Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Jesus… that sounded almost proprietary. Did I mean it that way?
She swallows hard, her voice barely above a whisper. “I think that’s already true. Because I’m here with you. And when I’m with you… I do feel safe.”
Those words alone do the trick and my entire body relaxes. I reach up slowly, brushing a thumb along her cheekbone.
She leans into my touch and then she presses against me, causing everything inside me to still. Outside of brotherly hugs over the last few years, I haven’t been close to her like this in a long time.
I should back away but fuck it. My arms circle her waist on instinct, anchoring her there, as if letting go might undo all the fragile progress we’ve made. She fits against me like she’s always been there—like my body remembers hers even when my head has tried to forget.
Her cheek rests just below my collarbone, and her quiet trust rattles me more than it should. I close my eyes, breathing her in, trying not to be overwhelmed.
But it’s useless.
I feel everything.
When she finally shifts and lifts her head, her face is close—closer than it’s been in a long time. Her eyes search mine, like she’s waiting for a sign or maybe offering one.
And then she goes to her tiptoes and kisses me.
Soft. Barely there. Just the whisper of her lips on mine, but it’s like I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer. My head spins and while it’s not our first kiss, it sure as fuck feels like it.
She pulls back only an inch, and I think that’s it—but it isn’t. Before I can jerk her back to me, she’s kissing me again, this time with more intent.
I stay still for a second, stunned by how much I want this—have always wanted this—but then I move. My hands slide up her back, and I kiss her like I’ve been waiting years to do it right. Our mouths meet fully, and her lips part for me, her tongue brushing mine with quiet certainty.
It’s slow, deliberate, aching.
She presses closer, and I respond without thinking—deepening the kiss, tasting her again like a memory I thought I’d lost. She makes a soft sound that vibrates through me, lighting up every nerve, definitely thickening my cock with the need for more.
I walk her gently toward the nearest wall, one step at a time. Her hands curl into the front of my shirt, holding tight, and when her back touches the wall, she doesn’t flinch. She opens to me. Wants this.
And fuck, so do I.
I draw back just enough to see her face—her flushed cheeks, her heavy-lidded eyes, the way her chest rises and falls in shallow, searching breaths.
I’ve seen her in every mood, every stage of life—but never like this. Never so sure despite the uncertainty of it all. Never so close, despite the fact I have no right to be in her proximity in this way.
My brain tells me to stop, but my heart tells my brain to fuck off.
I lean in again, one hand braced on the wall beside her, the other still at her waist. This could be all kinds of wrong. Just days ago, she was engaged to my brother, but today she’s here with me.
“Lara,” I murmur hesitantly.
She shakes her head, those beautiful waves of red bouncing in her ferocious denial. “Please don’t stop this, Reid. And please don’t say this is wrong.”
There’s pain in her voice. Pleading. A desperate plea for me to understand she’s paid for mistakes, as have I.
Fuck, this is going to complicate the hell out of all our relationships. Lance, my parents, her parents. Could anyone ever understand this?
All so confusing, but if there’s one thing I know, in all the years I’ve known Lara, of all the secrets we’ve shared and the past moments of intimacy… nothing about this is wrong.
In fact, I’ve known deep in my heart, everything about this is right. She’s been one of the truest things in my life.
CHAPTER 10
Lara
I hold my breath as Reid stares down at me, guilty about asking for something that maybe I don’t have a right to, but I won’t take back the words.
I won’t take back the kiss I initiated.
I’ve made a thousand decisions in the last week—some terrifying, some overdue—but this one is the clearest of them all.
I want this.
Thank God he does too. I can see it in his eyes.
Then his mouth is on mine, his kiss is soft, but the second I lean into it—pressing my body fully to his—it changes. Deepens. His hands tighten at my waist and pull me closer, and I let myself fall into it, let myself believe for just a little while that everything outside this suite can wait.
His mouth moves against mine and I remember what it was like. Before everything got complicated. Before Lance. Before time and distance convinced me that Reid and I had missed our chance.