Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(117)

“Good,” Fredericka said and then moved up and in front of the entire class, she put her paper on top of the others.

Cary stared at her, another flicker of anger bright in his eyes. His face even got a little red. He knew exactly what she was doing. Covering her ass. But she’d let him know. She didn’t give a damn what he knew, or how much it pissed him off, as long as he wasn’t able to tell any more lies about her.

Forty minutes later, a bell rang announcing the end of class. Fredericka, her books already stacked, was the first to stand up.

“Fredericka,” Cary said, over the bell. “I need to speak with you a second.”

The temptation to just walk out hit her, and hit hard. But she knew he’d use it against her. Standing there, listening to the shuffle of students leaving, she was left to face him.





Chapter Eleven


“Where were you running off to?” Cary asked Fredericka, as soon as the classroom door closed.

She wanted to tell him to mind his own damn business, but that might add fuel to his fire. So instead she just lied. “Nowhere in particular.”

“Then why don’t you stay and help me grade some papers?”

She stiffened her shoulders. “Sorry, I’d rather not.”

His eyes turned a lighter shade of blue. Disturbing blue. “You really don’t want to piss me off,” he said, his tone so threatening she almost flinched.

“I’m not trying to piss you off, Cary. But what was almost between us is over. Let it go.”

“It’s over when I say it’s over!” He took a step closer. “And you’re damn lucky I’m even interested. Do you think I don’t know that you were raised rogue?”

“And you’re a prime example that even someone from a good background can grow up to be an *.” She turned and walked out. Not giving him the privilege of knowing he had the power to hurt her. But his words echoed in her head and landed with a thump on her heart; at times she questioned her own self-worth.

*

That hurt stayed with Fredericka until Brandon opened the door and met her with a smile. A smile that said welcome. That said he was happy to see her. A smile that said he didn’t judge her.

And just like that, the heavy weight in her heart faded to almost nothing.

“Come here,” he said.

For a second she thought he was going to kiss her. And she would have let him, too.

He caught her hand and led her into the gallery. “I want you to see my project. I woke up and couldn’t sleep, so I worked.” They walked through the first two rooms to the back door and then stepped outside.

Fredericka’s breath caught at the site of the wolf sculpture on the patio. “That’s beautiful,” she told him and continued to admire how lifelike it looked. “Wow. Really beautiful.”

“Yeah,” he said.

She looked at him. He wasn’t looking at his art, but at her.

“Beautiful,” he said and inched closer. His arms slipped around her waist, and that’s when he kissed her.

The kiss started out slow, a little sweet, but got hotter. As crazy as it was, she could almost feel his purr. His heart raced against her. His hand moved to the hem of her T-shirt and moved up to touch her waist. The feel of his fingers on her naked skin had her melting closer to him. Had her wanting …

He pulled away and took in some quick fast breaths. “Sorry,” he said, looking at her, his eyes bright with passion.

“For what?” she asked.

“We should take it slow, right?”

And it was a question. He waited for her answer. And she knew what he was really asking.

A part of her wanted to tell him no. She wanted this. She wanted to feel the magic of it now and not wait. But wisdom said not to rush it.

She nodded. “Slow’s good.”

“Okay,” he said. “I promise to behave.”

She grinned. “I’ll try to do the same.”

He laughed. “So you’re having a hard time keeping your hands off me?”

“Yeah,” she said.

He pulled her against him. “Good.” Passing a finger over her lips, he said, “I guess we should go paint.”

“Yup,” she said and pulled out of his arms, even when staying there was so nice.

They both stepped back inside. “Can you stay on a ladder this time?” he asked with a tease in his voice. “Or am I going to have to catch you again?”

She grinned. “Maybe this time I’ll catch you.”

“Oh, I’d like to see that,” he said.

“You might be surprised,” she said, wondering and just a bit worried what he’d really think if he knew just how strong she was.

They were almost in the kitchen when the chimes started. They seemed to notice at the same time, because both of their smiles faded at the same instant.

“Told you,” he said.

Fredericka listened. The sound wasn’t so sad this time. It was almost … almost romantic.

Was his sister watching?

Looking over her shoulder at the chimes, relief struck when she didn’t see her there. When she looked back at Brandon she recalled her need to help the spirit pass over. Holiday had said that oftentimes, if a person was murdered, they stayed here to get justice against the person who’d killed them.