But then he was at the door before she
could close it. He braced his arm
against the door and kept her from shutting it on him. “I’m an asshole,” he said. “I know that.”
“Yeah, so does the entire world,
Jake. Now get away from me.” She tried to shut the door but he held
it open as easily as if she’d been a two year old trying to close it on him.
“I’m trying to talk to you,” he said
calmly. He was almost—almost
smiling.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said,
breathing heavily.
“Like what?” And now he was starting to actually
grin.
“This isn’t funny,” she said. “What is wrong with you? How can you smile and laugh at a time
like this? Your whole life is
falling apart, Jake.”
“I know,” he said, still smiling
crookedly at her. “But you’re
just…”
“What?”
“You’re so damn cute when you’re mad, Raven .”
She turned and walked away from the door,
having given up on shutting Jake out. “You’re exhausting,” Raven said, wiping the strands of stray hair from
her face. She stared out the
window. “You’re so hot and cold.”
She heard his footsteps closing in behind
her. “That’s why I told you I’m not
boyfriend material.”
Raven saw his reflection in the
glass—saw he was right behind her now. It made her flash back to the previous
night when he’d come behind her, stripped off her robe and touched her so
perfectly.
She tried to wipe that memory away
because it only confused her. “I
know that you’re not boyfriend material,” she said, still pretending to look
out the window when in reality she was watching Jake’s reflection in the
glass. “It’s not about us being
together,” she said, knowing that was partly a lie.
Maybe it was even mostly a lie.
“If we were to do this,” Jake said
softly, “it would have to be perfect. There’s no room for mistakes, no room for doubts. Everything we do will be examined under
a microscope, combed over—people take pictures and video of every move I
make.”
Raven’s breath caught in her chest. He was actually talking as if they were
going to go through with her suggestion, as if he might actually come out and
tell the entire world he was her boyfriend.
“I know they’d be watching us,” she said,
shivering a little at the thought of it.
Or maybe she was shivering because his
breath was hitting the skin on the back of her neck. “You think you know,” he said, “but you
have no idea what bastards they can be.”
“I have an idea,” she replied,
remembering her own brush with the lies and rumors that had spread about her
when she was seventeen. “Maybe I’ve
never lived it the way you have, but I can imagine.”
“No, you really can’t,” he said. “Look at me, Raven.”
She turned and faced him, and his liquid
brown eyes were staring into hers.
“If you don’t want to do it, just say
no,” she told him. “I’m not going
to beg you.”
“Are you sure?” he smiled, his lips
twisting into a slight grin.
“Jake, this is serious. Stop confusing things.”
“I do want to do it,” Jake told her, “and
that’s what bothers me.”
“Why does that bother you?”
“Because it doesn’t make sense. It’s too risky. I don’t know you well enough to trust
you with my life, my career. You
could ruin me.” His eyes searched
hers, as if looking for the truth there.
She met his gaze and tried not to be
afraid. “You could ruin me,
too. And my life is just as
important to me as yours is to you.”
That seemed to surprise him. He raised his eyebrows in response and
gave a low whistle. “That was a
damn genius comment, Raven,” he said, scratching his chin. He walked away from her and sat on the
edge of a couch, watching her from further away.
“So what now?” she asked him.
“I’m seriously thinking about putting you
to the test,” he said,
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