Lib Novel Page 55
I blink back the tears that threaten to fall. No one has ever said anything like this to me.
“Look at me, Olena.”
I draw a shaky breath and meet his shadowed eyes.
“When I asked for your portfolio… I was hoping it’d be mediocre.”
My brows furrow in confusion.
“I was hoping I’d find some problem with you—with your work. Some flaw… because, I guess, if you were average… if you were boring…” He inhales. “I could find some way to ignore how you made me feel.”
I exhale a messy breath, my heart twisting.
Jude draws me in close and presses his forehead to mine. For a moment, he just breathes with me. “But, as it turns out,” he adds quietly, brushing a stray lock of hair away from my face, “you’re both gorgeous and talented.”
My cheeks redden, though he can’t see me blush in the darkness.
His voice is low now, the deep rumble vibrating against my body. “And that scared the hell out of me. So I ran.”
Understanding clicks and I pull back to stare at him in disbelief. “Wait, I intimidated you? I intimidated you?” I let out a cynical laugh as I shove his chest gently, but he doesn’t let me push him away, his strong hands gripping my lower back.
His face is serious.
My teasing smile fades.
“Yes. You did,” he admits, holding my gaze intensely. “And that time Teddy interrupted us… I ran then too. I pushed you away because I was scared again.”
“About getting caught,” I remember.
He pauses. “It was more than that.” His words are quiet, his voice a low rasp in his throat.
“What do you mean?”
He looks up at the night sky like he’s searching for the words. “I was worried that if…” He takes a breath, looking back at me. “That if I let you into my life…” He’s struggling to go on. The vulnerability he’s showing is breaking my heart.
I stand on my toes and kiss his cheek softly, then pull back to meet his eyes again.
“I had my heart broken pretty badly. Years ago. She left me when I was going through something really rough and…” He takes a steadying breath. “It was awful. And now… I’m just used to being on my own here. It’s familiar. Predictable. Uncomplicated…”
“Safe.” I add quietly.
He pauses. “Yeah.” He sighs. “You’re changing all of that.”
“I’m sorry,” I say sincerely, then realize the irony. I feel Jude suppress a groan at the fact that I’m apologizing yet again.
“Don’t you start with that,” he smiles ruefully at me. He reaches up and wipes a tear from my cheek with his thumb, then slowly traces my jawline with a finger.
Heat flushes through my body, my eyelids fluttering at the sensation. When I open them, something in his expression darkens; even in the dim light, I sense a shift in him.
“Though, yes, how very unfair of you,” he teases as his lips brush mine softly, his hot breath filling my senses, need gripping me deep in my core.
I slide my hands around his neck as he runs his hands down my back, over my ass.
“But Olena…” he rasps.
I hold my breath.
“I’m done running.” He lifts me up, wrapping my legs around his waist as he carries me into the house. The front door bangs loudly as we crash through the entryway and he kicks it shut.