Page 71 of Tainted Romance

I took a step forward, meeting him at the bottom of the stairs. "Don’t think too much of yourself.Maybe I just like pie." My shoulder brushed him as I passed him.

Did I trust him? I cocked a glance back at him, and, sure enough, he was following me, but it was the smirk on his face that gave me my answer.

I did trust him.

God, what the hell was wrong with me?

***

"So, what's on for the rest of the night? Do you need a ride home?" Jace placed his fork down and reached for his water.

The whole time he kept his blue eyes on me.

I swallowed the last mouthful of my pie. "Do you have a license?"

"Yep."

"It wouldn't be a hassle?"

"No."

"Because I don't want to be a hassle."

"Allie,"he said my name with a determined look in his eyes. "It wouldn't be a hassle."

Over the last hour, I felt like I was getting to know him better. I felt like I had always known him. I didn't know if that was possible, but it had happened.

"Thanks." I shot him a smile and checked my phone.

No missed calls.

No messages.

Looks like Chase hadn't cared what happened to me. Some friend. I finished my hot chocolate and Jace got up.

"I'll get the bill, and then we can leave."

"Wait." I reached for my purse and handed him some cash. "Here."

He frowned for a moment, then bent down picking something up. "Here, you must have dropped this." Then he clicked a bracelet around my wrist. "I'll be back in a minute."

I looked at the simple gold bracelet he had just snapped around my wrist. It wasn't mine. I hadn't dropped a thing.

He rushed off so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to tell him.

I went to undo the clip, but it seemed to be stuck.

"You ready to go?" Jace was back at my side.

"Yes, I'm just trying to get this off." I played with the clip more, but it still seemed to be stuck.

"Why? It's yours, isn't it?"

I looked up at him. "No."

"Well, it suits you." He wouldn't look me in the eye. Instead, he nodded his head at the table. "Don't forget your purse."

He didn't even seem to care that he had just clipped some random piece of jewelry on my wrist, which would not come off mind you.

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