Page 128 of Puck and Prejudice

“It’s probably the hormones.” Izzie smirks.

“It wasn’t! Stop being a pest.”

“Hormones or not, thank you,” I chime in. “I had a great partner.”

Izzie gives me a proud look. “That you did.”

“You’d better stop giving me sass, or I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

“The powder room at the end of the hallway is probably empty,” Jane pipes up.

“Don’t give them ideas!” Chad throws an arm around his wife.

Izzie narrows her eyes. “I know what you’re doing.”

Jane widens her eyes innocently. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

I look at Chad. “Are you following this?”

“Nope.”

Izzie laces her arm with mine. “I’ll tell you in a sec. Let’s get something to drink.”

“Okay.” I let her steer me to the nearest open bar and don’t ask for a clarification until we have drinks in hand and no one is close enough to eavesdrop. “So, what was that all about?”

“Jane wants to bust us.”

I don’t answer for a few beats, trying to reconcile the almost angelical disposition of Izzie’s older sister with the diabolical picture Izzie is painting.

“Why? Payback for when we walked in on them?”

“Yep.”

I laugh. “Man, I thought Jane was the nice one.”

“She’s nice, but we all have a wicked streak.”

“Courtesy of your mother?” I arch a brow. I’ve seen enough of Mrs. Bennet to make that assumption.

But Izzie shakes her head. “No. We got it from our dad.”

I widen my eyes. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. Dad is quite the fiend. You’ll see.”

Her eyes sparkle with admiration, eliciting odd feelings in me.

“What’s wrong?” she asks.

Damn. Was I wearing my turmoil on my face?

“Nothing.”

“Jacks… you can tell me anything.”

“It’s just… well. I’m a little jealous of your relationship with your dad.”

She tilts her head, her eyes going soft with understanding. “Because you’ve never met yours?”

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