JINXED: (Karma Series, Book Two) Read Free Page B

to do was act like it wasn’t a big deal.
    His hand remained where it was, with my begrudging consent, burning a hole into my back. But I wouldn’t make it welcome. In an effort to force the arch out of my spine, I ended up hunched over.
    No one seemed to notice anything amiss with us, as everyone was shifting around uncomfortably. Elbows were starting to fly and feet were being stepped on as everyone fought for more floor space.
    “We can talk but it’s going to have to be tomorrow. I don’t like to run late and I have to stop and get some polish for the guards beforehand.” My eyes landed on his bicep. He looked like he worked out but I wasn’t sure. No matter what I ate, I didn’t gain a pound.
    But seriously, who had arms like that and never lifted a weight? And his face somehow always had that perfect amount of stubble, as if it had stopped at the precise length to accent his manliness and never grew a millimeter longer. He’d hit the manly-man jackpot.
    “You can get polish for the guards tomorrow.” He was getting impatient and I didn’t like the bossy tone of his voice. We didn’t work together anymore. Everyone else here might think he walked on water, but in my world he looked like a huge iceberg about to sink my ship. I’d struggled enough to get my bearings and I was finally starting to tread water. I had no plans to let him sink me in the middle of the ocean with his perfect stubble and biceps.
    “No, I can’t. I told them I’d get it today. If we don’t get out of here soon, I’m barely going to make it to the shore—I mean the store, before my job.” Did he even own a razor?
    His hand rubbed over his jaw, drawing my eyes again. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to know. “Do you shave?”
    “No.”
    I knew it!
    I slipped then and made eye contact. His eyes were strange. Sometimes they seemed darker for being so deep set, and sometimes, like right now, they appeared ridiculously pale, with specks of light green in them. One thing stayed constant though, they looked at me as if they knew me on the most basic level. In truth, he did.
    No matter how much I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t. It was as if time stood still when it came to him. It was a month ago, and I was lying next to him after a short but intense bout of sex when he dumped a cold bucket of water on my orgasm afterglow, asking when I planned to leave.
    Even still, when we locked stares there was still something between us that made my breathing labored and my heart kick up a beat. I knew it and so did he. Of all the men in the world, why did I have to have this connection to him? Maybe we weren’t special though. What if he had this connection with every female he came into contact with? It was more likely the case.
    I remembered what he’d said to me. I don’t do doe eyes . He was probably used to girls acting like fools. And this was the problem; I couldn’t look at him and not remember what had happened. When I’d slept with him, besides Cupid’s spell urging me on, I’d thought I wouldn’t remember any of it in a week. I was going to be out of this office and this crazy life. There weren’t supposed to be awkward moments, or hurt feelings, because I wasn’t supposed to still be here. If I’d only known.
    “You keep trying to dodge me and it’s not going to work,” he said. His fingers pulled me closer to him but I wasn’t sure he knew he was doing it.
    “Oh, but I think it has.” My voice had a snarky edge that I knew would aggravate him. See? I’m not one of your little doe eyed girls.
    “When did you start running from things?” His tone dropped slightly, and there was a taunting edge in it that hadn’t been there a minute ago.
    Even now, his hand on me heightened my awareness of him. I knew what he wanted, for me to join his crew of men. Couldn’t happen. Too much exposure and I might be doe eyed.
    “When the person nagging me wouldn’t stop beating a dead cat.” My voice rose enough that Kitty,