Page 141 of The Innocent

Nothing could top shower sex, but this might be a close second. They’d retreated to bed after they’d dried off. She was expecting round two, but Jekyll wanted to hear about yoga with Elaine. It was the first time she’d heard him laugh. I love that sound.

“Is there anything you won’t do to help?” He laughed. “Christ, it’s like you’re going for sainthood.”

Sainthood? She was far from it. And for some reason, the insinuation bothered her. Imogene rolled away from him and sat up.

“I’m not some perfect little do-gooder, Jekyll.”

He snorted, sliding his finger across her forehead and hooking her hair over her ear. He was not going to distract her with his touch. She grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand down to her lap.

“I’m not!”

The corner of his mouth curled. “Alright.”

She raised her brows and pinched her nose. “You don’t believe me?”

He didn’t hesitate. “No.”

She scoffed. “I stole a car when I was sixteen.”

“The fuck you did.”

She nodded. “I did. I was living with my grandparents out on the farm. It was about fifteen minutes from town, where all the parties happened. They had strict rules about me driving at night, so I knew they wouldn’t let me go even if I asked.” She drew in a breath. “So I waited until they went to bed, which wasn’t late since their normal bedtime was nine-thirty. I tiptoed down the stairs, grabbed the keys, and took off.”

His lips twitched. “I’m impressed.”

Tell the whole story.

Imogene sighed. “Don’t be. I got caught. I guess my grandfather woke up sometime after I left to check on the animals, saw his car was gone, and called the police. He hadn’t checked my room since I was a pretty good kid, so he assumed it was stolen by a stranger. I was literally a block away from the party when I saw the sirens behind me. I pulled over, got arrested, put in handcuffs, and taken to a holding cell.” She cocked her head. “Now does that sound like a do-gooder to you?”

“It sounds like regular kid shit.” He snorted. “But what happened?”

“Well, my grandparents came to the police station to collect me. Obviously, they didn’t press charges, but I had to go to court where the judge issued me one hundred hours of community service.” She held up her finger. “And I got my own kind of punishment at home. Grounded for a month.”

“Little rebel.” He smirked.

“See, I told you. I also set a mini fire to the barn six months later.”

His brows hiked.

“Not on purpose. I was smoking a cigarette” —she rolled her eyes— “’cause I thought it was cool. Heard a farm hand coming, so I put it out quickly. But apparently not completely. Luckily, it was contained, but unfortunately for me, I once again got caught.”

“Jail time?” he teased.

“No. But my sentence was a two-month grounding, taking a fire safety course, and” —she flattened her lips— “My grandmother made me watch six hours of videos showing the dangers of smoking. That was effective. Never tried smoking again. So? Still think I’m a do-gooder?”

“Ain’t nothing wrong with being the way you are.”

“I know, but I’m not as good as you may think I am. Just want to prove it.”

“By telling me all the shit you did as a kid? That makes you a stupid teenager, not a criminal.”

If you only knew… Maybe he should.

“What if I told you I did something that was not only a federal offense but if caught, I would get prison time.”

He furrowed his brows. “Bullshit.”

“It’s true.” She waved her hand. “Obviously, I wasn’t caught, and I’ve never told anyone. But yep, I did it.”