Page 1 of Claimed
Chapter One
It felt as if the expanse of the grocery store had caved in on me. My head turned dizzy as I split my attention between Jasper and the checkout clerk, who was a dead ringer for Bryn Christmas. Trapped in indecision, I focused on Jasper’s voice. He had called me again.His tone was cautious, implying that I shouldn’t be reckless.
But my eyes remained on the young woman working the register. Her skin had turned red and blotchy as she tried not to look in my direction while passing grocery items over the scanner. Suddenly, she glanced at me as she waited for the customer to complete the transaction on the keypad. Very quickly, I could see noticeable differencesbetween her and Bryn. She was slender but not as frail as Bryn. Her hair color and style were remarkably similar to Bryn’s, but the cashier’s loose curls were about two inches longer. But the young woman wore a diamond stud in her nose. Bryn didn’t.
“Holly,” Jasper said, this time louder. I looked up at him standing beside me with his lips near my ear. “Let’s talk.”
It felt likeages since he’d been this close, but it had only been a day since we’d last kissed. His breath, which smelled faintly of mint, warmed my earlobe, momentarily hypnotizing me.
His closeness acted as a powerful agent against my determination to immediately address the woman at the cash register and find out why she was a dead ringer for his sister and my friend. Jasper took my shopping cartby the handle.
He turned to glance at the woman behind me. “Excuse us.”
The woman batted her eyelashes as if she’d just been sprayed with charm dust. “Sure, darling.”
Bryn’s counterpart, who I was sure was Eve, watched Jasper and me and rang up groceries, as though the fact that I’d said her name hadn’t yet fully sunk in, but she was coming to some sort of awareness that Iwas in the Long Island grocery store because I was looking for her. I walked beside Jasper as he pushed my cart down the aisles, glancing behind me until she was out of sight. His large hand was wrapped securely around my biceps, but I could tell he was being careful not to hurt me. The curious eyes of other shoppers were on us. Anxiety gripped me as we turned down an empty aisle where the spaghettisauces and other like products were shelved.
Once we were out of anyone’s sight, I snatched my arm out of his grasp. “What are you doing here?” I hissed, keeping my voice low. Truth be told, I was happy to see him, but it was a big mistake to lose sight of the woman I suspected was Eve, and I wanted to hurry up and put eyes back on her. I gestured toward the registers. “Did you see that?She looks like Bryn. We can’t let her get away.” I took a step away from him.
Once again, he caught me by the arm. “You’re making a scene.”
I frowned and took stock of all the emotions that were soaring inside me. My anxiety, pain, and anger—especially anger—were through the roof.
“You never answered me. What the hell are you doing here, Jasper?” I asked, snarling.
He opened his mouth to speak, but I had more to say. “I mean, yesterday you left me high and dry at the studio, and when I tried to call, you didn’t answer your phone. Then your future father-in-law showed up at my suite and threatened my life.” I slapped my chest. “No, not my life—he threatenedyourlife.”
Quickly, he gripped my shoulders and tugged me against him. “He did what?” Now itwas Jasper who was making a scene, even though there was no one in the aisle to see it.
I shrank in his grasp as I tried to figure out how to answer his question. I surely didn’t want Jasper to go out and beat Arthur Valentine to a pulp. But that had more to do with Jasper’s safety than Valentine’s well-being.
“Forget it,” I said. “It doesn’t matter. He wants me to leave you alone.You’ve already decided that for us.”
Jasper probably saw in my eyes that I didn’t want my claim to be true. Deep down, I hoped he hadn’t decided to leave me alone. His glare made me dizzy. “Did Arthur himself go to your room?”
All I could do was nod.
His face tightened as his chin floated upward. “Did he touch you?” He sounded pained.
The memory of Valentine’s goongrinding his erection against my ass made me want to vomit. I squeezed my eyes shut to forget it.
“Shit, I’m going to kill him,” Jasper said through clenched teeth.
I hadn’t meant to anger him, so I softened my gaze as much as I could. “He didn’t hurt me, Jasper. I’m fine. Just let it be. I don’t want you in prison for murder.”
His blinking increased, as though he were tryingto process my suggestion. But I could tell Jasper was unable to let it be.
“Plus, I have a more pressing issue facing me. Did you see her? The Bryn look-alike?” I added, trying to make him focus on what was really important at the moment.
His lips pressed together tightly, but slowly, the tension was easing from his mouth. “Yes, I saw her. Who is she?”
“Her name is Eve, andI can’t lose her right now.” I thumbed over my shoulder. “So I have to go. Maybe I’ll talk to you later and maybe not.”
He snorted. “We’re doing this together,” he said in a tone that suggested I was stupid to think otherwise.
I tapped myself on the chest. “This is my thing, not yours.”
“She resembles my sister, so this is more my thing than it is yours.”
