Page 37 of As Long As You Kiss Me

“No. It’s just lame and painful. Trust me. I know all about battle scars. There’s nothing manly about having a limp for the rest of your life.”

Sully immediately regretting bringing up the battle scar thing. She clamped her mouth shut. “I’m sorry you fell. Are you okay?” She plopped down on the carpet beside him. “Is there any way I can help? Do you need an ice pack or anything?”

“Nah. I’ll be fine.” He pushed up from the floor. “We still have another camera to install.”

They went into her bedroom, and she pointed out the spot where she wanted her camera. “I have a bookshelf here with an outlet behind it. We can just perch it here, so you won’t have to drill anything.”

“Sounds good to me. I wasn’t looking forward to getting back up on that chair.”

“At least it’s not broken.”

“Hey, are you saying the chair is more important than me?” he said in a teasing voice.

“No. I’m just trying to list a positive that came out of the situation. And you said you were fine anyway.”

“I said I would be fine. There’s a big difference.”

“So, you’re saying you’re not okay?”

“When you put it that way you make me sound like a diva,” he complained.

“No, it doesn’t. You can admit you’re not okay without being a diva.” She put a hand on his arm. “I’m really sorry you fell. And that it hurt as much as it did. I just fell out of the chair at church, and I’m still bruised up so I get it.”

“You got a bruise from that?” Jackson looked over at her leg.

She tugged up on her shorts. “Yep. Right here.”

“You’re right. You’re bruised.” Jackson’s voice turned husky, and his eyes roamed over her leg like they were caressing her skin. Was he checking her out?

That made her face burn. Maybe she shouldn’t have tugged her shorts up that far. She didn’t need to give Jackson one more reason to go after her. She would only have to turn him down, and she didn’t want to hurt him.

She sat on the edge of her bed.

“Can I sit too?” he asked.

“Sure.” She patted the bed next to her, and he sat. Hopefully, that was friendly enough and didn’t send the wrong message. But how would she ever get her mind off the fact that they were alone in her bedroom, sitting on her bed together? She could get herself in so much trouble right now. But she refused to let her mind go there. Nothing was going to happen between them, and that was final. At least not that. She couldn’t promise that another kiss might be in their future. She wasn’t strong enough to fight him off at this point. If he leaned toward her again, she’d be putty in his hands. “Does it hurt to walk on your foot?”

“Yes. But I’m used to the pain.”

“What happened?”

He released a puff of air. “There was an explosion, and I took some shrapnel to my foot. I had to have multiple surgeries, and this is as good as they can get it.”

“Is that why you left the military?” she asked gently.

“I had no choice. I wasn’t fit for duty anymore.” His shoulders slumped.

It must have been emotionally difficult on him. He’d really wanted a military career. At least, that was how he felt back in high school. It was all he could talk about.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Sully looked up into his eyes with heaviness in her heart. It hurt her to see the pain clearly written on his face. He’d been through a lot. More than she knew. There was a burden he was carrying around that she didn’t know about. It was too bad he didn’t feel comfortable enough around her to open up. It kind of hurt, actually. But maybe if she opened up to him about her life, he’d do the same for her.

He reached up and touched her face, brushing his thumb across her cheek gently. She closed her eyes and savored the feeling. Sully couldn’t allow this to go further because the longing to kiss him was returning, and she had to stop it now. “We can’t,” she whispered.

“Can’t what?” he breathed.

“We can’t be together like this.”

He dropped his hand, and she immediately felt a void where he had been. She wanted him to keep touching her, but it would only complicate everything.

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