Page 41 of Forking the Billionaire

I bristled alert and took one huge step away from Jasper, extra grateful the poor lighting meant no one could see the searing full-body blush I could feel radiating from my skin.

“Uh-huh,” I said. “On the way.”

Poop on the stoop…I was big time attracted to Jasper freaking Carrington.

If I was going to survive the next few days with my clearly crazed pregnancy brain, I would have to start a mental list of all the reasons absolutely nothing could ever happen between us.

One—he was Jasper. We’d grown up together. He was supposed to be more like a brother to me than an actual man. Two—he was my brother’s best friend. That in and of itself made the situation too complicated. This week was all about Gabe and Layana. I wouldn’t risk disrupting that for anything. Three—Jasper had a freaking girlfriend and he was serious enough about her to bring her to his best friend’s wedding. Cheating was a full-stop no-go. Four—in case my crazed brain needed another reason—I was pregnant.Even if, despite everything else, we both wanted something to happen, it couldn’t. No man would want to get involved with a knocked up hot mess.

That was a lot of totally reasonable reasons.

“Anyone know anything about a biscuit bandit?” I asked, repeating the weird whisper from last night, and specificallynotlooking at Jasper.

“That’s a peculiar question,” Gabe said to me.

“Is that a no?” I asked him.

“That’s a no,” he said.

Morgan and Layana shook their heads.

“Know any secret soap opera stars?” I asked.

Again, my strange question was answered with confused head shakes. Well, it was worth asking.

I followed Gabe, Morgan, and Layana out of the cave, more or less content that there was no reason to worry even if we spent time alone together tonight. There was absolutely zero chance of me hooking up with Jasper.

THIRTEEN

JASPER

There was always this voice in the back of my head, my father’s voice, telling me not to fuck up. I felt pressure to be amicable, or as Oscar had politely put it, I was the golden retriever of the family. If I didn’t go along with everything, if I fought the tide, I’d drown and lose everyone I cared about. So I didn’t. I let things happen and put up with any discomfort.

That’s what had led me into this situation. But this time I could right my mistake, or at least, it wouldn’t hurt so bad when I lost.

Once we were alone in our room I told Jules, “We need to talk.”

She stretched herself across the bed, flitted her eyelashes, and unbuttoned her shirt. “I’m in the mood for something different.”

“I’m not interested in that.”

“Ugh.” She dropped her head back onto the mattress. “All we have in common is sex. All of your social responsibilities are disgustinglynotworth the aggravation without it. If you won’t fuck me, what did you bring me along with you for?”

I sat on the edge of the bed, my back turned to her. The prolonged tension of her being here exhausted my entire body. “I’ve been asking myself the very same thing.”

“It’s Esme, isn’t it?”

She said it with a tone of indifference, but I bristled at her suggestion nonetheless.

“This is about me,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at her. “That’s it.”

“You’re in love with her.” Jules rolled her eyes. “You don’t even realize it, do you?”

“I’m not in love with Esme.” My voice held more bite than I’d expected. It was a ridiculous suggestion. Esme had nothing to do with me and Jules. Plus, there was nome and Julesanyway. I screwed up by bringing Jules to the island. I needed to fix it. Whole story. “You need to leave.”

As soon as the words left my lips, the tension in my shoulders began to ease. This was the right thing to do.

She climbed out of the bed and stood in front of me, forcing me to look at her. Her expression transformed from mild annoyance to emergency-alarm-level fury. “Let me get this straight, you drag me onto a plane?—”

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