She pats my forearm. ‘Oh, sweetie, not every man is like Ethan.’
I meet her gaze. ‘I know, believe me, he’s nothing like Ethan.’
‘Why are you being so negative about it, then? Especially when clearly he makes you happy.’ She tucks a curl of hair behind her ear as if it might help her hear better. Help her understand.
A sigh slips from my lips as I struggle to find the right words. I don’t want to reveal too much. ‘We’re too alike,’ I say. It’s the best I can come up with.
‘That’s no bad thing.’
‘He’s a commitment-phobe.’ There, I’ve said it.
Sasha laughs. ‘That’s the problem?’ She swats the air in front of her face dismissively. ‘You were a commitment-phobe too. We all change. It’ll work out, trust me.’
She’s wrong. Jayden’s not your average commitment-phobe. The man’s a world-class player with his pick of an extensive crop. Why would he commit to anyone, let alone me?
Although he hinted that if things were different… What things though?
Oh god, he’s so reticent about everything as well. We really are two peas in a pod. Mirror images. Soulmates.
Stop it, Chloe. Don’t go there. Unrequited love isn’t a good look on you.
‘This is different. I’ll enjoy it while it lasts,’ I say. ‘And maybe, just maybe, it’s given me the kick-start I need to actually try dating properly again.’
‘Don’t write him off before you’ve given him a chance.’ A frown flickers across Sasha’s forehead. ‘Will you at least tell me his name?’
The thick walnut door of our private family quarters bangs closed.
‘Who’s name?’ Jayden arrives in all his panty-melting glory.
‘Jayden! Welcome!’ Sasha stands to greet her brother-in-law, wrapping him in a warm embrace.
He pats her on the back as she squeezes him, and his eyes lock with mine over her shoulder with a heat so intense it’s smouldering.
‘I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I just arrived and couldn’t find Ryan, so I came straight up.’
He crosses the room in four huge strides. I stand to greet him, praying I can control my facial muscles more than I did five minutes earlier. With his back to Sasha, he kisses my right cheek, but before his lips reach my left cheek, his tongue flicks decadently over my parted mouth.
‘Not at all.’ Sasha busies herself fetching another wine glass. ‘Ryan’s in the recording studio, so you’ll have to make do with us for a while. Chloe was just telling me about this “exceptional” guy she’s been seeing.’
Jayden’s lip curls and amusement twinkles in those amorous eyes. ‘Is that right?’
‘Well, Chloe being Chloe, she’s hardly said anything, but look at her.’ Sasha points an accusatory index finger straight at my chest. ‘Doesn’t she have that “just fucked” luminous glow about her? And you should have seen her face a minute ago when he texted. She was purple with pleasure!’
‘Is that so?’ Glittering steel slices straight through me, as if he can see directly into my soul. ‘Tell me more.’
Ground, swallow me whole, please.
ChapterThirty
JAYDEN
My intention was to come here and comfort Chloe, yet here I am teasing her again. I’m dying to hear what she’s been saying to Sasha about me. Is she as reticent with her sister as she is with me?
‘Exceptional, huh? Tell me, Chloe, does he make you scream?’ My dick twitches in my pants at the memories. All. The. Memories.
I drop onto the couch next to her and she swats my arm. ‘Stop it, Jayden, please.’
‘You won’t say that later,’ I whisper, barely out of Sasha’s earshot, as she returns from the table with a glass of red wine for me.
