I move closer to her so she can hear me. “Unlike you, I don’t have to lie. They know they can trust me not to get arrested.”
And BAM, there it is.
“Fuck you,” Gisele snarls.
I feel her hand wrap around my wrist, and she uses those Goddamn coffin-shaped nails to press them into my flesh. It hurts. I try to pull out of her grip, but she’s strong. “No. Fuck you, psycho.”
From my peripheral vision, I see her free hand rise up from her side, but I’m not prepared for the slap and the pain afterward. She slapped the side of my face that she scratched two days ago. I quickly turn away from her and cover my face, but I feel the wetness. At least one of the scratches is bleeding again.
“That’s enough, Gisele,” Billy says loudly. “That’s assault. I’m calling the police.”
I’m doing my best to put distance between me and my sister. Honestly, I’m afraid what she’ll do next. I know she’s gotten pretty chummy with knives lately. I’d hate to be on the receiving end of that.
Our waiter steps into the mix saying, “Sir, the police have already been called.”
“You fuckers,” grumbles Gisele. She turns, and before I can figure out what to say, she’s weaved her way through the crowd of gawking bystanders and disappears.
“Did anyone get that on film?” asks Billy.
Several people nod, holding up their phones. “I’m going to need those videos. Can you send them to me?”
There are affirmative sounds around me when I feel warm hands slide up my arms to my face. “We’re going to need to head back to urgent care. She re-opened a couple of those scratches.” I hold up my wrist to see what kind of damage she did with her nails, and there are red welts but no blood. Thank goodness for small miracles.
We have to wait though. The waiter really did call the police. We show them the video and explain the circumstances. They say they’ll track Gisele down to question her. Good luck with that. She’s probably slithered under a rock somewhere.
“You okay?” Billy asks once we’re in the safety and warmth of his fancy car. Actually, he’s asked me that about ten times since it happened.
Turning to face him, I give him a small smile. “I will be.”
“We’re going to urgent care. They need to check your face. Okay?”
I grumble but nod. “Yeah. Okay.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Doyou want to know the saddest part of this whole night?” I say to Billy as he drives us home after spending two-plus hours at the clinic.
“You had to see your sister again?”
“Well—” I snort. “—that’s a given. No. The saddest part is that we didn’t get to finish our dessert.”
The smile he gives me is a combination of sweet and sexy. I love that smile. I’m going to do my best to always remember it after all this is over––you know, when he’s sick of me and all of this drama.
“I’ve got ice cream.”
Turning my head slowly until I’m looking at him, I smile, “You do?”
“I do. Chocolateandvanilla.”
“You don’t say?”
“I do. When we get home, we’ll get our pj’s on, I’ll get the ice cream, and you get the quilt ready. We’ll eat dessert and watch something.”
A shiver runs down my spine. This man. Billy Mathers just might be the most perfect boyfriend in all the world. Just maybe. Softly, I say, “I could totally fall in love with you, Billy Mathers.”
His face is all seriousness when he replies, “And I’m already falling in love with you, JoJo Foster.”
Now we’re staring at each other. I’m glad he’s at a stop light, or things could get a little dicey. “I’m not easy to love,” I confess.
