Couldn’t let go.
“Dalton,” she said softly, her hands gliding over my chest. “I can’t breathe.”
I shifted my weight, rolling to the side but taking her with me. Keeping us connected.
I ran my hand down her spine, needing to keep touching her. She was still trembling and I realized, so was I.
“I didn’t know it could be like that,” she whispered against my chest.
I tightened my arms around her. “It’s not supposed to be.”
“Then why—”
“Because you’re different.” I tilted her face up to look at me. “You’re mine.”
She studied my face. “What does that mean?”
It meant I was in deep. It meant I had fallen for her. It meant every wall I’d built was crumbling and I was terrified.
But I couldn’t say any of that. Not yet.
So I kissed her instead. Soft. Gentle. Promising things I wasn’t ready to name and not sure if I could deliver. I knew today she had scared the hell out of me. Woken me up to what had been slowly building between us.
“It means you’re not leaving when the job’s done,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “Dalton—”
“We’ll figure it out.” I pulled her closer. “But you’re not leaving. Not now.”
She was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, so soft I almost didn’t hear her, “Okay.”
I held her until she fell asleep and tried not to think about the fact that I’d just done the one thing I’d sworn I’d never do again.
Let someone in.
Let someone matter.
Let myself fall.
CHAPTER TEN
Amber
I woke up warm.
That was the first thing I noticed. The second was that I was naked. The third was that Dalton’s arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me against his chest like he was afraid I’d disappear.
I shifted slightly and his arm tightened.
“Don’t even think about it,” he murmured, voice rough with sleep.
“I was just—”
“Staying right here.”
I turned in his arms to face him. His eyes were still closed, dark hair falling across his forehead, stubble shadowing his jaw. He looked younger like this. Less guarded. More like the man he must have been before Sarah broke his heart. Before he’d built walls so high even his own brother couldn’t scale them.
I reached up without thinking and traced the line of his jaw. His skin was rough with morning stubble, warm under my fingertips.
