Page 47 of Forbidden Romeo

“Roisin Maguire,” he finishes for me, staring at her blankly again.

“The one and only.” Roisin bows her head a little. “I promise, I’m not usually such a mess.”

I stand up to make Jack a coffee. “Sure you’re not.”

“Come on,” Roisin whines at me. “Give me some credit; you’re making me look bad.”

I pour out a cup and hesitate by the counter. “You make yourself look bad. Do you want any sugar, Jack?”

“How…” Jack’s voice cracks, and he clears his throat, ignoring my question. “You two are pretty close, huh?”

“Two peas,” Roisin replies, crossing her figures to show how tight we are. “So don’t hurt her or whatever.”

“Thanks, Roshe,” I say sarcastically. “Jack? Sugar?”

Again, he ignores me to address Roisin. “And how long have you…”

“Lived together? Oh, at least like five years, right, Aimee?” Roisin looks over to me for confirmation. “We only just moved back to New York, but before that, we were in LA.”

Jack’s face is set in perfectly blank lines.. “Right.”

I give up on the coffee. Clearly, something is very wrong.

“Sorry I didn’t mention it before,” I say cautiously. “Sometimes guys get a bit weird when I say I live with my sister.”

“I need to go.”

Jack swerves around me and beelines toward the door.

I blink in confusion. “What?”

“Yeah… um. Work just called so…” he replies without even a glance over his shoulder.

“Oh, right. Sure,” I say, hating the way rejection seems to blossom so quickly in my stomach. “I made you a coffee. Do you want it for the road?”

“No!” Jack replies a little too loudly before correcting his tone. “No.”

He opens the front door and hesitates a moment, and Roisin glances at me in confusion.

“Okay, well,” I try again, my voice tinged with disappointment. “I’ll see you around?”

Jack lets out a frustrated sigh and walks through the door, slamming it behind him.

The sound reverberates through the room, leaving me standing there, completely dumbstruck.

“Was it something I said?” Roisin says quietly behind me.

My head spins, trying to make sense of the sudden turn of events.

We had a great time last night and the night before. There was nothing that made him react like that; there was no logical reason he would just…

Except that he discovered I was lying to him.

Or at least withholding information about Roisin from him.

I’m walking toward the front door before my brain catches up with me.

When I look down the corridor of the apartment complex, Jack is still there, anxiously waiting by the elevator. He doesn’t turn to me as I approach.

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