Ah…that was why the baggy clothes.
“Boys my age I could handle. I put them in their place.”
I smiled down at her. “I’ll just bet you did.”
“But there were a lot of Edgar Prescotts. Men who knew my story, knew my mother’s history. Men who assumed the apple didn’t fall far from the slut tree.”
I tensed again. I knew she would have handled Prescott if I hadn’t gotten to them. But had there been others, when she was younger, that she hadn’t been able to handle?
“It never went too far, and most stepped back with a few good verbal shots.” And I’d just bet she shot some good ones. “But a rumor started at boarding school about a teacher and me. And I just kind of let it go. I was tired of it all by then. Tired of denying the lies. So I just let it hang out there.” She shrugged. “I never said anything ever happened when it didn’t, but I never said it didn’t, either. By the time I got to Bribury I was kind of used to the sexual swagger.”
“It’s just part of the shield,” I said, not really intending to say it out loud.
I thought she’d bristle, and when she moved, I knew she was going to turn away from me, get out of bed. I didn’t even want to examine how much the thought of that killed me.
But she didn’t leave. She turned to her side, facing me. She untangled our hands and put hers under her head, her palm resting along her cheek. Her other hand moved to take mine, and she placed them both back on her hip. And I swear to God, my breath hitched and caught just looking at her as she watched me.
“I don’t like how much you get me,” she said quietly.
“I know,” I whispered, my eyes on her lips, still a little puffy from the angry kisses against the wall.
“I get you, too,” she said, her mouth now inches from mine.
“I know,” I said, and bent my head the few inches to kiss her.
* * *
I drove backto Bribury that night, Jane wanting to sit in the passenger seat.
We’d gone two more times, and each time it just got better, though I would have sworn that was impossible. But I was learning her body, much like you learned a new car. And, better yet, she was learning mine.
Yeah, I taught her well how to handle a stick. And with more than just her hand.
It was midnight by the time I’d gone back into the house to get Jane’s and my stuff. The house was dark except for the under-counter lights in the kitchen, left on by Dotty so I could see.
I peeked in on Caroline and made sure she was okay. She was deep in sleep with the monitor on so Dotty would be able to hear her if she needed anything. I had one for the guesthouse, too, on nights I stayed. Which were now more and more frequent.
Jane met me around the front of the house—said she didn’t want to go in in case Caro was still up. “She’ll know what we’ve been doing,” she said, and a cute little blush crept up her cheeks.
Honestly, I didn’t think Jane was capable of blushing.
Jane sat beside me in the car, reclined a bit, her eyes closed. Presumably putting her shield back in place. I drove with my hand high on her thigh except when I had to shift. I expected her to brush it off, but she didn’t.
We drove in silence and I thought about the past twelve weeks since Betsy’s wedding. And even the events that brought me to the wedding.
Brought me to Jane.
I’d been summoned to go to the wedding by Spaulding. About a week earlier he’d made me an offer I couldn’t refuse (and yeah, it had felt a little Godfatherish at the time), but it would be contingent on Caro’s approval. I’d lain pretty low at the reception, blending in as only a thief knew how to do, until I saw Jane. More significantly, Jane in that dress.
She’d been a total ball buster the few times I’d been around her when she’d been with Lily. But there was just something about her that stayed with me.
I didn’t want to be drawn to her—especially after I found out who she was. And I knew she didn’t want to be drawn to me, either. I could tell she thought I was nothing but a douchebag criminal who was weighing down her best friend’s boyfriend.
She wasn’t wrong. But she didn’treallyknow me.
But now? Yeah, I kind of thought that she did. About as much as I was getting to know the real her.
The shield made it tough. And there were days when I didn’t even want to bother trying to get through it. She was a lot of work, Jane. And I wasn’t even sure it was worth it.
