Page 120 of Forbidden Romeo

“You were jealous?”

“A little,” Jack smirks a little sheepishly.

“Then let’s call it a happy accident and leave it at that,” I reply, refilling my glass.

Jack takes out some of the food and passes it to me quietly.

I take it with a sigh. “What?”

He hesitates. “I just want to make sure that this is actually what you want.”

“I want you.”

“I know, but I’m… I’m not a good person, Aimee,” Jack holds onto my hand and squeezes. “After the first fight… I swore to myself that you would never see me like that.”

The memory of Jack storming down the corridor atLuckies, the spitting image of his father, fills my mind. I gulp a little. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not,” Jack says firmly, staring intently into my eyes. “You were terrified. And I did nothing to stop it; I just left you there. God… I never wanted you to be scared of me. That’s why I started drinking. I couldn’t make myself face you again any other way.”

I match his stare. “I don’t want you to hide from me, Jack. Can you promise me that?”

“I can try,” he replies, and I see the truth of his words in his resolve.

“That’s all I ask,” I say before I let out a long sigh and return to my food. The sound of the city around us, the faint beat of helicopter wings, makes it feel cozy even with the expanse of space around us. “Let’s talk about something less heavy.”

“Like what?”

“Tell me about… music?”

Jack looks at me, amusement returning to his face. “Music?”

“What’s your guilty pleasure?”

He blows out a breath, buying himself a bit of time. “I don’t know, Aerosmith?”

“Seriously?”

“You said guilty pleasure!”

“I’m trying to imagine you belting out “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” in one of your fancy sports cars.”

“That song was designed to sing alone in your car,” Jack points his fork at me. “You can’t tell me you’ve never done it.”

I shake my head, “More of a Stones fan, I’m afraid.”

“Of course, you’d side with the British,” Jack mutters under his breath. Despite all the noise from the helicopter flying nearby, I still catch it.

Okay then, he went there first. “Hey—the Maguires did what they needed to do to survive the famine, asshole.”

“Including selling out the Duffys for a couple extra English crumbs?” Jack counters.

“The English betrayed us too, you know.”

“Aye, but you betrayed us first.”

“Me personally?” I counter, brow raised.

Jack smiles at this and shakes his head.

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