Training the SECRET (Corrigan & Co #6) Read Free

say,
nodding. That’s what I should be embarrassed about, but I’m not.
I need him to know that I want it all from him.
    “I can definitely
handle that.”
    I know he can, and
that’s the problem. No matter what he says, and why he came here,
no one holds onto Nate Anderson for long. Even if he wants to be
held. Good thing I grew up in a boxing gym, because now that I have
him, I’m not giving him up without a fight. And I won’t fight
fair.
    * * *
    Nate
    This romance shit may
kill me, but if that’s what it takes to show Jade that I’m
serious about her, I’ll do it. Maybe if I look at it like a
military mission, it’ll be easier. Yeah, like reconnaissance and
crap. Well, not crap. Whatever I do has to knock her socks—and
panties—off. I better just call the woman who’s like my little
sister, and ask for her help while we’re still on good terms.
    Those are thoughts for
later, though. Right now I need to focus on holding this damn ladder
that gets to have Jade wrapped around it. I know she hates heights.
When I pulled up and saw that group surrounding her, I nearly lost my
mind. I almost wish that idiot who was insulting her when I walked up
would’ve tried something. It’s thoughts like those that bring me
back to my teen years, and all the reasons I should be staying away
from Jade.
    I can’t do that
anymore. Not even now that I know who she really is. Once she knows
who I am, and what I’ve done, she’ll walk away. Until then, I’m
giving her the romance she wants. And the fucking—I’m only human,
after all.
    “You’re quiet down
there,” she says, pulling me from my thoughts.
    “Just enjoying the
view.”
    “Of me in a baggy
shirt, no makeup, and Chucks?”
    “Yep. Looking good,
J. Real good.”
    She rolls her eyes at
me again. “Just help me down, please.”
    Instead of giving her a
hand, I climb two steps and pull her into my arms, before jumping
back down. She has a death grip on me, and her face is buried in my
chest. “Don’t worry. I’d never drop you.”
    “I hate you.”
    “We both know that’s
not true,” I tell her as I kiss the top of her head.
    “If you’re not
going to kiss me right now, then put me down.”
    I set her down and
smack her ass. “When the time comes, I’m going to kiss you so right that your
panties are going to fall right off you.”
    “And your cock’s
going to try and bust out of your pants wishing my lips were on it.”
    “Well, yeah. That’s
already pretty much an everyday occurrence.”
    “We’re really doing
this then? For how long?”
    “Yes, and for as long
as you’ll have me.”
    Which I know won’t be
very long once she finds out what I did. Her eyes are sparkling right
now, but it won’t last. Time isn’t on my side, but that’s just
karma coming back to bite me in the ass. Just like I deserve.
    “Why now, Nate? Is it
because you know I might die soon?”
    “Don’t even fucking
joke about that. You are not going to die. Not while I’m still breathing.”
    “I appreciate the
protection, but again, why now?”
    I take her hands in
mine and look into her eyes. I want her to know that I’m telling
the truth. “When you disappeared, I thought my life was over. I’ve
been through a lot of shit over the years, but nothing felt as bad as
the thought that you’d left me, and weren’t coming back.”
    “I wasn’t leaving you , Nate. You can’t
leave someone if they aren’t yours.”
    “I’m yours. I
should’ve told you that a long time ago, and thinking that there
was a possibility you left because I didn’t, well it made me crazy.
I mean, that’s what I thought at first. That maybe you left because
I couldn’t give in to my feelings for you.”
    “I wouldn’t leave
my job for you. I was going to start ignoring you, though.”
    “Were you now?”
    She blushes again. God,
I love that I can do that to her, when I’ve never seen her do it
for anyone else. “You deserved it.”
    “I did, and it
probably would’ve