Page 41 of Don't Bait Me (Nora Jacobs 3)

I strategically set the lights on each branch. I’ve never decorated a tree before, but I quickly find I belong to the more-lights-is-better-than-not-enough club.

Rook reaches out his hand, waiting for me to give him the lights. “Seriously? You don’t seem that girly.”

I hand the lights over and grab the stepladder for Rook to finish wrapping the top of the tree. The tree is so tall I can’t reach the top even with the extra feet the stepladder gives me.

“It’s a guilty pleasure,” I say. “They’re all about finding love and Christmas miracles. What foster kid doesn’t wish for a Christmas miracle?”

The smile drops from Rook’s face, and he looks down at me. “Was it always so bad?”

I shrug and reach for a box of ornaments. “Sometimes it was a nightmare, and sometimes it was okay, but it was always lonely.”

Rook nods absently, thinking about my answer. Probably imagining what it must have been like for me growing up. We let the quiet ride for a while, placing ornaments on the tree in companionable silence. I’m carefully draping tinsel icicles over the branches when Rook moves behind me and slides his hands around my waist. I wait for my panic, but it doesn’t come at all. “Never again,” he murmurs against the skin of my neck.

I twist in his grip and rest my hands on his chest. “Never again what?”

His gaze rakes over my face, as if he’s drinking in every detail. His grip around my waist tightens. “If you’ll have me, I’ll make sure you’re never lonely again.”

My heart melts. The man is trying to kill me today with the romantic speeches and amazing kisses. And speaking of kisses, he lowers his mouth to mine to steal another one.

A throat clears behind us, and I freeze. My entire body goes rigid in a second. Parker is standing in the archway to the hall, watching us with a blank expression. “Good evening,” he murmurs. He smiles, but it’s strained and his eyes are tight.

I try to step away from Rook, but he stubbornly holds on to me. “Rook,” I warn softly. He grinds his teeth but lets me go.

And now I’ve upset them both. My stomach clenches. How am I ever supposed to build a harem? How am I possibly supposed to ask these men to share when it clearly bothers them? I know if it was me and they wanted to be with me but also be with another woman, I’d be crazy jealous. I don’t think I could put up with it no matter what their natures were. I’m not sure I can do it. I think I’d rather live with my curse than hurt them.

There’s a few seconds where we all just stare at one another. Parker breaks the tense silence. “Is he your choice, then?”

The question isn’t an accusation. Parker’s voice is tightly controlled, and his face is blank again. He’s trying to mask his disappointment, his hurt.

Rook is watching me closely, too, waiting for me to answer the question. When I don’t, a storm begins to brew in his eyes. He takes my hand, and his thoughts fill my head. He’s practically shouting them.After the day we had today, she still can’t choose? Today was perfect. This is right.We’reright. How can she not see that? What about all that stuff about her being happy? She said she was falling for me! Didn’t she mean it?

I choke on a silent sob and squeeze his hand. “Of course I meant it.”

Rook looks down at our joined hands, realizing that I’m reading his thoughts. He releases his grip on me and steps back. The rejection stings more than it should.

He stares at me, pleading with his eyes for me to choose him, and I stare back helplessly, unable to give him what he wants. I see the moment he realizes I can’t choose him. Desperation turns to anger. He shoves his hands into his hair and turns his back on me. My eyes start to sting. I don’t want to cry in front of them, but it’s getting really hard not to.

Rook whirls back around suddenly and fists his hands at his sides. He squeezes his eyes shut and says, “I don’t like this harem thing, Nora. I’m not sure I can do it.” His eyes snap open, and they’re filled with pain. “Wolves aren’t built to share.”

My heart hurts. Why did things have to get so complicated? I wish more than anything I could give him what he wants, but one look at Parker, who is silently watching our confrontation in that patient way of his, and I know I can’t.

I shake my head at Rook, trying to convey how torn I am. “I’m sorry. It’s not in my nature to date more than one man, either. It’s not in my nature to dateat all.”

Rook glares at the ceiling and takes a deep breath. “Itisin your nature, or we wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”

He’s angry, and I get it. I really do. But he’s not the only one struggling with this. Frustration creeps up in me, and I throw my arms out at my sides. “What am I supposed to do, Rook? It’s an impossible situation. I don’t know how it happened, but I care about all of you so deeply that there’s no possible way I could choose between you. I’ll never ask you to share the way Giselle was talking about. But I also can’t help realizing that she was right. Ever since I met all of you, my life has changed for the better. I don’t get stared at or approached as much. I’m not constantly getting hit on, groped, or threatened by random strangers. I feelsafer. And all of you aren’t completely obsessed.”

Rook scoffs, glaring at Parker. “I’d beg to differ on that.”

“It’s true,” I insist. “My relationships with you—with all of you—are more real than anything I’ve ever had. I don’t want to hurt you, and I don’t necessarily want to build a whole harem of lovers, but I don’t want to give this up, either. I don’t want to go back to the life I had before, fearing men, putting them under my spell, and knowing I’ll be alone forever. So you tell me: What am I supposed to do?”

Rook has no answer. He huffs out an angry breath and pinches his eyes shut while shaking his head. When he opens his eyes again, they’re glowing a bright yellow. “I have to go,” he says, then stomps up the stairs without saying good-bye.

The door slams, making me flinch, and I close my eyes. Tears burn behind my eyelids. I press my palms to my eyes and take several deep breaths. A single sniffle escapes.

Gentle hands grip my shoulders, and Parker’s soft voice whispers beside my ear. “Nora?”

I pull away from Parker and drop down onto the couch with a heavy sigh. He joins me, lifting one arm to the back of the couch around my shoulders, facing me. He rests his other hand on my knee. “Talk to me.”

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