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I grip the armrest hard and press my thighs together.
God damn it. I should not be thinking about things like this. What Jace and I did at that costume party three days ago was a one-time act of insanity. Nothing else.
It doesn’t matter that he’s the hottest fucking guy I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t matter that he makes me laugh. It doesn’t matter that he never makes me feel bad about the fact that I’m rich and powerful. It doesn’t matter that he goes to the trouble of making breakfast for me every morning. And it certainly doesn’t matter that he made me feel like I was bursting with sparkling pleasure when he made me come on that red couch.
All that matters is that I need to get rid of him.
My heart flutters as Jace reaches forward over the hood, his perfect body making the move seem effortless.
Next week, I amend in my head. I need to get rid of him, but not until next week. Because I did promise that I wouldn’t pull anymore bullshit this week if he did all the work today. And a deal is a deal.
A low whistle of approval sounds from right next to me. “Damn.”
I start in surprise and whip my head to the left to find a woman about my age dropping down into the chair beside me. She’s wearing a blue polo shirt with the logo of the car dealership embroidered on it, which means that she no doubt works here. I narrow my eyes as I study her face.
With her eyes locked firmly on Jace’s half-naked body, she cocks her head and smiles. “I’d tap that.”
An absolutely irrational flash of jealousy and possessiveness burns through me like wildfire.
“He’s my bodyguard,” I snap, the words coming out with much more bite than I intended.
The woman next to me doesn’t seem to notice, however. Because she continues ogling Jace as if she’s imagining what he looks like in bed. A sly smile blows across her features as she gives me a knowing glance.
“Oh you lucky girl,” she says.
I squeeze my hand into a fist and resist the urge to stab her.
18
JACE
To my surprise, Kayla actually kept her end of the bargain. She didn’t try to sneak off even once during the entire rest of the week. So when her father’s guards came to relieve me for my day off, I wasn’t nearly as exhausted as I have been all other Sundays.
After sleeping in my own bed back at Blackwater, I went through several workout routines and some target practice, and I still feel like I’m bursting with energy. In a good way. It’s not the restless energy that has plagued me for years. It’s more of an excited one.
I scan the shelves as I walk down one of the aisles. Normally, I wouldn’t bother going to a grocery store downtown like this, but this specific one has a lot of ingredients that are difficult to find in a mainstream store. And Eli and Raina are coming back today after being away for the past four days on an out-of-state assassination, so I figured I’d do the cooking.
Though in all honesty, it’s mostly because Eli and Raina can’t cook for shit. At least not unless you count Raina’s insane ability to make different kinds of poison as cooking. Which I’m pretty sure she does. And since I have no intention of being poisoned this particular Sunday, I will be making the food instead.
I only have a vague idea of what I want to make, so I study the contents of the shelves as I continue down the aisle, looking for inspiration.
When nothing sparks my interest, I rake my fingers through my hair and round the corner into the next aisle.
And slam right into someone’s shopping cart.
“Watch it,” a familiar voice snaps.
I blink in genuine surprise. But before I can so much as open my mouth, two guards are already descending on me.
They stop short a couple of steps away when they suddenly realize who I am.
The girl on the other side of the shopping cart stares at me, her mouth slightly open.
“Jace,” she says, sounding just as surprised as she looks.
I glance from her to her guards and then to the aisle of food around us before frowning at her in confusion. “What are you doing here, little demon?”
Kayla stares at me in silence for another few seconds. Then she gives her head a short shake as if to clear it, and then waves a hand at her guards. They immediately retreat to the end of the aisle, giving us space. Since I’m here, they know that no one will hurt her even if they are standing farther away than they normally would.
