Free Flirting With Fate by Lexi Ryan Page B

notes must have me
confused with someone else.”
    Josie averted her gaze, and Greyly left the room
with a nod.
    When he was gone, her face was drawn, worried.
Tanner materialized and squeezed her hand. “The man who attacked you, he was a
Special?”
    “Yeah.” She turned, and Tanner must have had a
look in his eyes because she drew in a sharp breath. “Don’t be stupid, Wiley.
Whoever he is, he’s gone and it’s over. Anyway, we know nothing about him.
Don’t go on some mission trying to find him.”
    “What did he want from you?” He braced himself for
a lie.
    “He wanted my mother’s journal.” She blinked and
fresh, hot tears streamed down her face. “And he got it.”
    Tanner frowned. “What would he want with her
journal?”
    She shook her head.
    Okay, so she would only give him part of the
truth. So be it. For now, he’d take what he could get. “Who’s Mallory?” he
whispered.
    “She’s no one,” she said, dropping her eyes to her
hands.
    “Josie, please stop—”
    “You better get out there,” she said, not bothering
to look up. “The officer will be looking for you.”

***
    Collin Raines had fucked up a lot in his life. On
the top of his list of fuck-ups was the way he’d left Paige, which was why,
when she slipped into his bed before dawn, he knew he must be dreaming.
    “You don’t mind?” She scooted into him so that his
body spooned hers.
    Of course he didn’t mind. That was like asking a
thirsty man if he minded a tall glass of water.
    Pulling her against him, he forced himself to
relax. He didn’t want this dream to end. “Stay,” he murmured against her neck.
    Her little body felt so good in his arms—her ass
pressed into his growing erection, her breasts nestled against his arm.
    She turned to face him and ran her fingertips
along his jaw line. “I’ll stay as long as you’ll have me.”
    Collin blinked and she stayed right where she was.
“This is no dream,” he said, knowing it was true, but that didn’t explain why
Paige was in his bed.
    Had she left Darian? When? Why? And though the selfish
part of him wanted her in his bed now—wanted her to stay—in the back of his
mind, he grieved. She deserved better than him.
    “You shouldn’t be here,” he finally said.
    “Do you want me to go?”
    She belonged with Darian. Collin didn’t deserve
her. He knew these things as well as he knew that he wasn’t strong enough to
ask her to leave. “No.”
    He pressed his lips to hers then, because he was
too weak to resist. He knew immediately that it had been too long since he’d
tasted her. There was nothing familiar about her flavor.
    He dug his hands into her thick dark hair and
pulled her closer.
    As he rolled her under him, she groaned and clawed
at his shirt. She spread her legs so his thigh settled between them and had him
immediately thinking of sliding into her, feeling her slick heat squeeze his
cock.
    This was about more than sex. This was about
having the only woman who had ever truly loved him. She was back in his arms,
and he was so afraid she might disappear, he wanted to consume her, taste every
inch of her.
    He had to slow down.
    He buried his face in her neck and took a long,
slow breath. She still loved him, despite everything.
    He froze and inhaled again. She didn’t smell like
Paige.
    Didn’t smell like Paige, didn’t taste like Paige.
And she was in his bed and therefore not acting like Paige. It was time
to stop fooling himself.
    He ran his hands down her arms and threaded his
fingers with hers. A small sigh escaped her lips, then he slammed her hands
against the bed on either side of her head and pinned them there.
    He pulled away, jaw set. “Who the fuck are you,
and what are you doing here?”
    Fear flashed in her eyes. “Collin?” she whispered.
“It’s me, Paige.”
    “You’re a horrible liar.”
    “Just kiss me,” she said. Pleaded was more like
it. “Kiss me, Collin.”
    He tightened his grip on her hands and she winced.
“I