Page 49 of Sinful Like Us
She cleared her throat. “I agree.”
We stared at each other for a long time, unsaid things reinforcing more tension and strength between us, and I broke the silence. “If your brothers and sister are assuming that I can’t be attracted to you because I’mclassicallyhotter, then that’s outright fucked up.”
Her siblings never met any of her friends-with-benefits. IncludingNate, who looks like an A-list Hollywood actor that spent time shoving kids against lockers in high school. But even if Charlie had shaken hands with Nate, I was sure he’d say that he’d been using Jane.
“My siblings would weigh all probabilities, I think,” Jane said softly. “And maybe it hurts them to assume this. But we’re all smart enough to know that the emotion inside a fact doesn’t make the fact any less true.”
I tried to process that, and I held her gaze in a vice. “It doesn’t make it any less fucked up.”
She tipped her head with a nod. “Vrai.”True.
I’m not like the Cobalts. Her brothers and sister did everything they could to help Jane tear down walls, knowing romanticpainwas on the other side, but I’d want to protect her from heartbreak. Not guide her towards that feeling.
So at the sports bar, Charlie’s words are like a rubber band snapping against my eardrum:A week ago, none of us thought you were attracted to her.
I bottle heat in my lungs. “I wasn’t allowed to be attracted to my client publicly, not beyond the op.” I shouldn’t ask the Cobalt brothers anything.
As a bodyguard, it’s inappropriate. But I’m off-duty and her boyfriend. To breach the fortress of this family, you can’t be timid.
And I know I’m not that. “Why were you all so sure that your sister’s feelings were one-sided?”
Jane whips her head to me, smiling.I’m not easy to push over, honey.
“I just didn’t think you’d be into her,” Beckett admits, and to Jane, he says, “I owe you an apology, sis. I’m sorry.”
Ben drops his feet beneath the table. “Me too.”
“It’s okay,” Jane says with a warm smile. “Thank you.”
Charlie pulls at his messy hair, his annoyance visible and on me. “You gave us no indication of liking our sister. I’m not apologizing for that.”
I nod. “You don’t have to.”
Eliot grabs something from behind his back and tosses it down to his brother.
Tom catches what looks like a gold statue, a twinkle in his eye. He flashes a smile in my direction. “For you.”
Muscles stiff and hot, I reach forward and collect the statue. I turn it over in my palm.
I breathe in through my nose.What the fuck.I’m holding a trophy shaped like asnake.The plaque readsMaster of Deceptionwith the year engraved below.
Comms crackle. “Flash it to us, Moretti,” Oscar banters.
No chance.
If I acknowledge SFO, the Cobalt brothers will think I’m choosing security over them. I set the trophy on the table and hear Farrow, his voice picked up on Oscar’s radio. “Cobalts are extra as fuck.”
He’s not wrong.
Donnelly enters the line and starts asking questions since he’s not at the bar anymore. Their chatter escalates and starts drowning out Akara, who’s still searching for Quinn.
I click my mic and speak hushed. “Shut the fuck up.”
Comms quiet.
I add, “Thank you.” Then I drop my hand.
Tom leans back with a grin. “You even fooled our mom and dad.”
