Page 23 of Amor Prohibido

Panic overrode all rational thought. I hung up and threw my phone across the table as if it was cockroach infested, then pressed a hand to my heaving chest. I crunched down another ice cube while chastising myself for being a pussy.

With an agitated growl, I grabbed for my phone again and it rang in my hand before I had a chance to redial. I let it ring four times before mustering the courage to answer.

“Hey.”

“You okay?”came Jace’s concern.

Time for honesty. “No, not really.”

“Shit. Can I help?”

I took a couple of deep breaths to fight through the wave of nausea. “Uh… Would you mind stopping by next time you’re in the area? Please. It’s kind of important.”

The relief of getting through the sentence without gagging or crying was just short of miraculous.

He was silent for a couple of beats, and I heard muffled talking as he had a quick conversation with someone beside him.

“Give me an hour? I finish work soon so I can swing by once I’m sorted,”he said softly into the phone.“You really don’t sound well. Can I pick you up anything?”

Yes, a time machine.

In matte black.

With a side of badass.

Tears blurred my vision. I was irrationally touched by his apparent concern.

“No,” I rushed while fighting the urge to sob. “I’m not feeling so good. See you soon. Bye.”

With the conversation over, I slid my phone back onto the table and sprinted for the bathroom.

I’d managed to crawl to the couch by the time I heard Jace knocking on the front door—an entire hour later, as promised.

“It’s me. I’ll just take my shoes off.” After a minute, he padded down the tongue-and-groove hallway in his socks and came to a stop at the end of the couch. He looked me over with masked horror. “Shit, Jax, you look... rung out.”

“You don’t say,” I sassed, wishing I had both a mirror and the energy to care.

There he was, looking damn fine in his black jeans, maroon collared shirt rolled up his forearms, and a dark slouch beanie because it was cold out. His overall appearance was completed by a sexy little furrow on his brow, whereas I looked as crappy as I felt.

“Where are you off to all dressed up?”And smelling criminally divine.

He adjusted his beanie awkwardly. “I’ve, uh, got a date after this.”

My heart dropped, and I tried to stop the disappointment from showing on my face. “Oh? I didn’t know you were dating.”

“Well, we haven’t really talked since… you know,” he shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes, then took a few deep breaths to fight off another wave of illness.

“You’re really sick, huh? What’s wrong? And what do you need me to help with?” Jace asked while glancing around the room, no doubt in search of something in need of repair.

Waving my hand, I tried to appear nonchalant over the whole thing. “Nothing. It’s fine. Forget I even called.”

He scowled and folded his arms across his chest. “I’m here now, so I want to know what’s going on.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Try me.”

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