Claiming Callie: Part two Read Free Page A

nose-to-nose with him. She ’ s squinting, her mouth pressed into a thin line, her stance rigid, muscles wound tight like a rubber band ready to snap.
    He draws in a sharp breath and brings a hand to his chest. “What the hell are you doing here?”
    Emmett climbs down from his bunk and grins. “ Sorry, I just can’ t seem to keep her away, man. I keep telling her, No, Jinny, I won ’ t take my clothes off for you .” Emmett widens his eyes in mock horror as he contin ues. “ You want me to do what? And I say, Jinny, I ’m a gentleman. We don’ t participate in activities that —”
    Jinny smacks him. “Can it.”
    Dean rolls his eyes, then moves around Jinny and plops down in the chair at his desk. He moves the mouse to his computer. He needs to look up Greg ’ s number at the paper, but out of the corner of his eye, he can still see her. She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at him. “ Well? ” she asks.
    “Well, what?” Dean turns to her.
    “Are you gonna tell me what you and Callie we re doing at your little clandestine meeting at Buzz ?”
    “How do you know about that?”
    “I was working. Callie and I were hanging out like usual—”
    “While you were working?”
    “Don ’ t get your manager tone with me. Yes, while I was working… And when it was time for me to leave she got all funny, and said she was going to hang out there for a while. Since when does she hang out there by herself? And since Callie ’ s the worst liar on the face of the planet, I questioned her about it and could totally tell she was hi ding something. So, I did what any naturally curious friend would do.”
    “Which is?” Dean prompted.
    “I spied on her, of course,” she says, as if Dean ’ s an idiot for asking. “I hung around outside and watched her for a few minutes. I saw that she ordered a se cond coffee—an iced coffee, to be exact, which she never drinks—and sat back down. Then, you walk in and go straight to her. You guys were in there for almost an hour. And I ’ m pretty sure I saw her grab your hand and hold it.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest again and stares straight through him, her gaze shooting through him like laser beams.
    “Nosy—not curious—you ’ re just damn nosy. And what, did you run here the second you saw us get up to leave so you could beat me here?”
    Jinny doesn ’ t even bl ink.
    Dean exhales and runs a hand down his face. “Okay, I was hoping Callie would be the one to fill you in, but even if she did, you would come running here as soon as she finished. I hired Callie,” he says, trying to find a palatable way to tell Jinny ab out their deal, but finding none, “to be my girlfriend.”
    Jinny drops her arms and leaps toward him. “You what ?”
    “She thinks it ’ s because I want Maya back and need to make her jealous, and that I want to help her clear her reputation from that article, which isn ’ t entirely untrue. But, the real reason—”
    “Is because you ’ re hoping to get her to fall for you.”
    Dean nods. “Yes.”
    “Holy mother of…” Jinny trails off as she turns around and paces in their tiny cube of a room. “You do realize this plan will likel y backfire, don ’ t you?”
    Dean runs a hand over the back of his neck, feeling the start of a headache pulsing in his temples. “How?”
    “Um. Because Callie ’ s going to eat this up, and you ’ ll be the one to suffer for it since she has no clue how you feel about h er. She ’ s going to torture you with her mock affection. Holding your hand, hugging you, cuddling up next to you, when she won ’ t ever see you as more than my brother, a friend. Trust me. In the end, you ’ ll just wind up getting hurt.”
    Dean growls and runs a hand through his hair, then jumps out of his seat. “So what? It ’ s the best shot I have.”
    “So what? Um, you ’ ll be a mess after.”
    Dean shakes his head, not wanting to believe it. “You ’ re wrong. And even if that is the