Page 127 of Blindside Sinner

All I know for sure is that every afternoon when the mail arrives, I get a stitch in my side and my guts ache.

“You alright, Sloan?” Beck is looking at me with that softness in his expression, the one that means he’s either developing feelings or he’s hopped up on estrogen. And since he spent seven minutes in the penalty box last night, I’m not thinking it’s the estrogen.

I nod. “Fine. Just a little indigestion.” I lay my hand over my belly. It’s a lie but I act the part because I want to escape to the guest room to hide this letter with the others before he tries to hug me and notices the folded envelope in my back pocket. “I’ll be right back.”

I head for the stairs and go to my room. I’ve barely finished stuffing the letter into the basket under the bed when he knocks. I frantically throw myself on top of the covers and fish out my phone to pretend like I was doing something else.

“Come in!” I call, my voice high and flustered.

Beck opens the door and sticks his head in. “You okay?”

I force a smile. “You bet. Groovy. Fan-freaking-tastic. Living the dream.”

But he still lingers by the doorway. On a normal day, he would go into the office and watch game film. I wish he would do that, because today, of all days, I need a few minutes alone to figure out, with Beck making my round-the-clock protection a personal errand, how I’m going to get my payment to the Bloodhound. I have another day to figure it out, but another day isn’t going to help me with the situation too much. Beck isn’t likely to back off enough to let me out of the house alone.

I’m also not sure, after everything that’s happened and the letters that just keep coming, that I’ll be brave enough to try.

“You sure?”

He looks down at me and smiles. For a second, I want to lose myself in that smile.

I nod. “Yeah. Positive.” I’m quite the liar these days.

“Alright then. I’ll stop asking.” He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “Anyway, I came up because I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” I pull my lower lip between my teeth. “I do love surprises.”

“Remember when you said you wanted to get a haircut? Maybe put some color in?”

“Uh… yeah?” Of course I remember, but I can’t believe he does, because what kind of guy remembers his personal assistant debating the merits of ombre versus balayage?

Grinning like a hyena, he steps aside. “Well, this is my stylist, Jade.”

A petite woman with shocking red hair and a violently cool septum piercing in her nose leans in from the hallway to wave and smile at me.

“Hi, Sloan!” she squeaks. “Pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard all the stories.”

“Beck. You don’t have to… I mean, this isn’t necessary.”

I have a salon; I just can’t afford to go yet. Of course, I’m not sharing that with him because then I’ll have to explain why I don’t have money when I have no visible expenses.

“Of course it’s necessary. You need new clothes. You need new hair. You need neweverything.”

“I’ll be waiting downstairs,” Jade interjects suddenly. She turns and gives Beck a coquettish smile. A little too coquettish for my liking, actually.

Out of nowhere, my girl crush on her morphs into something else: green-eyed jealousy. I jump out of bed and bound over to him. Jade is already sashaying down the stairs, but I don’t miss how she glances back when she reaches the landing.

I pull him down by the shirt for an open-mouthed kiss. Suddenly, I’m possessive.

Beck is surprised at first, but he eventually yields and lets me lash my tongue against his until I’m sure Jade is gone.

“You know her, don’t you?” I accuse.

“What are you talking about?” Then one of his eyebrows arches up. “Oh.Oh.I see what’s happening here. Are youjealous,Sloan?”

“No!” My answer is too fast and too loud and too… well, too everything. He knows I’m a liar. “Okay, fine. Maybe I don’t like the way she’s looking at you.”

“Sloan, she came to do your hair.”

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