“Last night.”
“Last night?” My jaw dropped. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“Figured you were busy.” Jasper shifted, drawing one foot to the inside of the opposite thigh. Then he bent forward again, stretching those long, strong muscles while avoiding anything that resembled eye contact.
I huffed. Was this really happening? Did I mean so little to him that he couldn’t even call to tell me he was back in Quincy? Just a minute ago, I’d been so excited to see him. To hear his voice. To bury my nose in his chest and draw in his spicy scent.
But he’d been here. All day long. Probably glad to have the house to himself for a change.
My hands balled into fists. “I wasn’t busy.”
“Well, you weren’t here.” Accusation, anger, filled his rugged voice.
Was he mad at me? What the hell?
“I was at Lyla’s house because I didn’t want to be here alone. I’ve been at Lyla’s since you left me on Wednesday. She loved the fish tacos, by the way. But she said your cookies need some work.”
Jasper sat up straight.
Before he could say anything, I spun around and stormed inside, moving straight for the bathroom. I made sure to slam the door as hard as possible, then flipped the lock because he was not coming in here.
“Last night.” My entire body vibrated with fury as I stripped off my jeans and The Eloise Inn T-shirt. I balled up the latter, throwing it with all the force I could muster against the tiled floor. Then I turned on the shower, not waiting for the water to warm up before I stepped under the spray.
The moment the icy water hit my shoulders, tears flooded my eyes.
He’d come back last night.
No call. No text. And then to be upset because I hadn’t been waiting with bated breath for his return?
“How dare you, Jasper Vale,” I whispered as the first sob broke through.
God, I had missed him. I had missed him so much it ached. We could have been together last night. We were running out of time, and he’d wasted a whole night being mad.
I would have come running. All it would have taken was a phone call.
He didn’t even care enough about me for a text.
The tears fell hot down my cheeks as the cold water stung the skin on my back. When it warmed, I tilted my head back, letting the water soak my hair and face.
This is fake. This is fake. This is fake.
Over and over again, I replayed those three words. And when the tears had stopped, when my hair and body were clean, I shut off the water and plucked a white towel from the shelf.
Numbness spread through my veins as I brushed out my hair, unable to see my face because the mirror was fogged.
This is fake.
This was a lie. And I’d made the horrible mistake of believing it was real.
The irony was stifling. The one person in Quincy who knew the truth was the one who’d fallen for the lie.
Another wave of tears pricked my eyes but I blinked them away, swallowing the lump in my throat. With my shoulders pinned, my chin held high, and a towel wrapped around my body, I opened the bathroom door.
Jasper stood in the middle of the living room, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his legs planted wide. His gaze was locked on the bathroom door, almost like he’d been standing in that exact spot the entire time I’d showered.
The ten feet between us might as well have been a chasm to the earth’s very core.
“Did you get the job?” My voice didn’t even wobble. Go me.
“He made me an offer.”
“You didn’t accept it?”
“Not yet. But I probably will.”
Then he’d be gone.
Shit. My nose started to sting. More tears were coming, and damn it, I didn’t want Jasper to see me cry. I looked around, searching for a place to hide. Except this fucking cabin didn’t have enough walls or doors.
I’d have to walk past Jasper for the office or the deck. Since I doubted he’d let me lock him out of the bathroom again, I marched toward the kitchen, bypassing the island, and this time, I slammed the front door.
While I’d been in the shower, the clouds had burst. It was still light outside and the overcast sky made the colors around the A-frame pop. The evergreen limbs and the grasses sweeping their brown trunks practically glowed green. Rain drizzled in a steady stream, soaking the trees. Dirt and gravel and pine needles poked the soles of my bare feet as I stepped off the porch stairs and onto the forest floor.
There was a little clearing in the trees outside the A-frame. It wasn’t very big but it was enough that if you craned your neck, you could see the stars.
The stars weren’t out yet. There were no tiny sparkles in the sky to give me hope. But I tilted my head to the gray clouds regardless, letting the water drops coat my face.
This is fake, Eloise.
Why was it so hard to align a head and a heart?
“What the hell are you doing?” Jasper’s voice was a dull murmur against the thunder rumbling in the background.
Still, I heard him. I ignored him.
Until one moment, my face was catching droplets, the next, the rain had stopped. I cracked my eyes open, my lashes heavy with water. And I stared up into Jasper’s eyes.
My heart pounded. Our breaths mingled. I drowned in his dark gaze as his hands cupped my jaw. Then his mouth crushed mine, his tongue sweeping inside with a greedy stroke. The groan that rumbled in his chest echoed in my bones.
Our lips moved frantically as we clung to each other, tongues dueling. He licked and sucked, devouring me whole. And for everything he poured into that searing kiss, I sent it right back. The thunder to his lightning.
We were a storm.
Two souls lost in the pouring rain.
Jasper kissed me until I was breathless, my heart racing. Then he broke away, his eyes searching mine again.
“Eloise.”
Just my name. Something inside me cracked. I was so sick of pretending. I was so tired of caring for this man and not knowing fuck all about him.
“I want to be your friend.” His best friend. Not Foster. Me. “I want you to talk to me. Or try.”
The torment in Jasper’s gaze twisted my heart. He looked like I was asking for the world.
Maybe I was.
“I want to know you, better than anyone else knows you.”
His hands came to my face, his palms pushing away the rain and stroking through my wet hair. “What else do you want?”
I want this to be real.
But it wasn’t.
“I want you to kiss me.”
He didn’t hesitate. He slammed his mouth down on mine again, his tongue sliding along my lower lip.
I moaned, fluttering my tongue against his, just like he’d taught me. The moan that came from his throat, my reward.
Jasper lifted me off the ground, waiting until my arms encircled his shoulders, before he swept me inside.
Then he ripped away my towel.
And used it to clean the dirt from my feet.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
JASPER
Eloise’s towel lay puddled on the kitchen floor as she padded for the stairs, every inch of her naked, glorious body on display.
That woman carried an invisible leash.
Where she went, I willingly followed.
Fucking hell, I’d missed her.
So much I stopped moving, needing a moment to soak her in. The smooth skin. Those slender curves. Her chocolate hair and her soft lips. The mouth I loved to kiss.