Page 88 of These White Lies
“Good girl,” he praises, and kisses my forehead. “My sister is too blunt,” he admits. “But she’s not wrong. Even in asking you for help for the trouble he caused, he still made himself a victim and fired shots at you.”
The rock in my stomach is still firmly in place. “I know.” My voice sounds small in a way I detest. “It’s just… hearing him say all those things again…” I shake my head like it can banish the ugly memories. My eyes fall to my feet, and I give voice to my deepest fear. “What if he’s right? What if no one can be with me because I’m so?—”
Brady cuts me off by kissing me hard.
It’s not the sweet comforting gesture he made downstairs. This is about possession as his mouth slants over mine full of heat. His fingers fist my hair to hold me in place. When he pulls back, I’m breathless and trying to remember what we were talking about.
“You’re too smart to say stupid shit,” he growls. “He was too weak to recognize what a gift a strong woman is. I’m not.”
My hands come up to grip the front of his shirt. Part of me wants him to stop, uncomfortable with the words, but a bigger part needs to hear them. To be told that there is nothing wrong with me.
Brady’s eyes bounce between mine. “You’re sharp and you can be bitchy…” My mouth opens to retort, but he kisses me again. “But I love it. I love that you’re intelligent and quick, and you aren’t afraid to say what you think.” His lips curl up. “Even when it’s putting me in my place. Which I probably shouldn’t admit…” He leans forward to whisper in my ear, “makes me rock hard and desperate to get inside you.”
A surprised puff of air slips out when he smirks down at me. I lick my suddenly dry lips and tease, “So, you’re saying you like me?”
His expression morphs into something more serious, and he lifts a hand to stroke the back of his fingers down my cheek. I do my best not to shiver, and totally fail.
“I’m saying you make me believe in something I never thought was possible. I want to tell you things that I don’t tell anyone, because I know you won’t run screaming.”
“I’m not really a screamer,” I breathe, my heart hammering in my chest.
His lips quirk. “We both know that’s a lie.”
My gaze falls to his mouth, but a sharp knock on my door jolts both of us.
“Rhodes wants to run through the plan for tonight,” Sera’s voice calls.
Brady shoves a hand through his hair, mutters something that sounds like “sister cockblock,” and looks ruefully at me. “I’ve got to go.”
I force my fingers to uncurl from his shirt even though letting him walk out of the room is the last thing I want to do. He’s going straight into danger—for me—and that makes me want to pull him close and never let him go.
He pulls the door open, revealing Sera tapping her foot impatiently in the small common room.
I ignore her disapproving look. Brady opens the outer door, and I can’t keep the words from spilling out. “You’ll be careful?”
His mouth softens into a smile, and he gives me a cocky two-fingered salute. “Always.”
The second the door shuts behind Brady, Sera’s gaze locks on mine. “He cares about you.”
I don’t say anything because I have no idea what he would want his sister to know.
She lets out a sharp scoff and starts toward the door, her boots clicking against the tile. Apparently the conversation is over.
“Wait,” I call after her. “Let’s say it’s true. You don’t approve?”
She stops, and turns back, dark brows arched like she’s surprised I’m challenging her. “Not even a little.”
“He’s a grown man.”
Her hazel eyes narrow. “And you don’t know the first thing about him.”
“Maybe not,” I say, “but I’m guessing you’re not worried about me getting my heart broken. You’re worried about the other way around.”
“Your heart?” she mocks. “You’re playing some damsel-in-distress game because your life imploded. And Brady? He’ll fix it for you, because that’s what he does. But when it’s all over? What then? You swan off back to your life with a story to tell your friends?”
My mouth opens, then closes. I take a step toward her. “That’s a hell of an assumption to make about someone you barely know.”
Her gaze sharpens. “You don’t know anything about me either.”
