Fall into Her (Fall into Him Book Two) (10 page)

“Damn it,” he bolted from his chair.

“Are you okay?” Jennifer was out of her seat as well, on her way to the
bathroom even as she asked the question.

“Fine.”

Philip sounded annoyed, but Jennifer knew it wasn't directed at her.
She could see his frustration at himself written on his face before she
disappeared into the bathroom. She found a roll of paper towels under the sink
and headed back into the office.

She was two steps across the room when she saw that he'd taken off his
shirt and undershirt. Jennifer paused for a moment to admire Philip's lean
torso and then started walking again. “I got some paper...” Her voice trailed
off as Philip turned away from her to fetch a new shirt from his closet.

Her heart clenched.

The muscles on his back rippled under his golden skin, but she wasn't
looking at that. All of her attention was focused on the many white lines that
marred his otherwise flawless skin. They ran from his shoulder-blades down to
the small of his back without any obvious pattern and in unpredictable
directions. She'd seen him without a shirt on before, though not often
considering how many times they'd had sex, but she hadn't been paying much
attention to his back when there had been other more interesting parts of his
anatomy to capture her attention.

Philip shrugged on another shirt as Jennifer caught herself staring.
She crossed to the desk and began clean it off, keeping her eyes down where she
was soaking up the spilled liquid. What could have caused that? Even as she
asked herself the question, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer, but
still, she felt compelled to ask.

“Thank you, Jennifer,” Philip turned back around.

“Philip,” Jennifer hesitated, but pushed herself to continue. “The
scars on your back, where did they come from?”

Philip tugged on his collar and gave her a half-smile. “Oh, you know
how it is, when you're a kid...” He let the sentence trail off as he looked
down at his desk to continue with his work.

“Oh.” Jennifer wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting or how to
respond. Was she really reading too much into it? She wasn't sure why, but the
way the scars had made her stomach twist, she'd expected to hear about
something in Philip's past, maybe something that explained his behavior. But,
she supposed, it could have been from an accident or from something dangerous
he'd gotten himself into as a child. Maybe he'd gotten snagged on a barbed wire
fence, been in a car accident, or accidentally fell on broken glass. There were
a lot of things kids could by chance get themselves into.

“Why don't we take a bit of a break? We'll wait for the papers to dry
from the spill and then we’ll finish up.” Philip turned away, but not before
Jennifer caught a glimpse of the expression on his face. She felt sure that
there was vulnerability, something broken that she couldn't define, but that
she wanted to understand him.

Before Jennifer could answer, the intercom buzzed. She waited for
Philip to either pick up the phone or send her out. To her surprise, he pressed
the speaker button.

“Yes, Emma?”

“Mr. Johann Haas is on the line for you.”

The secretary's voice had a slight tinny quality, but there was no
mistaking the name she'd said. Jennifer's gaze darted up to Philip's face. He
wasn't looking at her, but rather at the intercom, his face an impassive mask.
He wasn't entirely still, however. His hand went to his collar, the movement
appearing to be subconscious. This time, Jennifer saw the thin white line
across the side of his neck. Was that caused by the same thing as the lines on
his back? Her question moved to the back of her mind when the name Emma had
said registered.

Johann Haas.

Philip hadn't mentioned any brothers, so Jennifer felt it safe to
assume that Johann was his father.

Philip's father, whose phone call clearly made him uncomfortable.

Johann.

J.

Was it possible that the J who wrote the letter wasn't that woman at
all, but rather, Philip's father?

Find out what happens to Jennifer and
Philip in Book Three of Fall into Him
(click below!)

Fall into Forever

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