Page 103 of Broken Pact

My jaw clenches hard enough to hurt. “What kind of car do you have?” I already know the answer, but I’ve got a point to prove.

“A Camry.”

“We don’t work on Camrys here, bummer,” I lie.

“Oh,” she exclaims, tapping her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Did I say Camry? I meant Echo.”

I shake my head. “We don’t work on Fords here either.” Another lie.

She scoffs, that overly nice mask slipping a little. Her eyes look a little wild for a second, but then she blinks and it’s gone. “Okay, well, what do you work on?”

I narrow my eyes at her, annoyance bubbling under my skin. “For you? Nothing.”

She glares at me. “Why are you being such an asshole?” she snaps, her voice rising.

“You can’t just waltz in here whenever you want, Naomi. I need time, and even then, I’m not promising anything.” I don’t want to mislead her, but if I don’t make myself crystal clear, I’m afraid she’s going to keep showing up whether I want her to or not.

I don’t know the fucking protocol for this, but all I do know is that I don’t currently want to get to know the woman in front of me, even if she is related to me.

She stomps her foot, her fists clenched. “I’ve given you time. I just want to be with you?—”

“Stop,” I interrupt.

Before I can say anything else, the door opens again, and Coraline steps inside. Her smile falls in slow motion, her eyes darting between Naomi and me. “Is this a bad time?” she asks, her voice careful.

I force a smile, my irritation melting away at the sight of her. “Never a bad time for you, baby,” I say, stepping closer to her. The tension in the room shifts, and I see Naomi’s eyes narrow at the endearment. “She was just leaving.”

Naomi huffs, crossing her arms tighter and storming out without another word. Good. I hope she gets the fucking point now.

I almost feel a twinge of guilt. I get that she’s just trying to get to know a sibling, but she’s going about it the wrong way. That, and there’s something off about her.

“Everything okay?” Coraline asks, her voice soft but curious.

I hesitate for a moment, then shrug, forcing a casual tone. “Just an angry customer. Her car needs a lot of work, more than she wants to pay for.”

She raises an eyebrow, her lips quirking into a small smile. “Speaking of repairs. The weirdest thing happened. My car is making this weird clunking noise, so I thought I better bring it by for you guys to check out. I’m sure you’ll need it for a few days, so I was thinking . . .”

I drape my arm around her shoulders and curl her toward me. Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, I murmur, “Yeah, baby, you should stay with me tonight.”

“Wow, Jasper, what a great idea,” she teases, leaning into me.

I chuckle, warmth spreading through my chest at her playful tone. “C’mon, let’s go pretend to take a look at your car and make-out in the backseat instead.”

She throws her head back and laughs as I lead us out into the sweltering heat. My heart pinches at the sound and, not for the first time, I wonder how the fuck am I gonna keep her. Because I don’t think I can ever let her go.

48

JASPER

It’s a weird feeling. Not an unwelcome one, but strange. It’s like there are pinballs of excitement bouncing around and ricocheting off my ribcage. But also a swarm of bees, and not the nice fuzzy ones. Nah, these are those real angry dumpster bees that just hang out around restaurants and trash cans, looking for their next meal.

Hope and dread, personified to feel like living things inside of me. They make strange bedfellows, but I don’t know that I would change it if I could. Because it got me here.

Leaving work and instead of walking across the courtyard to crash inside my room at the clubhouse, I hop on my bike and drive home. Where Coraline fucking Carter has been staying for the last week.

I saw through her my car is broken ploy immediately, but I’m not about to say no to the woman I’m pretty sure I’m in love with. And I’m definitely not telling her no when the whole reason she wants to stay with me is because she wants to spend time with me.

I like her in my house and in my bed for more than one reason. It’s comforting to not have to worry about something happening to her when she’s alone in that apartment all night. If I haven’t seen her roommates around town before, I would swear she doesn’t even have any. They’ve been gone all summer.

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