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I slap my forehead in frustration as a thought hits me.
“What?”
Is it me, or does Jett actually look concerned about me? Because I could swear he looks almost like he cares.
“I don’t have a phone,” I tell him, feeling stupid. “It broke. There’s a landline at the house, though; I guess I’ll have to use that. If I can remember the number.”
“You could just go and see her?” Jett suggests. “Where’s she living now, anyway?”
“Glenroch,” I say, biting my thumbnail. “It’s just up the coast. But… well, I don’t have a car, either.”
I want to sink into the ground now. This is so utterly humiliating. I guess the one saving grace is that it’s late enough for the street to be empty, so there’s no one to witness this weird conversation — or to film it for TikTok. Well, other than Violet, who’s still standing in the doorway, giving new meaning to the phrase, “If looks could kill.”
“That’s okay,” Jett’s saying now. “I have a car. I’ll take you. I’m sure I still have your mom’s number in my phone, too,” he goes on, pulling out a shiny new iPhone, which I’ve never seen him use before. “Problem solved.”
He smiles at me, and it’s like the sun coming out after a rainy weekend in the Highlands.Alsolike sunshine in the Highlands, though, I know better than to expect it to last.
“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” I tell him, knowing as I say it that it’s true. “It’s okay, I’ll sort something out. I’ll call McTavish from the landline. His is the only number I know by heart.”
Jett’s face falls instantly. Within a nanosecond, the mask is back up.
“Right,” he says in a neutral tone. “McTavish. Of course. I’ll leave you to it, then.”
He takes a step back, and I panic. I’m about to lose him again. He was standing here talking to me, as if nothing was wrong between us. He wassmilingat me, for God’s sake. Actuallysmiling.
And then I had to go and ruin it by mentioning my fake boyfriend, McTavish.
Nice one, Lexie. Still got that talent for screwing shit up, then.
“Wait,” I call, as Jett turns to walk away. “Jett, wait.”
He stops, waiting to hear what I have to say.
I should just let him go. He’s not my boyfriend anymore. He’s not myanythingany more. I am not his problem to solve, and he owes me absolutely nothing.
But my mind is in absolute turmoil. The father I thought had abandoned me before I was born has just rocked up on my doorstep, claiming he’s been trying to find me all this time. I don’tthinkI believe him, but Iwantto. I really, really want to.
I want to find my dad. I want to talk to him. And the only person I want to be with me when I do it is the man currently standing in front of me.
I know I shouldn’t do it; but hey — I’m Lexie Steele. And if there’s one thing I can be relied upon to do, it’s thewrongthing. And I can be relied upon to do it every single time, too.
“I’ve just remembered,” I tell Jett, lying so easily it surprises even me. “McTavish isn’t here: he had to go to Edinburgh for the night. Some kind of business he’s dealing with for Jack Buchanan.”
I cross my fingers tightly behind my back, hoping to God McTavish isn’t about to pop up out of nowhere and prove me wrong. He has a talent for that.
“I don’t suppose the offer of a lift still stands, does it?” I ask, looking at Jett imploringly. “It wouldreallyhelp me out.”
***
“Lexxiieeeeee!”
Jett’s bodyguard, Leroy, is sitting in the front passenger side of the car, and he turns round and gives me a high five as I climb into the back seat.
I really want to lean forward and give him a hug — Leroy’s hugs are second only to Jett’s in terms of comfort — but I’m too distracted by all the yelling going on outside the car, where Violet is apparently not on board with the idea of Jett and me driving off into the night together.
If I wasn’t so distracted by the whole, “Luke, I am your father,” stuff, I’d take at least a small amount of satisfaction in this.
“Look, she’s in a tight spot,” I hear Jett tell her patiently. “I’m just trying to do the right thing and help her out. That’s all it is.”
