When We Fall (Take the Fall, #2)(41)

“You’re exhausted.”

“Only a little.” I slip my thumbs into the waistband of his jeans, touching his hot skin. “I don’t want to sleep alone tonight.”

He tips my chin up. “You won’t have to. I’ll hold you all night.” There is a look of resolve on his face. “We don’t have to rush.”

“I don’t think we’ve been rushing.”

“One more day won’t hurt, kitten.” He runs his thumb across my bottom lip and I sway toward him a little. “Think about it.”

“Tomorrow would be much better,” I finally say.

Satisfaction gleams in his eyes. “After you go shopping with Rowan.”

I blink up at him. “Rowan wants to go shopping?” I can’t afford to go shopping.

“Check your voicemail,” he says, then leads me to my room. “She texted me after being unable to get ahold of you. I suggested she leave a voicemail. She wants you to go with her to try on wedding dresses.”

“Oh. I didn’t put my phone back on after dinner with Mother and Father. They forbid phones at the dinner table.”

“You can check in the morning.” Jase begins to undress me, as if I were a child, but I don’t mind. “What pajamas do you want to wear?”

“The ones you like the best.”

“We’ll save those for tomorrow night, too.” He grabs a tank top from the top drawer of my dresser and gently pulls it over my head. The backs of his hands graze my bare breasts and I sway toward him. “Tomorrow night, tomorrow night,” he mutters, then tugs me toward the bed.

My mouth opens wide on a yawn as we tumble into bed. “I’m sleepier than I thought,” I admit.

“You stayed out late tonight.” He caresses my cheek. “It’s past your bedtime.”

“I drove around for a while and ate at Noodles.”

“You didn’t eat with your parents?”

“I hate strawberries.” It’s the truth, but I don’t want to talk about the rest.

“You’ve always hated them,” he says. “Why would they—? Never mind.”

Snuggling up to his warm body, I close my eyes. “You can’t be ready to go to bed. You don’t have to stay here with me.”

“Not leaving, kitten. Go to sleep.”

Knowing that I can count on him to keep his word, I finally allow myself to drift off to sleep.





Jase


The front door opens and closes. “Jase? Anyone home?”

“Up here, baby.” Taking one last look around the room, I grin and rub my hands together in anticipation.

“I didn’t see your motorcycle.”

“It’s in the garage. Been working on my Mustang today.”

I hear her jog up the stairs, and I take that as a sign that she’s eager to see me. I’m sure I disappointed her last night by not having sex with her, but she was so damn vulnerable that it felt like I would have taken advantage of her.

“Did you have a good time with Ro?” I ask, meeting her in the hallway.

“Yes. I really needed a girls’ day out.” She twirls a strand of hair around her fingers, her gaze turning hot. “Now I need a night in with you.”

I give her a wicked smile. “I have a surprise for you.”

She tilts her head to one side so that her dark hair flows over one shoulder. “You do?”

“Close your eyes, kitten.”

With a happy smile, she squeezes her eyes shut and I lead her down the hallway to my bedroom. “Open.”

Her eyes get huge. “Holy crud.”

I gesture at the center of the room. “New bed, new mattress…new everything. I bartered with this guy who owns an eco-friendly cleaning company to come clean everything while you were gone today. He wants a huge back piece in return. Anyway, I had to get this done for you so you could breathe in your own home.”

She blinks rapidly a few times, her gaze bouncing from me to the room and back to me again. “Is that why Rowan kept me out shopping—she hates shopping, even if it was for a wedding dress. Omigosh! I should have known something was up. I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

I nod. “I’d do anything for you—don’t you know that?” That’s just how I operate. Once I’ve fallen for a girl, all bets are off. With Piper, I’ve fallen harder than I ever have before, or maybe it just feels this way because I never allowed myself the possibility of us before.

Either way, I will destroy anyone who tries to take her away from me. This is my sweetness and light. My happiness and peace. Mine.

“Yes, I do.” Piper gives me a shy smile as I sit on the bed and she unzips her dress. I watch her with hooded eyes while she slowly lets the material fall to the floor, leaving her in nothing but heels and powder blue, lace panties with a small, bright orange bow in the front and matching bra. Her fingers go to the hook in the front, trembling slightly.

“You want me to do that for you, kitten?”

“No, I want to do it for you.” She unhooks her bra and her breasts bounce free of the material. Her pink nipples harden to tight points as she shimmies out of her panties.

“Come here, baby.”

As she straddles my lap, her dark blue heels land on the floor with a thud. Her lips tremble, but not because she’s about to cry. She’s nervous. “I—I feel dumb for asking, but, uh…I feel like I should.”