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“Don’t say it.”
“A man I’m falling for.”
His head fell back as he exhaled slowly, and his fists were balled tighter than the twine of a baseball. And oh boy, was this a mistake.
“On second thought,” she rushed out as she planned a getaway that would have been much easier if his large frame hadn’t been blocking the door back to their room. The only way off this balcony was over it, and as much as she’d been enjoying the bootcamp classes she’d been taking at the gym, she wasn’t sure she had the upper-body strength to pull a Spiderman and scale the side of the building to make it to the ground without breaking her neck.
She stepped away, desperate to put some space between them, and she’d almost made it a full six inches before his hand shot out and grabbed her arm.
“Stella, wait.”
He stared at her, his rounded eyes contributing greatly to the pained expression he wore. Or was it pity? She wasn’t sure anymore because she was pretty sure she’d just poured out quite a bit of her heart to this man, and it’d dried up faster than a drop of water in the desert. “You don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to make me feel better or anything. I’ll just?—”
“Make you feel better? Did you think—? Do you not know?”
Honestly, at this point, there wasn’t much she was sure of. But she gave him a second to get his thoughts in order because she didn’t have anything to say at the moment. She was still recovering from the last thing she’d blurted.
“Stells,” he said as he tugged her so slightly she shouldn’t have moved. But it was his fault. His dark eyes, his intoxicating woodsy scent…they made her legs wobbly enough to throw her completely off kilter and into his chest. And when his arms slowly grazed her hips before making their way around her waist, she wondered if this was why so many animals hibernatedall winter. Because once you found a place as cozy and inviting as his chest, why leave?
“Stella, this never felt fake to me. Not from the beginning. There was no way it ever could have. Not when my heart started doing wonky things ever since the day I first walked into the salon.”
Beep! Beep! Beep! Back this truck up, because did he just say he was feeling things from the first time he’d seen her?
“Interviews get ya nervous, do they?”
“Something like that.”
She leaned back just in time to see his mouth curve into the biggest smile she’d seen from him since they’d stepped onto the balcony, and she was so glad to be the one who put it there.
“They have that effect on people.”
“You really do, Stells. There’s not a day that I haven’t wondered what it would be like to be right here, just like this, in your arms. And let me tell you, my imagination did you the biggest disservice of the century. Do you know how many times I’ve fallen asleep and dreamed of kissing you like you deserve? And then when we got the chance…”
“What?”
He shook his head, like it pained him to finish the thought. “It was better than I’d ever imagined. And that’s when I knew…I could fall for you. Iwasfalling for you. And right then, I should have told you all of this. But it seems like you weren’t the only one hiding behind a mask.” He traced a line on the concrete balcony with the toe of his boot. “I know this is a lot. And I know it was the last thing you were expecting. So, I’m going to give you some space.”
“I don’t need?—”
“It’s only fair, Stella. I’ve done a lot wrong, starting all this with you. Let me at least do this one thing right.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay. But I’m not going to change my mind.”
He wanted to believe her. The pleading in her voice should have been enough. But he’d heard those words before, and he knew how that had ended. He wished he hadn’t thought of that because Stella was nothing like Carrie. Except, that wasn’t true—they were both humans.
And he wasn’t.
Chapter
Eleven
Acouple days ago, Nate was floating on air. That was what kissing the woman of your dreams did to a guy.
Right now, he was trudging through mud that was as thick as syrup on his morning run, wondering why he’d thought this was a good idea when he’d texted his brother last night.
“Are we going for a personal record today?” his brother asked between puffs of breath he wasn’t quite catching. Eric usually accompanied his brother on a run the morning of the full moon to help his brother burn off some of the excess energy leading up to the evening. Only, this time, he needed a distraction from Stella.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
