Page 25 of Love and Lies

“You don’t know who I am now, either,” she shot back, raising her chin. “And it doesn’t answer my question.”

You looked like someone should ask you if you needed help, I thought. And I thought I saw something in your eyes that I feel, too. But I didn’t say any of that.

“I thought you were pretty,” I told her instead. “And I had no plans for the rest of the night.”

Helena laughed out loud. “I don’t know what’s more offensive—the fact that you take me for a typical society princess, or that you seriously thought I’d sleep with you. I would never, even if you hadn’t gone on camera and publicly blamed my sister for your brother’s death.”

I knew exactly what she was talking about. After Adam died, my mother had processed her grief in her own way: she’d done the rounds of all the talk shows, making sure no one was left in any doubt about the fact that my brother would still be alive if he hadn’t fallen for Valerie. She’d also goaded several of Adam’s friends—and me—into doing the same thing. I’d refused to speak in public, though, about such a horrific loss—except for that one time, about a month after Adam’s funeral, when a bunch of reporters had lain in wait for me at night. They’d hassled me, pressured me, tried over and over to get a rise out of me, with no let-up. Finally, I’d exploded. My tirade about Valerie reached more than a million views on YouTube before it was deleted. Of course Helena had seen it. And of course she hated me for it.

“No problem,” I said coolly. “I promise never to ask you again if you’re okay.”

“Well, that’s the first sensible thing you’ve said today,” she shot back caustically. “So where’s this warm-up room? I should get started.”

“Here.” I went to an open door that led into a small room with wall bars and floor mats. “Maybe get yourself a rope and do jumps for a few minutes. And you should stretch as well, so you don’t pull anything.”

“Like I said,” she parried, “I can manage.” With that she grabbed a rope and began to jump with fast, experienced strokes.

Okay, so it didn’t look like she was going to strangle herself by accident. High time I got out of there.

“All good with you guys?” Of course Demi turned up just as I wanted to leave. “Rafe needs a bit longer, unfortunately; Tim’s injured himself, and we’re waiting for the doc. I’m really sorry your first session with us has been so chaotic, Helen. But Jess could do the basic program in his sleep—he can take over until Rafe arrives.” And then she was gone.

“Sure, Jess would love to,” I muttered. My plan for this evening had been to work out for a bit, then maybe grab a bite with Demi and Simon. Playing trainer for a beginner who couldn’t stand me had not been part of the program.

Helena put the rope aside and placed her hands on her hips, suddenly not looking quite so repulsed as she had a minute ago; there was provocation in her eyes again now.

“Come on, then. Show me the basic program, Jess.” She stressed my nickname, like she’d decided to stoop to it just this once. “Or maybe we should get right into something more advanced. You know we high-society princesses like to get special treatment.”

“Sure you want to?” I asked. “It might hurt.”

“Oh, so you’ve finally stopped acting the gentleman. It didn’t suit you anyway.” She went to the middle of the mat and waved me over.

I shrugged my shoulders, accepting her challenge. “Okay, let’s try a front kick sweep, then.” That should take her down a peg or two. “Ready?”

“Always.”

Without a word I took Helena by the shoulder, stepped behind her, and, in a swift movement, took the legs out from under her. But before she could fall to the mat, I slipped my arm behind her back and caught her, suddenly close enough to notice that her blue eyes were flecked with brown, and her nose had a faint sprinkling of freckles.

“You win that one,” she gasped, and a shiver ran down my back at the thought of what else that sound reminded me of. My God, what was the power this girl had over me? She was precisely everything I didn’t want, all rolled into one.

I pulled her up so she was steady on her feet again, let go, and was just thinking of something patronizing to say when she dropped into a crouch. Suddenly, I was hit full force in the back of the knees—and one second later I crashed onto the mat, flat on my back.

“Fuck,” I exclaimed, once I could breathe again. Had she just…?

Helena had a triumphant smile on her face as she leaned over me, resting her hands on her thighs. “Did I do that right?” she asked innocently.

“You’re not a beginner at all, are you?” It was less a question than a statement. She’d planned this the whole time. She’d been planning it since the moment Demi had asked me to show her a few moves.

“No,” she said, grinning. “I’m not.”

I waited for her to say something else snarky, but then she reached out a hand to help me to my feet. It was even more of an insult, and she knew it. Still, I grabbed her hand—but I didn’t let her pull me up. Instead, I took advantage of the fact that I was significantly stronger than her and pulled her down. I’d planned for her to fall on the mat next to me, but she twisted her hips instinctively inward to break her fall.

And landed directly on top of me instead.

12 Helena

I should have figured Jessiah would get his revenge somehow, but I was so happy about having gotten one over on him that it made me complacent. He took advantage of it, and instead of landing beside him, I landed right on top of him. Like characters in some silly rom-com.

I wanted to get up right away, or at least roll to the side, but my brain failed to comply. I was looking directly into his eyes, could feel his body flush with mine, couldn’t stop my mouth going dry as I sensed him beneath me, every single one of his tensed muscles. He’d grabbed me out of sheer reflex; he was holding on to my arms and he wasn’t letting go. He just kept looking at me. I was in a kind of trance from the proximity to him, and something in my body reacted against my will. Was it possible to be attracted to someone you simply couldn’t stand? That you hated, even?