Page 55 of Locke 2

He had the nerve to give me another innocent look. “Kari, I was handed a script. I simply followed orders.”

It didn’t escape me that he was using my fake name. I stood up straighter, even though I still came up to his damn shoulders. “What is going on, Jem? If you’re here to snatch me away, I’ll run—”

“No,” he cut in, resolutely. “I’m not abducting you. That’s a hard limit for me.”

“But telling people I like to set fake birds on fire isn’t?”

His lips twitched again. He thought this was so funny. “I had to be sure you weren’t allowed back.”

“I thought you were following a script.”

When he didn’t answer straight away, I shook my head and continued to walk. The second I was off school grounds, I mademy way to the centre of town. Jem kept up, never leaving my side. I entered the first coffee shop I saw. It was one of those la-di-da ones. Probably super expensive, but I didn’t care. I needed more caffeine. My head was pounding. Oh, yeah, I’d definitely sobered up from the giant coffee I had earlier. It was probably because the school thought I was an endangered species arsonist and so I was freaking the fuck out.

The rush had just ended so I went straight to the counter. Jem was chewing into his cone now when I made my order and baulked.

The coffee was eleven fucking dollars.

That was nine dollars more than my usual morning cup. I saw the amusement dance in Jem’s eyes as I opened my wallet and fished for a twenty. I paid and kept my back to him as I went to the pickup station. When he didn’t follow, I snuck a glimpse at him. He was ordering coffee, too, and the barista had stars in her eyes. Goddamn, he had that bad boy vibe with that damn messy hair and, what the fuck, but the shirt he wore under his leather jacket was wrinkled like he’d just rolled out of fucking bed. So annoying. I gritted my teeth as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.Unbelievable—

“Kari,” a voice said, catching my attention.

I spun around at the familiar voice calling my name and looked into the eyes of my doctor. I straightened, suddenly conscious of my bitch face. He had just come in from the looks of it, his hands were still buried in the pockets of his really nice grey jacket, and his cheeks were pink from the cold. He looked handsome as ever as he stopped in front of me, smiling.

“Doctor Abbott,” I said, my voice already brightening even though I was close to a hulk transformation a minute ago.

“Nick,” he corrected, his blue gaze glimpsing over me quickly. “How’s your morning?”

Shit.“Great. Yours?”

He winced. “Late start. I’ve got patients waiting as we speak, but I need my coffee. I didn’t know you came here.”

“First time.” And last. Eleven fucking dollars, my ass. My cup better have the tears of Jesus in them.

“You’ll be back. It’s great here.”

“Guess I’ll find out.” I tried finding something else to say but the usual awkwardness threatened to come. The doctor didn’t seem to mind. He was smiling at me, his eyes bright. I could tell he really liked me. If I was a normal girl, there would be “chemistry” between us. My hormones should be going insane, but they weren’t, and I felt sad about that. My pussy was such a moron.

“Are you also late?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I lied swiftly. “Super late, but I needed my hit of caffeine, too.”

“Especially if you’re going to be wrangling all those kids.”

“They’re not that bad.”

“The boys must be.”

“The boys can be wild, but it’s mostly Patsy that gives me shit.”

He laughed. “I believe that. Is she a pain to work with?”

“She makes me dust windows.”

“Ah, the cleaning,” he nodded, amused. “But that’s what it takes to be a woman, right?”

I laughed. “You really do get it.”

“Patsy has a reputation.”

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