Page 80 of Trusting the Fall

I take a deep breath and nod.

“I feel like this is a bit more emotion than you’re used to in the bedroom.” I nod again with a quick smile.

He picks up my hand, places a kiss on top of it, and then holds it in both his hands.

“It’s okay if you need time to process this. What it is to you.” He smiles and I shift to my side, giving him more of my attention. “But I need you to know that I like you. Really like you, and not just when we’re naked.” He kisses my hand again and the look he gives me makes me think hemorethan really likes me.

I feel like I’m looking at someone who may love me, and I’m pretty sure he’s seeing the same thing back.

My feelings for him are foreign, but undeniable. I don’t want to live without this man.

I believe in the truth of his actions whenever we’re together. I refuse to believe he’s the kind of man my mother warned me about. The ones that lie, cheat and take.

Leif is a giver. He’s honest, and he builds me up. He challenges me because he knows I can take it. He knows my worth, not undermines it.

We had some confusion at the start with our identities, but that was my own doing by trying to keep my barriers up to protect myself. Besides, the most important thing about that, when he told me his name, it was the one no one else uses, except for family. From the very beginning, he gave so much of his vulnerability, even when I didn’t match it.

“Do you think maybe we could process it together?” I ask. I fiddle with the black beads wrapped around his wrist. “I don’t want to say goodbye,” I whisper.

He pulls his head back to look at me, eyebrows creased. “Why the fuck would you think we’re saying goodbye?”

I shrug my shoulders. I’ve never been in this situation before. I don’t know how to be vulnerable.

With the salon finished, I don’t know how we go from benefits to co-workers to whatever is more than that.

“I’ve told you before, I’m no idiot. I’d never be stupid enough to take a woman like you for granted. And I’m definitely not stupid enough to let a woman like you go.”

“So, have you got plans today?” I bite my bottom lip and smile.

“Only ones that include you.” He places a quick kiss against my lips. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, let me pee then I can make us one.” I roll ungracefully out of bed and pluck my black robe where it hangs off the corner of the wardrobe door.

“All good, baby. I can get them started.” I watch as he pulls on his briefs and jeans, leaving his chest bare for me to appreciate.

“You don’t know how I like my coffee,” I sass, stalking towards him and letting my hands roam over his chest and around his shoulders.

“Two shots,” he says with another quick kiss before he leaves the room, leaving me blinking in confusion.

I hurry to do my business in the bathroom and wash my face before joining him in the kitchen.

My favourite pink mug is sitting under the coffee filter next to a plain white one. When the machine chugs and halts, Leif pulls away the white mug, then pushes my mug fully under the filter and pushes the button again.

“How do you know how I take my coffee?”

He turns to me as I make my way over to him, promptly wrapping an arm around my back and pulling me into his warm body.

My stomach skips as I wind my arms around his waist and cuddle in. I enjoy the orgasms, and the bantering, but these moments? I could get used to these, too.

He kisses the top of my head. “You’ve always got a coffee cup on your bedside table and there’s a dark ring about halfway up the sides. I could guess it was black and more than one shot. Plus, all these little coffee pods in your holder here are really strong, so I took a gamble.”

“Have you been setting up my machine in the mornings before you leave?”

He nods. “I’ve needed no less than four coffees a day after nights with you, Bombshell. I figured you may have been in the same boat as me.”

“I smell coffee.” A pained groan sounds from behind us.

Looking around Leif, I see Lex stumbling in, her bright red hair knotted on top of her head, a white button-up shirt swallowing her small body.