Page 39 of Her Beastly Billionaire Rock Star
She marched over and pointed her finger up at him. “You listen to me, Malakai. More than likely Octavia set us up. You didn’t do anything wrong, and you couldn’t have known something would happen. Stop blaming yourself.”
Minute after minute ticked by as he held her gaze. She hoped what she was saying was sinking into his thick skull. He wasn’t to blame every time something went wrong.
Finally, he sank into the chair as his shoulders rounded.
Charlotte closed the gap between them and cupped his cheek with her left hand. “Nothing that happened that night was in your control. You promised me you would never do anything to purposefully hurt me ever again.”
Malakai’s eyebrows knitted together as his eyes grew glassy. “Why? Why do you have so much faith in me? After all the things I’ve done?”
“Because I’ve gotten to know you. Because you don’t have any faith in yourself, and someone needs to show you that you are worth that faith.” She combed her fingers through his hair. “Just because you’ve made mistakes doesn’t mean the punishment lasts forever.”
He set his chin against her stomach. “I just need some time to process it. Can we continue the talk later? Please?”
Tilting her head, she smiled. Instead of throwing punches or yelling, he was asking for a moment to think about it. How could he not see the changes in himself? “All right. We’ll talk when you’re ready.”
“Thanks.”
“But we’ll talk eventually, right?” She raised an eyebrow.
“I promise,” he said.
Leaning down, she kissed his cheek. “You were willing to go back to in-house rehab so I could keep my medication. I think that’s pretty much the definition of a white knight.”
Chuckling, a little of the sparkle he normally had in his eyes returned. “I didn’t want you to hurt.”
She held his gaze. “I know.”
The silence stretched as their eyes remained locked. With the machines gone, all she could hear was the sound of them breathing and the pounding of her heart. In all her life, she couldn’t remember wanting to kiss a man as much as she wanted to kiss Malakai.
He’d kissed her once, in the garage, but that was different. It was a heat-of-the-moment thing based on the charge of emotions. This one? It would change everything, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep her lips to herself anymore if she kissed him again. She was already sort of playing the role of his girlfriend. That involved kissing, right?
Before she could overthink it, she leaned down and pressed her lips to his. It was a wish being granted, exciting and wonderful. His hands slid up her thighs and rested on her waist as he returned the kiss. With the next touch, he was wrapping his arms around her, pulling her onto his lap, and the world was gone.
She wanted to soak in his essence until she couldn’t see where he ended and she began. Their lips moved together in a dance worthy of Carnegie Hall. As he deepened the kiss, his hand came to rest on her cheek with his fingers curled around her jaw like he was afraid of letting her go.
Taking a deep breath, she closed what little space was left between them by circling her free arm around his neck and threading her fingers through his hair. She’d never felt so desperate for anyone in her life.
Her phone on the nightstand began ringing, and she reluctantly broke the kiss. “Not now.”
It rang a few more times as he brushed his lips along her jaw and down her neck. Her head fell back, giving him full access to her throat.
He pressed small kisses back up to her ear and set his lips against it. “You should probably answer that.”
Groaning, she pulled herself away, walked to the nightstand, and silenced the call from Octavia. “I’ll say I was talking to the doctor or something.” She returned to him, wrapping her good arm around his neck and kissing him. “This is more important.”
Yep, it was official. She’d fallen for him. He was willing to endure something he hated to put her first. If that wasn’t proof of a changed man, she didn’t know what was. When the end of her time with him arrived, those pieces she’d be putting back together were getting smaller and smaller. If it kept up, there was no way she’d recover.
Chapter 19
By the time Charlotte was discharged from the hospital, it was nearly dinnertime. They’d stopped on the way home to grab some takeout, and Charlotte, worn out from the day’s activities, had gone to bed early.
Emilia had somehow managed to slip by the press. She’d left him a text message saying she’d see him in a couple of days. Oddly enough, Octavia hadn’t called again yet. He suspected she was arranging something to get ahead of the story the media would give about Charlotte’s getting hurt.
In the meantime, Malakai had parked himself in Charlotte’s room to keep an eye on her after becoming a certified Google doctor over the last few days. Based on his research so far, her type of injury needed close observation. Just because she’d had a scan done didn’t mean she was in the clear. She’d tried to reassure him she was fine, but in the end, he won the argument.
“Malakai?”
The sound of her voice made him jump. “Yeah, I’m here.” He stood and walked to the bed. “Are you okay?”
