A grin tugs at the corner of my mouth.
“Not a chance.”
Because the truth is simple.
If she’s brave enough to trust me like that?
Then I’m going to spend every second making sure she never regrets it.
Chapter14
Chiara
Another week has gone by.
Spring has officially arrived in Consequence, and there’s—no exaggeration—about an inch of yellow pollen covering everything outside.
It looks like snow.
Only worse.
Because snow doesn’t make your nose itch like crazy.
And when my nose itches, my eyes turn red.
When that happens, I look less like a competent medical professional and more like someone who just lost a fight with a swarm of bees.
Normally I’d be miserable.
But ever since Noah showed up with some miracle allergy pills he insisted I try, I’ve been completely symptom-free.
Which is confusing.
Because it’s the sort of thoughtful thing someone does when they actually care about you.
And that’s not supposed to be part of our arrangement.
Still, once the sneezing stopped, things went right back to business.
Or rather, pleasure.
Seven days of trysts that have left my brain completely scrambled.
Because apparently when Noah Walker decides he wants you—when a six-foot-something rugby player with shoulders like a refrigerator decides he’s into you—life stops making any kind of sense.
My routines?
Gone.
My carefully maintained emotional boundaries?
Vaporized.
And my previously very manageable thoughts about sex?
Utterly obliterated.
Our time together has been great—shockingly educational, really.
