Finding Us by Harper Bentley Read Free Book Online Page B

here?”
    I clenched my jaw at that because she was sexy as hell right then , and I was afraid I’d blurt that out, which I’m sure wouldn’t have gone over very well and would probably have had her coming at me ready to scratch my eyes out.
    “El,” I said quietly, the emotion finally catching up with me. My heart was beating so hard in my chest I thought it was going to explode. But, God, it’d been so long since I’d seen her that being in the same room with her made me feel like a dead man come back to life.
    “You shouldn’t be here.” She glared at me.
    Damn.
    “I wanted to see you.” My eyes bore into hers hoping she’d see everything I was feeling—my regret over what I’d done to her, how sorry I was for letting her leave, how much I wanted her to come back.
    She huffed out a sarcastic chuckle. “Yeah? Well, you shouldn’t have wasted your time because I don’t want to see you.”
    I couldn’t keep my lips from twitching. She was just so radiant standing there, her anger creating an aura that seemed to glow around her.
    She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side. “Oh, you think I’m funny? Let’s see how fucking funny it is when I call the cops and tell them we have a man loitering on the premises, when clearly , there’s a No Loitering sign at the front!”
    How cute was that? But s he was yelling now, and I didn’t want anyone to think I was harming her, so I took a step toward her and said, “El, please, calm down.”
    And that got her ire up.
    “Calm down? Calm down? Are you fucking kidding me?”
    She was getting even louder and I cringed when Cassie came to the door and asked if everything was okay.
    “Yes,” I answered at the same time El said, “No!”
    Cassie looked back and forth between us, obviously at a loss at what to do. Should she be loyal to her coworker, or should she take the side of the pro baseball player who’d just given her his autograph and was undoubtedly the innocent party in this scenario.
    Yeah, I threw that last part in to make myself feel better.
    “Cassie, you need to call the police and tell them we’re being robbed,” El snapped , glowering at me, a threatening gleam in her eyes.
    Both Cassie’s and my expressions instantly turned to shock. Holy shit. She was definitely one pissed off woman.
    Cassie looked back at me and I could tell she was checking to see if I had a weapon. I held my hands up to the side to show her I didn’t then looked back at El, narrowing my eyes. So this was the game she wanted to play. Okay. I was up for it. I mean, it’s not like I had anything to lose at this point. Well, except for her, completely.
    “You win,” I said to El.
    “Good.” She put her hands on her hips, looking so damned cute, like she’d actually just won something.
    “But I’m not giving up,” I countered, my eyes fixed on hers making sure she understood what I was saying.
    She scowled, and the cute little line between her brows appeared, as she looked back at me, all flustered and sexy as hell.
    “Cassie, it was nice meeting you,” I said nodding at her before turning and walking out of the office. The place was still busy, so I made my way past a couple people who scowled at me like I was a huge troublemaker who’d just been harassing their sweet and gorgeous barista, and they were ready to take action, which made me grin and look down as I shook my head, then I headed outside to my car. Before driving away, I chanced a look inside to see El shaking her finger at Cassie who was shrugging her shoulders with a little grin. Thatta girl.
     
    “Jag! Oh, my! I’m so glad you’re here!” my mom said as I walked inside the house.
    “Hi, Mom,” I said as I bent to hug her.
    She pulled away and yelled, “Royce! Jag’s home!” She then grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room. “Have a seat! Are you thirsty? Hungry? I just put away the roast we had for dinner. Would you like me to fix you a plate?”
    “Yeah, that