Page 100 (1/1)

I still couldn’t look at hi on to group with you all weekend"

He paused, fidgeted with his laced hands for awith you and then spending all that ties as ot…attached"

Some invisible vise cla That same cold fear was back and this time I was numb with it I blinked, worked my hands on the table in front ofsounds of dinnerware and chatter fro inside a hurricane lamp on the table What did this all mean? We were more to each other than I’d realized--but it had never beenall along He’d known everything and had willingly kept me in the dark And now, he said he was attached

I drew in a sobbing breath I was attached, too But noas determined that there would be no to That cut would sliceboth Ada blow

I pushed back froo," I said quietly

His eyes widened and he stood We faced each other across that table for a long moment The swirl of chaos inside me toldto sort all this out and figure out what it was But I didn’t need hi attached I didn’t need his confusing teas I turned to leave and he followed closely behind We twisted down long ays and up two flights of stairs toht hand on the s beside me in the darkness as the balmy Caribbean air swirled around us As my dress was backless, I was all too aware of that hand and the heated imprint it left on my skin, the way his thumb moved across it with the tiniest caress I was so focused on that touch that I nearly tripped and fell in e fool out of s felt tense, aard I looked around the room, with the candles lit and the bed turned back, the whitein the breeze like an errant bridal veil My heart started to race How could I avoid the conversation, the declarations that were certain to co to drop a torrent of rain at anydoffed his coat, was now undoing his tie He looked at

I went to fetch my T-shirt, which was in the dresser beside where he stood I thought to change for bed because I couldn’t think of anything else to do I wasn’t terribly tired and I knew I’d have no ability to concentrate on a study guide

I pulled the shirt from the middle drawer on the dresser while he watched me with unreadable eyes He had unbuttoned his shirt and I was feeling weird and tense and shy I keptout of auzy s Of the three, this was the dress thatwas, ht was about to strike and I could feel it in every tense look we shared, the silence hanging over our rooht he was, either I reflected on that He knew so much about me and yet he’d always kept hi still, behind the persona, behind this entire arrangery withWhile I’d mostly found Adam remarkably easy and fun to be with, I’d never once associated him with FallenOne How could I have been so blind?

I ale in the bathroom, but that seemed silly after we had seen so much of each other I laid the shirt on the bed and tried not to focus on where he was in the room--or the fact that he’d removed his shirt and undershirt and noore only his suit pants and socks I wouldn’t look Nope, I wouldn’t Confusion or no, rily so Probably ether

I reached around and unhookedit, feeling the cool bay breeze hitmy nipples immediately to hardened points I unzipped the skirt and stepped out of it