Page 57 of Game of Love
I followed her as she walked on ahead to the sitting room.
Jia stopped in the center of the room, slipped out of her heels then turned to face me.
Without her heels she seemed more fragile and I saw her as petite and dainty again. Willowy like a fairy but with those curves that made me crazy. Erotic Tinkerbell.
“You don’t have to stay with me,” she stated. “I’m fine. No one will come here.”
“I’m staying,” I insisted. “You know I told your father I’d stay with you.”
“Xander…” she drew in a deep breath before continuing. “My life right now is complete shit. Every day gets worse and worse, and this is just the cherry on top of the shit. You’re here because you’re doing your job. The job is done and I’m relieving you of it, and me. So just leave. Thank you for the ride home.”
She turned away, practically dismissing me and moved over to a cupboard. I watched her, not quite knowing what to say.
Realistically what I should have done is go wait somewhere and watch the place maybe for a few hours until Giovanni contacted me. Then I should go check in with Ethan and Wes.
Jia actually wasn’t in any immediate danger. I just didn’t have the heart to leave her. The other part of me didn’t want to.
She opened the cupboard, showing a display of bottles of wine. She grabbed four bottles and a glass then set them down on the counter in the open plan kitchen.
I walked over to her and took her hand just as she was about to open the Pinot Noir.
“Please just go,” she insisted, eyes pleading with me. “Just go, it’s too much. You being here is too much. It’s like emotion overload and I can’t deal.”
I covered her hand when a tear spilled down her cheek.
“Why is it too much?” I wanted her to talk to me and tell me how she felt.
“Because I don’t want you to be here doing your job, and I know that’s what it is. There are bigger things to worry about than my stupid feelings. The last time I was in a shootout like tonight my mother died. They killed her right in front of me and I was supposed to be next.”
I didn’t know that part. I never knew that she saw it happen. It was always different when you saw it. Watched the life leave the person you loved.
“I’ve had enough,” she added. “I’ve had enough of everything and I just don’t want to think anymore.”
Seeing her pain, I cupped her face. “I’m not just doing my job.”
She shook her head. “Please, don’t lie to me. Don’t. I hate it. I hate lies.”
And, that was a good reason why I should have backed away and stopped myself from going further.
I was a lie who’d been sent to steal from her father. I was a lie.
Thieves were very good liars.
But one thing they could never do was refute the truth. If something was true it would always be true, no matter what you did. And the truth was, this woman had done something that drew me to her.
“I’m not lying. I’m here because I want to be. This isn’t about your father.” That was the truth. It was however something I probably shouldn’t have told her.
“Are you really?” Her eyes searched mine.
The answer I was about to give would lead to my next mistake.
“Yes.”
She stepped closer…too close, and pressed those dainty hands on my chest.
I smoothed my hands over her jaw, loving the silky feel of her skin. Smooth and soft… tempting.
So tempting… the pull of the temptation tugged on my groin and worked its way through my body. It grew the more I stared down at her. It made me want her. It made me want to taste her, to touch her, to satisfy that damn curiosity I’d had since I first set my eyes on her. Her picture.
