Lucky has retreated, keeping a watchful eye.Close enough to step in if this gets out of hand.
Sterling’s gotten closer, keeps getting closer, and I’m not prepared for it.I’ve gotten used to him keeping his distance, damn it.I figured out how to handle it, how to crush my silly feelings into a tiny pebble and get used to the blisters.
“Why?”
I step back.He follows.
“Because.”It’s a weak argument, and we both know it.
“You’re scared.”
“Because …”
He’s close enough now that I have to tilt my head up to look at him.This is unfair.He’s right—of course he’s right—but he doesn’t understand.
“Because you’re not there.”
It’s the answer he’s been waiting for, apparently, and hooray for him, knowing so much and being head of the class.Have a gold star.
He touches me, sliding his fingers along my jaw.It’s instinct to press my cheek to his palm, the heat of his skin sparking lightning in my veins.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“No,” he says.“I don’t think I will.”
He’s smiling—holy hell, he should never stop.I never want him to stop.Is this why Lucky brought me—oh God, Lucky.
My stomach drops to my shoes.How could I forget?An hour ago, it was Lucky I was kissing, and now he’s …
Watching.Waiting.
“Fuck, Mac, just kiss her already, or I’ll do it for you.”
In the breath before Sterling kisses me, my heart migrates three inches to the right.
Everything stops, stills, restarts.
I don’t know how to prepare for this; it’s never been a possibility, never in the realm of anything close to reality, and yet my eyes fall closed, and he’s there, skimming his thumb along my jaw, keeping his touch tender, but there’s no denying the strength beneath it.
Sterling Ross.The man who can’t be moved … wants me.
My lips part on my next breath, and there’s no warning before his mouth meets mine.It’s electric.Tingles flare to life across every inch of my skin, waking up parts of me I forgot existed and some that have never been touched before.
Everything narrows down to him.The press of his glasses against my cheek, the soft gust of each breath he takes, the all-too-tender way he’s handling me.
“Let me talk to Monica,” he says, his lips skimming mine.“I pressed her to hire you because I could see your potential, and she took my interest out on you.It’s why I’ve kept my distance.Let me right the wrong I should have two years ago.You deserve this chance, Mia.You’re going to be better than I am.Let me help you.”
“Okay, yeah, yes.”I want that.I want him.
When Sterling pulls back, I can’t help that I search out the last unknown—Lucky, who’s leaning against the wall, legs crossed, radiating an air of casual contentment.He’s smiling, soft and small, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, which is weighed down at the corners with something he’s intentionally holding back.
It’s unlike him.
One last kiss, and Sterling leaves us alone, acting on his promise to make things right.Monica isn’t going to like it, and she might actually make life harder for me after this, but all of that can be dealt with later.
I step up to Lucky, place my hand on his arm.“Thank you.”There’s so much more I want to say, but this is the most important.
“Anything for you, love.”
