The Closer You Come (The Original Heartbreakers, #1)(58)

Pleasure still coursed through her, and he considered what they’d done a mistake?

“I don’t understand,” she said, trembling inside and out.

“You want more than I have to give.”

“No. I don’t.” Except...

I do. I really do. Once would not be enough. Not even close. Two kisses, one touch, and he’d already addicted her.

“You deserve more,” Jase said, sounding tortured. Looking it, too.

“Why can’t you give me more?” she asked softly. Maybe, if she knew his reasons, she could—

No, no. I don’t try to change a man’s mind. Either I’m worth fighting for, or I’m not.

He offered her a smile so sad it broke her heart. “It’s like I told you. Relationships between men and women become toxic. Always. I don’t want that with you. I want to enjoy the time we have together.”

The time we have together... To him it was inevitable that they’d part.

“So that’s it?” she asked. “You’re not even going to try?”

Who am I, pushing like this?

A girl who wanted this man more than anything.

“If you knew half the things I’ve done...” He shook his head, adamant. “One day you’ll thank me for this.”

He feared her reaction to his past? “Tell me what you’ve done. Let me prove you wrong. Please, Jase. Give me a chance.”

He opened his mouth, and for one tormented moment he looked as if he would fulfill her request. Then he said, “Go home, Brook Lynn. When you come back tomorrow, I’ll be the boss, and you’ll be my employee. Nothing more, nothing less. For your safety and my peace of mind, that’s the way things have to stay.”

*

TRUE TO HIS WORD, Jase treated Brook Lynn like a distant employee twice removed the next morning...and the next and the next. Each time she arrived at the house, he gave her a new list of chores that involved cooking, cleaning, keeping house and even finding a venue for a “Congrats on the GED!” party for a girl she’d never met.

Also, Brook Lynn was tasked with those stupid daily affirmations. So far she’d offered gems like I will assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones that are someone else’s fault—which will be all of them. And Every part of me is beautiful and brilliant...even the ugly, stupid parts.

At first, she simmered at midlevel anger over his treatment. Mouth-bag her and push her away? How dare he! But it wasn’t long before the anger began to slip away, leaving her with curiosity. What had shaped this man? The father he’d never known? The mother who’d allowed her boyfriends to hurt him before he was put into the system? The many foster families he’d gotten to know...only to lose? The job he hadn’t named?

A past as volatile as his had probably caused major attachment issues. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. Finally! Answers. Brook Lynn and Jessie Kay battled their own attachment issues, determined to hold on to everyone, while Jase must have veered to the other end of the spectrum, determined to hold on to no one, fighting with everything he had to save himself from further hurt.

Which meant...I have the power to hurt him.

He cared!

Her sudden flood of joy was tempered only by concern. Not just a fixer-upper. He’ll have to be torn down and put back together if we have any hope of lasting long-term.

No question, he would resist any attempt on her part to win him over. But if she could just breach his first line of defense—those frosty walls—she’d have a shot at him.

After what had happened in his bed, she knew beyond a doubt the end result would be worth every wrong turn, every inconvenience.

I will have him. One way or another.

But first things first. Her sister.

After she had dinner with Beck and West—Jase had taken off without a word—she drove home to await Jessie Kay’s return. Miracle of miracles, the girl had gotten a job plucking wild strawberries at a nearby facility, and she’d kept it all this time.

An eternity seemed to pass before the front door’s hinges creaked. Brook Lynn jumped up as her sister trudged into the house.

“Strawberries suck.” Jessie Kay groaned with fatigue as she threw her purse on the coffee table. When the bag slid to the floor and the contents spilled out, she flipped it off and left it there. “I’m moving to someplace called Blueberry Fields. Or Pineapple Cove.”

“And they’d be lucky to have you,” Brook Lynn said, her palms beginning to sweat. “I baked your favorite carrot and apple casserole today. Though I had to fork Beck’s hand, I managed to come home with half of it.”

“Thanks, but I snacked on my dignity on the way home.”

“Too bad. Kitchen. Now.”

Jessie Kay sighed. “Warden is in the house, I see. Are you fixing to start counting?”

Gotta take it down a notch. “Sorry. No.” Brook Lynn warmed a plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and the coveted casserole.

As Jessie Kay pretended to eat, Brook Lynn drummed her fingernails against the table.

Finally, her sister asked, “You trying to tell me what’s wrong in Morse code?”

Maybe. It’d be easier. “I’m just going to say it. Blurt it out and live with the consequences.”

“Great. That’d be a nice change.”