Page 7 of The Weight Of Falling
He sets his jaw. “Bobby.”
“Yes.”
The air abruptly rushes out of my lungs. Bobby. He could arrive any second. And here I am, in the storeroom with another man. A man I justkissed. My mind darts in a hundred directions. What was I thinking? What am I going to do?
My heart is pounding so hard it’s hurting my ribs. I can’t catch my breath.
“Slow down your breathing,” Joel instructs me in a terse voice.
I bend at the waist and place my hands on my knees, complying with his brusque instruction by taking in slow, deep breaths. My response is automatic. Anyone with a commanding tone seems to have that effect on me.
I can feel him watching me and my anxiety rises.
“This is enough of a mess without having you collapse on me.”
The irritation in his voice cuts through my alarm. I straighten and glare at him. “I’m not going to collapse.”
I can’t help but flick another uneasy glance at the door.
“Relax, Bobby’s not coming,” he says, unerringly guessing the direction of my jumbled thoughts.
“You can’t know that.”
“I’m about ninety percent sure he’s not going to walk through that door anytime soon.”
That leaves a ten percent chance. Ten percent feels pretty big.
I bite my lip. “How can you be so sure?”
“We’ve been in here at least ten minutes. You don’t leave a woman waiting in a storeroom for ten minutes.”
“Maybe he was waylaid.”
“Or maybe he changed his mind.” His dark eyes flash with curiosity. “He your boyfriend?”
“Ex-boyfriend.”
“Is this you getting back together with him?” Almost immediately, he scowls. “Forget I asked. It’s of no interest to me.”
“We’re not getting back together,” I say stiffly.
“So you kiss all your ex-boyfriends?”
It’s impossible to stop the flush rising in my cheeks. He had to bring it up. The Kiss. The one subject I was desperately hoping we could avoid.
I bury my face in my hands. “I don’t know what I was thinking. This is not me. I don’t do things like this.” I let out a groan. “This is beyond awful.”
“Don’t spare my ego,” Joel says lightly.
I lift my head and my eyes meet his. The memory of our kiss hangs between us. I’ve never been kissed like that before. I’m afraid the wonder of it is written all over my face.
Then his words register.
“I don’t mean the kiss was awful,” I say hastily. “It wasn’t. It was...”Incredible.Phenomenal.Unbelievable. I swallow all the words I can’t say. My cheeks flame even more, if that’s possible.
Joel raises his eyebrows. “Please continue. You were just getting to the interesting part.”
“Never mind.”
