Page 51 of From West, With Regret

“West,” I breathe into his ear, driving my pussy over his hand. “I’m going to?—”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Mr. Knight?” Lewis’s muffled voice shouts from the other side.

West rips his hand from between my thighs, and I’m left gasping. Cold air meets my heated skin, and I whimper, feeling West’s absence immediately.

Clearing his throat, he runs his other hand through his hair and down his face, catching his breath. He takes two steps to hisleft and leans on the shelf, hanging his head, and keeping his back to the door.

I absentmindedly stare at the rows of liquor bottles on the opposite shelf, reality crashing down around me as I catch my breath.

Lewis jiggles the door handle, then tugs it open.

I keep my eyes fixated on the bottles, but from the corners of my eyes, I see West push off the shelf and face Lewis. He plants his hands on his hips.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Knight,” Lewis pants.

My cheeks flame with heat. I don’t think Lewis has a clue what we were just doing up here, but I refuse to face him in fear that he might be able to read every single thought in my mind. Does he realize West was about to give me the most mind-blowing orgasm of my life, all from the touch of his hand?

“Sorry if I interrupted your meeting.”

Meeting. That’s what you want to call it?

West lets out a small chuckle, but I press my lips together and hold my breath, twisting my charcoal-dusted fingers. They’re noticeably less black now, and I know there are most likely gray streaks across West’s shirt—evidence of where my hands have been. A flashing red light for everyone to see.

I feel West’s eyes on me for two beats. “What is it, Lewis?”

“There’s a fight between two customers downstairs,” Lewis pants. “Alden and a few others have pulled them off one another, but apparently someone called the police. They’re on their way.”

West’s body turns rigid, and he brushes his hair away from his forehead. “Fuck.”

Finally, I lift my eyes to see Lewis standing in the doorway. His are widened in fear, hoping West will come to his rescue.

I pull the single ear bud from my ear, listening to the soundscoming from below. Screams and shouts echo up the stairs and through the floor. The faint sound of one of the songs on my playlist is still streaming from the ear bud pinched between my fingers.

“I’m sorry.” Lewis lifts his fist and gently knocks it against the doorframe, sucking his teeth. He looks over at me, then at West. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Lewis has barely made it down the first step when West starts to follow him. But before he leaves the storeroom, he stops, spins around, and plucks my other ear bud from his ear. He grabs my hand and drops it into my palm, closing my fingers around it.

I look into his eyes and swallow the lump in my throat.

His fiery gaze delivers electricity straight for my heart. It’s a jarring sensation I try to wrap my head around. Just like the near orgasm I had less than sixty seconds ago.

A conflicting ball of emotions weaves itself through my chest. The puzzle pieces are scattered already, and these moments with West are only adding to the mess.

I’ve never felt freer than when I’m with him. The feeling of his hands on me tells me this isn’t as simple as it appears, though. I can’t see through all the smoke and mirrors, distracting me from the truth.

It’s not that West is Heath’s brother on paper. I honestly couldn’t care what Heath or his family would think if they knew I was falling for West.

Fear sinks its teeth into that single fact.

I’m falling for West.

And I’ve never been more terrified in my life.

The feelings I have for him are cataclysmic. Earth shifting and soul shattering. It isn’t the ear bud we’re cradling in the palm of my hand. It’s my heart. My fragile, lost, broken heart. The one that, up until it knew West, couldn’t function. Now it’sbeen jolted awake, and I don’t know how to sort through it all. We’re free falling over the edge of a cliff at a thousand miles an hour.

I look down at his hand over mine and study the lines of his knuckles, and I shove down the dull, aching sensation that I’ve seen them before.

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