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her out of the office and back through the club.
    “Shannon, I want you to remember this experience when you meet my family.”
    She thought she was easily forgotten, and now she thought he regretted her too. It was a hard pill for Weave to swallow, but he knew she spoke the truth—the hurt was in her eyes for him to see. Shannon and he formed an uneasy truce in the past two weeks but they were still mostly avoiding each other as much as possible.
    He sat in his truck waiting for Genie to come back out of the club. When she reappeared, Shannon’s arm was slung over her shoulders and they were talking animatedly. With a quick hug, Genie waved goodbye and she and Shannon went their separate ways. Shannon went inside Smith Security while Genie headed for her car. As she pulled away, he pulled in behind her, following her to Harper’s Inn Hotel, taking note of the room she entered. He felt ridiculously like a stalker but he couldn’t ask anyone where she was staying. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he couldn’t let her continue believing that she was unimportant to him.
    He stepped out of his truck, making his way to the door, knowing with each step that he was making a huge mistake. He knocked lightly, unsure of whether or not he was hoping she would answer or be in the shower. He didn’t have long to wait. When she opened the door it looked as if she were debating the merits of slamming it in his face. He didn’t waste any time getting to the point since every second spent in her presence was like torture knowing he couldn’t have her. “There is not a man alive that could forget you or regret you,” he leaned down capturing her lips. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn't resist her. He kept his hands buried deep in his pockets, not touching her with any part of himself other than his mouth. He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers, but he kept his eyes closed so she wouldn’t see him dying inside, bit by bit. “You should give Shannon a real chance. He’d always do right by you, and you would never have to be ashamed of him the way you would me.”
    He opened his eyes, catching a flash of her tears before he turned away and headed back to his truck.
    She snagged the back of his jacket before he made it five steps, pulling him to a stop. He really wanted to drive away, but he didn’t have it in him.
    Genie tugged the back of his jacket until he gave in and froze in his tracks. She couldn’t let him get away without speaking her peace. Both of them were getting too good at running from one another, but Shannon tied her hands in some ways because she couldn’t say everything she wanted without breaking her promise; instead, she decided to find a way around him. “I would have never been ashamed of you. I would have stood proudly by your side. I think the real problem is that you were ashamed of me.”
    He spun so fast she almost missed it, and she found her back against the side of his truck with no idea as to how it happened. He boxed her in with his arms, and his eyes flashed dangerously
    “You think you know me after one night together? You don’t know a goddamn thing. I stopped caring about anything else in this world a long time ago, but every time I see you it hits me right here,” he said, taking her hand and pressing it against his chest. “And if you were mine, I would scream it from the highest building, but the day would come that you would know the real me and you would hate me for it, and that I could not live with.”
    She felt the sharp sting of tears at the back of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall, knowing it would ruin everything if she did.
    She prayed for him in that moment harder than she ever prayed for anything in her life. If only God would see his suffering maybe it would stop.
    The taste of her skin was one that he would never forget. She tasted like heaven. She was the closest he would ever be to that glorious place, and he would savor his night with