AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The steel in his tone stiffened her spine. “Oh?”
“Justice is a good man, but he discards women as soon as he’s had them once. I’m not saying that’s bad—”
“It isn’t—”
“But the problem is he lies and hurts women. You know the type.”
“Yeah. Your brother.”
That stopped him in his tirade. A short nod acknowledged her words.
“You don’t deserve to be treated like that. Not by any man. You deserve good things, Pearl.”
Her heart skipped a beat, then another. Pearl felt her knees weakening and couldn’t deal with it. Seeing him up close after he defended her against his kin—again—made her feel vulnerable, and being vulnerable around the man who made her feel so many emotions just wasn’t in the books for her. She felt too exposed, too raw.
“I was trying to leave you alone,” he confessed when she didn’t say anything.
“So was I.”
“It’s not working. You have invaded my thoughts.”
A tingling settled in her shoulder blades before she noted his frosty tone.
“How is that my fault?”
“I didn’t say it was. But it’s driving me to distraction. I botched up a task because of it.”
She scoffed. “Yes, well, I botched up several potions because of it. It’s not healthy.”
“It’s not.”
“And it leaves us to one glaring conclusion.”
“What conclusion?”
“Go to your woman, Henry. Keep leaving me alone. It looks like you’re well on your way to fixing that distraction issue.”
Seeing him with the woman had burned a hole in the pit of her being, but saying it out loud made her want to throw something. A sound escaped her throat when the door swayed and she realized that she had broken the knob with her magic. Disbelieving, Pearl slammed the knob to the ground and stomped inside.
“What, Celine?”
“I don’t care what her name is—”
“It’s nice to know you don’t want to know my cousin’s name even if you’re insanely jealous of her. Also, it’s nice to know that you’re the jealous type.”
Oh, shit.
Caught, trapped, and just a bit panicked, Pearl tried to save face.
“I’m not jealous. You are.”
“You bet I am.”
His open admission didn’t help. Neither was the fact he followed her to whichever corner she went as if she was the only goal. That singular focus annoyed and aroused, two things that warred inside her.
“Stop moving.”
“No. Pearl?”
