Page 13 of Limbo

I roll my eyes at the mere mention of Graham. “Factory worker.”

“Are you Italian?” He shoots off questions like we’ve entered the rapid-fire portion of the evening.

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Any ties to the Mafia?”

“No?”

“Would you honestly tell me if you had ties to the Mafia? Is that, like, a rule or something?”

“What are you talking about?” I ask, completely lost.

“Nothing.” He licks his lips, studying me. “I’m incredibly sorry for my comment earlier. I meant it as a joke, but after that, I might refrain from making any jokes ever again.”

“I accept your apology.” I give him a small smile, the one he called polite. “And I’m sorry about my retaliation. It was childish.”

But fun.

“Great. We’re both sorry and both forgiven.” He pushes off the bed. “Now, back to winning you over.”

Clearlywinning you overtranslates totrying to have sex with you, and he can’t think he still stands a chance. Except the way he looks at me says otherwise. I sort out my textbooks for tomorrow’s classes, avoiding the gaze locked on me.

“Don’t waste your time,” I tell him.

He chuckles. “Oh no. We’re far beyond that argument.”

Rather than decipher what the hell he means, I need to shut him down. “Look,” I say, abandoning my books, “between school and everything else, my life is complicated enough. I can’t handle anything else right now.”

“Your life’s complicated.”

I nod, unwilling to dive into details.

“So, you need someone to make your life easier,” he says.

“Yeah, because it’s that simple.” Something tells me, Jordan Waters lives the least complicated life possible and can’t begin to imagine the shitshow I deal with on a regular basis. But sure, someone can justvoilàand uncomplicate my life.

A spark hits his eye, his grin broadening. “I accept this challenge.”

And the conversation takes a hard right turn into,Huh?

“What challenge?” I ask.

“You need someone to make your life easier. I can help. And when I do, and you end up finding me irresistible, we can work something out.”

How we went from the Mafia to him deciding to help make my life easier, I’m really not sure.

“Actually, I’m saying—”

“You already find me irresistible?”

“No.”

He shrugs, stepping closer to me. “You will.”

I stare at him, strangely amused by his level of certainty. “I’m not going to find you irresistible.”

“Of course.” He exaggerates a wink. “All right, beautiful, as much as I’d love to stay and chat about you falling for me, my cab should be here any minute. You get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

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