No Falling Allowed (No Kissing Allowed) Read Online Free Page B

with some chick all night. The bar’s overloaded and people are leaving as fast as they’re coming because nobody’s pouring drinks. Can you focus on getting in her pants after midnight? Or better yet, after one.” He craned his neck to peer at the crowd pushing their way inside. “Make that two.”
    “You just remember I’m doing you a favor here.”
    “ Right . You came up here to do me a favor. Keep telling yourself that. You came up here to catch your breath, and hell, you deserve it. But with Marc at home sick, I need ya in the game.”
    I started to argue, but pulled back at the look Charlie shot me, because he was right. I came to New York because my life had become so consumed with Jonah and all that it took to keep him going that I no longer recognized myself.
    “Maybe you’re right.”
    “Of course I’m right.” Charlie glanced past me before returning to the beer in his hand. He popped the cap, tossed it in the trash below the bar, and then pushed the bottle toward the dude in front of him. “She’s watching you. Doesn’t seem to want to, but she is all the same. She’s cute.”
    That brought on a smile and a surge of pride that I had no reason to feel. “She’s different.”
    “They’re all different. Until they aren’t.”
    Before fear of what would happen next could make me stop, I turned away from Charlie and started toward her. For one night, I was me again—Noah Hunter, the man who knew what a woman needed—and hell if I wasn’t eager to give this one every single thing she’d ever wanted and more.
    “So…?” I drawled as I returned, simultaneously mixing new drinks and passing them out to a fresh round of women around the bar, my body hyperaware of City even when my focus was elsewhere. The way she never slouched, yet fidgeted with her drink. The way she looked around, like she was waiting on someone to walk in and drag her away. I wanted to know more about this girl, despite all the reasons I should turn away.
    “She’ll do it!” a group of girls exclaimed from beside her, all of them bouncing with excitement. One said her name—Grace—and I thought maybe no name had ever matched a person more perfectly.
    “Is that right?”
    Grace licked her lips and leaned in closer. “You should know, this isn’t likely to go the way you’re hoping.”
    I matched her lean, my mouth so close to hers that a tiny bump would have us touching, kissing. “It already has.”

Chapter Three
    Grace
    “You know, you weren’t supposed to make it this far.” I glanced over at Hunter as we stopped in front of my apartment building. The air felt cool against my face, the wind picking up. It was chilly for a spring night.
    I wrapped my arms around myself and ran my hands up and down to try to warm them. Lauren had told me to buy a coat, one with true wind protection or whatever, but I’d always hated them. Plus, my mother was of the opinion that your outfit needed a coat that worked with it, not against it. Forever my mother’s daughter, I had accepted that philosophy, and it had worked out just fine. I wasn’t that cold anyway.
    A shiver worked through me, and I clamped my teeth to keep them from chattering. Okay, so maybe I was delusional.
    “You’re cold.” Hunter stepped toward me, and my eyes lifted to his, the energy changing between us.
    “I’m fine.”
    “Yeah, I get that, but is fine really what you want to be?”
    Without asking permission, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to him, his coat sensible and as basic as basic came, and yet…
    I drew a breath, and a mix of earth and soap washed over me. Immediately, I thought of my summers at Grandmother’s, running in the field behind her house, nothing but laughter in the air. No worry or expectations. No need to hold back, remain quiet, avoid doing or saying the wrong thing. At Grandmother’s, I was just me…Grace.
    “So…” Hunter said, bringing me back to the present. “Should I kiss your cheek now or at your