Cassandra Clare,Clockwork Prince
“And?” Jace asked me, raising his eyebrows as I bit into my piece of toast.
“Not too bad. Only slightly burnt. It’s edible, definitely edible.”
“Damn it. I knew I should have gone with the classic PB and J.”
“It’s perfect.” I squeezed Jace’s hand, glancing at the votive candles, the marigolds scattered along the table, and the small Reserved card. “And the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me at 3:25 p.m. on a Friday afternoon.”
Jace smiled and held up his mug, which was filled with hot cocoa with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. ‘Fancy’ hot chocolate, toast, and eggs were the only things he could make, I’d been informed.
“I gotta work with the time we got.” Jace looked at his watch. “We only have three hours before we pick up the kids.”
I placed my hand on Jace’s knee and proceeded to slide it up his thigh slowly. “Then we better make the most of the time we have.” I darted my eyes to his mug. “You have any chocolate sauce left?”
I’ve never seen someone spring up from a chair as fast as Jace did in that moment. “Let me check the fridge real quick once,” he called out on his way through the door.
Chuckling, I took a sip of my hot chocolate, even though it was ninety degrees outside. I felt energized since my encounter with Brad Goldendick this morning. What better way to spend that energy than with my twenty-four-year-old boyfriend?
The music on Jace’s tablet stopped playing so I grabbed it, then swiped to open his music app. I was just about to press the Play button at the bottom, when my eyes snagged on a familiar picture.
It was an icon of the cover forAmerican Cream.Clicking the icon, I saw that the audiobook had been downloaded and there was four hours and thirty-seven minutes left to listen.
I immediately checked the account information to confirm that yes, this was Jace’s tablet. Was some strange home-sharing thing happening here? Was his music app picking up my audiobook library titles? Completely confused, I clicked on the audiobook tab in the app and gasped.
Every audiobook I’d listened to since the beginning of summer was listed. A sinking feeling settled in my gut as I tried to think of an explanation. This was either the world’s biggest coincidence and Jace happened to be a closet fan of romance novels . . . or, what, he was looking at my e-reader and then downloading them on his own tablet?
At the thought, I realized that must be exactly what he had done. I clapped a hand over my mouth as anger and shock ran through my body. I kept my computer and phone with me all day, but my e-reader stayed on my bedside table.
Jace sauntered through the patio doors just then, holding up the chocolate sauce. He stilled immediately as he took in my thunderous expression. Jace’s gaze flicked between me and the tablet I held in my hands. “What’s going on?”
I couldn’t put together coherent thoughts, so I did the next best thing.
I pressed play.
“Goosebumps broke out across the skin where I pressed my finger into each dip of the contoured muscles of his abdomen, barely able to keep a breathy moan from escaping my lips.”
Eyes flying wide, Jace dashed toward me, but I sprang out of the chair and held the tablet behind me. It continued to play aloud, my glare communicating a thousand words.
“I was here on assignment, and he was a possible thief, fifteen years my junior.”
“It’s not what you think, Polly,” Jace pleaded, holding up his hands, like he was trying to tame a wild animal. I scoffed inwardly. I didn’t need taming. I needed answers.
Raising my eyebrows almost like a taunt, I held the tablet up higher, letting the words ring out.
“But oh my fucking delight, I wanted to trail my tongue up and down his chest like it was my own life-sized, personal popsicle.”
Finally having had enough, I paused it, blanketing us in silence. Then with restraint worthy of a gold medal, I placed the tablet back on the table instead of hurling it directly into the pool.
We stared at each other. The only sounds were the blood rushing in my ears and Jace’s heavy panting as he looked at me, panic-stricken.
“How long?” My eyes were hard, but my voice was soft, raw.
“Polly—” Jace started.
“How long?” I barked.
A sorrowful look passed over him, but I didn’t give a damn.
