I didn’t answer. He didn’t sound angry anymore, instead disappointed or rejected. That, in a way, was worse.
Jase pulled me closer, his arm snaking around my waist. I was suddenly shaking in his hold, the night had grown cooler in the last few hours but that wasn’t why.
It was the vibrating electricity that ran through me from his simple touch. The spark that set my body alight with arousal at his closeness was about to catch fire.
“Is it mine?” he muttered under his breath, but I heard it.
The world continued to spin, my mind falling deep into darkness as I tried to make sense of what he was asking. Just as quickly as they came, those sparks crashed and burned. Hisquestion and uncertainty somehow hurt more than they should have.
“You have some fucking nerve, Jameson King.”
With my hands on his chest, I shoved him away. Stepping back, he desperately ran a hand through his hair when he realized his mistake. “Shit, I’m sorry, Monroe. That came out wrong, but since you hadn’t said anything to me, I had to ask. I’m trying to stay calm.”
“You don’t have to. Yell, walk away, be furious. Tell me you don’t want this. I’d get it.”
His expression morphed into something darker, a sign of the brewing storm I was hoping he’d let out. Fury manifested as his jaw tightened, his hands clenching into fists at his side.
Disgust made my mouth turn downward, bile brimming to the surface, and I physically recoiled as my eyes narrowed in on him. He was right.
How could I have kept this from him? How long would I have waited before I confessed?
“I am furious,” he said, and for once I was relieved. “But not at you.”
He had to be fucking kidding me.Who the hell was Jameson King pretending to be?With parents like his, the Golden Boy of Crossroads everyone loved had to have some flaw. He couldn't be this understanding, this patient. Not when he just discovered I became pregnant from our one-night stand that was supposed to remain secret, and I wasn't planning on telling him anything about his child.
“Then who, Jase? Because I don't see anyone else around here who was planning on hiding a pregnancy from you.”
It was my turn to be angry. A red haze seemed to descend, blurring the edges of my vision again. The air felt thick, charged with unspoken accusations. I could taste the metallic tang of adrenaline as a tremor of fury ran through my hands.
His expression softened, and that only pissed me off further. “At myself. For not pushing harder to get you to stay that day. For letting you walk away when I knew there was something between us. For letting you avoid me all this time with the excuse that maybe you needed some space to think.”
Tears filled my eyes, my damn inconsistent hormones bringing me from a level ten anger to a level ten of guilt and sorrow. “I didn’t know how to tell you, Jase, because none of this was the plan. We were a mistake, a one-time thing that we were both supposed to just forget.”
Regaining his position beside me, he took my face in his palms, softly tracing my cheek with his thumb. It was as if when he looked me in the eye he saw past the bullshit lies I was spewing. “I can’t forget, Moonshine, that’s the problem. And now I don’t have to.”
I couldn’t handle the sincerity in his voice. This wasn’t the man I knew. I realized maybe I didn't know Jameson King at all. I knew the man the town painted him to be. I knew the man I'd heard about as the women he dated and left, paraded around town telling stories about how they were lucky enough to win a second of his time and affection.
Though none of it made sense with the version I was seeing now for me. I pulled away and shook my head. “This isn’t going to turn into what you think. I don’t need you, Jase.”
“Too bad.”
“No, you don’t get it. I don’t want you. This thing between us will be nothing more than two people who will unfortunately pay for the consequences of one night of fun for the rest of their lives. I won’t deny you the chance to be a part of this baby's life, but you and I…” A sharp laugh left my lips. “We’ll be nothing more than what we are now.”
What we were, wasn’t even friends.
“We’ll see,” he said with his taunting smirk that only frustrated me. This time when he closed the distance between us, both hands dropped to my waist as he pushed me back against the wall and caged me so I couldn't escape. “I don’t care how it happened,” he said. “I care about what we do now.”
His words should have been exactly what I wanted to hear, yet they evoked a feeling of unease and apprehension. My muscles tightened, readying for flight or fight, as if my body knew to prepare for the unknown that lingered within his voice.
I gazed up at him through my tear-stained lashes, and the moonlight caught his perfectly white smile underneath soft lips I ached to feel against mine. I inhaled the potent scent of his cologne, and the bourbon on his lips intoxicated me beyond reason.
Why did he have to be so incredibly stunning? It was as if the universe hadn’t done enough in making the King family wealthy and powerful. God had to make them physically flawless too.
I could see he wanted me too. To take control of my lips and devour me like he had that night. “I want to kiss you, Monroe,” he whispered in a deep and gravelly tone that made the hairs on my arms stand on end as a cold shiver coursed through me. “Fuck, I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone more than I want to feel your lips on me right now.”
“Then do it,” I whispered almost incoherently. I wasn't sure if he’d heard me.
But when he shook his head, I knew he had. Something wouldn’t allow him to take what he knew I wasn’t offering. Not really, not in the way he wanted it.
