Page 17 of Forced Mate Bride
She blinked again, as if she’d never considered this angle before. When she realized he was staring at her, waiting for a response, the pink that had been tinting her cheeks deepened to an almost brilliant red.
“I’m not sure if that’s right,” she said. “But thanks, anyway.”
“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t think it was true,” he said. “You should know that by now.”
She glanced down, her hair creating a curtain and hiding her face. “Yeah, I’m starting to get that about you.” She pulled her head up, as if drawing herself out from some spell. “What about you?”
She sounded almost nervous, as if suddenly shy about asking about his private life. He wasn’t sure if he could blame her. Up until now, they hadn’t gotten particularly personal since that first morning when she had told him about Lucas.
“My mom and sister are off in our original pack,” he said. “I visit them every so often. My dad passed away right before I joined the military.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Don’t be,” he growled, stabbing his fork down with more force than necessary. Then he saw the uneasy expression on her face and softened, sighing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to come out that harsh. My father wasn’t… we didn’t get along. To be completely honest, he was an asshole.”
He remembered growing up, how his father always insisted he knew best, how he dictated whatever his mother and sister did. Whenever his mother had so much as tried to question those choices, he’d gone into a frenzy.
“I told you that I didn’t like it when men preyed on women and took advantage of them,” he said. He pushed the sauce around on his plate with his fork, not glancing up. When he did tear his gaze away from the plate, he found Nikki’s intense stare locked on him, as if she was seeing him in a new light. “My father was one of those types of people. He insulted my mother and sister on a regular basis, and he controlled nearly every aspect of their lives—anything he could feasibly control, he’d find an excuse to do so. I was too young to really be able todo anything about it.” He gave a bitter smile. “Though that didn’t stop me from trying. I was stubborn even back then.”
“I’m shocked,” she teased, her lip tilting upward.
Jasper raised an eyebrow. “If you think I’m bad now, you should have seen me back then,” he said. “But it did stick with me. I hated not being able to defend them. My father was controlling and manipulative, and everything had to go his way.”
She tore off a piece of bread and dabbed it into the sauce. “Is that why you started training the women?”
He nodded. “I know it’s not exactly the same, my dad’s abuse and what I’m training you all to fight against, but it makes me feel like I’m at least helping in my own way.” His lip twitched upward in amusement. My mother’s with a guy who actually deserves her. My sister is in the same pack. Last time I visited, she was enjoying single life.”
When he looked up, he saw Nikki regarding him with interest, her head tilted.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, wondering if he’d somehow said something wrong.
“Nothing,” she said speculatively. “It’s more than a lot of things about you suddenly make more sense.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“You confuse me sometimes, you know that?” she asked, though her tone was playful, her eyes sparkling.
He shrugged, then grinned. “I like keeping people on their toes.”
Her lips pursed. “You certainly achieve that. Because I still don’t know what to make of you after weeks of living with you.”
He shrugged. “Maybe that’s part of the fun,” he said, and flashed a smirk that she pretended didn’t ripple through her entire body.
Chapter 8 - Nikki
Drumming her fingers, staring at the wall as she stood bored at the circulation desk, Nikki let her thoughts wander. As they almost always did nowadays, her thoughts strayed, unbidden, toward Jasper. She wished they wouldn’t, but apparently her thoughts didn’t particularly care about what she wanted and what she didn’t.
She was still angry. When she seriously considered what she had done, she still experienced spasms of frustration. Still, despite her anger, she hadn’t been able to ignore the fact that he was genuinely trying. She hadn’t missed all the small things he had done. He insisted on doing things like running to the grocery store, and he always came back with at least two of her favorite snacks, though he still wouldn’t tell her how he had guessed.
He also seemed to be able to sense when she was having a bad day. There had been one evening after a particularly frustrating day at work. She hadn’t said anything about it on the way home, and she had tried not to let it show on her face just how annoyed and stressed out she was. Once they got home, he’d stepped out again. Within twenty minutes, he returned with a bottle of her favorite wine and two bars of her favorite chocolate. Without waiting for her to respond, he had poured her a glass of wine and handed it to her along with the chocolate.
“If you want to talk about it, I’m more than happy to listen,” he’d said.
At first, she hadn’t known how to respond, so taken aback by just how well he’d sensed her emotions, how he had known exactly what she wanted, that she remained mute. It wasn’tuntil she had initially gotten over her shock that she’d finally managed to say, “Actually, venting about it would be helpful.”
The answer surprised even herself, but she sat down and began relaying the events to Jasper, who listened without interrupting. He was a good listener, grimacing at all the appropriate places and nodding, asking relevant questions. His eyes never left her face, as if she were the only thing in the world that mattered. Even while she was venting, she hadn’t been able to deny the flutter that swirled in her stomach at his gaze. That look alone had cut through her frustration almost as much as venting about the day.
Despite herself, despite everything, she couldn’t deny that Jasper was definitely trying to make this situation work. He wanted her to feel comfortable. He gave her space when he could sense she needed it. He had never pressured her into doing anything.
