Page 25 of Heartbreaker

She’s smart as hell, ruthless when she has to be, and she’s a master negotiator.

“Works for me. But you’re next.”

I flick my gaze to the mirror again before concentrating on the road again, but the glimpse of her face scrunched with concentration makes me smile.

It’s easy to be with her.

Easy to think about nothing except for silly conversations and words that start with the letter G and how tall the tower of blocks she built was and what snack she had after lunch.

It’s much easier to focus on Frankie than think about…

A tiny blond bombshell.

A dress crumpled on the floor.

A sleeping goddess left naked in a hotel bed.

“Goat!”

I brutally shove the image of Jade from my head, something I’ve had to do far too many times over the past two weeks.

I know it was a dick move to leave like that.

But…

I’d wanted to stay.

So, Ihadto go.

“What’s yours, Uncle Royal?”

Christ.

I slam the lid on all thoughts of Jade Cantrell. “Gemstone.”

“Gas.”

“Gascan,” I say on my turn.

“UncleRoyal,”she says, her disapproval clear.

“Game,” I provide instead.

“Good.”

I turn onto her street. “Is that your answer or are you telling me I did a good job?”

She giggles. “Both.”

“Oh.” I pause. “Okay.”

“What’syournext one?”

“Gorilla,” I say as I pull into the driveway and shove the gearshift into park.

“Hey, that’s whatIwas going to say!”

“Hmm.” I snag her backpack from the floor, her picture from when I’d set it on the passenger’s seat, get out of my SUV, and help her down from the back (she’s even better at unbuckling than she is buckling). “Well, I guess you’ll have to think of another one.”

---