Page 88 of The First Spark

I need her to know … actually, I have no idea what to tell her because I don’t know what I’m feeling, and let’s be honest, I need to have this chat with Ori, not her employee.

Mina locks the door to One More Page before brushing past me down the shared hallway, her steps graceful even in clunky winter boots.

“Mina,” I call to her, waiting until she pauses at the exterior door. “That’s not why.”

“You sure about that? Goodnight, Ash.”

Scrubbing my face with my hand, I release an aggravated huff as the door falls closed and Mina heads toward her car.

At least now I’m getting to the crux of the issue, the real reason behind Ori’s icy facade.

She thinks I used her. Fucked her to get her on board with the speakeasy.

It’s a given that women think differently about sex than men. Most men would be fine with a gorgeous woman using them for a good time. Hell, I know I’m fine with the concept.

Or I am withmostwomen.

But then there’s Ori, and it’s more than how amazing she is in bed and how perfect her body feels next to mine.

When she blew me off tonight, the first emotion I felt was jealousy, that another guy somewhere was getting what belonged to me. Standard emotion, with one caveat: I don’t get jealous.

It’s not that I think I’m so great or irreplaceable. Trust me, I’ve had my ego knocked down enough times to know that’s a crock of shit. And I guarantee there were a plethora of women in my past who used me for a myriad of reasons: payback, revenge, reassurance they were desirable—the list goes on and on.

But I didn’t care either way. Whether I saw them the next day or never again, it didn’t matter.

Until Ori.

I need to stay away from her. That’s the safest route. Return to my previous life and move ahead as scheduled.

I have a choice to make—let things lie as they are and allow Ori to believe what she wants about me and our night together or patch things up, thereby entering unknown territory with a woman for the first time in a decade.

Both ideas scare the shit out of me.

“Ash?”

Jade’s voice cuts into my internal monologue, and I shoot her a rueful smile. “Sorry. Got a lot on my mind.”

“So I heard. You’re opening the speakeasy. That’s amazing. I can’t wait to see it.”

“You’re on the VIP list.”

She laughs. “I damn well better be. Don’t make me call your folks and pull the family card.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?”

Jade motions toward the parking lot. “I was out with a friend, and we got into an argument, so I bailed. But since he drove, I was without wheels. Can you give me a lift?”

“Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”

“Not unless you want to kick mine.” She shrugs and sighs. “I was a bit of a bitch, and I’ll apologize to him tomorrow. Tonight, I’d like to forget about it and walking three miles while freezing my ass off isn’t the way to accomplish that feat.”

“Can’t imagine it would be therapeutic for your mood.” Lifting the book, I gesture toward Black Lotus. “Let me put this inside and grab the spare helmet.”

“What’s that? A gift from one of your adoring fans?”

Dear cousin, if you only knew.

An embarrassed chuckle escapes my lips as I run a hand over my beard. “Not exactly. It’s from Ori. She owns the bookstore. It’s all about the Roaring '20s and speakeasy culture.”

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