Shit, she was right.
“I understand. You have a problem with being honest,” she replied harshly, shooting Jack a sharp look. “But as it happens, I have a problem with liars. So…see you.” The next moment, she turned and left.
She didn’t want to be told she was wrong, just as she didn’t want to watch the man she had just opened up to struggle to make excuses.
God, Jack West and Dax Temple were brothers — and she was an idiot.
Chapter Nineteen
How the hell does she know?” Dax snapped, watching Penny as she hurried away from them.
Shit. This couldn’t be happening! Jack sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Dax’s timing was just shit. “I told her the clown story! About when I was a teenager and with my brother!”
Dax stared at him in disbelief. “What? Why?”
“For the same reason I slept with her and want to go out with her again! I’m tired of life alone. And Ilikeher.”
“Yeah, so I’ve noticed. You didn’t mind losing to her in there. You!” Dax replied angrily. “But she can’t tell anyone that we’re brothers! Go after her!”
“She’ll keep it to herself, she…”
“Even if she does! Do it anyway.”
“Dax, she…”
“Man, why are you still standing here? If I’ve learned anything in the last few months, it’s that you shouldalwaysrun after a woman who’s angry at you. Unless she has access to pepper spray.”
Shit, he was right. “Tell the others…”
“…that you got diarrhea, no problem,” Dax added with a grin and disappeared back into the bar.
Jack didn’t even have time to get annoyed about it. He was too focused on not losing sight of Penny, who was already turning the corner. Where the hell was she going? Away from him, it was clear.
Swearing, he accelerated and caught up with her around the next corner, where she had stopped to dig her cell phone out of her pocket.
When she heard his footsteps, she looked up, rolled her eyes, and tried to flee again.
“It’s useless to run from me. My stamina is better than yours,” he said hastily. Right, because proving his dominance was how he’d win her over! God, he was an idiot.
“Wow,” Penny replied dryly, shaking her head with her lips pressed together. “Thanks for the tip.”
“Ah, fuck.” He rubbed his forehead. “That came out wrong. I…” He sighed and wearily dropped his hands. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“I’m curious,” she said, “Are you chasing me to make sure I keep your secret? Or because you want to apologize?”
“Neither. I’m chasing you because you seem…angry.”
“Iamangry, Jack!” she shot back. “I know anger is a concept you don’t understand. Which is absurd since you’re excellent at evoking it. But, yes, I’m angry.”
“Right. Why are you…?” Because she thought he was lying? Technically, that wasn’t true. He’d never said Daxwasn’this brother. Even in his mind, though, that was a weak argument, and his mind was usually on his side.
Penny opened her mouth in disbelief, as if she could somehow hear his lame excuse, or perhaps she was reacting to his stupid question. “Why am I angry?” She echoed.
Yes, it was his dumb question.
“I’m angry because you lied! Because I thought I knew you. That I knew what I was getting myself into. But that’s not true, is it? You know a lot about me, but I know almost nothing about you! And that makes me angry because I thought we…that we were friends. Maybe more than that. But your whole life seems to be one big secret.” She took a shuddering breath and studied his face. “Jack, I know that we said at the airport that we wouldn’t tell each other anything about family and work. But that time has passed. You know so much about me, but I…I have no idea who you are, right? And it’s you who wanted a date, who wanted more than a fling, who…”
“Can you slow down?” He said it loudly but calmly, gripping her shoulders. “I’m not a different person simply because Dax Temple is my brother. And I didn’t lie about it. Not exactly, at least,” he added hastily when he saw the creases on Penny’s forehead.
