He snorted, not accepting my hand. “She didn’t tell you? I’m Jacob Windsome. How close are you?”
Jalisa opened her mouth to speak, but I spoke up, dropping my hand. “I don’t think she found it necessary to talk about you in detail. When we’re together, sometimes it just ends up being us focused totally on each other. Right, my love?”
She gave me a smile of relief, and for a moment I allowed myself to believe it was genuine. “That’s right, Ivy.”
I winked at her, deciding that even though she called me by the nickname she used on me when she was at her most content, I wouldn’t allow it to mean much. It was unfortunate the court had assigned her a mate but not surprising. She was an omega, after all. However, I knew she wasn’t the type to get controlled. I would help her. I had to. I wanted to.
Jacob shook his head, running his eyes left and right between us. “I don’t believe any of this. She’s been agreeable to this marriage from the start, and now she suddenly changes her mind?”
I shrugged. “Well, things change. As soon as I ran into my little Sunshine here, it was like old times.” I grinned mischievously at her, preparing to do more than she needed. “Remember theother day when you told me I was your greatest love? That no one could come close to me. Not emotionally or physically. And that you were lost without me. Remember?”
She kept her smile, but I could see it had now grown tight. I was pushing it, but this was too much fun to stop. “Sure.”
“Yeah, and we’re still good on your promise to come over to my place tomorrow night and cook me dinner?”
Her smile faltered. She hated cooking, I remembered. But I enjoyed it and would have no trouble cooking for us both.
Jacob scoffed, crossing his arms. “Ha, I don’t believe you. She hates cooking.”
I tossed an arm over Jalisa’s shoulders, who was standing frozen like a smiling statute. Her sweet scent swelled around me, and I momentarily forgot what we were discussing. This moment of having even this much of her felt like a dream, and I was confidently taking advantage of it. I would pay dearly for this later, but I couldn’t help myself. It really was a problem. “Sorry, mate, it seems when it comes to me, she wants to do all she can. And I want to do the same.” I squeezed her to me and tapped my cheek. “Give us a kiss, love, will you?”
She pressed her lips tightly together and then quickly gave me a peck. I took that moment to deeply inhale her sweet scent. It was intoxicating. “Ok, reign it back in,” she whispered before pulling away. “Aren’t you the sweetest?” She turned back to Jacob. “I’m so sorry, Jacob, but things have changed. He is someone I can’t let go of, despite the plan. I won’t say anything else; I just don’t want to get married.”
I kept my neutral face, but I had lots of questions. What wasn’t she going to say anything about? I was becoming more and more intrigued. I also wasn’t sure the courts would allow the marriage not to happen. She had to know her simply asking for an out because of an old boyfriend wasn’t going to be enough. However, I would follow her lead.
Jacob glared at me again as if he could stare me down and make me run. Fear was never my first response. I smiled and kept his stare, not blinking because I was highly competitive. Finally, he broke our unofficial starring contest and looked back to Jalisa, pointing. “The court will hear about this.”
She gave a curt nod. “Naturally.”
He then huffed and stormed away. When he was out of ear shot, I looked back to Jalisa. “Many questions.”
She nodded, looking past me back to the bar area. “I know, and I don’t have time to answer them right now because I have to get back to work.”
I raised my brows, utterly confused. This was not the type of place I expected her to work. She was educated and an elite. What had happened in these last several years? “You work here?”
She took out her thin, square communicator and shoved it at me. “Yeah, put your contact information in here. We can talk later.”
I typed it in, wondering how I had missed her scent for the short time I’d been here. I blamed the smoked meats. “You can tell me tomorrow since we have those dinner plans.”
“You can’t be serious.”
I looked back at her, giving her back her communicator. “Oh, yes, I’m quite serious. I haven’t seen you in over three years since that… night. I’ve been looking for you since then. It was only recently that I found out you were living here, of all places. It’s admittedly a great hiding place, all things considered. However, I wouldn’t have imagined you’d be engaged to some asshole. The courts are very serious about their matches. If you want my help getting out of this, I’m going to need to know everything. Starting with why you left me in the first place. I deserve that much.”
She was too casual about this. My heart was still racing, and she looked too relaxed. Our touch had to have affected her too. Her scent gave it away. It was expanding, but she wouldn’t admit to how she was feeling, and I knew pushing her wouldn’t be the right move.
She gave a dry laugh. “You deserve? Do you remember why I left you that night?”
I nodded, shoving my hands in my trousers. “Yes, very clearly. The words still haunt me. You told me I was garbage and that you were leaving me.”
She stilled, the self-righteousness in her eyes dying for only a second. “No, or are you forgetting about the woman I found on top of you?”
I lowered my head, closing my eyes from the memories of that evening, what few Icouldremember. “That’s not how it went, and you never let me explain.”
“I know what I saw.”
We were interrupted when another male appeared behind her. He was shorter and older, with a white buzz cut and pink colored eyes. “Are you waiting to use the bathroom?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, go ahead.”
