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“What thing?” she responded, but the color in her cheeks told him she knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Are you willing to kiss me on the lips?” He had to press the point, in part because of his parents, but also because she seemed to be withdrawing from him. All day, she’d practically bumped into walls to avoid touching him.
“I guess so.” She looked like she’d rather be beaten than kiss him.
“That face you just made isn’t helping my ego.”
Her arms folded. “A hot billionaire with a fragile ego? I don’t buy it.”
“You think I’m hot?”
“I think you’re fishing for compliments.”
“I don’t understand the big deal about us kissing on the lips a couple of times.”
“This relationship is supposed to be platonic,” she said. “Maybe you should look up the definition.”
“Okay, I will.” Jarrett pulled out his phone and searched for the word, pleased with what he found. “Here it is. Quote. Intimate and affectionate, but not sexual.”
Her hands planted on her hips, her blonde hair bobbing as she stomped her foot. “Is that really what it says?”
“Afraid so,” he said, with a triumphant grin. “I’d say a kiss qualifies perfectly.”
“It depends on how you do it,” she said. “It could be sexual.”
He produced a convincing shocked expression. “Is that what you want?”
“No!” she shouted.
Jarrett cut his eyes toward Gabe, who’d stopped eating, his eyes wide. Rylie’s face fell when she saw him.
“Sweetie, it’s okay.” She hurried back to his side, patting his back. “Mama and Papa are just playing.”
“Maybe he’d feel better if we kissed.” Jarrett winced at her ominous glare. “Yikes, I think I might be afraid to go to sleep tonight.”
“At this point, your best chance of being alive in the morning is to tell me where the chocolate is.”
He lifted his hands in the air. “I give up. It’s in the pantry. Bottom shelf. Behind the garbage bags. You should probably eat it in there where Gabe can’t see you.”
Jarrett sat down across from Gabe, who was finishing the last of his PB&J. “Are you still hungry, buddy? You want something else to eat?”
Rylie emerged from the pantry with a satisfied look on her face, and Jarrett wondered if he could reproduce the same expression. It felt like a challenge.
“Is there something I should know?” Jarrett asked. “Have you maybe never kissed a guy before?”
Whatever emotions warred on her face must’ve come from something painful in her past. Someone must’ve hurt her. Jarrett had never been a violent man, but he was tempted to sock this guy in the gut.
“No, I’ve kissed men but…” She sat in the chair beside Gabe, who crawled into her lap, latching onto her like before. “The last few times I kissed a guy, it was purely physical, because I was actually in love with someone else. It was awful. So I promised myself I wouldn’t kiss a man again unless it meant something. Unless he and I were in love with each other.”
He wanted to ask her more about the guy she’d been in love with. Had they dated a long time? Had he dumped her? Had he left her for another woman?
But Jarrett kept his mouth shut. He hated that this guy had broken her heart, but he’d already dredged up enough painful memories.
“I’m sorry, Rylie. If I’d known it was such a big deal to you, I wouldn’t have asked.” He picked up Gabe’s empty plate and carried it to the sink. “We’ll find some other way to convince Mom we’re doing okay.”
He could’ve sworn he saw tears in her eyes. But he knew Rylie never cried. He must’ve been seeing things.
* * *
