Simon: Rockstar Romance (The ProVokaTiv Series Book 3) by Cara Nelson Read Free Book Online Page B

the blanks from there.”
    “What a tough lesson to learn,” I said. I leaned forward and squeezed his hand gently, not sure how else I could show him that I felt bad he’d had an experience like that.
    “Yeah, but I learned a lot from it,” he said.
    “Like what?”
    “You’ve got to stay focused and not let anyone or anything distract you. If you do, it’s your own fault when things go bad.”
    “That’s a pretty harsh assessment and conclusion for an eight year old to come to,” I said.
    Simon shrugged. “I don’t know, but that’s the reason that I rarely drink and I strive to maintain control and focus.”
    “Business and people are different, though, don’t you think, Simon?”
    “They are integrated, but I don’t just take risks and hope for the best. It just isn’t me.”
    “That’s okay. You’re lucky to know who you are,” I said. I meant it but internally I was a bit thrown off on how cut and dry he could make things. It was about as opposite as you could get from me. I couldn’t even remember who had given me nickname Justification Jessie, I’d been called that so long, my whole life really, because I’d always tried to connect with the reasons somebody might do something that others considered bad, even horrendous.
    “I don’t believe in luck. I’m fortunate because I made sure I understood,” Simon said.  He was so matter-of-fact.
    An involuntary laugh erupted from me. I was horrified. I glanced at Simon and mumbled, “Sorry.” I saw that he had an amused smile on his face, which made me start laughing even harder. It was a nervous, I-can’t-figure-this-guy-out-but-I want-to kind of laugh, almost like how you’d giggle around a crush when you were a young teenager.
    Now Simon was laughing, too, commenting, “I don’t even know what the hell I’m laughing at, but you have one of those infectious laughs. It’s nice.”
    “Thanks,” I said. “In all seriousness, though, I’m glad things turned out good with your brother. And for the record, eight year olds aren’t perfect, you know.”
    “Neither are twenty-seven year olds, although I strive for it,” Simon replied.
    “I have you beat. I strive for perfection for myself, and apparently all of the world’s well being with Ebola. It’s not easy to keep all those things in order and not lose track of some of the nicer things, such as a sunny day or some fun time with my friends.”
    “You are so genuine when you say that,” Simon said, leaning back in his chair and shaking his head back and forth slightly.
    “You sound surprised.” Did the guy think I was a phony or something?
    “No, not with you. You can tell when someone isn’t genuine fairly easily, or at least I can, and I can see that you really mean what you say. You love to help people and that makes you happy. It’s pretty awesome, actually.”
    I blushed slightly, feeling the joy of the sincere compliment. “I just figure that I have to do something while I can. You never know what might change tomorrow so if I want to do it, better do it today.”
    “You’re pretty driven, Jessie.”
    “Of course,” I said. “Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have made it to grad school and kept the desire to run nonstop all the time.”
    “Ah, that’s your advantage.”
    “Not following, Simon. What do you mean?”
    “That’s the reason you beat me this morning. You tricked me.”
    “You tricked yourself. Admit it, you were too arrogant to even think that I could beat you—seriously.”
    “You’ve gotten me to confess enough for one night,” he said to me.  Then he glanced around, like he was impatient.
    “You okay?  Do you have to get going or something?” I asked.
    “No, not right now. I believe we still have some unfinished business.”
    That hit me like a glass of cold water over the head. I tried to imagine what he was going to say. This was it…the moment that I’d been waiting for. I just sensed it. I was as excited as I might be if I