Page 37 of Irresistible Rogue

“I’m hurt.”

“You’re not hurt. Because you’re a slimy swamp creature with no feelings.”

I laughed again.

“But some of us do have feelings. Like your father. Don’t you care about him?”

I gave her a dark look, then rinsed the blender. When I turned around again, she was still standing there. “Aren’t you done yet?”

“Not really,” she said, like she wished she was.

I wandered over to the corner by the windows where my home gym was set up and started taping my hands.

She followed me.

Her eyes roamed over me as I started beating on a punching bag. As strange as it might be for me to have her in my apartment out of nowhere, I was pretty sure it was way more uncomfortable for her. So maybe I’d just let her hang out all day.

If this was a waiting game, I’d wait her out. She thought she was any kind of match for me? She had no idea.

She took a deep breath and said quietly, “Will you please just do the suit fitting?”

Jesus. That didn’t even take long.

It was sweet, actually, that she was so desperate for my cooperation. She must’ve hated herself right now.

I had zero interest in cooperating with her, though. Or pleasing my father. I preferred to subvert shit. Especially people’s expectations of me.

If she expected me to be nice, obviously I’d be a dick.

And if she expected me to be a dick, well, just maybe I’d play nice.

If she didn’t realize she’d just strolled into the wolf’s den, that was her mistake, not mine.

“When’s the fitting?”

That seemed to shock her. She took a moment to scrape herself together. “Uh… I can set it up for you. Sometime this week, probably.”

“Fine. I’ll be there.”

“Really?” She stood there gazing at me, looking annoyingly vulnerable.

I looked away.

Jolie Vola was just another perfect addition to the only family I’d ever had and never really belonged in. My dad had always favored his real sons over me. Joss was Dad’s best friend. Brandon was Dad’s business partner. Darcy was Dad’s pride and joy; the baby of the family, he was destined to go pro in hockey, the way I was supposed to but fucking didn’t.

I was just a tragedy. A regret left on Jacob Ellis’s doorstep after a one night stand—and I wasn’t even his child. My mom was a con artist and my real dad was a ghost.

And Jolie Vola? She was the daughter my dad always wanted.

It pissed me off at brunch the other day when he pulled me aside, told me I’d have thehonorof walking her down the aisle at his wedding—and warned me to treat her like gold.

She wasn’t even in the fucking family yet, and she was more golden in his eyes than I ever would be.

I stopped beating the hell out of the bag and stood panting, staring her down. I licked my lip, slowly, contemplating.

She kinda shriveled, like the Big Bad Wolf was licking his chops at her.

I looked her up and down. Her little yellow kicks and her jean shorts, her cropped top with PoisonTalk Dirty To Meon it.

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