Mixed Signals (Lovelight, #3)

by B.K. Borison

Why are you settling for crumbs when you deserve the whole damn cake?”

You keep showing me pieces of yourself that I want to collect like seashells. I can’t stop thinking about kissing you, and I have no idea how you’d feel about blurring those lines. I don’t want to scare you. I don’t want to get myself in too deep.

“You deserve good things, sweetheart.” He swallows hard, eyes searching mine. “Why can’t you see yourself? Why can’t you see how incredible you are?” “Because,” I say, my voice cracking at the edges. “Because no one else has bothered to.”

I see you, Layla Dupree.” He says it so firmly, so resolute, that I can’t help but believe him. “Clear as day. I always have.”

“The point of our arrangement is for us to practice, yeah? We could practice this too. You could tell me what you want.” I swallow. “We could work together to figure out what you need and how you need it.”

“Because I want to watch you come undone,” I tell her, my voice a rough scratch. I look up and make sure I’m holding her eyes. “Because I want to be the one to do it.”

Opening my eyes feels like a monumental effort. “Will you hold my hand?” My voice slurs around the edges. “Yeah, sweetheart. I’ll hold your hand.”

“If I’m going to fuck you, Layla,” the words grind out of him, rough and tight, “it won’t be because of any lessons or arrangements. It’ll be because you want me and I want you.”

“That’s the trouble with falling in love. It’s a messy, ungraceful stumble into a whirlwind of chaos. It doesn’t always feel good. It’s a fall.” She pulls out another shortbread cookie, a smile hooking at the side of her mouth. Her eyes are far away, glassy with remembering. I wonder who she’s thinking about with that look on her face. Who she fell with. Who she fell for. “You just have to trust that the person you’re falling with is smart enough to catch you before you hurt anything important.”

Stop acting like you’re someone I can move on from.

“This whole time—I think I’ve been falling in love with you,” she tells me. “I didn’t recognize it because I’ve never felt it before. And when I did, when I realized, I kind of freaked out. I’m still kind of freaking out about it. It turns out the thing I wanted most is pretty scary when it comes down to it. You’re going to have to be patient with me.” “I can do that,” I grit out, voice thick. “I think I’ve been falling in love with you for a while, Layla. One butter croissant at a time.”