Page 35 of Starting Our Chance

A moment later, Lore turned into me. She let out a shaky breath. Then her tears began to soak the fabric of my black tee-shirt. Yet, even then I didn’t pull her to me. I was holding her, but not really—it was like we were strangers.

“I’m so sorry, Duke,” she whispered.

I let out a raspy breath. That was what I’d needed to hear. Crushing her to me, I murmured into her dark hair that I wasn’t going anywhere.

That sure hand of hers trailed up my neck to capture my cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned into her touch.

“I’m falling hard for you—again,” Lore confided. Then her lips grazed mine.

But I was frozen, just letting her touch set the tone for this kiss.

“I messed up. And I’m so scared.” Lore pressed her lips into mine again, and this time I melted into her kiss. My tongue flicked out and tasted her, craving to capture as much of her as I could. But she broke it off to tell me, “You know that I want this thing between us to work, don’t you?”

I sighed and pressed my forehead into hers. “I hope you do. When you disappear on me or keep me in the dark—it’s hard to believe you are serious.”

“I’ll just keep fighting for this chance, then.”

I sighed in relief and angled in for another kiss, but a cough from behind made us jump in surprise. Lore, however, didn’t pull out of my arms. She just craned her head around me to see who had interrupted us.

“I’m going to figure this out, Lore.”

The voice behind me was undeniably Felicity’s, and her statement was matter-of-fact. Yet, I still felt a wave of excitement crash through me, especially at her next words.

“I have leads and a plan. I can get you off the hook, Lore, but you have to trust me. So, when I tell you to lay low and relax, you have to do that for me. Okay?”

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