Page 64 of When She Falls (The Fallen)
Ras tears his amused gaze away from me and nods at her. “Of course. You know I hate leaving him behind.”
Her face falls. Clearly, that wasn’t the response she was hoping for, but she picks herself back up in a flash. “I’ll take good care of him.” She lifts herself on her tippy-toes and leans toward Ras’s ear. “And when you’re back, I’ll take good care of you too,” she whispers, loud enough for me to hear every word.
My cheeks burn. Are they hooking up?
He gives Isabella a terse smile and hands her Churro’s cage. “Thanks, Bella. Text if anything comes up.”
We make an awkward procession as we head toward the elevator together. Isabella switches to Spanish, whispering something to Ras on the ride down, while I wrack my brain for a good reason to be bothered by any of this.
There’s none.
I’m the one who’s engaged.
The scene in the kitchen suddenly gets colored in a completely different light.
I must be going crazy. What am I doing with him?
He says a quick goodbye to Isabella, and we get into the car.
“Are you okay?” Ras asks as he starts up the engine.
“You never said you have a girlfriend.”
“She’s just a friend.”
I give him a skittish glance and resolve not to probe any further. There’s no point. I can reasonably excuse the confusing events of the last seventy-two hours on being horribly ill. Once we’re in New York, I’m sure I’ll barely even see him.
CHAPTER14
RAS
Damiano’s planelands at an FBO in JFK at midnight.
Gemma’s asleep on my shoulder, her dark-brown, nearly black locks splayed over my dress shirt, and her scent in my nose. It usually takes more than that to turn me on, but here I am, sporting a hard-on for the last hour.
What happened in the kitchen might have something to do with it too.
I prop my elbow on the armrest and press my fist to my lips as I recall the memory in excruciating detail.
Fuck me.
Seeing that hot little mouth sucking on my finger was enough to make me forget myself. If it wasn’t for Churro, I’m certain we would have ended up with her splayed on the counter, my mouth between her legs, and my tongue buried deep inside her pussy.
Which would have been really fucking stupid.
But unfortunately, I have a history of doing very stupid things.
Especially when those things look like Gemma Garzolo.
A part of me thought that taking care of her while she’s sick would work the attraction out of me, but if anything, it’s made it stronger.
Those two days with her shook something inside of me. Made me see her in yet another light.
Seeing her so scared and vulnerable made my chest ache. There was no pretense to uphold when she was puking in the toilet, or when she woke up gasping in fear from her dreams. She came to me so easily. All of her hardness melted away, and I wanted nothing more than to take away her pain.
I give my head a slight shake.
It may have been easy to forget she’s engaged when we were back in Ibiza, but there will be no escaping that fact in New York.
