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My entire body shuddered. Hell fucking no. Absolutely not.
I should have picked some other dude that night when I was trying to make Gabriel jealous. Or maybe I should have stayed home and avoided him the whole time.
“I have to go to work.”
“The candle and crystal shop, right? I should come check it out.”
“It’s different,” I said. “No need to. Continue on with what you were doing.”
“I have a new goal now.”
“Didn’t I say no last time?” I asked. “Because I’m pretty sure I did.”
“And I said before that I’m pretty sure I know when a woman is playing hard to get.”
“Nope. Not playing hard to get. This is just a no.”
My coffee was done and I grabbed it without a second glance at him. All I wanted to do was get to my store and do my own thing.
Footsteps followed me.
“Come on. Don’t be like that. Do you know how lucky I was to find someone as hot as you in a place like this?”
“Don’t be like what?”
“Act like you don’t want to be chased.”
He was already grating on my nerves, but now he had gone too far.
“No, actually, I don’t want to be chased. If I tell you no, that means leave me alone.”
“You walked up to me last time.”
“To make someone else jealous,” I snapped.
“That guy?”
“Yep. It worked. I don’t need you now.”
“I knew there was a reason he rescued you. It was all a part of your plan, right?”
“He didn’t rescue me.”
“He very much did.” He tilted his head and his smile grew. “Do you like being rescued, Jade? Do you need someone to take you out of this boring little town?”
There was something about the way he talked about Strawberry Springs. I wasn’t unfamiliar with people who came into town and looked down on it, but this was a new level. If he hated it so much, why did he come back?
“I’m going to tell you one last time. I don’t want you. I’m not interested in you. Back off.”
“And I’m seeing through your lie.”
“See through this.” I raised my fist to punch him right in the face, but then someone grabbed me. I tore my arm away from whoever was stupid enough to stop me and turned to see Gabriel.
“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled as I fought his grip. Since when was Gabriel so fucking strong?
Maybe I needed to work out.
“Mike is right around the corner,” Gabriel hissed.
