Page 18 of In Doubt

“Why?”

I arch my eyebrow at him. Is he seriously that clueless?

“He worries about his little omega sister heading off to a strange country to work in the middle of nowhere.”

Jake mumbles something under his breath.

“What?”

He looks me straight in the eye. “Using scent blockers would keep you safe.”

I cock my head. “I know.”

He frowns at me and as usual I have no idea what I’ve done this time to piss him off. He could try using stronger scent blockers himself. His are pretty hopeless. I’ve always been able to smell him.

Thinking about his scent has me inadvertently sucking in a lungful, setting the gland at the back of my neck tingling in response and everything pulsing between my legs again. Stupid omega responses. His alpha scent, the richest and darkest of coffees, does smell good, and the way it makes my body feel is undeniably enjoyable. So, so what if occasionally I can’t resist a little sniff? A teeny tiny one. No harm in that, right? It’s like going to the toy shop and looking but not touching. Because touching, you know, will lead you to more harm than it’s worth. Burnt fingers and broken hearts. That’s all you get for playing with an alpha like Jake Grantham … Likehim.

I peer over at Jake, catching his nostrils flaring. Did he… No, that can’t be right.

He swipes the back of his hand over his damp brow and I notice the way the hair around his temples has curled ever so slightly. It makes him look more boyish. Sort of … cute. I bet he’d hate that. Which means I can’t help smiling to myself.

“What?” he says with suspicion.

“Oh nothing,” I say innocently.

“What?”

“Nothing!”

“Why do women always do that?” he grumbles, dragging his trowel across the ground in a temper.

“Do what?”

“Clearly have something to say and then when you ask them what it is, reply with ‘nothing’. Do you do it to wind us men up?”

“Not everything women do is about men.”

“My mum used to do it to my dad in the middle of an argument, just to needle him, just to frustrate him even more.” He shakes his head in disgust.

“It was a thought in my head that was private and that I didn’t want to share. It was not intended to annoy you.”

He eyes me with further suspicion. “What thought?”

“A private one,” I mumble, twisting away from him and pretending to be very interested in the ground I’m scraping. I’m not letting Jake Grantham know that for one flicker of a moment I thought he looked cute. His ego is big enough already. And he isn’t cute. Not one bit.

He’s an arrogant, grumpy, player … who happens to be witty, intelligent and good looking as well. With a scent that makes my skin heat.

“Now I really want to know.”

“Tough. I’m not telling you.”

“You enjoy annoying the shit out of me, don’t you? You embark on it like it’s an Olympic bloody sport.”

“Believe it or not, I don’t actually give you much consideration. In fact, I hardly think about you at all.” And how good you smell. And how cute those little curls are. And how you could snatch my dream right out of my hands.

“Right,” he says, swallowing.

And for a fraction of a second he almost sounds hurt. That can’t be right.