Page 36 of Should Have Been Me

She rested her hand gently in mine, the delicate size and softness of her palm a contrast to my own. A static charge lit up beneath my skin, making my heart slam against my ribs so hard I was surprised Jolie couldn’t hear it pounding away.

I could feel my pulse in my temples as I slowly worked my fingers through hers, interlacing them together. When I lifted my head, shifting my focus back on her, Jolie was looking dazedly at our connected hands. My fingers tensed around hers, drawing her attention back to me. “Is this okay?”

I waited with bated breath for her to answer; I didn’t want to let go. In fact, I wanted even more. I wanted to pull her against me, throw my arm over her shoulder and hold her tight to see if she fit against me as perfectly as her hand fit in mine. It was an inclination I’d never experienced before. I usually thrived on being alone. I preferred distance from most people.

But the better I got to know Jolie, the closer I wanted to keep her. To the point I was starting to worry what I was going to do when the time finally came for me to leave.

Jolie

I wasn’t sure what had changed in the time we left Vaughn’s house to now, but something had caused the man to get so lost in his own head I wasn’t sure he was aware I was right there beside him. His frown was deeper, his lips were pulled into a thin pinched line. The skin around his eyes had tightened with his pensive expression.

I thought that maybe the man I’d gotten to know since that dinner at my house was finally coming back to me when he’d asked if he could touch me, but as we walked hand and hand toward the restaurant, I could feel him retreating again. That wouldn’t do.

We were only feet from the entrance of The Drunken Moose when I dug my heels in and refused to take another step, yanking on his arm to get him to turn around and face me.

That furrow between his brow deepened even more when he turned to look back at me. “Jolie? Everything okay?”

I didn’t know whether or not what I was about to do was the right thing, but I was following my gut. Vaughn Cavanagh wasn’t exactly the easiest man to know, but I felt like I was getting there. Slowly, sure, but getting there all the same.

“No. It’s not okay.”

His hand was still locked firmly with mine, our fingers tangled together in a way that felt almost... intimate. He took two steps back toward me, closing the distance between us, his eyes glittering with concern. “What’s wrong? Are you sick? Do you need?—”

“You’re insufferable,” I blurted.

He rocked back on his heel, his chin jerking back and his eyes widening in surprise at my outburst. “What?”

“You heard me,” I said, all bravado and bluster. As I took in his bewilderment, I couldn’t help but question what I was doing. Jeez, why the hell was my heart suddenly beating so fast? But it was too late to turn back now. “You’re insufferable. And you can be kind of bossy. You know that? And—” I struggled to think up another insult. If this had been a week ago, I would have thrown his grumpiness in his face, maybe the cold exterior he wore for everyone else, but I knew better now. My mind raced but I couldn’t come up with a single negative. The more time I spent with Vaughn, I discovered the more there was to like about him, so I made something up on the fly. “You’re too tall.”

“I’m . . . too tall?”

I lifted my chin haughtily. “That’s right. You’re too damn tall. I get a crick in my neck having to tip my head back to look at you.” I was full of shit, of course. I actually loved that he was so much taller than I was. “Now you do me.”

He shook his head in confusion. “What?—”

“This is us, Vaughn. I tell you that you’re an insufferable jerk, and you tell me I’m a smartass who has a psychotic cat. You call me Calamity and I call you City Slicker.” I waved my hand back and forth in the space between us. “We give each other shit. That’s our thing. We don’t get all awkward and quiet with each other; we argue because we’re both hard-headed and because we’re damn good at it. And I don’t think I’m out of line when I say I think we both kind of enjoy it. I’m willing to bet I’m the first person in a long time to give you a run for your money.”

The vise that had been squeezing tighter and tighter around my chest released when his expression cleared and the corner of his mouth trembled with one of his suppressed grins. Every time I saw that tremor the determination I felt to finally pull a real smile from him grew. I’d get him one day, damn it! I was determined.

“You are a smartass,” he finally said a few seconds later, and as crazy as it was, hearing him say those words made my lips curl into a cheek-splitting smile. Because it meant he was back. “Your cat is a menace and you’re a danger to anyone in a thirty-foot radius who might be holding a cup of coffee.”

I let out a giggle. “Not anyone. Just you. I’m pretty sure I’m only a vessel for karma. It’s a role I take very seriously.”

He rolled his eyes, nearly causing my knees to buckle at the outward show of emotion. As badly as I wanted to mention it, I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to risk that wall of his slamming back up when it appeared I had finally gotten him to start lowering it.

“Come on, Calamity. Let’s get you fed before that monster in your stomach tries to bust free.”

With giddiness fizzing in my belly like a shaken bottle of champagne, I let Vaughn lead me by the hand into the restaurant, so focused on how nice it felt to have his fingers wrapped around mine that I didn’t even notice everyone staring.

19

JOLIE

The woman behind the hostess stand at the front of The Drunken Moose looked up from whatever she was writing on as we made our way in her direction. The professional smile she already had pinned in place morphed into one of appreciation as her gaze slowly raked over Vaughn’s tall frame.

I couldn’t fault her for looking. The man was gorgeous, no two ways about it. But the way her eyelids grew heavy as she batted her lashes at my fake boyfriend caused something territorial to spark to life deep inside of me. I had never been a jealous person, so the fire slithering though my veins left me more than a little unsettled.

“Table for two,” Vaughn said in his signature monotone. A frisson of pleasure moved through me when I looked up and saw he was too busy scanning the inside of the restaurant to pay a lick of attention to the woman standing in front of us. I couldn’t stop the victorious Cheshire Cat smile that stretched across my face at the flash of disappointment that swept over her features before she shook it off.

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