Falling Fast

  “Night, Gia.” I run my fingers through her hair and continue doing that until I feel her body go limp. Pulling my chin back, I look down at her through the dark and see she’s asleep, and then rest my head back against the couch, following behind her.

  And for the first time in what seems like forever, I don’t dream about getting shot and almost losing my legs. I dream about making a beautiful girl, with eyes the color of emeralds, mine. When I wake up with Gia still in my arms in the middle of the night, I vow to make that dream a reality.

  CHAPTER 7

  The First Kiss Is Always The Sweetest . . .

  Until The Second

  Gia

  BLINKING AGAINST THE BRIGHT light shining in my eyes, it takes a second for the sleep to clear away and for me to realize I’m still on the couch with Colton. Sometime in the night, we moved. Now my back is to the couch cushion, with his arm and leg over me, holding me prisoner. There is no escaping without me waking him up.

  He kissed me.

  My eyes close on that thought and my lips tingle. His lips were softer than I thought they would be, and I had thought about them a lot since the moment we met. He also didn’t try to take that kiss deeper, and I don’t know if that means he didn’t like the kiss, or if he’s trying to go slow for my sake. I need to call Nat and see what she thinks it means.

  “Stop thinking so much.” Colton’s deep, sleepy voice breaks through my rampant thoughts and my eyes shoot open to meet his.

  “You kissed me,” I accuse, which sounds dumb to even me, because last night, I didn’t fight the kiss or pull away. Even when it ended, I laid my head right back down on his chest, where I fell asleep and stayed through the night.

  “It’s too early for this. Go back to sleep. We have at least another hour before we need to get up,” he says, tucking the top of my head under his chin. Staring at the column of his throat, I wonder what his skin tastes like then wonder if he would notice if I touched my tongue to it. Figuring he would probably notice that, I close my eyes and try to go back to sleep, but I can’t. I’m way too wound up to even think about sleep.

  “Colton.”

  “Yeah?” he asks, not sounding any more awake than he sounded minutes ago.

  “I can’t go back to sleep.”

  “Do you want to make out?” he suggests, and a shiver slides over my skin while my fingers tighten in the material of his shirt under my cheek.

  “I don’t think that would be smart. Do you?” I ask, hoping he agrees with me while wishing he wouldn’t.

  “I’m going to kiss you, Gia, and it’s going to happen a lot. So smart or not, it is what it is.”

  “I—”

  “Don’t deny there is something building between us, Gia. ‘Cause that will piss me off,” he warns, dipping his chin down so he can look at me.

  “I’m not going to deny it. I like you, and I…” I pause, trying to get my thoughts in order, which is difficult, since he’s right there looking at me. “I just like you. But you’re my only friend here. I mean, yeah, I have Nina and Ned, but they’re older, so it’s not the same. I don’t want to lose your friendship if things go bad. If we don’t work out, that will happen.”

  “If things don’t work out, we’ll worry about it then.”

  “You can’t say that.”

  “I can.”

  “You can’t,” I deny, right before he adjusts us so my back is to the couch and he’s over me with one thigh between mine. “Colton,” I gasp, but I don’t get anything more out.

  His mouth hits mine, and his lips are firm and demanding, the opposite of last night. My lips part, and when they do, his tongue sweeps in, his taste hits me, and a shiver of pure delight slides over my skin and through every inch of me. Kissing him back, I mewl when his hand slides under my skull so he can tip my head to the side and deepen the kiss. Listening to him groan, I slide my hands up the back of his shirt, where I’m greeted by warm skin.

  “Oh shit.”

  Hearing that, Colton’s mouth leaves mine.

  “Ma, what the fuck?”

  His mom? Oh, God!

  I keep my eyes closed and squeeze them even tighter, wanting to melt into the couch and disappear.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll just—”

  I don’t hear anything more except the door shutting behind her. At least I’m pretty sure she left. Then again, she might still be here—not that I’m going to open my eyes to find out.

  “That didn’t just happen,” I whisper, wishing it didn’t but knowing it totally did. His mom just walked in on us making out on his couch, where we spent the night.

  “Gia.” His hand wraps around my cheek and I shake my head.

  “I’m not here right now,” I reply, then feel his forehead touch mine.

  “Look at me.”

  “Your mom just walked in on us… making out.”

  “So?”

  I know by the amusement in his voice that if I open my eyes, he will be smiling. “She’s my boss.”

  “Actually, I’m your boss,” he mutters, and my eyes fly open just so I can attempt to kill him with my glare. “Okay, it’s too soon to make a joke of it.”

  “I can’t believe this.”

  “She was bound to find out about us eventually,” he says, and my eyes widen. “I’m not going to hide the fact I like you and that I really like kissing you.”

  “You are not allowed to kiss me in front of your mother,” I hiss, and he grins.

  “Like I said, I’m not going to hide the fact I like kissing you,” he repeats, emphasizing that statement by kissing me again.

  “Colton.” I shove at his chest, which does nothing at all to move him.

  “Gia.”

  “Colton,” I growl in frustration.

  “Gia,” he laughs, sliding his fingers across my cheek. “I would love to continue this pointless argument, but I need to tell my mom that she can come inside and that she doesn’t need to stand out on the porch with her ear to the door.”

  “I’m not doing that,” I hear through the wood of the door, and my cheeks burn.

  “Come in, Ma,” he calls, pulling me up with him as he stands from the couch.

  As soon as the door opens, Rose looks between us, and I pat my hair and adjust my shirt. “So how long has this been going on?” she asks, waving her hand out in our direction.

  “Ugh…” is my brilliant answer to that question.

  “It just happened,” Colton tells her, wrapping his arm around my waist. “And it’s going to continue happening, so if you could knock before you come in, that’d be good.”

  My cheeks burn hotter while my heart, which was already pumping hard, starts to pound. “Do not tell your mother that,” I hiss up at him, and he grins.

  Gah! He’s annoying.

  “This makes me happy,” Rose squeaks, catching me off guard and my head flies in her direction. “Seriously happy,” she continues as she starts toward the kitchen, and I notice then that she’s carrying a shopping bag.

  “Ma, what did I say about doing my shopping?” Colton growls, and she looks at him, rolling her eyes.

  “It isn’t for you. It’s for Gia.” She opens the bags and pulls out some soft looking cream-and-gold yarn and two different sized knitting needles. “I know you mentioned that you haven’t been able to get yours yet, so I wanted you to have these to hold you over until you do.”

  Tears start to sting my nose, but I fight them back as I walk over and give her a hug. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She smiles gently once she lets me go. “Really, I was using this as an excuse to come check on you before you two go to work.” Her voice softens along with her face. “Kirk told me last night that you have to go in today after work to take a polygraph,” she says, reminding me of something I have been trying to forget. That, along with the fact they believe someone tried to burn down Grandma’s house with us inside. I still don’t believe that’s true. Grandma doesn’t have any enemies, and neither do I. There is
n’t any reason someone would do something like that. “Are you holding up okay?”

  “I’m okay. I just want to get it over with. That way, if what they say is true, they can find who really did it,” I reply, and she looks from me to her son.

  “You’re going with her.”

  “Absolutely,” he says instantly, and relief fills me. I didn’t want to ask him to come, since he’s already done too much, but I know I’ll feel better having him there with me.

  “Good, and I expect at least a text when you leave, to tell me how it all went.”

  “I’ll do that,” I agree, and she reaches out, touching the tips of my fingers with hers before looking at her son.

  “Both your brothers are coming over next weekend, so I want us all to have dinner Sunday night,” she informs, then she looks at me again. “That includes you too, Gia.”

  “We’ll be there,” Colton answers before I can, and nervousness fills the pit of my stomach.

  “Have you two eaten? I could make you breakfast,” she offers, and Colton shakes his head smiling.

  “Go home, Ma.”

  “You’re so mean to me,” she laughs, giving him a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Tell Dad I’ll call him when I get to the bar.”

  “Will do,” she promises before giving me one more hug and disappearing out the door.

  “That went well,” Colton says, and I look at him then the door. It did go well, but was it too easy? Shouldn’t a mom have concerns about her son living with a woman he just met, and also hooking up with said woman? “Stop thinking so much, Gia.”

  “I—”

  “Stop trying to make this complicated when it’s not. My parents both like you. They liked you before we kissed, and they will continue liking you now that we have.”

  “I need to shower,” I say, not wanting to think about that right now, and his eyes darken instantly. “Alone,” I add, even though the thought of him naked in the shower with me is enough of a reason to second guess that decision and change my mind.

  “I’ll drive us to work when you’re ready to go.”

  “Sounds good.” I hustle past him to my room, shut the door, and lock it once I’m inside. Going to my cell phone that I plugged in to charge last night, I send Nat a text then head for the shower. When I get out, I find a text from Nat that says only one word.

  FINALLY.

  ~**~

  “Thank you, Miss Caro,” the polygraph examiner says, shaking my hand after he finishes removing the cords and things wrapped around me. The test didn’t take long, maybe twenty minutes in total, and he didn’t ask me a million question—only about eight of them, three times each. I told him I was nervous before he started, but he told me that was completely normal and not to worry about that messing with the results. Still, I was nervous, because some of the questions put me on edge.

  “How long should it take to get the results?” I ask him, grabbing my bag from the floor next to my chair and standing.

  “You didn’t show any deceit during the test,” he replies, and I let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll pass over my findings to Detective Preston, and I’m sure he will be in contact with you within the next couple of days.”

  “Thank you,” I say, and he nods before going back over to his desk.

  Opening the door to the room, I find Colton waiting for me with his back against the wall. As soon as he sees me, he takes my hand and pulls me into his chest, asking at the top of my hair, “You okay?”

  “Yes.” I nod and his hold tightens. “He said I didn’t show any deceit, so hopefully if someone really did set fire to the house, they can go about finding them now.”

  “If?” he asks, and I tip my head back to look up at him.

  “Why would someone break in to set Grandma’s house on fire?” I ask the question I have asked myself a million times. “She doesn’t have any enemies, and neither do I. It doesn’t make sense to me. You know Grandma is not well, and she has tried to cook in the past and it didn’t go well. All I can think is that she started the fire by accident.”

  “They said an accelerant was used.”

  “I know,” I mutter, still having no explanation for that.

  “Hopefully they will figure it out.”

  “Yeah,” I agree. “I really want to get into the house to get some stuff for Grandma’s room at the nursing home. I hope that if I can make it more like home, she’ll start to feel more comfortable there and come around.”

  “We’ll make that happen. As soon as they give us the okay,” he says, and looking into his eyes, I believe him. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

  “Yes,” I let out a relieved breath, and he takes my hand and leads me back out of the building the way we came in. As soon as we exit, we head for his Suburban and get in. “Do you mind stopping off so I can see Grandma before we head home?”

  He looks over at me with soft eyes. “I don’t mind.”

  “Thanks,” I say quietly, and he reaches over, taking my hand and pulling it across to rest on his lap. Ignoring the way it feels to have him holding my hand, I pull my cell phone out from my coat pocket. “I’m going to call Nat really quick to let her know she doesn’t need to come down here and raise holy hell.”

  He laughs, but I’m not joking. She was beyond pissed when I told her the news yesterday about having to take a polygraph, and threatened to come down here if they didn’t clear my name. And since she is an attorney, she could do it.

  “How did it go?” she asks as soon as she answers, and I smile. She’s obviously been waiting for me to call.

  “It went good. The polygraph examiner said I didn’t show any sign of deceit, so hopefully that’s all done and we can move on.”

  “Of course you didn’t show signs of deceit,” she grumbles, sounding annoyed. “So what now?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I just have to wait for the detective to call me.”

  “I pray they do that soon so you can get on with your life.”

  “Me too,” I agree. “Like I told Colton earlier, I want to get into the house and get some stuff for Grandma. She doesn’t even have any of her clothes with her there.”

  “If they don’t call you by tomorrow afternoon, call and tell me. I will call them myself and demand an explanation for their actions. You have done nothing wrong and have been cooperating with them, so they have no reason to keep you from the house,” she says, and I can tell by her tone that she is working herself up—something she’s good at doing.

  “How about we use you as a plan D?” I suggest, and she laughs.

  “Fine. You call them tomorrow, but seriously, if they don’t let you in by Friday, I’m flying down there and we are breaking into the damn house,” she snaps, and I know she would do that for me.

  “Hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” I reply, and Colton’s fingers squeeze mine.

  “How is everything else going?” she asks, and I bite my lip. “Are you with Colton now?”

  “Yes,” I answer simply, and she lets out a loud hoot.

  “I love it. Did he take you to the appointment?”

  “He did.”

  “I knew I liked this guy before, but I seriously like him now,” she singsongs, and I have to agree with her on that too. “Well, I know you obviously can’t talk about him because he’s there with you, but as soon as you have time, I need all the details on that kiss. All of them.”

  “I’ll call.”

  “Good. I love you.”

  “Love you too. I’ll call soon.”

  “You do that, and don’t forget to send the picture.”

  “That’s not happening,” I mutter, and she laughs again.

  “Fine, talk to you later. Tell Colton I said hi.”

  “I will, later.” I hang up then I send Rose a text to let her know that everything went okay before I slide the phone back into my pocket. “Nat said to tell you hi,” I inform Colton as we pull into the parking lot for the nursing home.

 
“You can tell her I said the same when you call her back later to give her all the details,” he says, and my breath leaves on a whoosh. “The volume on your phone is high.” He smiles, and my eyes narrow.

  “It’s rude to eavesdrop,” I scold him, as he pulls into one of the guest parking spaces.

  “I wasn’t eavesdropping.”

  “Whatever.” I try to tug my hand from his, but he doesn’t let me go. Instead, he uses my hand to force me over to his side of the cab. “Colton,” I hiss, right before his mouth lands on mine and his tongue slides between my parted lips. I don’t fight the kiss. On the contrary, I tip my head to the side and give as good as I get, which means we end up making out in the cab of his Suburban for a good ten minutes before he starts to slow the kiss and pull away. “I need to go in and see Grandma,” I tell him when my eyes finally open to meet his.

  “Yeah.” His voice is deep, and the sound of it dances across my skin, making me want to crawl into his lap and kiss him again. “We should go.”

  “We should.” I nod in agreement, but neither of us moves to pull away or gets out. We just sit there, looking into each other’s eyes. I finally get my breathing under control, along with my heartbeat, and even though I don’t want to, I loosen my hold on his shirt, where my hands are wrapped in the material, and lean back. “We should go in. I want to make sure she eats,” I say, and he nods, releasing my hand.

  Grabbing my purse, I open the door and jump out, and by the time I make it to the back bumper, he’s there holding out his hand to me. I take it and lead him inside to the front desk so they can buzz us in.

  As soon as we make it down the hall to Grandma’s room, we both enter at the same time to find her sitting up in her chair with a tray of food in front of her with the lid still covering it.

  “Hey, Grandma,” I call, and her eyes come to me and she blinks. And for the first time in over a week, I get a small smile. “This is my friend Colton,” I tell her while taking off my coat and dropping it to the end of the bed, along with my bag.

  “Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Colton says, and she looks at him and smiles again. Tears of relief and happiness start to fill my eyes, but I don’t let them fall. Instead, I pull the lid off the tray to see that tonight’s meal consists of mashed potatoes, cut corn, and what looks like meatloaf.