Jerk!
What was a girl supposed to do when the man who could melt her panties off with just one look acted like an idiot for some unknown reason? Call him on his crap… that’s what she could do. She yelled after his retreating back. “You’re a jerk, Gunnar McKinley. A jerk.”
He spun around mid-step and stalked toward her. This time she wasn’t backing off. She stood her ground with her hands on her hips and glared at him.
He picked her up, pushed her against the wall next to the war-room door, and stared down at her for one long heartbeat as their breaths mingled. Jorja almost forgot how to do basic things, like remembering how to take air into her lungs.
“Fuck it,” Gunnar muttered harshly and slammed his lips down onto hers. This kiss wasn’t soft or gentle. It stole her ability to think. It consumed, claimed, and set fire to her soul. Gunnar kissed her until he drowned the rage of moments ago, then he placed her back on her feet, straightened her rumpled clothes, and turned her around to face the door. He growled low and deep in her ear, making her shiver.
“I’m sorry.
“I was an asshole.
“But you… being around you is making me insane, and I have lost my fucking patience or my mind. Maybe both.”
“Then find them, Gunnar, because I will not tolerate this kind of shit from you.” Just because his kisses were the sins mommas warned their daughters of didn’t mean she wouldn’t stand up for herself. “Dish that crap out to anyone else if it pleases you. But I will not take it. Got it?” She tugged herself free of his grasp, yanked open the door, and stormedinto the war-room. Why the hell couldn’t they have a door which just opened inward like normal people? She spun around, grabbed the door handle, and slammed it shut behind her, hard enough that everything shook, stopping Remi’s teasing laughter in its tracks. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t, just don’t. Your brother is a jerk.”
“You are only figuring that out now?” Remi asked. “We all could have told you that he’s an asshole. He has to be to do the jobs he does.” He scrubbed a hand over his head as if trying to decide if he should say whatever other nugget of thrilling information he had in his head before continuing, “And it turns you on, or you wouldn’t be in here hissing like an angry cat.”
She hated that he was right. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of saying it. “Shut up.”
“Hah.”
“It’s a good thing I think I like you.” Did liking him mean she couldn’t lose her shit on him? She didn’t think so, but she settled for warning him of what could happen if she forgot to keep a rein on her temper. “Or I’d freaking dump this coffee all over your keyboard.”
Remi immediately wrapped an arm around his keyboard and leaned over it, protecting it from abuse via coffee. “Don’t you dare. And to think I was going to offer you a full-time job,” he muttered more to himself than to her. “Damn it, why are the ones who are good at computers always more batshit than I am?” But there was no heat behind it, and she could see the smile in his eyes.
Was this what was missing all along from the life she had built for herself?
Friends?
A family which included siblings and wasn’t just her and her mom?
Jorja shook herself. Why was she asking herself that?She’d be driven crazy by the end of the week. She snorted out a laugh and once she started, she couldn’t stop and laughed like a loon until her belly hurt and her breath sawed in and out of her lungs. Heck, maybe she was crazy already.
“Go.” Remi pointed to the door. “Get out. Go lay by the pool or do something else, because you aren’t touching my computers any more today. That laugh tells me cray-cray mode has been activated, and you aren’t fucking up my systems.” He stood up and opened the door, waving out it with his other arm. “Out, pool or something, shoo.”
She looked from Remi to the door and back again, but did as he asked and walked out of the war-room. When the door closed, barely missing her nose, she stared at it in shock.
How the hell did this happen?
Did she really just get thrown out? She tried the door. “It’s locked. Jerk must run in the family.” She raised her fist and hammered on the door.
“I’m not letting you back in until you’ve asked Amazon to ship you a batch of non-crazy pants!” Remi yelled. “Because clearly you lost yours between Pisa and here.”
Well, if he wanted her to go to the pool, then she’d go to the freaking pool. One problem though, she didn’t know where the pool was, or even if they actually had one. “You have a pool?” she yelled through the door. “Where is it?” Because she’d only get herself in more trouble if she went looking for it by herself.
“Yup,” Remi called back. “Go through the archway at the end of the courtyard. It’s ‘round the corner of the house to the left. Gunnar’s house is unlocked if you need to grab shit to wear. If not, the pool will be empty at this time of the day, so nobody will see you skinny dipping.”
She rolled her eyes. Just let him wait, she’d think of a way to pay him back for that. Jorja stomped across the courtyard and up into the apartment to grab her swimsuit. “It’s a goodthing I brought one. It would serve them all right if they needed bleach for their eyeballs after finding me skinny dipping in their pool.”
Thank God, I remembered to pack one.
Although now as she pulled it on, she debated if it was too skimpy for here.
If it’s fine for a public beach, it’s fine for here.
She put shorts and a tee on over it, then grabbed a towel and her Kindle. For a second, she considered how she was going to bring everything to the pool, then remembered the tote she’d stuffed into the pocket of her case. Her Riley Edwards’ ‘Be A Rebel’ tote would be the perfect size. After a quick stop in the kitchen, she added some snacks and water before going back to the bedroom to grab her flip-flops and a pair of oversized shades.
