“Okay,” I said, hoping she’d recognize the joke.
Once her feet were firmly on the ground and she was standing without my help, she asked, “Why were you carrying me?”
“You fell asleep in the car.”
My answer made perfect sense to me, but not to Nina.
“So?” she asked, before shuffling her feet and wringing her hands. Several emotions crossed her face. One side effect of the mental and emotional exhaustion, she wasn’t hiding behind a fake smile as often.
Which meant I could see what was really going on inside that beautiful head of hers.
In the end, she said, “I’m sorry I fell asleep.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“Sorry.”
As suspected, Nina was a people pleaser and couldn’t stop apologizing to save her life. But standing on the well-lit walkingpath to the front door of her cute ranch house wasn’t the time or the place to bring it to her attention.
It’s not your place. And it’d never be my time.
“Let’s get you inside.”
I placed my hand on her lower back and told myself it was strictly professional.
I lied, but it didn’t matter. The only person I was hurting was myself.
My developing feelings for Nina were inappropriate for so many reasons.
To remind myself, I listed them.
