Page 21 of Five Stolen Rings
I’m almost to the door that leads to the back when Jack catches up with me.
“Wait,” he says, and I startle when I feel his tug on my elbow.
I whirl around, surprised; he lets go of my arm, running his hand over his dark hair instead. It’s a good look on him, that mussed, messy vibe.
“Escaped, did you?” I say with a smirk, because I donotneed to be thinking about what looks good on Jack Piorra.
“I didn’t want to be rude,” he says, raising a brow at me. “You know—common politeness?”
“You have no problem being rude to me,” I say, my gaze darting over him. “What do you want?”
“Now, now,” he says, stepping closer. His expression fades into something more sure. “Is that any way to talk to your newly established friend?”
“My bad,” I say. “What do you want,friend?”
His lips twitch, a gleam of laughter in his eyes, but he doesn’t smile. “I want you to tell me what happened at your job,” he says. “The truth.”
“What makes you think you have a right to know?” I say. “Why on earth should I tell you?”
He doesn’t have an answer for this, and I nod.
“You’ve been back to Maude’s,” I say, because a change of subject seems prudent.
His body sags, his gaze flicking away from mine. “Why?” he says. “Want reimbursement for all that plastic wrap? Or are you going to have me arrested?”
“I thought about it,” I say, the words musing. “But no.” I pause and then go on. “So you haven’t found whatever it is you’re looking for?”
His eyes return to me and narrow, like he can’t quite tell where I’m going with this. “No,” he says slowly, a thread of wariness creeping into his tone. “Why are you asking?”
“Because,” I say, and I stand up straighter. “I’ve been giving it some thought. And if you’re sure there are no cameras…” I raise my eyebrows at him, waiting.
“I’m sure,” he says, still looking suspicious. “Why?” His expression lightens, though, as his gaze flits over me, a crooked grin tugging across his lips. “Ah—I see. But as tempting as it is, Princess, I don’t feel comfortable getting down and dirty with you in my stepmother’s—ow.” He rubs his arm where I’ve just hit it, but his eyes are still laughing at me.
“Never in a million years would I even so much as kiss you,” I say severely—stopblushing, dangit—“and that is a promise.”
“A million?” he says in a soft voice, stepping closer and looking down at me as something wicked flares to life in his eyes. “That’s a long time, Princess. What if you change your mind?”
“I won’t,” I say with a scoff. “Ever.” How did we even end up talking about this?
“Mmm,” he hums. He’s silent for just a second, and then he nods. “Good,” he says. “I would never kiss you either.”
“Right,” I say, and I nod too.
“I wouldn’t even be tempted,” he goes on.
“I—there’s no need to be rude,” I say with a frown. “And you just said it was tempting.”
He shrugs. “I was lying. So get all those thoughts out of your head?—”
“There are nothoughts,” I cut him off, outraged.
But he goes on as though he hasn’t heard me: “Because it will never happen.”
“Yeah,” I say with exasperation. “Iknow.So, since we’ve established that I’m not trying to seduce you?—”
“I think what you mean,” he says, “is that you couldn’t seduce me if you tried.”
I grit my teeth but keep going. “If you want to come over to Maude’s and justlookfor whatever you think she has—just look,” I emphasize. “I would be okay with that. Please don’t take it while I’m watching the house. But you could still find it and prove she has it or something.”
