Page 100 of Tempt Me

She snuggled into my neck, and I couldn’t contain my grin. It was real this time.

“Hey, Noah, can you give us a minute?” Jackson asked. “I need to talk with Auntie Nat.”

“Queue up a videogame for us,” I suggested. “Nothing too gory, okay?”

“We can play after Val’s in bed,” he said. “We’ll watch one of her movies first.”

“Mon-sah,” she said, leaning back toward him.

“That’s right,” he said. “The one with the blue monster.”

She squealed as he hefted her again and bounced her into the living room.

Jackson led me past the television through the kitchen into the laundry room and shut the door. Their cat, Tigger, was curled up on top of the dryer, napping in the ray of sunshine that spilled through the small window.

“Uh-oh. Must be serious if we need a closed-door conversation,” I joked. “Wait. Isit serious? Is everything okay with Alicia?”

“She’s fine. The baby’s fine. She’s taking a minute to get dressed. She’s been working like a fiend trying to get everything ready for her maternity leave. This is about you.”

“Me?”

“And Jamila.”

“Holy crap. Was that her in front of your house? Was she just here?”

“You saw her?”

“Just her car.”

“Yeah. She came over to talk. She told me something very interesting.”

“Oh?” I took a deep breath, willing my racing heartbeat to slow.

When Jackson leaned against the dryer, Tigger lifted his head. He stood, stretched, and rubbed his cheek against Jackson’s shoulder. He scratched behind the cat’s ears, but his gaze didn’t leave my face. “She told me she popped your bisexual cherry.”

My face flamed hotter than the summer sunshine streaming through the small window. “Don’t be gross.”

“Don’t play innocent. She told me you two were…intimate.”

I rolled my eyes, remembering Jamila’scasuallabel.“She hardly deflowered me. I’m twenty-six years old. I’ve had dozens of partners, of various genders.”

He clapped his hands over his ears. “Didn’t want to hear that.”

“Then don’t bring up anyone’s sexuality, jerk,” I said, testy over the memory of Jamila’s constant reminders we were scratching an itch. “It meant nothing.”

“Nothing?” he asked.

“She made that abundantly clear. And we’re not intimate anymore. Not since she fired me.”

“So that day on the mountain and the next day at brunch, you were together?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Does Mother know?”

“I told her when I needed her help to get the truth about Winslow.”

“She was okay with it?”

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