Matt shook his head. “It doesn’t. What matters is that I like you. I really like you, Brooklyn. And I know you like me too.”
I did.I don’t. Screw me.I shook my head. “Then just tell me the truth. Tell me what Isabella knows.”
“I would if it was just about me. But it’s not. And if it comes out…it’s not me that will get hurt.”
I took a deep breath. “I heard you out. And I’m sorry that you’re being blackmailed.” But I was being blackmailed too and I wasn’t going around being a dick. I was just getting all of Isabella’s wrath because of Matt apparently. He’d made my life hell. I picked up Felix’s jacket off the floor. “I hope it all works out for you.”
“It can’t work out for me if you’re dating Felix.”
I just stared at him.
“Stop seeing him.”
“Are you kidding me? You just told me we can’t be together anyway. What’s the point of us both being miserable?”
“Don’t play games with me, Brooklyn. We both know you don’t even like him…”
“I do like him. I like him a lot actually.”
Matt shook his head. “You don’t. And my private investigator will find something on Isabella any day now. Until then we have to keep our relationship private. But it’s only temporary.”
I’d discovered something new about Matthew Caldwell. He’d lost his mind. “You and I don’t have a relationship. You’re an insane person.”
He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. For some reason I didn’t move away or punch him, both of which crossed my mind. And I didn’t do either when he leaned down and kissed me.
And kissed me.
And kissed me.
I should have tried to push him away. But his kiss made me weak in the knees. And turned my mind to mush. My fingers dug into the skin of his neck, pulling him closer. I had the same feeling that I did the first time he’d kissed me. Like it was easier to breathe when his exhales were what I was inhaling. Like I wasn’t drowning anymore.
“You’re mine and we both know it,” he said against my lips. “And you do drive me crazy. Especially when you hang out with other men. Now I need you to hand me Felix’s coat so I can burn it.”
I pulled away. What was I doing? I was kissing the enemy.Again.“No.” I took a deep breath and tried to step away, but now he had me sandwiched between him and the door. “I’m no one’s dirty little secret, Matt.”
“That’s not how I see you.” He dropped his forehead against mine. “You’re a very clean large secret.”
I laughed even though I really didn’t want to. His time was up. I should have been screaming at the top of my lungs for help. Instead, I breathed in his exhales and tried to stop myself from kissing him again.
“All I’m asking for is time, Brooklyn. I just need you to wait a few more days until my PI finds something. But in the meantime…we can sneak around.”
“So you’ll still ignore me in the halls?”
“And pull you into dark rooms to kiss you senseless.”
My throat made a weird squeaking noise. “And I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone that we’re together?”
“Not a soul.”
For some reason I wanted to say yes. The word was at the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it down. There were a whole lot of buts. Despite what Matt called it, I would be a dirty little secret. I’d have to sneak around. I’d have to lie to my only two friends. And I was a bad liar. I’d be grounded until I was 18 at this rate. And then there was another really big reason to not be with him. I didn’t know who my father was. I stared into Matt’s eyes. But I didn’t look anything like him. Not even a little bit. I couldn’t be related to him. Right?
“What do you say?” Matt asked. He gave me that perfect smile of his.
And I nodded. I have no idea why I did it. It was like a horrible reflex to that smile. My mind knew not to nod. It was like my heart had taken over my whole body. Which was probably why I really wanted him to lift me up on the vanity again.Stop it, stupid heart.
“Great,” he said and grabbed the doorknob. “Make sure you return Felix’s jacket tomorrow, because if I see you wearing it again, I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose it.” He walked out of the bathroom.
Matt needed to learn what the word no meant. But I was very aware of the fact that I hadn’t actually told him no. I’d nodded like the fool that I was. I looked down at Felix’s jacket in my hand. What had I just done?
