“Oh, I know,” he said sharply. “I heard all about what you told Finch.”
“Good,” she said, the concerned look dropping from her face. “Then you know I told him the truth. You cannot be accused of this. I thought about it all night, tossing and turning,and then when Emmaline told me you weren’t at practice again, somehow, I just knew that you had been blamed. So I?—”
He stood there, listening. She had taken matters into her own hands, hadn’t considered what he had wanted.
It was all too much.
Too afraid of saying something he would later regret, he did the only thing he could think of.
He shut the door in her face.
Chapter Sixteen
Ada stood on Jonny’s doorstep, staring at the closed door, blinking, incredulous and infuriated. Had he really just slammed the door in her face like that, after all she had done for him? Risked everything in her life for him?
She didn’t even bother knocking this time. Instead, she pushed the door wide open.
Jonny whirled around as she stormed into his house, his face twisted in anger. "What the hell, Ada?"
"Don't you dare shut me out after I just stuck my neck out for you!" she said in what she hoped was a calm voice, but it was measured, seething with her fury over being dismissed like that. She slammed the door behind her, her cheeks burning hot as she stalked toward him. "Do you have any idea what I risked by telling Finch the truth?"
"I never asked you to do that!" he snapped, hazel eyes flashing as he stood his ground, arms crossed over his chest. "I told you to stay out of it."
"And let you take the fall for something you didn't do? Ishould think not." She jabbed a finger at his chest. "You're too damn proud for your own good, Jonny Tate. Can't you see I'm trying to help you?"
He caught her wrist, his grip firm but not painful, the warmth of his hands sending thrills through her body from where they touched, but she ignored it in favor of the hot spikes of fury that came from within. "I don't need your help. I can handle this myself."
Ada let out a harsh laugh. "Because you were doing such a splendid job of it before I stepped in. Admit it—you need me."
Jonny's jaw clenched as he glared down at her, a muscle ticking in his cheek. She glared right back, refusing to be cowed. They were so close she could feel his ragged breaths fanning her face.
"You have no idea what you've done," he said tightly. "The kind of danger you've put yourself in by getting involved."
"I'm not afraid of Sharpe or Will or any of them," she retorted, lifting her chin.
“And now your reputation is ruined,” he continued. “All of society will think we’re…”
“What?” she challenged, her brows raising. “Do you think I care so much about my reputation? It’s far better than you being thrown in jail for a crime you didn’t commit. I'm certainly not afraid of a little gossip."
“By sacrificing yourself?” He ran a hand roughly through his hair. “Dammit, Ada, I’m not worth that.”
“Well, maybeIthink you are!” The words burst out of her, raw and honest, hanging in the air between them.
Something flickered in Jonny's eyes, an emotion she couldn't quite name. His gaze dropped to her mouth, lingering there. "You should be afraid of Sharpe," he murmured. "And very afraid of what being with me could do to you."
Ada's heart stuttered in her chest. Being with him. The words hung in the charged air between them, heavy with unspoken meaning.
Jonny stared at her, chest heaving. Something shifted in his eyes, the anger draining away, replaced by a different kind of heat.
"You shouldn't have done it," he said, but his voice had gone low and rough. "We can't... I can't let you..."
"Let me what?" Ada stepped closer, tilting her chin up defiantly. "Let me make my own choices? Decide what risks I'm willing to take?"
He shook his head, but he didn't back away as she could feel the warmth radiating off of his body. Her gaze dropped to his mouth.
"I'd do it again," she whispered fiercely. "For you, I'd do it a thousand times over."
“I never asked you to.”
