Page 37 of False Start, Real Passion

“I don’t know… something!”

“Tori, I can’t help it. I can’t stop thinking about you. About us and I need to know if I’m the only one losing my mind.”

The air rushes from my lungs. Maybe he’s just as tangled up as I am. Maybe this isn’t any easier for him.

We’re still not looking at each other. Our gazes cross the distance and bounce away before they ever meet.

“Tori, I need you to understand—” He stops short.

“Understand what?” I ask.

“This isn’t just physical for me anymore,” he says. His voice is stripped bare. “This isn’t about pretending.”

“Pretending?”

“That this is just PR. Just sex. Just anything less than what it really is.”

“And what is it, Jaxon?” My voice cracks. “Because I don’t know anymore. You’ve been in my head. I can’t think straight. I can’t breathe when you’re not around and I sure as hell can’t sleep without dreaming of you.” I cross my arms and armor myself with sarcasm. “I didn’t plan on this happening. Sure. Just part of the gig, right? Fake dating the girl who happens to be conveniently available.”

But he shakes his head. His jaw is tight, and there’s no doubt anywhere on his face. “No. Don’t do that. You know it’s more than that. I’m in love with you, Tori.”

The words hang there like lightning in a still sky.

He takes my hand, and his thumb grazes my palm. It’s so simple. So easy. But it sets me on fire.

“And I think you feel the same way.”

My breath catches. My shoulders rise, then fall. I look away. He’s right. God help me, he’s right.

I’ve put out PR fires so big they could be seen from space. I’m supposed to be strong. Impenetrable. I’m supposed to know exactly how to handle things like this.

“Say something,” he finally says. “Because I’m not walking away from you.”

“I…I don’t fall,” I whisper. “Not like this. I don’t let people in. I don’t risk everything for someone who could walk away and destroy me.”

“I’m not walking away. Not from you.”

I look up at him. “You could break me.”

“Then I’ll spend the rest of my life proving I won’t.”

Tears prick my eyes. I shake my head, laughing softly through the ache in my chest. “Goddammit, Jaxon Reid.”

“I know,” he murmurs. “I’m the worst. But you love me anyway, don’t you?”

My voice is trapped somewhere between my lungs and the tip of my tongue. My breath won’t come. My heart beats so hard I’m afraid he’ll hear it. I’m afraid it’ll stop entirely.

“Say you hate me,” he continues. “Say you want me to leave and never see you again. Just…just say something!”

The words are all there. They just have to make it past my own fear.

He closes the distance, and my fear dissolves. Everything dissolves. My own defenses. My own doubts. Jaxon cups my face with both hands like he’s scared I’ll disappear, like I’m something fragile he doesn’t want to break.

His kiss is nothing like the ones before. It’s soft. Honest. Deep with emotion instead of just desire. And when we pull apart, we laugh—quietly, shyly, like we can’t believe this is real.

He presses his forehead to mine. “I think I started falling for you the moment I first saw you.”

I close my eyes.

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