“Like with each other?”
Goddamn, she was fun. “Yes.”
“No.”
“Would you go out to dinner with me?”
Her eyes widened. “Like in real life?”
He sputtered out a laugh. “Yes, baby.”
After she studied him for a moment, her face got sad and she shook her head. “No.”
“Why? Is it because I’m in a chair?”
She looked confused and then glanced down. “What about the chair?”
“Some people don’t like being with people with a handicap.”
She snorted. “No. It has nothing to do with that. People are stupid.”
“Then why?”
“Because you’re here.” She raised her hand over her head. “And I’m here.” She lowered it until it was at her thighs.
“You think I’m better than you?” he asked.
“You’re everything.”
Cole smiled. “I think you’re pretty special.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m retarded.”
He scowled. “I don’t want to hear that word from your mouth again.”
She shrugged. “It’s true. My parents used to say it all the time.”
“Just because you have a learning disability—”
“That’s not it. I have a higher-than-average I.Q. It’s that I’m strange. It’s because I don’t act like other women my age.”
“That’s pure bullshit.”
Her eyes widened when he growled.
Jade nodded. “It’s true. I’m different.”
“What you are is special,” he said.
She shook her head. “You won’t like me, so I don’t want to go to dinner. Stay safe.”
“Jad—” He watched her dive into the pool, swim underwater to the other side, lift herself out of the water, and then run into the girls’ locker room.
He stared at the door for a moment. “This is not finished, baby. I can promise you that.”
Cole turned and wheeled out of the room. He had an appointment, and he was already late.
Chapter Two