Page 186 of Romeo

Jasper had mentioned his president often enough during our late-night calls, usually while calling him an arrogant asshole with an amount of affection that made it obvious he respected him. Nothing Jasper had said prepared me for the man standing in the parking lot.

King didn’t need to raise his voice or threaten anyone. Authority seemed built into the way he stood.

Then his attention moved from me to Jasper.

That was worse.

He said something to the woman beside him, and she answered. Whatever passed between them made King’s expression harden.

Jasper followed his gaze.

His eyes found me on the porch.

The easy smile disappeared.

A moment ago, I’d been wondering whether I had any right to be jealous of the way he greeted Morgan. Now I was wondering what King had seen when he looked from Jasper to me and why Jasper suddenly looked like a man who knew a conversation he didn’t want to have had just become unavoidable.

“Mimic and Indie are inside. O’Malley too,” Jasper said, gesturing toward the clubhouse.

Morgan turned and spotted me.

“Hi, Fiona.” The warmth in her smile made my earlier jealousy feel even more foolish.

“Hi, Morgan.”

King gave Jasper another pointed look before heading for the clubhouse. The blonde woman remained beside him, while Morgan followed them inside.

Then it was only Jasper and me again.

He stayed at the bottom of the steps with his hands in his pockets, watching me. I’d spent weeks imagining what I would do when he finally came back to Rosewood, yet now every sentence I’d rehearsed sounded either childish or far too revealing.

“I need to get home.”

Something shifted in his expression. “Already?”

“There’s a lot going on here, and Granny will be wondering where I am. She worries if I’m late.”

Everything I said was true. It also wasn’t the entire reason I wanted to leave.

Seeing Jasper again had been overwhelming enough before Morgan arrived and reminded me that the man I’d been building a relationship with through texts and calls had an entire life outside them. Then King had looked at us as if he’d discovered something he didn’t like.

I needed ten minutes without a clubhouse full of bikers to figure out why any of it bothered me this much.

Jasper glanced toward the door. “I have to go inside for church.”

“I know.” I couldn’t completely hide the disappointment from my voice.

“As soon as we’re done, I’ll come find you.”

“You don’t know how long it’ll take. It could be late.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He held my gaze. “I’ll find you, Cher. However long it takes.”

I studied him.

There were probably a hundred things waiting inside that clubhouse, and judging by King’s expression, at least one of them involved Jasper. Still, he said it as if finding me afterward had already been decided.

“Okay.”