Page 54 (1/2)

And his career right along with hers

Where A what being inside her felt like, he didn’t have a fuse He looked at her and wanted to self-detonate

Which meant for both their sakes he had to establish distance between theht here and now before they destroyed their careers Before he destroyed the way she felt about him beyond repair

“Yes,” he told Peyton,to the computer, “I think you’d better wait”

“Cole” Amelia moved toward hilance toward Peyton who in turn raised his brow at Cole

“You ?” Cole re Amelia wouldn’t let him just slink away like the fool he was No, she’d make him confront what happened Better if that happened without an audience

Peyton’s lips pursed “I’ll be just down the hallway”

He nodded his understanding Peyton intended to play big brother and make sure Cole played by the rules Where had his friend been twenty o when he’d needed a rush of sanity?

When Peyton stepped out of the room, Amelia took another step toward him, but Cole held up his hand to ward her off The pain in her eyes sucker punched him

But he had to do the right thing by Ao Especially because he hadn’t o

They’d alht Had it been someone other than Peyton they’d be in trouble already He cared too much for her to do that to her He shouldn’t have put her in this position to begin with But he couldn’t resist her if she actively pursued hi he wanted wrapped into thethe next few days buried inside her was too te

He’d do whatever was necessary to protect her, even if he was protecting her from him, from herself

Unable to meet her eyes, he turned

He never should have co her What would her father say?

John Stockton hadto put Amelia at risk