Jack and Djinn (The Houri Legends, #1)(36)

Miriam shook her head, trying to push away the memory, but she couldn’t. She went on, “We were out having dinner, and Ben had had too much to drink. We went out to the parking lot, and this guy was there, talking on his cell phone beside his car. He’d parked so close to Ben’s truck that Ben couldn’t get in, and the guy just ignored him when Ben asked him to move. Ben lost it. He just snapped. He attacked the guy and beat him into hamburger. He was unrecognizable before I managed to pull Ben away.

“It was…god, it was awful. And that was just a random guy who had ticked Ben off. If he knew we were doing this, talking, going out together…what we just did—I don’t know what he’d do, but it’d be bad. He’s not…he’s not stable. I know I’ve said this before, and I know you think you can handle him. I’m not trying to insult you, Jack. I’m sure you can take care of yourself. But if anything happened to you because of me…I’d—I couldn’t deal with that.”

“Isn’t that my decision?” Jack asked.

“I can’t put you at risk like that. You deserve better than this.” Her voice went quiet, almost inaudible. “You deserve better than me.”

Jack stopped massaging her and looked at her with incredulity. “I know I didn’t just hear that. Miriam…god, I can’t believe you’d say that. You are…how do I even say this so you’ll believe me? You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. Let’s start with that. You’re beautiful, I mean…gorgeous. I—there aren’t even words for how sexy you are. You’re smart, and kind, and strong…Miriam, you’ve got it backward. It’s me who doesn’t deserve you.”

“Jack, that’s stupid.” Miriam rolled to prop herself up on an elbow. She loosely pulled her thick brown hair into a braid.

“It’s not stupid. It’s the way I feel. Listen. Let’s not talk about who does or doesn’t deserve what. The important thing is that you can’t scare me away with stories of Ben beating people up. It doesn’t scare me. Maybe it should, but it doesn’t. I like you, okay? I like you a lot, and I won’t be scared off by anything. Unless you tell me that you aren’t attracted to me, and you don’t want to be with me, you can’t get rid of me. Everything else is just an obstacle.”

Jack played with her braid as he spoke, his eyes intense. “I’ll be honest here. I want you to be finished with Ben for selfish reasons—I want you for myself. But it’s more than that. You deserve better than him. I want you to be with me because I think I can take care of you, and treat you right. I know I can. I can treat you like you deserve. I can protect you. I will protect you, no matter what. Ben will kill me before he hurts you ever again. I swear it.”

Miriam felt his confidence, and she didn’t doubt him for a second. “I believe you,” she said. “And I want to be with you, Jack. In every way possible. I want to be your girlfriend—I want to kiss you, and make love to you. I just can’t…not yet.”

Jack cupped her face, a smile on his face that was so…complicatedly wonderful…that she almost lost her determination. “That’s okay,” Jack said. “I can wait as long as you need.”

That kind of answer from Jack did nothing to help her efforts to resist him. She fought her desire, watching his liquid blue eyes drinking her in, admiring her. She had to look away from him before she kissed him. She lay down, rolled away from him, reached behind her for his hand, and pulled him close to her. She knew it wasn’t fair of her to ask him to lie this close to her, pressed up against her, but she wanted it, wanted the comfort of his presence, even if she couldn’t have him the way she truly wanted. His arm slipped over her waist, his hand on her stomach, his breath soft on her hair. She lay awake for a long time, trying not to imagine what it would be like to be loved, actually loved.

Jack’s breathing evened out to a soft snore, and he cradled up against her in his sleep, holding her tightly, gently, protecting her.

It might feel something like this.





y, waiting for that one detail to jump out at him.



Rachel Korolivycz, 4555 Gardenia Avenue, Royal Oak, 248-555-6545. Often seen at Woody’s Diner. Another girlfriend, perhaps?

Definitely worth chatting with her.





*





“Yeah, Ben is—I mean…was my boyfriend,” Rachel said, eyes red from crying. She’d obviously heard about Ben’s death. “And yeah, I knew he was sleeping with—what was her name? Mary? Miri? Mara? Whatever the hell it was. That other girl.” Rachel sat at the bar at Woody’s, a sweating bottle of Michelob Lite in her hand.

“So you knew that, and it didn’t bother you?” Carson tried to keep the disgust out of his voice, not entirely successfully.

Rachel shrugged. “She was just a booty call. Someone to take care of his urges when I’m working. She was nothing.”

Carson shook his head, not quite believing what he was hearing. “Wait, so you knew your boyfriend had another girlfriend, and you didn’t care?”

Rachel shot him a petulant look. “She wasn’t his girlfriend. I was. He was f*cking her, not dating her. There is a difference.”

“So there was no jealousy at all?” Carson was pressing the point, trying to elicit a response out of Rachel.