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question.’
I met his gaze with a deliberately sceptical one. ‘Just the one question, is it?’
‘Satisfy my curiosity. Just one innocent question.’
‘I can order you to shut up. You know that, don’t you?’ I taunted softly.
His nostrils flared, but despite the mournful look in his eyes, he nodded. ‘I’m aware of that. Do you want to?’
Emotion, thick and charged, arced between us, tugging tight and pulling me towards him. Several
feet away from him, I stopped, bracing my hip against the centre aisle, wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Why my heart raced with alarm and anticipation of what his question would be. Why
I was even considering answering in the first place. ‘Ask.’
‘Who’s your favourite person in the world?’
I blinked in surprise. ‘That’s what you want to know?’
‘I find the company one keeps says a lot about a person.’
‘What if my person is not a person but a cat?’
His lips twisted and he shook his head. ‘I’m willing to bet my favourite camera it’s not. You don’t strike me as a cat person.’
He was right. I actually preferred dogs, but I was a little miffed he could read me so easily. He
continued to watch me in expectant silence, his hand casually twirling his glass.
We were straying into forbidden territory.
Heartacheterritory.
The branch slapped against the window once more, pushing me to answer.
‘When I was younger it was my brother, Bryce, but then...shit happened.’ I shrugged, attempted to
lighten the mood, alleviate the heaviness around my heart that reminded me of my inability to sustain relationships. My own brothers barely spoke to me, and when they did it was only to discuss
Mortimer Group business. ‘Right now, I’d say my aunt Flo is it for me. She doesn’t take any shit,
doesn’t mince her words. She can be funny as hell with it, but she shoots from the hip and I...like that.’
Jensen nodded, his eyes locked on me as he took another sip. ‘When was the last time you saw
her?’
Technically, he’d used up his free pass. I wanted to tell him to stop. Opened my mouth to do exactly that. ‘Why? What does it matter?’ I asked instead.
‘Humour me,’ he replied.
I didn’t see where he was headed with this, couldn’t spot any real danger, so I responded. ‘On her
birthday, a few months ago.’
‘So you’re birthday, Christmas and anniversary friends?’
‘How is this relevant to anything?’