Feverish (Bullet #3) by Jade C. Jamison Page A

his eyebrows at her, saying nothing but laying down a silent
challenge. “Okay, you’re the boss. I’d prefer to not have to
go to the store more than once a week, but I will if you want me
to.”
    “I’ve already seen the shit you eat,
sweetheart. Don’t tell me you don’t like to shop more often than
that.”
    That had thrown her off guard. “What do you
mean?”
    He smirked. “I haven’t seen you eat any meat
yet. I’ve seen you eat a lot of vegetables, and I have to guess you
prefer them fresh.”
    She cleared her throat. “You have a good
refrigerator.”
    “You vegetarian?”
    He could tell by the look on her face that
she was flattered he’d noticed. “Yes. Actually, I’m vegan.”
    “What’s that mean exactly?”
    She grinned and looked down at the paper,
writing something down. “You don’t really wanna know.”
    “Yeah, I do. That’s why I asked.”
    She took a deep breath. “It means I don’t eat
any animal protein at all—no meat, and no dairy or eggs.”
    “Seriously? What the fuck do you eat
then?”
    “Everything else.”
    Man, did he have a nasty joke he could say,
but he wasn’t going there. And he did have a respectful question
for her after all. “Like…?”
    “Haven’t you been watching what I eat?”
    He shook his head. “A little. I guess that
explains the soy creamer you put in your coffee. I know you ate a
salad and soup one night. Maybe a burrito? I couldn’t tell. And
when we had Chinese takeout, what did you have?”
    “Kung Pao Tofu.”
    “Ah, tofu. Sounds lovely.”
    “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”
    “I had it once. Once. It was like
chewing on a fucking sponge. No, thank you. If being vegetarian’s
so great, why do you have to eat fake meat?”
    “That’s not it. I don’t expect you to get
it.” She wrote something else on the paper. “But I have to cook for
myself anyway. I’d be happy to make extra if you want to eat
it.”
    “What? And give up my Hungry-Man dinners and
Red Baron pizzas? I’ll be lost without them.”
    Her laugh was genuine and boisterous, and his
heart was warmed that she’d want to include him in on her dining
habits. He was dubious about the way she ate, but he’d be willing
to try. It meant that they could spend more time together anyway.
At night, she’d mostly been going to her room and, he suspected,
reading a book. She seemed sad and lonely. But before he could ask
the question, she said, “If you’re sure.” She started writing more
things on her list and then added, “I’ll get any other things you
want too, just in case you don’t like what I cook.”
    “I can help too.”
    “Cook?”
    “Yeah.”
    She smiled again. “Awesome.”
    As she continued writing, he saw the
opportunity. He’d licked the coffee off his spoon and used it to
tap the platinum diamond band on her left ring finger. “So what’s
up with that?”
    Again, she looked a little taken aback. She
didn’t smile this time. She just said, “That’s my engagement
ring.”
    Fuck. Yeah, he was afraid there’d be another
guy in the picture. A prime girl like this couldn’t be without a
man. No way. Still, there hadn’t been any mention, so he’d been
holding out hope. Now, though, the cat was out of the bag, so he
might as well pursue it. “Yeah? Who’s the lucky guy?”
    She took a deep breath and sipped at her
coffee. “His name’s Bryce. He and I both went to CU-Boulder Leeds
School of Business. We both just graduated with our MBAs.”
    “What’s that?”
    “MBA? It a Master’s degree in Business
Administration.”
    “So when are you tying the knot?”
    She shrugged and started doodling on the
paper. “No idea.”
    No solid date? That made Jet think that
maybe, just maybe, there was a shred of hope.
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     
    ARRANGING CLAY’S WHOLE part of an upcoming
charity concert hadn’t been too big a pain in the ass, but he had been. He’d been overly excited about the whole thing,
and so Emily