Ruthless King

Jilly wasn’t fussy.

A strange look crossed his face before he cleared his throat. “Yes. We are acquaintances. Friends.”

“We’re friends?”

This. Was. Devastating.

Once more, she’d completely misread the situation.

What was she thinking? Of course he didn’t want her. As for being friends, well, that was a bit of a stretch too.

Acquaintances was closer to the truth.

“Um. Yes. What did you think we were?” he asked.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to describe.” Mainly because she didn’t want to. “I usually see my friends more often.”

“That could be arranged.”

Her heart raced. What did he mean by that could be arranged? Why would he want to see her more often?

It didn’t make sense. There was no way he wanted to be her friend. So there had to be another reason.

She longed to say yes. But she knew she had to say no.

That would be better for her mental health because seeing him all the time, wanting him, lusting after him . . . it wasn’t healthy.

Jilly had never been that great at looking after herself, though.

“Uh, yes?” She winced. Did he hear the question mark in her voice?

If he did, he didn’t show it.

“Good. You obviously need a friend to keep an eye on you.”

What was happening?

Did he even remember that she was twenty-nine? Why did she need watching?

“I have friends.”

Picking the bananas up, he carried them over to the trash, along with some wilted lettuce and some dirty grapes.

“Wait! Don’t throw that out.”

He stared down at the food. “It’s ruined.”

“The grapes just need to be washed. I’ll put the bananas in the freezer to make ice cream. But yeah, the lettuce is gone. To be fair, I think it was gone well before I dropped everything on the ground.”

“Banana ice cream?”

“It’s yummy. Have you never had it before?”

“No.”

“I’ll make it for you sometime. The best thing is that it’s made with only bananas. No dairy. Good if you’re watching what you eat. Not that you need to do that, obviously. You’ve got a great body. From what I can see.”

Shut up, Jilly.