Page 100 of Hidden Ascent

“Don’t worry. I can still meet with Sharpe if you need me to. I won’t bail on you guys. But I’ll stay out of your way.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else I can do. I don’t know what you want.”

“You’re gonna make me say it,” she muttered. Her face was burning.

“Say what?”

“You think this is because I don’t trust you.”

“Isn’t it?”

She could feel the words holding in her throat and wanted to keep them there, but if she didn’t tell him the truth, she’d lose him.

“I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted any man before in my life, and that terrifies me.”

Jay stood stunned for a moment. “Wait. You’re—Wait, what?”

“I’m not pushing you away because I feel differently. I’m pushing you away because I feel the same, and that’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me before.”

“That’sthe scariest thing?”

She could see the relief wash over him and couldn’t tell how that made her feel. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it changes the rules.”

He took a step closer. “And you like the rules.”

“Yes. So please don’t make me regret saying all of that.”

“By changing the rules?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, that makes things complicated.”

“I know. That’s why I didn’t want to say anything. But you didn’t leave me much choice.”

“Okay.”

“So, we’ll keep things the same?”

“No, I’m changing the rules.”

Before she could respond, he kissed her. And this time, it wasn’t a quick one to distract her.

She whimpered against his mouth, then found she was clinging to him. His own arms wrapped around her, pulling her as close as he could. Then, her back bumped into the counter, and they moved sideways, knocking a chair to the floor.

Startled, they pulled apart.

Isla looked at the chair, then at Jay, then at the door in case anyone had seen. Then, she looked back at Jay again. “Why did you do that?”

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “Whoa. Yeah. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“What did you think was gonna happen?”

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