Page 18 of Should Have Been Me

She puckered those sexy lips and blew a dramatic raspberry. “Yes, unfortunately. He’s my ex.”

That churning got even worse, making it feel like my intestines were tied in knots. My fists clenched involuntarily. I hadn’t cared much for the guy when I had to suffer through that family dinner with Leighton and all her bullshit, but having Calamity call him her ex made me hate him on sight. He could have been the one to cure cancer or have dedicated his life to feeding the homeless and it still wouldn’t have mattered. My dislike for him was solidified.

“Your ex?” My heart went from beating steadily to grinding like something had been shoved into its gears. “You dated that guy?”

Why the hell did I keep asking, like the answer would somehow change? And why did it matter so damn much?”

“We were engaged, actually. He broke it off, and I found out today that he’s engaged again. Only this time it’s to the worst woman ever.”

Maybe if Leighton and I had grown up together—and her personality was completely different from what it was now—I would have felt a flutter of brotherly loyalty. But we hadn’t been raised under the same roof, and Leighton was who she was—specifically, the worst.

However, that wasn’t what was sticking in my head just then.

“You were engaged to that guy?”

What she did with her eyes was a combination of a roll and a cross as she puffed her cheeks and blew out a self-deprecating raspberry. “Don’t remind me, okay?”

The unsettling sensation that had been churning inside me started to calm at her response. “So you don’t want him back?”

Again . . . why did I care?

There wasn’t an answer to that question. I just knew I did. Which meant I needed to get the hell away from this woman as fast as possible. But instead of doing that, I ended up doing something so out of character I didn’t recognize myself.

From the corner of my eye I could see Barney closing in, and instead of thinking, I just acted. “Don’t stiffen up,” I said in a low rumble of warning as I reached up and took her chin between my thumb and index finger, tilting her face upward.

Her dove gray eyes that revealed everything she was feeling went wide. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“Just . . . trust me. What’s your name?”

“J-Jolie.”

Jolie. It was unique. Beautiful. Fitting. Just like Calamity.

“Well, Jolie, remember what I just said.” On that, I closed the distance between us and brought my lips down on hers. A live current shot through my veins instantly like I’d grabbed hold of a fallen powerline.

The sharp inhale she sucked in at the press of my lips against hers spurred me on, pumping through me and causing my free hand to come up and grip the swell of her hip. My eyes remained open, taking in the million different feelings that skittered across her expression in a single heartbeat like a spinning kaleidoscope of emotion. I sure as hell didn’t expect the massive punch to the sternum at that first feel of her soft, pillowy lips, but when her eyelids fluttered closed, my fingers pressed deeper into her skin, absorbing the heat coming off her skin beneath her clothes.

“Jolie?”

At the sound of Barnaby’s voice Jolie’s eyes flew open and a growl worked its way up my throat at having her name fall from his mouth. A voice in the back of my head screamed that he didn’t have the right to speak such a perfect name, but the tiny bit of rationality still lingering kept me from reaching out and punching him like I so desperately wanted to. It was as if one little kiss was enough to undo all my control and send me back to the most base, primitive version of myself.

She broke the kiss before I was ready, taking a step back, and stumbled over her own two feet. She would have hit the ground if my arm hadn’t shot out and wrapped around her waist, yanking her against me. I should have gotten the hell out of the shop the moment she caused me to spill a second cup of coffee on myself. I should have turned and walked away instead of engaging in another argument. And I sure as hell shouldn’t have kissed her. But what was done was done, and I couldn’t seem to make my body listen to what my brain was trying to get across. In fact, when I felt her body tense beside mine, my arm tightened in anticipation of her trying to make a break for it.

Bartholomew’s eyes bounced back and forth between us before settling on where my hand rested on her hip, intimately touching her like I had every right. His jaw hung open as he tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing.

“Do you two know each other?”

Jolie sputtered as she tried to form a response. “Uh, we.. .” That was all that came out.

I was suddenly very aware of the fact that the entire café had grown eerily quiet and Jolie and I seemed to be the center of attention. I could feel all those eyes drilling into my skin, sending an uncomfortable prickle down my spine, but I held fast to her and stood my ground.

“We’re seeing each other.”

Where the fuck had that come from?

I ignored the choking coughs coming from her friends at the table behind us. Jolie’s poker face was terrible. Something we’ll have to work on, a voice in the back of my head said before I could stop it.

This wasn’t supposed to be a permanent thing. Hell, I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be. For the first time since I was thirteen, I’d acted without thought. Without a plan. It was a foreign concept for me. After having it taken from me far too often when I was younger, control was now something I required, and the last thing I felt in the situation I’d just created for myself was in control.

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