Fall to You (Here and Now 2)

“I have absolutely no plans until I have to meet the inspector at the end of the week.” She tilts her head and studies me like we share a secret. “I’m really excited about my bakery.”

“You’re shitting me. You’re doing it? That’s amazing.”

She lifts her head and meets my eyes with a small smile. “Right. Because you don’t know anything about it.”

“Should I?”

“Hmm. Well, I have an anonymous investor, and it’s happening. They’re preparing the building now.”

I press a kiss to the top of her head and hold her against me, breathing her in. “You deserve it, angel.”

She pulls back and gives me a sad smile. “I’m nobody’s hero, baby. Try not to fall too deep,” she says, reciting my lyrics back to me. “I’m nobody’s angel, love, but you were crying in your sleep.”

“Oh, but you are.” I nuzzle her neck. “You came along right when I needed an escape. You smile and I forget the bullshit of the world. And the sounds you make when I touch you? I could drown in that alone. Lose myself in the sound of your screams when you come.” I slip a hand between her legs and roll her clit between two fingers. “Just the taste of you and I forget all the shit this life has waiting for me.”

“Did you ever think that maybe you’re an angel for me in the same way?” she asks. Her lips curve into a smile. So. Damn. Sweet.

“How do you figure?”

“Because angels don’t stay forever. They’re there when we need them, and then they let us go.” She studies me. “I need you to be temporary in my life as much as you need me to be temporary in yours.”

THE LIBRARY smells like books and cinnamon cookies. I sink into a chair and tuck my legs under me.

I dreamed about Max last night. His breath hot against my ear, his dick in my hand as I stroked him between our bodies. “Fuck me, Max,” I whispered in his ear. “Show me you want me.” And he did. He pulled up my skirt and fucked me right against the wall, whispering dirty things in my ear. When he pulled out of me, Meredith tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “Me next?”

I woke up with an angry scream in my throat and Nate sleeping next to me.

My conscience isn’t comfortable with dreaming about one man while sleeping next to another, so I slipped out of bed.

I’ve been dreaming about Max a lot since the night at the gym. Some of the dreams are good, some bad, but they’re always sexy as hell, and I wake up wanting him and…missing him.

So why am I at Nate’s Hollywood Hills home? With the bakery opening soon, I need to be in New Hope preparing my business, but I can’t resist Nate’s invitations. Can’t resist his hands or his mouth. Can’t resist those precious moments I’m in Nate’s arms and I forget about my damaged heart.

Sooner or later, I’m going to stop taking these trips and accept the truth. No matter how many nights I spend with Nate, no matter how much more I feel for him, my love for Max doesn’t diminish.

I thought Nate could push Max out of my heart, but I fear that Nate’s taking up residence there without budging Max from his position. Yet every time I touch my lips to Nate’s or let his touch me, I feel like I’m putting another nail in the coffin of my relationship with Max.

The library is my favorite place in this big house. Well, my second favorite place. Nothing beats Nate’s bedroom. When I woke up this morning, I padded down here and grabbed a book off the shelf in a section that seemed to be filled with nothing but romance novels. Whoever filled this library had good taste in books.

Now I’m curled up in front of the fireplace, a steaming cup of coffee beside me, my book in my lap.

“You’re still here?”

I look up to see Janelle settling into the chair across from mine. She’s in black yoga pants and a thin, wide-necked tee, her dark hair thrown into a sloppy bun on top of her head, yet she’s still stunning. I’m more than a little jealous.

“Do you have a problem with that?” I ask.

She lifts a shoulder. “It’s Nate’s house. It doesn’t matter if I have a problem with it.”

“Do you have a problem with me?” But I don’t even care if she does. My time with Nate isn’t reality. This is just temporary. Just pretend. What some actress thinks of me will have no bearing on my life.

“No.” Her shoulders sag. “I don’t have a problem with you, Hanna. But I’m really damn curious about what hold some random chick from Podunk, Indiana, has on my brother.”

“I don’t have any hold on Nate. We’re just…” I search for a word, but there isn’t one. Fuck buddies who aren’t fucking? “We’re friends.”

“The way he looks at you is pretty damn friendly, all right.”

Jamaal appears with a silver tray holding a ceramic teapot and a mug. He sets it onto the coffee table between us and turns to me. “May I get you anything, Miss Thompson?”