Page 198 of Under Her Skin
‘Do you love Theo?’ The question took her by surprise and she realised then that to her and Theo, in their little bubble, their love was overwhelming but to others looking in – especially a concerned best friend, it mustseem…
‘Max,I love him more than anyone else in this world. I know you must be concerned, especially given Theo’s position, his wealth. If I were you, I’d be looking at me thinking ‘is she looking for a white knight? Is she here just for his money, his influence? But I don’t care about all of that. I love Theo for him. Nothing more. I just don’t want past horrors to affect our lifetogether.’
Max was studying her intently, listening to every word carefully. There was a long silence then he leaned over and kissed hercheek.
‘I’m sorry, I had to ask. I just don’t like secrets. For the record, I’ve never seen Theo like this. He’s fallenhard.’
Joy rushed through Jess.She poked Max’s shoulder, grinning wickedly. ‘What asap.’
‘Complete wuss.’ He joined in with her joke and they both laughed. Max shook hishead.
‘Man, when you think this all started with a dumbbet…’
Jess smiled, confused. ‘Abet?’
Max laughed. ‘He bet me he would find the love of his life within three months. That was less than a month ago. Quick work even forhim.’
Jess’s chest felt tight. ‘Abet?’
Max sensed the change in her tone and looked over at her, a frown on his face. ‘Hey wait,I…’
‘Could you take me home, please,Max?’
‘No, Jess, I didn’t mean… god, it was a stupid joke, I didn’t mean.He…’
‘Please, Max, take mehome.’
Theo looked up at Max,as his best friend burst into the room, and his heart began to thud unpleasantly at Max’sexpression.
‘Where’sJess?’
But looking at Max’s stricken face, suddenly Theo didn’t think he wanted theanswer…
Sleep With Me PartThree
Jess openedher eyes and stared up at the ceiling. How many times in her life had she woken up in this bed, sick to her stomach with nausea and fear? Crippled by guilt. Waiting to face her tormentor over the breakfast table as their parents ate and chattedobliviously.
And yet, last night, she’d come here after Max had dropped her off, wanting to be somewhere familiar. Camilla, the housekeeper, told her Jules was away for the night and the relief she felt was overwhelming. She’d sat with Camilla, shared a supper with her old friend, not wanting to talk or think about TheoStorm.
She was a winning bet.A winning bet, for Christ's sake. She wondered how long Theo would have to pretend that he loved her before Max would concede defeat. She should have known better than to trust a rich man – after all, didn’t she know that they always got what they wanted? Damn you, Theodore Storm. But the pain in her stomach ripped through her when she thought of him. She’d turned her cell phone off so he couldn’t reach her couldn’t talk or kiss his way out ofit.
Jess sighed.She needed to get her life back on track which meant getting up, getting showered and getting to work. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and hoisted herself into a standing position. Grabbing her robe, she opened the door and froze. She could hear Jules’ low accented drawl from the end of thehallway.
Shit.
Jess closed her door quietly and scooted back to bed. She rolled onto her side, curling herself up into the foetal position. She tugged the sheet over her shoulders and, closing her eyes, made her breathing steady, regular. She tensed as she heard the dooropen.
For a few minutes, she stayed still. He must have gone by now, she thought and she let her bodyrelax.
‘I know you’reawake.’
Shock drilled through her at the sound of his voice. She felt her body jerk and silently cursed herself again. She kept up the pretence of being asleep. She heard him laugh softly and she gritted her teeth. Bastard. She felt his body heat then as he leaned over her, she heard him breathing, an inch from her skin. She trembled and he laughed again, soft, intimate. She abandoned the pretence of sleep and looked at him, her eyeshard.
‘Leave me alone.’
Jules smiled and leaned into kiss her. ‘Never.’ His voice was a whisper but it sent blank terror through herbody.
He reached down and cupped herbreast.
