Page 67 of Failure to Match

If I was, I couldn’t feel it.

Jackson nodded but didn’t drop his hand. “I’m going to lift you now, okay?”

I thought about it, even though there was literally nothing to think about. I couldn’t move.

“Okay,” I agreed after much unneeded deliberation. “But, um, can you check on Toebeans first? He might be under the bed or hiding in the bathroom or something. I didn’t see where he ran off to.”

I could tell by the way his brows scrunched that he was about to argue, so I shook my head. “Him first.”

“You’re being unreasonable. Let me at least?—”

I shook my head again. “Need to make sure he’s not hurt. There’s glass on the bed.”

Jackson’s lips rolled with blatant disapproval. “All right,” he said, sounding not at all happy about it.

More glass crunched under his shoes as he made his way to the bed and peered underneath. Then to the bathroom. And finally, the walk-in closet.

“Hello again, Cat.”

I strained my neck. “He’s okay?”

Jackson cocked his head. “Physically, yes. He looks rather enraged, though. Fangs bared and all.”

Oh. Yeah. “Don’t go in there. Just... slowly shut the door so he doesn’t come out until I clean all this up.” Chances were good he was too spooked to meander out of there anytime soon anyway, but just in case.

Jackson shot me a look, his features pinched into a confused scowl.

“What?” I asked. What did I say?

He shut the closet door and stalked over to where I was uselessly waiting. “Did any of it get inside your dress?”

Great question. I felt around for sharp edges and uncomfortable pokes. “Don’t think so.”

Then, in one smooth motion, he scooped me into his arms like I weighed less than nothing.

I may have gasped.

I also may have turned a rather telling pink when said gasp drew his attention. For one breathless moment, our gazes locked.

Make that two breathless moments.

Three.

“You can just drop me off near the door,” I said. “And if you could please tell me where the brooms are kept, that would be swell.”

He was giving me that confused scowly look again, so I decided to clarify. “Toebeans gets excited when he hears a vacuum cleaner. A broom would be better until he calms down. Also, aren’t your arms tired?”

Mine would have given out by now.

Then again, Jackson was really...muscly.

“Is Cat okay to be left alone for a bit?” he asked, still peering down at me through surprisingly thick lashes.

“Yeah, he’s not gonna want to come out of there for a while, I don’t think.”

“Good.” He carried me out of the room.

“Wait, where are we going?”

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