Page 40 (1/1)

I type outto keep a professional front Froe point near the DJ, I watch as Lia checks her phone Her eyes light up for the first tiers start to hts up with the little dots telling

Paul and Jean join her at the bar, and Lia slips her phone back into her clutch, e unsent In the same instant, her whole countenance shuts down Lia’s body see inwards, and she hides in plain sight Gone is the vibrant young wo is wrong, and I’one all fucking week giving her the space she begged for, being allowed to bring her water while she throws up in the bathroo sickness, but not allowed to show her any affection otherwise We need to go public I can’t love her at a distanceuntil Lia excuses herself to use the restroo to the corner of the brick wall and wait She eure Tasteful but teasing, the lace and satin can’t fool ainst me “Lia” Her na Leading her behind the auze-draped wooden frames, I shove aside one of the heavy sections and squeeze through Once she has slipped between them, I close the escape route Iwhere we first had sex We can hear the party, but there is no easy way for people unfamiliar with the roof to find their way over to us It would be easier to go downstairs and up the other elevator than to hope they found the right section of false wall to move

“This is where it all started,” Lia whispers She’s wringing her hands as she looks around at our gazebo The curtains are drawn over the netting, deepening the shadows inside it

She’s wrong, though, and I tell her as such “This started ht doesn’t hide her blush, and I reach for her face, letting ers trace her heated cheeks “Beck, I shouldn’t have told you abouther eyes, and there are tears on her lashes when she steps back The blush fades as pain crosses her face

I hate seeing that emotion there “It wouldn’t have e, I knew then and there I had to have you That cheut when our lips touched…Even if we had no che around each other for years, I would want you You see the world so beautifully and s where they would otherwise turn a blind eye Lia, you couldn’t have changed this path we’re on” I grab her waist, closing the distance between us “Tell me you don’t feel how much I want you, want us”

She tastes like leue taps on her lower lip Lia opens to rip My handsout the panels of lace divided by a zipper that ends just before her ass I pull her intoher

Lia groans, not in passion but frustration, and she fights free ofher throat before they get caught by the neckline of her dress She swipes at the her makeup I offer herhalf-sain, I ask what happened “Did I do soht ere good together Maybe I’ood intentions

Her mouth opens and closes repeatedly, the first unattractive expression I’ve seen her make “No,” she whispers at last “How could I ever hate you?” Truly confused, she cocks her head to the side as if unsure how I could even coht