Forbidden - Karla Sorensen Page 0,30
feel about grabbing me by my braid? I can show you a really easy way to escape if someone grabs your hair.”
Immediately, her face went pale. “I … I don’t know.”
I held my hands up. “We won’t do anything that will make you feel uncomfortable, I promise.”
She crossed her arms over her stomach again. “I could grab yours fine, I think, I just … I can’t have that …” Her voice trailed off and she gestured vaguely to her own ponytail. Casey squeezed her eyes shut. “I wasn’t like … attacked or anything. It was just a drunk guy at a party, and he got a little handsy.”
My heart broke as she fumbled for words, and all that fiery rage I’d felt earlier came roaring back. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Behind her, I saw Aiden drop his chin to his chest, which expanded on a deep inhale.
I took my own steadying breath. “Would you mind if I brought in someone who can show you how this works?”
Casey blinked, looking uncertain.
“He’ll only grab my hair,” I promised. “He won’t touch you at all, okay? Or we could do another move too.”
“No,” she said. “I can watch. Thank you, Isabel.”
I laid a hand on her arm and squeezed. My gaze found Aiden’s, and I lifted my chin. “Could you help me a second, please?”
He pushed from the beam and walked over, and I had to curl up my fingers into a fist when I felt the slightest tremor of nerves.
Casey gave him a quick, tight smile, and he answered with a small nod.
“Casey, this is Aiden. He’s our owner.”
She waved. “Hi. Sorry for being a chicken about this.”
He dipped his head down because she was so much shorter than him. “Don’t ever apologize, okay? It’s hard to let someone put their hands on you, even if it’s just to practice.”
I had to fight the urge not to think something unfair like, oh, screw him for saying something perfect. I didn’t want Aiden to say and do perfect things. I wanted him to screw up. Do something that made me mad. Do something that made me want to call Carl back and tell him I’d take his job offer.
And that was the thing. I didn’t want to take Carl’s job offer. I’d only do it if I had a really, really good reason. As Aiden faced me, green eyes locked onto my face, I had to make peace with the fact that him knocking my emotions off-kilter was not a good reason.
Imagining us together wasn’t a good reason.
Wondering if he had any room in his life, his heart, for someone new wasn’t enough either.
Acknowledging it was enough to calm something frantic inside me. Trusting that I knew it was right to stay, even if it took me time to move past this, had me breathing easier.
“Aiden is going to grab my hair, okay?” I said to Casey even though my gaze didn’t move from his. “And I want you to watch how I move my arm.”
He made no quick moves, nothing designed to surprise. As his arm lifted, shifting the muscles underneath the cotton of his shirt, it was just a little bit harder to breathe. Ribs squeezed in when the thick column of his throat moved on a heavy swallow. Because I’d just imagined us so clearly, there was a blurring in my head of what was real and what wasn’t.
Just before he touched me, he hesitated. Our gazes held like that, and I wondered what he saw in my face.
When his hand curled around my braid, his fingers brushed against the nape of my neck. It was so light, barely even there, but I shivered all the same.
And he noticed. His eyes narrowed just slightly.
To the side, Casey moved, and I blinked.
I moved my attention to her. “Don’t ever try to yank away or try to pull their hand off your hair.”
She’d wrapped her lips over her teeth, but she nodded. Two bright pink spots dotted her cheeks.
“Watch where I pull down, just by his elbow.”
I took a deep breath and swung the arm that was between us, hooking it around the top of his arm and yanking it forward in a big C shape. Aiden stumbled forward, and I caught sight of Casey’s huge smile.
Aiden quirked an eyebrow at me when he straightened to his full height, and at his expression, I exhaled a laugh.
“Again?” he asked. His tone was warm, and my toes