Oaths and Omissions (Monsters & Muses #3)(35)

But the serotonin from it doesn’t last. Doesn’t even seem to exist anymore.

Reaching out, I put my hand on top of the pile. The cashier pauses, cocking her head in confusion. “On second thought…” I say, swallowing down the nerves that surge into my throat. “I don’t think I’ll be getting any of this.”

She blinks. Hesitates. Looks me up and down, before frowning. “You don’t want to complete the purchase?”

I can’t blame her; I’ve never left a store without something in hand.

“Well, I left my wallet at home.”

Her eyes fall to the vegan leather clutch hanging off my shoulder. “What about credit? I’m sure the owner would vouch for you.”

“That’s okay.” Shaking my head, I take a step away, narrowly avoiding bumping into the man behind me. I certainly don’t need them billing Daddy right now. “Maybe I’ll come back later.”

“Uh… okay.” She stares at the pile of clothes and other random items. “Do you want me to—”

Not sticking around to hear the rest of her question, I bolt from the store, colliding with Jonas’s sturdy chest the second my feet cross the threshold.

“Whoa, love, where’s the fire?”

His hands find my biceps, goose bumps popping up beneath his touch, and I jerk back to tug at the hem of my skirt. “No fire. Just… overheated inside, a little. One thing you can’t thrift is air conditioning, I guess.”

My forced laugh does little to change the look of suspicion on his face.

“Right.” He releases me, looking down at my empty hands. “You didn’t get anything?”

“No, I was just looking.”

His frown deepens. “I thought I saw you with your arms full.”

How long had he been at the window?

I shrug, feigning innocence. “Must’ve been someone else.”

For several erratic beats of my heart, Jonas just stares down at me, those violet eyes searing a path straight to my soul.

Biting down on the inside of my cheek, I resist the urge to confide in him, knowing that’s not what this arrangement is about.

We’re on a need-to-know basis. Even that seems to have its limits.

“I reject the notion that I’d notice anyone but you,” he says quietly, piercing my heart with the tenderness of his words.

“Where’s the fire?”

Right fucking here. Can’t he feel it?

My brows furrow, confusion and lust etching themselves into my brain. The feeling grows when he slides his hand down my arm, locking our fingers together as he begins tugging me down the street.

Disbelief colors my features, muddying my thoughts as he drags me along. I can’t stop looking at where we’re connected, trying not to let my heart beat too heavily.

Finally, I steal a glance around, noting the photographer stationed by the bushes at the corner of the street. His attention is on us, documenting our every move, and the little thrill from before deflates into nothingness all over again.

I want to kick myself for entertaining anything beyond our contractual duties.

The two kisses we’ve shared have clearly fucked with me, and my long-buried desires are making everything look like more.

But Jonas isn’t capable of more, and he’s made that evident from the beginning.

More doesn’t appeal to me, anyway. That’s not why I’m here.

He drops me off at the house a little bit later before speeding off to “take care of shit,” and I busy myself with some sketches. Palmer calls a couple hours after I get home, and I take a towel outside and stretch out in the sand while he peppers me with questions.

“But you’re coming to brunch tomorrow, right?” my brother asks, and I hear his boyfriend shout something in the background. “Even I got an invite, and we both know Mama and Daddy don’t ask me to come to anything.”

Cringing, I reach up to untie the strings of my bikini top, letting the warm sunrays beat down on my back. “I hate to say it, but that feels like a trap.”

“Of course, it is. But you can’t deny that it’ll be exciting.”

“Exciting is definitely one word for it.” Rolling my head to the other side, I gasp as a figure down the beach appears in my peripheral.

Sitting up, I cover my breasts with my forearm, squinting into the distance.

“What? What happened, swan? Are you okay?”

Palmer’s voice barely reaches my ears as I stare out, unease notching at my sternum. The shore is empty, practically a ghost town, but I swear I saw someone.

Clearing my throat, I brush it off. My mind has been known to play tricks on me, so maybe that’s all this was.

Maybe someone from the farmers’ market got lost, or a tourist stopped to wet their feet.

“I’m fine,” I tell my brother, even though the tightness in my chest indicates otherwise.

I used to see things a lot more often. Shadowy, malignant figures everywhere I turned, waiting to push me down and force themselves on me no matter how many times I screamed no.

For a while, it was difficult to even leave my bedroom. The nightmares were frequent, forcing me to relive that night over and over. To expect it every time I came into contact with someone.

That’s why I went to Vermont. A fresh start.