Page 33 of Wasted Lust

“By reminding me my family used me?”

“Is that what you think your aunt has been doing?”

“She left. Just like all the rest. She left me there to figure it out on my own. So when you insult my choice of friends and tell me you know what it means to be me, well, I get offended.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, Sasha. Truly. I thought your aunt would make you happy. I thought you could use a friend like me.”

“What kind of friend are you, Agent Jax? The kind who comes to my house with an ultimatum and calls it a date?”

“OK,” I say, putting my hands up like I surrender. “I admit, I was forward in that respect. But I’m on a deadline. You can understand that after watching you for several months and not getting the least bit of an answer to any of my questions that I might be a little bit desperate to move things forward.”

“Tricking me isn’t the way to do that. Twisting my arm to comply isn’t the way either.”

“So how can I make it better?”

“You can’t.”

She goes back to her meal and ignores my reaction. Which shouldn’t be a surprise—I know how tough these Company people are—but it is. She’s been so soft and careful these past few months. Almost timid. I’ve forgotten who she is.

“You said you wanted to figure out who I am now, like there is a distinction between this girl and the one from my past. But you’re wrong, Jax. This is me. I am her. You will be very disappointed with Sasha Aston if you think she’s different from Sasha Cherlin.”

“OK,” I say, giving in. If this is what she believes, I need to respect that. “But keep an open mind tonight when you meet your aunt. And if you want me to take you home tomorrow and let it all go, I will. Just keep an open mind. I have more to tell you, but I don’t want to go there yet. When I asked for something real, what I should’ve said was something personal.”

“Personal?” she asks, taking another bite of food. At least she’s enjoying the meal. “Like what?”

“Sasha, please.” I smile and she shakes her head at me, telling me not to try to charm her. But I can’t help it. I want to charm her. I want her at ease and smiling. I want her to be happy with me. “Let’s tether the assassin part of you, and unleash the woman.”

“Oh my God, please. If you start using player moves on me again, I might throw up.”

“It’s a not a player move if it’s genuine.”

“It’s not genuine,” she retorts. “You’re using me.”

“I am,” I admit. Because it’s true. “But I’m interested in you as well.” And that’s true too. “Let’s try for a normal first date, how about that?”

“Define normal.”

“You know, favorite things. Vacations you’ve taken. How about your trip to Peru? You were hunting dinosaurs?”

She turns to look at me, but instead of the smile I expected, I get sadness.

“What?” I ask. “What did I do now?”

She goes back to her food. “It’s just surprising that you used that term. Hunting. That’s what my real dad used to call it back when I was a kid. Dinosaur hunters, that’s who we were. We looked for bones all over the West.”

“Sounds fun.”

“It was. Until I realized it was just another way to fly under the radar. I bounced, as you put it. From place to place. Not home to home, because we took our home with us. I grew up in an RV.”

“Oh, well, that’s pretty interesting. Regardless of his motive. He did, after all, manage to keep you safe, train you to fight—”

“Kill, you mean.”

“—and foster a love for ancient bones.” I smile at her, but she doesn’t return it. “I had some good moments in my early life as well. I mean, they pretty much all evaporated at the age of fifteen”—she looks up with interest at that, but I’m not going there yet—”but the younger years had some good times.”

“In foster care?”

“Ah, well. No. I was a bad kid before I got picked up by Barlow. But I had some friends who would do anything for me as well. In a ten-year-old kind of way, at least. We did kid things. Nothing serious. But it was fun to run with them and be tight. Like a gang.”