Her head whipped around, mouth parting in surprise. Jasper was walking across the library, eyes locked on Vincent, his rage so palpable that she could practically taste it. She was sure her own expression was almost identical, though her own fury was directed at Jasper.
“Excuse me?” she asked, her voice a hiss.
“It’s not a good idea,” Jasper said, glowering at Vincent. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m fairly certain that’s my decision, not yours,” she bit back.
“I’m not going to let you go wandering about with someone I barely know, not considering everything going on.”
“Unbelievable,” she said, still keeping her voice low. “Un-be-lievable. And does it matter at all thatIhappen to know him?”
Jasper’s grin looked more like he was baring his teeth than an actual smile. “Not right now.”
Vincent had been glancing between the two of them during the exchange, shifting from foot to foot, looking more and more uncomfortable the longer the conversation went on. He coughed and glanced away.
“Maybe I should go…” Vincent muttered, taking a step away.
“That’s a good idea,” Jasper replied.
Gritting her teeth, Nikki stormed around the counter. “Can we talk in private?” she hissed. Without asking, she grabbed Jasper’s wrist and yanked him away, all but dragging him down the hall.
The staff room would be busy right now, with the shift change nearly on them and lunch. Instead, she hauled him down the lobby, past alcoves of books, ignoring the bewildered glances from quiet library-goers before coming to stop in front of a closed door. She shoved it open to reveal a tiny room with stacks of chairs at the far wall, taking up a large portion of the space. She pulled him in and closed the door behind her.
“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” she snapped.
Raising his eyebrows, he folded his arms. “What do you thinkyou’redoing? Do you realize how dangerous it is for you right now? You think going on a hike on your own is smart right now?”
“I wouldn’t be going alone!”
He snorted. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but Vincent isn’t exactly the type of guy I would expect to be able to go up against a guy like Lucas.”
“Unbelievable,” she muttered. “Vincent is my friend.”
“Sure.” He stepped forward, closing the gap between them. His eyes remained locked on her. “And I’m your husband.”
“And that makes you qualified to dictate who I get to spend time with?” she asked, her chin tilted up toward him.
“Considering the kind of person who is going after you? Yes. I’m doing all of this to protect you,” he said with that stubborn edge to his voice that made her clench her teeth and frustration boil through her. Couldn’t he see how controlling he was being?
After that initial jolt of rage, she was suddenly aware of just how small the room was, how close the two of them were. At this distance, she could see his individual eyelashes. She could see the faint silver scar that followed the line of his jawbone. It would take no effort at all to step forward and close that gap between them, to lose herself in him.
The thought came seemingly from nowhere, and was so surprising and yet so acute that she nearly had to shake her head to clear it. She coughed and glanced away, willing herself to get a grip. She needed this insanity with him to end. She couldn’thave him continuing to dictate her life like this. She couldn’t get distracted.
“Look, I need you to please just give me some space,” she said, forcing out the thoughts of how close they were and how she wanted to run her hands along his arms. “I get that you want to keep me safe, and I appreciate that. But this is getting to be too much. You need to knock it off. Now.”
She forced herself to look at him and almost instantly regretted it. A wild desire for him seemed to eclipse her anger, even if only for a couple of seconds. She kept imagining what it would feel like for him to run his hands along her sides, for him to press her against the wall, press his body against hers.
Closing her eyes to squeeze out the image, to will it to go back to whatever unhelpful place it had come from, she took another deep breath, her fingers flexing.
“Please,” she said. She hated the begging edge to her tone. It made her feel small and weak, but it was the only thing she could think to say that might get him to understand what he was doing to her. “Just give me some space to breathe, or I’m going to go insane.”
He let out a slow exhale through his nose, arms folded. He considered her, his look piercing through her. Once again, she wondered what it would be like if one of them closed that space, if she let him wrap his arms around her.
“I can’t do that, Nikki,” he said.
The words pierced through that lust that had been creeping through her. Her jaw tightened. She folded her arms, glowering.
“Why not?” she asked. “You have no proof he’s even in the area anymore. You don’t know if he’s even coming after me. Youprobably scared him off, and he isn’t coming anywhere near the pack ever again.”
