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I clenched my eyes shut, forcing the thoughts from my head. Those memories weren’t of Jim. Weren’t of anyone who ever actually cared about me.
“Hey,” he said, gently stroking back my hair. “Did I hurt you?”
I opened my eyes, my heart melting at the concern in his.
“Not even close,” I said, and relief shaped his features.
He scooted close to me, kissing me quickly before hedidhop out of bed.
My heart sank, a balloon bursting in my chest as he hurried into what I assumed was a connected bathroom. It wasn’t like I’d gotten a good look at his room when we came up here. Now would be a good time to find my clothes, but they were downstairs. Still, it’s not like I wanted to lay here naked in his bed while he showered me off of himself—
“On your back,” Jim demanded, and my eyes flared wide as I did what I was told. And watched as he tenderly, almost lovingly cleaned me up before returning to the bathroom, only to bring back a glass of water and hand it to me. “Drink up,” he said.
I raised my brows but sat up enough to drink half the glass down. His approving smile was enough to make warm shivers dance beneath my skin.
“Do you need something to eat?” he asked, and I tilted my head.
“No, why?” I asked as he took the water from me and sat it on his nightstand.
“Because I’m nowhere near close to finished with you yet.”
My lips parted, but I couldn’t form a response as he climbed back onto the bed. His kiss was slower this time, almost lazy, as if we indeed had all the time in the world to play.
He gently pushed me back onto the bed, bringing our bodies flush as he seemed content to kiss the breath straight from my lungs.
And as I fell deeper and deeper under his spell, I knew without a doubt that I was wholly and truly fucked.
Because I already knew I was falling in love with this new version of myself, but now…
Now I was certain I was falling for him again.
And I didn’t have a clue what to do about it.
CHAPTER10
Jim
“Are you feeling okay?” I asked, noting the way Anne wore exhaustion like one of her favorite pieces of jewelry.
“Hmm?” she asked, blinking out of a daze she’d held for the last five minutes.
“You’ve been standing in this hallway for a while now,” I said, motioning to the empty coffee cup in her hand, the half-full pot untouched on the small table in front of her.
“Have I?” Something like concern flashed over her features, but she schooled the emotions away with a soft smile. “I didn’t realize.”
I stepped closer to her. “I know it’s been a long week,” I said. “But if I’m working you too hard, let me know.”
It had been a long week, but a fun one. Even though we hadn’t crossed any more lines, we’d fallen right back into our working rhythm, eating lunches together and laughing and getting to know each other again. So much of her was the same, but she had a world of experiences that I practically lapped up when she told me about them.
Sure, some of her past was clouded with a darkness I wasn’t yet privy to, but some of it sounded like one big adventure. Her family might not see her the way I do, but damn, she was one hell of a woman. She’d picked up three languages during her travels, not to mention stories upon stories about different cultures. She’d always been fascinated with the history of the world, and in between her string of mistake—as she liked to call them—she’d done her best to chase the dream she had when she was younger.
I admired her all the more for it, and while I loved the friendship we had found our way back to, I couldn’t stop thinking about our one-night agreement from last week.
“You’re not working me too hard,” she finally said, blowing out a breath.
“Are you taking too many shifts at Lyla’s?” I asked, more than ready to convince her to take a break. A light dusting of purple swept under her eyes that had my gut churning. She looked drained in a way I’d never seen before. Anne was the epitome ofgo-go-go, barely able to sit still, and today she looked like she was running on empty.
“No,” she said, visibly swallowing. An alarm buzzed on her watch, and something clicked behind her eyes. “Damn it.” She spun on her heels, heading back to the now empty training room, the new hires having just left after the long day.
