The Fall Up (The Fall Up, #1)(39)

I chuckled, dropping my hands down to her ass. “Look at me,” I urged with a squeeze.

Reluctantly, her red-rimmed eyes met mine.

“I shouldn’t have stormed out on you the other night, but I swear it won’t ever happen again. You need to talk about…anything. Hell, even if you get sick of me and ditch me for some big-time bazillionaire actor tomorrow, I’m still here.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“I’m just saying, I’m here no matter when, where, or why. I don’t want you holding back because of my history. Okay?” I didn’t care if she answered or if she thought it was okay. It made me feel infinitely better to know I’d put it out there.

“Ugh.” She lolled her head back down. “You’re such a good guy.”

“Not always. I’m a real dick if you try to use my toothbrush in the morning.”

Her shoulders shook as she laughed. They stilled when her lips brushed against my neck. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.” I squeezed her ass again.

“This is going to be a train wreck for you, Sam. But I really want to see if we can make something work. I believe I can get better and get my life in order, but struggling with me is exactly what you’ll be doing while I try to find some sort of balance. Besides all my issues, my life is crazy town.” She never looked up as she continued. “There’s no such thing as dinner and movie dates with me. I can’t even leave the house without security. I work nonstop and get recognized virtually everywhere I go. I travel for six months out of every year, and my free time is usually spent at children’s hospitals.” She sighed. “I don’t know how to date anyone anymore, especially someone who isn’t in the industry. The press is going to eat you alive, so we’d have to keep this quiet.”

I could feel her heart pounding against my chest, and her breathing was labored as if she’d just finished a marathon.

“Nobody can know.” Sure, she was talking to me, but she wasn’t telling me anything new. All she’d managed to do was work herself up into a frenzy.

“Calm down.” I hugged her tight. “We don’t have to figure out all of this tonight. Hell, we don’t actually have to figure it out at all. The rest will work itself out. We’ll keep things chill for a while. I’m okay with date nights at casa de Rivers. It has a convenient private bedroom at our disposal.” I glided a hand down her back, but she didn’t laugh.

She continued to freak out. “You don’t understand how much this is going to change your life,” she whispered.

She was absolutely right. My life would never be the same again.

And it was invigorating.

I understood that dating a woman like Levee was going to be difficult, but if she was the great at the end of the day, I was more than up for the challenge.

“I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“You say that now…but—”

“Levee, stop. Take a deep breath and relax. No matter what you say, you’re not talking me out of this. I want to make something work with you, and you’ve made it clear that you want something with me. So let’s do it. End of story.”

“Sam,” she objected, clearly not done talking.

But I was.

“What’s your schedule look like tomorrow? I want you to spend the night.”

“I have to leave in the morning for LA. I have a concert tomorrow night. Then I’m scheduled for a month of”—she lifted her hands in a pair of air quotes—“‘vacation.’”

“Are there going to be doctors on this vacation?”

She nodded.

“Good.”

“Yeah, fantastic,” she deadpanned.

“Oh, hush. It will be fantastic. Now, spend the night and tell me who I need to sleep with to get tickets to your show tomorrow night? I have two days until you’re gone. I’m maximizing my time whether you want it or not.”

“Are you sure?”

I reached up and pinched her lips between two fingers. “Zip it. I’m positive.”

She sighed, and her whole body relaxed.

As anxiety drained from her face, my Designer Shoes appeared before my eyes with an enticing smirk. Pushing my hand away, she pressed a kiss to my mouth. “I might know someone who can get you tickets, but I hear she’s pretty needy in bed.”

“She can’t be any needier than you.” I kissed her again, greedily opening my mouth for a taste I had been longing for.

She was leaving in two days, but for the first time since I’d met Levee, I knew for certain she’d be coming back.

To me.





IF SAM COULD pretend that sheer force of will was enough to overcome our issues and attempt a relationship that was obviously destined to fail, so could I.

Hell, I could probably pretend for the rest of my life if he continued to hold me the way he did.

Kiss me the way he did.

Touch me the way he did.

Save me the way he did.

With a firm squeeze around my waist, he lifted me off the ground. Never breaking the kiss, he carried me, dangling in his arms? to the couch.

He sat on the cushion and attempted to pull me on top of him, but I sank to my knees instead.

“No,” he objected as I went to work on the button of his jeans.