Page 3 of Claimed
Chapter Two
Jasper charming one of the girls working in the coffee-and-tea aisle was an interesting sight to behold. His smile was warm but not overdone. His tone was confident and not too syrupy. I imagined being in her shoes and gazing into his striking blue-green eyes for thefirst time. The store clerk was too mesmerized to notice me standing about six feet away. Jasper had just told her that Eve was his sister—which as far we’d both ascertained was the truth—and they had a family emergency he needed to speak to her about.
“Oh,” the girl said absentmindedly, probably wondering why Eve had never mentioned this particular family member. She quickly perked up.“I’ll go get her. She might be on break.”
Jasper smiled tightly as he nodded. She watched him until she figured out that was his way of saying thank you, then she skirted up the aisle. The girl couldn’t have been more than nineteen or twenty. She swung her hips and straightened her posture for Jasper’s viewing pleasure, but he quickly rested his glower on me instead.
I smiled athim weakly. “Must you always choose to look so miserable?”
“I can’t believe you still don’t trust me.”
I felt the tension clutching my neck. “After yesterday, how can I?”
“There were extenuating circumstances.”
I folded my arms. “Then please, do tell.”
“I will. Now is not the time, but soon we will talk.”
My breath came faster and stronger under the forceof his stare. Thank goodness the girl was strolling in our direction with her eyes fixed on Jasper.
“Eve wasn’t feeling well, so she…”
That was all I heard before I tore down the lane. I ran past cans, bags, and packages of consumable products, down the pathway of an empty cash-register line, and across the front of the store, not stopping until cold air and rapid snow flurries blastedmy face. I scanned the parking lot. A few cars moved in and out, but I couldn’t see who was inside them.
“Shit, I think she’s gone,” I said under my breath.
“Do you have her home address?” Jasper asked.
I hadn’t noticed him standing beside me. It took every ounce of control not to say something snappy or off-putting. I wanted Jasper to pay for causing me to lose Eve but evenmore for how he had made me feel the day before. But alas, I wasn’t the spiteful type.
“Yeah, I have it,” I finally confessed. “I’ll have my Lyft driver take me.” I touched his shoulder. “If I hear anything, I’ll call you.” I looked up at him. “You will answer, won’t you?”
“I sent your driver away,” he said as if it were no big thing.
My mouth fell open, and I was choked byfury and shock. Finally I coughed. “You did what?”
“You’re safer with me,” he said in the tone he used when he was being controlling.
I smashed my hands on my waist. Now I felt like fighting. “No, I’m not safer with you—not according to Valentine.”
Jasper pushed up the sleeve of his coat to check his expensive wristwatch. “We don’t have time for this, Holly. I’m sure Eve ison the run. If we lose her now, it’ll take me longer to find her.”
Damn it.Yet again, he was right. My emotions were out of control, which wasn’t like me at all. I had to get a grip.
“Okay,” I muttered. “Let’s go.”
When he stepped off, I followed him, keeping my eyes fastened on his self-assured gait. He walked like a man who owned the world. Everything about him was refined—hisshoes, his pants, the black material of his coat, and the cap he wore to keep his head warm. I remembered that even Jasper’s underwear looked freshly laundered. He was just fucking impeccable, and that turned me on.
After a moment, he slowed his pace so that I could catch up to him. When I was beside him, he took my hand. “Your hand is cold. Why didn’t you wear gloves?” he asked in a tonethat made me feel like a scolded child.
An extensive answer came to mind, one that took into account how long I’d raced around the building searching for an inconspicuous way out. I’d been burning up from all the exercise of walking up and down stairs and racing through corridors, and when I hit the outside air, I couldn’t tell that I needed gloves. Plus, even if I had realized my mistake,it would have been too late to go back and get my gloves from the sofa, where I had left them.
“I forgot them,” I said as he pointed his remote control at his car, a silver SUV. The engine was percolating. The closer we got, the more I could hear the heater roaring inside the cab.
“It’ll be warm when we get in, but for now…” He took a pair of gloves out of his pocket. “Put theseon.”
It felt like a Jedi mind trick. Since he’d said I was cold, suddenly I was shivering. All I could do was nod as I slipped his comfortable gloves over my hands. As soon as Jasper opened the front passenger-side door, warm air flowed out of the cab. I realized there was no one on the driver’s seat.
