Shattered Rose He Held On Tight novel Chapter 53

3/3

Chapter 53 She Kisses Him First.

Jasper didn’t know how he stumbled down the stairs and into the car. In the dark, cramped space, he felt lost, his eyes red as he stared at the life he could never have upstairs.

Bless her?

I couldn’t. I didn’t believe Sterling was genuine.

How could a man like him genuinely love Claudia?

Let her go?

No–that would feel like tearing my heart out of my chest.

Time dragged on. The rain kept pouring. Sterling never came out of the apartment.

Jasper didn’t go to the hospital. Instead, he gazed up toward Claudia’s window and pulled out his phone.

“Hello, Wilson?

“Yeah, I just saw Claudia. She’s fine.

“I heard you’re throwing her a belated birthday party in three days. I want us to announce our engagement at that time.

Even if it seemed shameless, I would do anything necessary to keep her in my life.

Upstairs.

Neither of them mentioned Jasper again.

“Happy birthday,” Sterling said.

He clasped a necklace around Claudia’s neck.

It was shaped like a thorned rose. Not too flashy for everyday wear, but finely crafted and striking.

Claudia loved it.

It was her second gift this year.

1/3

The first had been a painting from Whitney, sent before she left overseas.

Since she couldn’t come back, she’d called right at midnight to wish Claudia happy birthday.

Sterling studied the rose blossomed against Claudia’s neck and felt satisfied.

He had chosen it himself. As expected, it looked perfect on her.

“Thank you,” Claudia said, looking at the man sitting beside her. Her gratitude was genuine.

“Not just for the gift. Thank you for being here with me today.”

Without him, she might not have made it back from the cemetery.

So no matter what Jasper said about him being dangerous, in Claudia’s eyes Sterling was far better than her family and lover who had shown up at her door today.

Her clear, glass–like eyes stayed on him, full of open honesty.

The girl who always put up her guard, like a hedgehog with its spines out, was showing her soft side to the wolf just because of this little kindness.

Easy to win over. Easy to fool.

Sterling’s heart skipped beyond his control.

He turned her chair to face him and leaned in close, nose to nose, breath brushing breath.

“Then how about we finish what we didn’t get to earlier?”

Claudia’s face turned bright red.

She thought of the heavy, charged air before Jasper barged in. It made her restless in her seat.

But…

She stole a glance at the man’s smiling eyes.

It was fine if that was what he really wanted. She didn’t have much else to give back.

A feather–light kiss brushed his cheek, gone as quickly as it came–so fast it felt like a dream.

Forget it. A real kiss was too much. We aren’t that close yet.

This should be enough.

Claudia sat back down, turning toward the dinner table.

2/3

“Ahem! Alright, the soup’s getting cold.”

Sterling sat stiff, one hand on his thigh, the other resting on the back of her chair, staring at her side profile.

What the heck? This isn’t me

Sterling wasn’t the kind of man to settle for something so innocent.

He wasn’t the type to drag her in and never let her leave the bed for three days and three nights; he expected a fervent kiss, the type that explored each other’s mouths.

How could one small, almost meaningless peck throw his heartbeat out of control?

He frowned, unsatisfied, forgetting that while he often joked about it, he had never really imagined what it would feel like if a woman actually kissed him.`