Page 44 of Don’t Go Stealing My Heart

Clementine held her breath.

“Where the heck are you two?” Closer still.

Chloe gripped Clementine’s knee, excitement shining in her eyes.

“I can smell you,” he whispered. His muddy boots were visible from their angle. “I can smell traitor blood.”

Clementine struggled to fight her laugh. Silly Jack was a hoot.

Chloe pressed a finger to her lips, a warning to stay quiet, then contorted her body until she lay on her belly. She slithered toward the entrance, as stealthily as Clementine slipping into someone’s back door. The clever girl inched forward. When Jack’s boot was in grabbing distance, Chloe swiped at his ankle.

Jack yelped and stumbled, landing on his ass. “Jesus fucking hell.” He was prone on the ground, clutching his chest. “Fucking Christ.”

Chloe squealed and popped out of her ingenious hideout. Clementine dragged herself out and onto her feet, while Chloe sat on Jack’s stomach and pumped her fist in the air. “I got you so good.”

“Nearly gave me a heart attack.”

She played his chest like a drum. “You had no clue I was there.”

“Because you’re a feral child who should live in the woods.” He tried to shove her off, but Chloe wouldn’t budge. She dug in deeper, poking and tickling Jack. He howled, a roar of a laugh that came deep from his belly.

Finally, he cried, “Okay—off, off, off.”

“Winner and still champion!” Chloe crowed.

Jack lay sprawled on the ground, panting. “She’s evil, that one.” He tipped his head and caught Clementine’s eye. “Remind me to punish you for helping her.”

An image of Jack tying her to a bedpost sent a rush of heat south. For a woman who’d only ever kissed a mark, thinking of crossing that line should’ve tossed red flags her way. The only red flag she could see was Jack’s face if he discovered all the lies she’d told.

Before she could reply to Jack, Chloe nabbed Clementine’s hand and started walking. “She’s coming to my room for a bit. We’ll see you later.”

Chloe’s giddy grin was infectious, and warmth spread through Clementine’s chest, forcing her Jack worries to the background. There wasn’t enough room for all these new emotions.

She spent the next couple of hours on a twelve-year-old’s four-poster bed, actually talking with her, never once reverting to her guarded self. They looked through magazines, listened to screamer music, scoured the internet for cool boots, as though Chloe cared what Clementine thought. As though Clementine had a little sister and roots and soil and enough water to grow.

* * *

Jack hunkered down in the estate’s lower level sound room and sang until his throat burned. The festival kicked off in earnest this Wednesday. That gave him three days to perfect his act and seven days to solve his lens quandary. Then he’d announce their innovation to the world, and his father could attend the finale show.

He hadn’t seen Alistair since the diner altercation, but there was no doubt he’d been rehearsing more than Jack. As much as that imposter irked him, Alistair’s voice was good. Jack didn’t relish the thought of losing to him again, or seeing his ex, who would be in the audience cheering for her man of the hour.

Jack was pleased not to be that man. Hanging out with Clementine emphasized how wrong Ava had been for him. When they’d dated, Ava had barely spared his sister a smile, let alone her time. Getting muddy and crowding herself into Chloe’s filthy hidey-hole? Not on her life. She’d adored the sound room, though, had loved lounging in the library and marveling at his mother’s floral arrangements and the foyer’s crystal chandelier.

All surface interests. As had been her affection. Lies to get what she wanted. He wasn’t sure how it would feel to see her again.

It was much more enjoyable to focus on Clementine, a woman who seemed to prefer getting dirty in the woods to gawking at his wealth. Unless she was locked in his sister’s room, silently cursing him for letting Chloe kidnap her.

He stood outside their door now, listening for a clue to Clementine’s state of mind. She hadn’t surfaced for two hours. Not so much as a peep. What did girls do locked in a room that long? Frustrated, he pressed his ear to the door. Low voices grew in pitch. They were too quiet to make out the words, but the tone worried him. He simultaneously knocked and opened the door.

The laughter and talk halted. The girls stared at him like he was an intruder.

“Think I can steal Clementine away?” He wanted to say my girlfriend. He’d loved hearing Chloe use that term, but it was too soon and Clementine didn’t look pleased to see him right now. He should have interrupted sooner, rescued her from Chloe, but his sister had latched onto Clementine like she was the older sister she’d never had.

Clementine held up a finger, hinting at Jack to wait, and turned to Chloe. “Did you message him?”

Chloe cheeks burned pink. “Yep.”

“If he replies, text me. Tell me exactly what he says.”