Page 121 of Liar's Point

“Nicole. Take a damn pill.”

“I’m fine.”

She closed her eyes and counted to ten, and the flash of pain faded to a dull throb. Emmet lay beside her in the dark and she listened to the steady thrum of his heart.

She sat up on her elbow again and looked at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Do you think this is a mistake?”

He groaned and closed his eyes. “Do we have to talk about this now?”

She just watched him, waiting for an answer.

He sighed and looked at her. “Maybe.”

Her stomach knotted. It wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. But at least it was honest. Their relationship was fraught with complications, and always had been. The attraction was there, and the friendship, but everything else about this made their situation thorny.

At least he was being straightforward and not giving her some line so he could stay in her bed awhile longer.

She rested her hand on his stomach. “Will you promise me one thing?”

His eyebrows tipped up.

“Don’t tell everyone.”

His brow furrowed. “I won’t.”

“I mean it.” She wanted him to understand how important this was to her. “If people find out, you look like a hero, but for me it’s a career wrecker. I have enough problems getting the guys at work to take me seriously.”

“Wow. You must think I’m a real asshole.”

She could tell by his voice, he was pissed.

“No. I don’t. But I know how things are.”

He sighed. Then he turned and got out of bed.

Now was he leaving? She watched him with a hollow feeling in her stomach as he walked out of the room. She heard shuffling in the kitchen, and he came back with a glass of water and her medicine. He set the glass down, then twisted the cap off the pill bottle and shook one out.

She sat forward, and the sheet fell around her waist as she reached for the pill. She swallowed it and he handed her the water. It felt cool on her parched throat, and she tipped the glass back, draining it.

Emmet watched her, and the intense look in his eyes sent a warm shiver through her. She knew what that look meant.

“Now?” she asked.

He nodded.

He rested his knee on the bed and leaned over her. He took the glass and set it on the nightstand.

Nicole slid down flat and gazed up at him in the dimness. She knew the answer to her question. She’d known it before she even asked. This was a mistake. But right now, she didn’t care—she only wanted to feel him again.

“Come here,” she said, and pulled him down for a kiss.

***

Cassandra turned into her parking lot, darting her gaze at all the shadows. The spaces near the front were taken, so she parked in a dark spot at the edge of the lot.

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