Page 19 of The Fall Before Flight

Waving both hands in the direction of his immaculate hair, I ask belligerently, “How do you even get the part so straight? Do you spend an hour every morning with a comb?”

To my shock, he chuckles, lips parting in a soft smile. And dammit, it’s a gorgeous smile.

“And how long did it take you”—he waves a hand in mirror of my action—“to get like that?”

I glance down at the sparkly top and miniskirt. “It’s better you don’t know.”

“Kinsey’s clothes, I’m assuming?”

Why, does she play dress up for you? Have you peeled this skirt off her?

I nod, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.

“Amelia,” he says mutedly, all humor gone. “Why are you here?”

My eyes bounce around the office, avoiding his piercing stare. “Callum said you stay on the property somewhere.”

His brows draw together in confusion. “Yes, there are staff cabins.”

I nod jerkily. “That’s great. I mean, convenient.”

“Amelia,” he begins warningly.

Staring at the carpet before my feet, I bite my lip to halt the word-vomit. It spews out anyway. “Will you let me mess up your hair? Please?”

He doesn’t move, but I feel the razored edge of his focus. “What does it feel like, that urge?”

I shake my head wildly. “Like an itch. Inside me. My bones. This need to do something dangerous.”

“Messing up my hair is dangerous?” he asks carefully.

Touching you would be dangerous.

“Yes,” I whisper.

Ten feet separate us—a paltry distance—but I’m held tenuously in place by his eyes. They aren’t kind or guileless, but they’re familiar. Too familiar. Like some part of my psyche recognizes some part of his. We’re alike. We have secrets. We keep parts of ourselves hidden.

I wonder if anyone has seen those hidden parts of him, and whether I want to.

Oh, I want to.

But I also know, without doubt, there would be a heavy price to pay.

The door at my back reverberates with a light knock. Through the wood, a female voice asks, “Leo? Are you still here?”

My lips shape his name. Leo. His gaze drops to my mouth. Then he clears his throat.

“Yes, Nora, come in.”

I step away from the door as it opens, a smile plastered on my face for the pretty redheaded nurse.

“I was just leaving,” I say before her surprise turns to suspicion.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she says, nervous eyes darting to Leo. Leo. “I can come back.”

“That’s quite all right,” he confirms.

Nora blushes. It’s not a good look, her blotchy cheeks framed by red hair. Immediately, I feel petty for the thought. She’s never been anything but kind to me.

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