Page 64 of Undertow

Mama H lands a look on Julia. She’s going to be tasked with “convincing” me.

“Yes, and trust me, that little ruse is only going to help your case with Scarlett,” Mama H says.

“Chicks love competition. She’ll be all over that,” Adrian adds with a grin.

“Don’t be an asshole,” Julia mutters.

“What? They do!” he says.

“Well, you think on it,” Mama H interrupts. Her hard squeeze on my arm makes it clear thinking and agreeing are the same thing.

“Okay,” I say, studying the floor as she moves toward the exit.

Adrian clears his throat. “So I, uh, have to close-out the register.”

He stalks toward the main part of the store, also making it clear he wants no part of the coming discussion.

Once Julia and I are alone, the silence gets loud.

“Is this really what you want me to do?” I ask, lifting my conflicted gaze to her.

She winces and looks away again. “Yes,” she lies.

She can’t even face me when she says it. We’re both pawns. Both involuntary villains. She doesn’t want this any more than I do.

“I just…” I’m not even sure if the pain in my chest is scripted this time. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“Because of me?” she asks quietly.

I bite my lip as she closes the gap between us. Her arms snake around my waist and she burrows against me. Soft tendrils of jasmine filter into my lungs, making my chest ache with each breath. The warmth of her body should soothe my cold soul, but all it does is burn like frozen fingers first exposed to heat.

“We wouldn’t ask you to do this if it wasn’t important,” she says, nestling against me. I squeeze tighter, pulling her close.

The words are on my tongue, but as usual with her, I’m finding it difficult to release them.

You will do this. You will break her heart and let her think you’re going to pursue another woman.

Say it, Shaw.

I close my eyes.

Say it.

“How far do you want me to go?” I ask.

I already know the answer. Both answers. The one she wants to give me and the one she has to.

“However far you’re willing to go,” she says dutifully.

Willing.

Such a strange, useless word.

I force in a deep breath and pretend I have a choice.

Nothing really needsto change with Scarlett to fulfill my obligations to Mama H and the Hartfords. All we have to do is manufacture the appropriate information to feed them.

The part that does change? Scarlett’s interpretation of this development.