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I caught the look of one other person who was further down the hall. It was Alba. I locked eyes with her and noticed the worried expression on her face. She joined us in the foyer, took one look at Malcolm and me, and smiled.
“Come,” she said softly. “Let's sit for dinner. The Cranes are waiting.”
Adam and Danielle turned to follow her, and I turned back toward the door, intent on leaving. Malcolm again held the door closed and prevented me from leaving. He turned me around and put his hands on the door behind me, trapping me between them. He'd cornered me, and his eyes bored straight into mine. I couldn't bear to look at him, my eyes were filling with tears, so I looked down at the floor instead.
“Now that we're alone...” he whispered.
Instead of finishing the sentence with words, he kissed me long and hard and full of the passion I'd come to expect from Malcolm Crane's kisses. I was so shocked by the move that I didn't react. I was stunned.
A moment later though, I got my wits back about me and balled my fists up. I drove them into his chest and tried to push him back, but it was no use. I was too small, he was too strong. He stopped kissing me though, and instead leaned into me, resting his forehead against mine.
“You're mad at me,” he said.
“No, I'm not,” I lied. “I'm fine.”
A smile tickled at his lips, and I could see that he wanted to grin and make a snarky comment. But, being the wise man he was, he seemed to know better than smile or crack a joke at a time like that. It was smart since it kept him from getting kicked in the nuts.
“You're not fine,” he said. “And listen, I can explain everything. I promise.”
“Oh. You can explain why you've been ignoring all my texts?” I said, heat creeping into my voice. “I told you, we need to talk, Malcolm. I wasn't fucking around.”
“You went through all this trouble with Adam just to talk to me??
? he asked, looking completely taken aback by me going through all of this just to see him.
“Yes,” I said.
“Okay, then talk.”
There was an edge to his voice I hadn't heard before. He was angry at me, or maybe it was Adam. I couldn't tell.
“What about your family dinner?” I asked, a sneer in my voice.
He shrugged. “Fuck them. I don't like most of my family anyway,” he said. “You came all this way, you endured the hell that is spending time with Adam, so talk to me, Casey. What's so important that it couldn't wait?”
“I thought you were cutting things off with me,” I said. “Not that we were every anything more than – well, you know. But given the fact that you seemed like you were cutting me off, I wasn't sure if our agreement still stood or not.”
Malcolm sighed and closed his eyes. He relaxed into me, and I found it hard not to reach out and touch his face or run my fingers through his hair. He was so sickeningly sexy and being so near him made my body react. My heart raced, my stomach churned, and it felt like my every nerve ending was on fire.
He didn't have to necessarily do a damn thing. My body just reacted on its own whenever we were together – and judging by the bulge in his pants pressing against me, I guess the feeling was mutual.
“Casey, I –”
Alba’s voice came from behind him, interrupting our talk.
“Malcolm, your father is asking for you.” “Tell him I'll be right there,” Malcolm said through clenched teeth.
“He's going to come looking for you himself if you don't hurry.”
Malcolm sighed again, this time in frustration. He straightened himself up, and suddenly, the blank, emotionless mask he'd been wearing was back. Only his eyes held any hint of softness toward me now.
“Casey, I promise I'll explain everything later,” he said. “But, for now, would you care to join us for dinner?”
“Care to join you?” I asked. “I mean, after everything that had happened, you wouldn't mind? I'm not sure it'd go over too well, honestly.”
“Of course I wouldn't mind,” he said. “But until we talk, can we downplay our relationship, please? I usually don't tell these people any more than they need to know at any given time. Things are safer that way.”
Our relationship.
