“Sorry. I didn’t know . . . I was just—”
“Snooping through my shit?” he asked with an arrogant smirk, drawing my attention to his lips. They were full and plump, the bottom one a bit puffier than the top. They looked incredibly soft, like they were just made for kissing.
My back went straight. “I wasn’t snooping,” I shot back indignantly, squaring my shoulders and lifting my chin while ignoring the way his toothpaste-perfect grin made my heart speed up and my skin prickle. “And didn’t your parents ever teach you not to be a disgusting slob?”
My response made the corners of his mouth curl up even higher, turning his grin into a full-blown smile that ramped up his hotness even more. It was as if he liked me fighting back.
“You’re just a ray of sunshine, aren’t you? For your information, my parents didn’t really teach me shit. To them, that’s what boarding schools are for.” The bitterness that coated his words, leaving them sharp-edged and jagged, was a contrast to the indifferent attitude he was trying to exude. “Besides, why would I bother cleaning my own shit when we pay a maid to do it?”
“First of all, the term is housekeeper, you ass. Second, you aren’t paying for anything, your parents are. And last, just because they can afford to pay someone to come in and clean doesn’t give you the right to be a slob and make that person’s job even harder.”
My anger didn’t seem to affect him at all. “You mean make your job harder?”
“I’m not your housekeeper, my aunt is. I’m just helping out because crap like this”—I spread my arms wide to indicate his filthy room—“takes up too much of her time.”
“You know, sunshine, you aren’t really making the case you think you are.”
My belly fluttered at the nickname, and I told myself it was an unhappy feeling caused by my instant dislike for this guy. “Don’t call me sunshine, and what’s that supposed to mean?”
He pushed off the doorframe, standing to his full height and moving into the room. He stopped a couple feet away, but it was close enough for me to smell the faint musk and spice of his cologne. I didn’t want to like that smell but I couldn’t help it.
“It means I like seeing you in my bedroom, so knowing you’ll have to help your aunt out more if I keep this place a sty isn’t really incentive for me to pick up after myself.”
That flutter grew more pronounced. Pushing my body’s reaction to the back of my mind, I narrowed my eyelids into slits and crossed my arms over my chest. “So I was right. You really are a rich, spoiled prick.”
“Never said I wasn’t, sunshine.”
God, what a jerk. A stupid, sexy jerk.
Now that he was closer, I was able to see his eyes weren’t a deep brown like I’d initially thought, but a dark grayish-blue, flecked lightly with gold. They looked like thunderclouds during a storm.
“What’s your name, sunshine?” he asked in a low sultry voice that probably worked on all the other girls he brought up here, but it wasn’t going to work on me.
“None of your business.”
That response caught him off guard, and his chin jerked back in bewilderment. Judging by his reaction and the number of condom wrappers scattered about, he wasn’t used to that tone being hurled at him from a girl standing in the middle of his bedroom. I’d thrown him off his game, if only for a short while, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. One point for Shane, I thought smugly.
“You’re seriously not gonna tell me your name?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t like you,” I answered, my flat voice indicating boredom. “And because we’re never gonna see each other again, so there’s really no point.”
He took another step, towering over me so I had to tip my head back to maintain contact with those stormy eyes. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, babe.”
Before I had a chance to issue a rebuttal, my aunt’s voice called out, carrying up the stairs and into the room. “Shane, sweetie? You just about done up there?”
Crap. “Yeah, Aunt Caro,” I answered, taking a step back and looking away from the gorgeous boy and his arrogant smirk. “Almost.”
“All right, honey pie. Get the lead out, yeah? We still got a couple more houses before we can call it a day.”
“Yes ma’am,” I returned, casting my gaze down to my dingy white tennis shoes that probably cost less than a quarter of what his cost. I sidestepped and started for the door, anxious to escape this room and my body’s unsettling reaction to the boy standing in the middle of it.
I was almost home free when he spoke again. “It was nice meeting you, Shane.” I didn’t bother looking over my shoulder to see the grin on his face. I could hear it in his voice loud and clear. “I’m Jensen, by the way, and I’ll be seein’ you around. Probably sooner than you think.”
My lips began to curl up of their own accord, and I had to bite down on them to keep my smile at bay as I walked away from Jensen.
I couldn’t have possibly known it at the time, but that was the very moment my life changed, shifting from the course it had been on for the past sixteen years and taking me down a totally different path.
A path I never would have expected, and one that would end with my heart being stomped to dust.
Chapter One
Shane
When I was younger, I had all these very specific ideas about what my future was going to be like. While most girls grew up wishing for Prince Charming, a white picket fence, and two-point-five kids, my plans went in a different, far less romantic direction.
But that was what happened when pretty much everyone you ever loved bailed on you. Having my mom, dad, and big brother kick up dust in their hurry to leave was enough to seriously screw with a young, impressionable girl’s head. I had enough abandonment issues to fill the Grand Canyon, and then some. I’d walked around on eggshells for years after Stone left, just waiting for the day when I’d somehow lose Aunt Caro and Uncle Scooter, the only two people I had left.
Even though that day never came, the damage had already been done, so when other girls my age were honing their flirting skills and shopping for those outfits that would catch the eye of a hot, popular jock, I was concentrating on being as independent as humanly possible. I kept myself closed off from the idea of long, lasting relationships. After all, what was the point of letting people into your heart when they would end up leaving anyway?
I didn’t want to depend on anyone. It was easier that way. I was determined to do everything I could to make sure I would always be able to take care of myself. I’d work my ass off in school so I could get scholarships to the college of my choice where I’d major in something that would guarantee I’d be able to get a well-paying, steady job after graduating.
I was laser focused on accomplishing every goal I made for myself. I was a straight-A student. I had enough extra-curriculars under my belt to make me look appealing to any admissions board, and I’d started working as soon as I turned sixteen, squirrelling away every dime I made for the future. I had a plan, and a backup plan. Hell, I even had a backup for my backup. Everything had been going according to plan. Then I met him.