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She’s wearing one ofher ass perfectly, and showcase her long, toned legs Her shirt is one of those blousy things that kind of hang loosely in a sexy way It’s sheer, so I can still see her tight body and full chest incased in a tight, black tank I alue when I see her shoes That wo the floor just to have her in those heels, and those heels alone Red-hot and sky high

Tes

I clearI need is to look like so hard on at a four-year-old’s birthday party Yeah, that wouldn’t go over well at all

Her eyes snap over to where I’ainst the doorjamb that leads into the kitchen I can tell the exact second that her wall she has up starts securing all their extra locks, and the bulletproof glass starts to rise You can literally see her protecting herself And the worst part, the part that gutsherself froood to see you" I turn and walk back into the living roo around where I’m not wanted

Chapter 7

What aaround hihosts of the past stand in the way ofeveryone around me for the criht, but then I reuy turns into the devil It’s getting easier, though I feel stronger, and that in itself, is a huge step for me

I look around at the happy faces ofat my heart The love so clearly painted all over them, is almost tooand laughing more

Everyone is happy

Everyone is loved

Everyone is blinded by that perfection

I s roup I know I saw Maddox walk in a little while ago, and if I plan on getting the information I need from him without others around, I have to do it soon, or it will be hours before I get a chance to corner hi to avoid letting one of these overprotective apes in on my issues at the office The North Carolina branch ofissues I only caught wind of it because one of our larger clients called to inforency One they clai da and when I found the number of times their account had been overbilled, I was shocked When I began to understand that the probleined, I kneas time to call in help

Enter Maddox He’s been helping me, with the promise that he will keep his erous How dangerous could this really be?

The only plus to the giant cluster fuck that my company has turned into is that I don’t have time to miss Beck Well, I don’t have ti intensity that I have been Still, it won’t ever be easy to be in the same room with him Not when I can feel the invisible line that seeht every time we’re around each other

There have been a handful of times over the last two years when I haven’t been able to hold those walls up anyether with the sa that ays create And each one before he even wakes Neither one of us mentions those stolen moments, but I know him… I knoishes that just once, I would be there in theI’ve made a pro him because I’ for hts that I alive me a chance to fall because his hands shoot out to steady

"Uh, yeah" I look up into his unreadable eyes Maddox has always been theahen you look at him His face is almost always expressionless, his botto but intihts out of me if I ran into him on the streets Maddox Locke looks like a man that eats babies for breakfast

"Found ritty, deep voice ru

"Yeah, I noticed when your hard ass chest al to let me break my neck?" My patience, for the most part, is in small supply these days, but for some reason, Maddox, and all his asshole tendencies, just works forabout me that no one else does

"Probably Seeht there, so I’ anyway Noticed you and Beck doing your nor about more?"

"Don’t be an asshole, Mad Did you find anything out from the files I sent you?" I’m pretty sure I sound as desperate as I feel, maybe even borderline manic at this point I know he toldon what he’s found, that could change everything And the last person that I need to find out that I’m in trouble is Beck

"Yeah"