Page 36 of No One But You
Ignoring him, I turned to Bailey.“You shouldn’t do this.”
I knew how impulsive she could be.Combine that with her need to please people, and I worried that she’d do whatever Nate asked just to make life easier for everyone else.
She worried her lower lip.“I have to think about it.”
“You really don’t.”
“I think you’re a bit worked up,” Nate said, and I shot him a glare.“Maybe take a breath.”
“Take a breath?”I demanded incredulously.“I beg your pardon?”
Next, he’d be telling me I was hysterical and just needed to calm down.I was perfectly reasonable.He was the one suggesting that a vulnerable, injured woman expose herself to the lowest scum of society.
Nate gestured at the window.“Don’t the flowers look great?Real fucking pretty.”
I glanced out.The neighbor’s garden was overflowing with beautiful shades of pink, purple, and yellow, but if Nate thought the sight of them would take the edge off my mood, he was sorely mistaken.
“Will both of you be quiet?”Bailey shouted, giving me pause.When we turned to her, she eyed us warily before nodding.“Nate, I’ll think about it.I don’t want to be in danger but—stop, Max,” she snapped when I started to interrupt.“I can’t go on worrying indefinitely that someone might be hiding in every shadow.”
I drew in a deep breath and let it out in a gust.I could understand that.I wouldn’t want to live in a perpetual state of fear, either, but I didn’t think risking her own safety was the best way to go about things.
“You won’t be in danger.”Nate made an impatient sound.“We can arrange things so that you’re never at risk.”
I didn’t say anything in response to that, and nor did she.I think we were both aware that there was only so much the police could do to ensure anyone’s safety.
I touched her arm and tuned Nate out, knowing that if I wanted any chance of talking her around, I’d have to put everything on the table.“I get it, but I care about you a lot, and I can’t stand to see you get hurt again.”
Her eyes widened, and she reeled back slightly.My stomach dropped.Considering the way we’d kissed, I thought she’d at least be open to the idea of exploring something between us.
Was I wrong?
Just as I was about to release her and apologize for making her uncomfortable, she walked into my arms, slid her free hand around the side of my neck, and kissed me.
“Whoa!”Nate exclaimed.
I hardly heard him, too preoccupied with the soft, lush lips pressed to mine.I breathed her in, herbs and sunshine, and my mouth curved in a ridiculous grin that I couldn’t quell even when she giggled and ran her thumb along the corner of it.
She raised her eyes to mine, becoming serious.“I care about you, too, and I’d never want to make you worry, but I need whoever did this locked up so I can sleep properly again and work without being afraid that I might get jumped.”
I was tempted to tell her that she could move into my bed permanently and I’d help her sleep, but she angled herself away from me toward Nate, even though she stayed close enough that our bodies brushed in several places.
“Like I said, I’ll think about it.We’d have to discuss details, and I’d want to talk it over with other people before agreeing to anything.”
She looked up at me from beneath her eyelashes, her expression uncharacteristically shy.It was almost as though she was having as difficult of a time believing this new development in our relationship as I was.
Impossible.
Surely she knew how irresistible she was.
She tilted her chin up, her lips awaiting a kiss, and I was only too pleased to duck my head and give her what she wanted.She wrapped her arms around me, and I brushed my lips over hers in teasing kisses until she became soft and pliant in my embrace.
A throat cleared.
Neither of us paid any attention.
There was a curse and then footsteps moving away.
Bailey pulled back a few inches and smiled at me, her gaze flitting over my face before her eyes met mine.“I have a confession to make.”
