Page 4 of Secret Obession
We made the rest of the drive to Savannah’s house in uncomfortable silence. “Thanks for the ride,” she said, popping out of the car. Just like he had for Maya, Jackson waited for her to get inside before he pulled out of the driveway.
“I can’t believe Tanner didn’t leave any lights on for her,” Jackson muttered.
“I can’t believe she puts up with him.”
Jackson ran his hand through his dark hair. “And you won’t put up with anyone.”
“Don’t you start.” I snuggled deeper into the seat. “Travis is always telling me that I’m too picky and I’m going to die alone with a hundred cats.” I hated it when he said that, but it wasn’t Travis’s fault that my track record for getting to a third date was nearly nonexistent. He claimed it was because I was too picky, but I secretly thought it was because the guys always found someone better.
Jackson scoffed. “You’re not picky, Iris. Travis should be glad you won’t settle for a man unless he treats you right.”
I warmed from the inside out. Sometimes, when he forgot that he was trying to be Travis’s eyes and ears, Jackson could be okay.
“Also, you don’t own any cats.” He pulled out of Savannah’s driveway.
“I have that orange one that comes around sometimes.”
“Only ’cause you feed it.”
I blinked up at him, distracted briefly by his strong jawline and aquiline nose. Why did I have to find his stupid face so attractive? “I can’t let the poor thing starve.” The cat had started coming around last summer, and when the cold hit, I’d bought a bag of cat food. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to take thebowl away now that it was warm. He was too used to trotting up onto my porch in the mornings and demanding his breakfast.
“Didn’t he leave you half a mouse last week? I think he can feed himself just fine.”
My nose wrinkled. Cleaning that thing up had been disgusting. “He was just thanking me. He’s very sweet.”
“If someone else put out a can of tuna, he’d choose that over your dry kibble any day.”
“I know.” I fiddled with the edge of my top, no longer enjoying this conversation. All I had to offer was some food and a few pets. Nothing that a stray couldn’t get anywhere else.
I stared out the window at passing trees until Jackson said, “So, you wanna tell me what happened tonight?”
Sighing, I resigned myself to the interrogation Jackson was about to subject me to. “Like I said, my mom was at the bar. I thought…I mean, she looked okay. Not high or anything. But she wanted to crash with me, and I didn’t want to upset her, so I bailed.”
Jackson’s knuckles turned white where he gripped the steering wheel. “She wanted to stay the night with you?”
“Yeah. I told her no, that she should get a hotel room instead, but she kept pushing…” I left out that I’d sent her fifty for a hotel. Jackson would only yell at me for it. “If she’s back in town, it’s gotta be for a reason, right?”
“Right.”
Sucking in a breath, I said, “She said some stuff.”
His eyes snapped to my face. “What stuff?”
“About getting older and rethinking her life choices and all. So she’s maybe coming by for lunch tomorrow—”
“Oh, hell no.” The car jolted to a stop at a stop sign. “If your mama’s back in town, it’s for a reason, but you damn well know it’s a bad one. Whatever line she fed you was just that—a line.”
I slumped down in my seat. Did he really think Mom didn’t have it in her to regret? “I want to hear her out.” Maybe she really had missed me, or she regretted everything, or…
“Come home with me,” Jackson said.
My heart stuttered, heat pooling between my thighs. “Wh-what?” How many times had I secretly hoped to hear those words come out of Jackson’s mouth?
“I don’t like you being home alone tonight, when your mom’s after something.”
Oh, right. Of course that’s what it was. More big-brother concern. Would my conga line of humiliations ever end?It’s fine, I thought. I was totally over my schoolgirl crush. “Just drop me off. I’ll be fine.”
“I’d feel better if I knew you were safe.”
