What the fuck?
Jett came back on the line.
“And that was…?” Trask bit out.
“That was me, applauding for a stellar performance. It’s too bad you put so much effort into that soliloquy, though, because Istilldon’t believe you.”
She continued before he could respond.
“And do you know who else understands what a baldfaced lie you just spewed? Your dick,” she snapped. “In all my years, I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one so…vested. He was on board, and as hard as one, from the first second, and raring to go even as you backed away.”
She was letting him have it with both barrels, and since he had no idea how to respond, he let her continue.
“So next time you want to spew untruths like ‘mind-fog’ and ‘brain-freeze’, tell your little soldier to get with the program. Because if you don’t, you’re going to be called out on those fibs, buster. Admit it. You liked it, and we both know it. You were just being a little pussy about being caught off guard by your true feelings.”
Anger threatened to overwhelm him.
But before it could, something inside Trask…shifted.
A feeling—something odd—bubbled up inside him, completely taking over.
Before he could figure out what it was, he was laughing.
Laughing.
Outright. Loudly. And hysterically. Like a loon.
“Uh, Trask?” Jett attempted, but he was too far gone to answer right away.
“Trask,” she clipped again after a minute or two. “Hey. Are you okay?”
If anyone had asked him that any time over the past few months, he would have said no. But right this minute?Yes.Trask was feeling mighty fine.
Who knew? It seemed that after a suck winter, Jett was just what he needed.
“Fine,” he finally managed, wiping his eyes. “Yes, I’m fine.”
She still sounded suspicious. “Does that mean you’re going to stop pretending you don’t feel something…combustible when we’re interacting? And I’m not just talking about what we did on your bed. I’m talking about every time we engage in any way. Like now. We’re miles apart, on the phone, and the airwaves are sizzling.”
She wasn’t wrong. The excitement between them was palpable. Even long-distance. But shewaswrong about the reason for it being both of them. The fizz in the firmament had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with her. She was so damned…alive; unpredictable. Trask never knew what was going to come out of her mouth, and it wound him up, taking him on a wild-ass ride.
He owed it to her to let her know his thoughts.
“It’s you,” he told her bluntly. “I’m not whimsical, humorous, or spontaneous. I don’t burn up phone lines, nor do I ever letcircumstances dictate how I act. But with you…” Trask tried to find the right words. “…all bets are off. I have no idea how you manage to rev me up, but you do, and I’ll admit it.”
“Whew,” Jett responded. “Finally. Now we’re getting somewhere. At least you’re admitting that something’s happening between us, and I’ll take that. For now. But you still haven’t answeredeverypart of my original question.”
“Which was?” Trask, for the life of him, couldn’t remember how this whole conversation had started.
“You assured me you wouldn’t take it out on your brothers for hiring me, but you didn’t say if you’d be taking your irritation out onmeif you have to see me every day?”
Trask drew in a deep breath and considered that.
Irritation wasn’t exactly the word he’d use.
Yes, Jett was like a sticker-burr in his skin, but it was more like that barb wasneedlinghim into feeling things again; forcing him out his comfort zone with some well-placed jabs.
Did he like it?
