Sweet Liar (Candy #2)(11)

“What are you doing?” I went to the kitchen doorway, watching as he gathered the items on the floor.

“I’m cleaning up,” he replied without looking at me.

“You don’t have to do that.”

Jonah ignored me and kept going, opening cabinets to find the correct places for the pots he’d collected. I looked down the hallway again at the clothes strewn across the floor, and thought of the heart attack my neat-freak father would have if he saw the house in this condition. The knowledge that he wouldn’t be seeing the house anytime soon caused my spirits to sink.

Following Jonah’s lead, I set about tidying up. I started with my father’s room and carefully hung his clothes back in the closet, arranging everything as if he might walk back in at any moment.

In my bedroom, the suitcase I’d packed was open on my bed, obviously having been rifled through. My mother’s recipe book sat beside the sneakers and boots I’d packed. I was relieved to see it there. It didn’t appear as if they’d taken anything.

“How are you feeling?” Jonah asked from behind me.

I turned to find him standing in my doorway. He looked worn out, and his expression was weighed down with worry. The abruptness and neutrality he’d shown earlier was gone.

This was the Jonah I knew, and seeing him standing there only made me feel lost. All my bearings were gone. Everything that was important to me had been taken from me, and he’d played a part in that.

“I’m fine,” I said quietly.

He frowned at my obvious lie.

As he stood there watching me, my thoughts returned to the comment Victor had made about us making a nice-looking couple. He’d looked too pleased about it, and that gave me an uneasy feeling.

Putting away the clothes I’d gathered, I watched Jonah as I spoke. “Just now in the living room, it seemed like your father liked the idea of us being a couple.”

He straightened away from the door frame.

I licked my lips anxiously. “That was part of it, wasn’t it?”

“What was?” he asked, looking more alert.

“Getting involved with me.” At the way his eyes narrowed, I spoke faster. “Maybe it turned into something real, but it started out as an act, didn’t it? Pretending you liked me. You can tell me. It’s okay. I just want to know the truth.”

It wouldn’t be okay, but I needed to know, no matter how deep the words might cut.

Jonah put his hand on top of his head and spun around. When he stayed with his back to me, I wondered if he would answer me.

“Jonah,” I said in a small voice.

He turned slowly and faced me again. “My father thought it would be a good idea, it’s true. But I wouldn’t do it. I wasn’t about to start some fake relationship with you. You may have noticed I wasn’t exactly friendly at first. But things changed. My feelings changed and when they did, it was about you and me and nothing else. I didn’t even tell my father until you stole my wallet and gave me no choice. I knew what was coming, Candy, and I wanted to protect you as much as I could. Even though you hate me now, I still intend to do that.”

His words did cut, but they soothed me too, even though I didn’t want them to.

“Protect me from what?”

He muttered something and turned away again as if he didn’t want to answer.

I stepped closer and grabbed his arm. “Protect me from what?”

He swallowed, looking down at my hand on his arm. The way he held himself still beneath my touch made me all too aware of him and how he affected me.

His eyes flickered with something too. No matter how I felt about Jonah, the air around us remained charged with electricity.

“I’m the reason they know you weren’t involved in anything your father was doing,” he said. “They wanted to take you in too. Pull you out of school and question you, and then keep you there to get your father to cooperate. I convinced them it wouldn’t be fair since you did nothing wrong.”

I swallowed thickly at this news, but I didn’t know how to feel about it. A part of me wanted to be there with my father, or at least know where he was, although I didn’t want to be used against him. Jonah convinced them to leave me alone and thought he’d done a good thing, but I wasn’t so sure.

“I’d better go,” he said. “Are you going to be okay here alone?”

I gave him an incredulous look. The house was clean, and the sun would be rising in an hour or so. “Do I have a choice?”

Jonah tilted his head. “I could come back later. I’d be happy to do that.”

“No. It’s okay.” Part of me wanted to say yes, though.

He nodded, not surprised by my reply. “I don’t expect you to go to school today after being up all night. Try to get some sleep. I’ll be in touch if I get the okay for you to talk to your father. You can also give me your decision on the other thing.”

The other thing. Getting close to Drew. Jonah didn’t even want to say it.

Then he started to leave, but stopped on the threshold and turned back. “I know I’ve said it already, and I’ll keep saying it. What happened between us was real. It’s still real to me. Even though I have a job to do, my feelings haven’t changed, and I don’t see them changing anytime soon.”

His expression seemed to plead with me. “If your feelings for me are real too, maybe you could try seeing things from my point of view. Maybe you could understand a little. I may not be the nice guy you were looking for, but I’m not a bad guy either. I never intended to hurt you, and if you let me, I can be here for you now. I want to be here for you.”