Page 62 of The Stalking King

“It’s so hard sometimes,” she says, words muffled slightly as she presses against me. “I’ve got my own stuff going on, and then I have to go there, and it’s like there’s this big weight on me. And then I feel so awful.” She moves back, letting me support her, so she can look up at me. “I told myself I wouldn’t lean on you.”

“I’m here for you to lean on,” I say gruffly. “I know I’m not perfect, but hell, I can help with this.”

“By fucking me on the stairs?”

I smirk, kissing her on the cheek. “If that’s what you need. Or I can just listen to you. Or I can come with you.”

“To Mom’s?” she asks, shocked.

Truthfully, I didn’t put much thought into what I said. But if that’s what she needs.

“I can come for support,” I tell her.

“That’s just going to make things more complicated.”

But her tone says otherwise. She sounds intrigued, like she wants somebody there to deflect some of the energy.

“How would I even introduce you?” she asks a moment later.

“As your knight in a shining kimono,” I tell her with a grin.

She laughs, a full-bellied laugh, her head tilting back. Then she covers her mouth like she feels guilty about it.

“I know you’re supposed to be mad at me. I know I’m a twisted man in many respects. But I’m not evil, Lia. Let me be here for you.”

“I could say you’re a colleague,” she murmurs. “I’m giving you a ride from the hospital. Your car is broken.”

“Sure,” I say. “That works.”

“I’ve been putting it off,” she says. “I know it’s wrong bu⁠—”

“It’s not wrong,” I cut in fiercely. “You’ve got every right to take some time for yourself.”

She places her hand on my chest. “Why do you have to make it so hard to hate you?”

“Search this city, Lia, and you’ll find many people who disagree with that.”

“Maybe I just see a side of you no one else does.”

I smile. “I can’t argue with that.”

She stands on her tiptoes and presses her lips against mine, then says breathily, “Tomorrow? I finish at four. I’ll tell her I’ll come by then. But Maksim, sex doesn’t solve all our problems.”

I give her ass a squeeze, smirking at the excited look on her face. “Just some of them, eh?”

She gives me a playful shove. “Okay—time to go.”

Part of me thinks I could kiss her again, carry her to bed, feast on her body, and make her shiver for me. But I’ve stepped over the line so many damn times. I need to be better.

“Tomorrow,” I say, turning away.

CHAPTER 23

LIA

What am I doing? Seriously?

Joel and Tessa have both asked what’s wrong today. I lied and said I was tired. Then I realized, well, that’s not really a lie. But it’s not the reason I’ve felt so scatterbrained all day.