Page 16 of Must Love Fallen Angels

Unspoken was another hard truth: if Venice kept everything from Tessa, he was sure to lose her.So what was the bigger risk?Telling her or keeping silent?

Something furious gripped his heart at the thought of losing her.

He didn’t even really have her right now; they’d only shared a day together and a fantastic tumble in the sheets.But he knew what he felt, and it was so very different from what he’d felt when he fell.That was shadows and mists, but Tessa was all things bright and warm.

Ronan changed the topic to the summer festivities that would bring in tourists to the seaside town, and Venice liked having some space to think about other things.When their shift was over, and he’d dropped the male off at the bookstore and handed over the walkie to Sierra for her shift, he didn’t go home.

He went to see Tessa and lay his heart bare for her.

He saw her car next to the cottage and knew that meant she was most likely home after her shift at the bookstore.He got out of the truck and walked boldly up to the front door, and then he hesitated.

He was going to cross a line he couldn’t cross back over if he told her everything.Right now, things were in limbo, but if he told her all his secrets, they’d never be in limbo again.

She was worth the risk, though.

He needed her to know his truths.

He knocked and took a step back from the door, inhaling slowly to calm his flying pulse.

The door opened, and Tessa smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners the way he adored.

“Well, hey, there.Come on in.”

“How was your day?”he asked as he stepped inside.

“Fun!Everyone is so nice here.”

While the temptation to keep the small talk going was strong, he ignored the urge to keep things light and decided to come right out and say what was on his mind and heart.

“I need to talk to you.”

Her brows lifted.“Is everything okay?”

“Yes.No.Well, yes.But I need to tell you about myself so that you know where I’m coming from.I don’t want to leave you in the dark about my past.”

She sat on the edge of the couch.“Is this about you being an angel?”

His mouth went dry.“Yes.”

“Okay, I’m all ears, Venice.”

He told her about being an angel, the heavenly mission of watching and guarding, and the overwhelming feelings he’d developed for a human woman he’d been assigned to guard.

“I didn’t really know anything about human emotions.I thought she really cared for me.I trusted that she wanted something more with me, so I chose to fall.When I showed her the scars and told her I’d fallen because of how I felt about her, she was so dismissive.”

She’d told him in plain language that she’d only been curious about him, and without his wings, he wasjust another guy,and she didn’t want anything to do with him.

He pulled on his tie to loosen it, then undid the buttons of his uniform shirt.Slowly, he stripped off his shirt and undershirt and then turned away from her so she could see his scars.He knew she’d seen them when they’d been in bed, and he’d gotten up to get dressed, but that had been an inadvertent reveal.This was with purpose.

He felt her fingertips gently touch the tops of both scars, and he exhaled sharply.

“Do they hurt?”she asked softly.

“No.They ache sometimes.But actually, since I met you, they haven’t bothered me.”

“Why?”

She swept her fingers softly down the scars, and he tensed as his whole body reacted to her touch.Were his scars an erogenous zone?Shit.