Page 47 of Second Draft

“Let’s go.” His voice drops an octave. One large hand wraps around my waist, guiding me out of the room, through the building, and towards the parking lot.

He’s silent all the way to the car, but his hands are on me, possessive and tight. The look on his face unreadable. I swear he’d toss me over his shoulder and carry me to the car if there weren’t a handful of people watching.

I have no idea what he’s thinking. Why he’s gone all dark and broody.

When he opens the car door for me, I blink up at him. “Carter–”

“Get in the car, Layla.” His voice rumbles through me.

“Where are we going?”

“Home.” His hands rest on the hood of the car, trapping me, as he leans in and whispers in my ear, his voice rough and dripping with need, “Our home. And I’m going to show just howmineyou really are.”

Chapter 18

Carter

Layla is quiet the entire drive back to the house. She keeps glancing at me from the corner of her eyes, like she’s expecting me to pull over at any moment and rip her clothes off.

I’ll admit, the thought crossed my mind. It took all my restraint not to take her in the goddamn exam room.

That small nod. It’s all the confirmation I needed. She may not know exactly what she agreed to, but I plan to show her – today.

She’s afraid of me. I can see it in her eyes. Maybe not of me. But of the way I make her feel. Of what I’m offering her.

There’s a lot of things I’ve learned about her over the past few weeks, and one of them is that she doesn’t believe she deserves to be happy. That much is obvious. But I’m going to show her differently. Make her see how fucking special she really is.

She’s fidgeting, her fingers nervously picking at some imaginary spot on her shirt. I take her hand, wrapping my own much larger one around it, and hold it tight until we pull into the driveway.

I hear her hard swallow, feel her body tremble as her gaze goes to the house.

“You have nothing to be afraid of, sweetheart.” I squeeze her hand once before releasing it and getting out of the car.

It takes her a few seconds before she follows my lead.

There’s so much hesitancy in her expression now, and when I shut the front door, I know that if I don’t make a move, she’s going to run.

And we’ll be taking three steps backward.

Not happening.

“Come here.” I take her hand, pulling her towards me, then wrap one arm around her, my other hand cradling the back of her head.

She chews on her bottom lip, gaze trained on my chest, brows drawn down.

“Look at me, Layla.” I move my hand down, placing my palm on her lower back, and slowly her eyes raise to meet mine. That’s better. Soft brown eyes blink up at me.

Yes, there’s fear, but there’s also need reflected there.

And trust.

The one thing I’ve been waiting for.

I stroke my knuckles across her cheek, down her neck and across her collarbone, feeling her tremble and watching her eyes close slightly, her lips parting in an inaudible sigh.

Awareness speaks between us. Making me feel things I know I’ve never felt before.

My God, she completely undoes me.

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