“You... you’d wait?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” He could have his pick of women, from models to actresses and anything in between.
“I love being around you, Brooke.” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “I will of course do my best to shorten the waiting period....”
I groaned.
“Consider it. I don’t want to put you on the spot.”
“And yet you’re cornering me.”
“No, I’m not. If I were cornering you, I’d have you in my lap, kissing you until you said yes.”
“Yes to what?”
“Everything I ask for.” Jace leaned in, his shoulder slightly rolled, dominating the space in the car, dominating me.
I swallowed hard, hearing the blood rush in my ears. My entire body reacted to those words. My nipples tightened; the muscles in my lower belly clenched.
“I still haven’t ruled that out,” Jace went on, and I lowered my eyes to the radio display, trying to calm my erratic breathing. I needed to change the subject.
“We’re still on for watching Game of Thrones on Sunday?”
“Yes, Brooke. We’ll still have that. And I’ll still change your tire, fix whatever you need fixing. None of that changes.”
“Okay.”
I looked back up.
“But you won’t mind if I openly flirt, will you? Kiss you when you look at me like this?”
Before I could chastise him, someone knocked at my window. It was Veronica. I lowered it, and she glanced between me and Jace.
“Hey, you two. Brooke, can I ride with you today?”
“I’m actually going up to the office. I have that conference call.”
“I’m leaving now,” Jace told her. “I can drop you off wherever you need to go.”
“Thanks, you’re a life saver. Sorry for interrupting.”
“No problem. Just caught up with Brooke to ask her a few things.” He focused on me again. “About that thing I mentioned, you won’t mind, will you?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Clearly, I couldn’t call him out in front of Veronica. All I could say was, “Of course not.”
Chapter Twelve
Jace
Friday was an eventful day in the Connor family. Since Lori’s birthday had been the day before, we were supposed to have the party for which Milo and I had been preparing for months today. We ended up celebrating it at the hospital, because Lori went into labor at eleven o’clock in the morning.
At three o’clock, we welcomed a beautiful baby girl into our family. Evelyn looked a bit like Lori, who was the only blonde in the family. The rest of us had brown hair ranging from light to dark, and except for Will and Hailey, who had brown eyes, everyone had green eyes. The entire clan was gathered around my sister in the hospital room, which made the place too crowded.
“I swear to teach her tricks and shenanigans,” I informed my sister.
Lori smiled. “I don’t doubt you will.”