yourself.”
“No. I have to watch over her. She’s in my care.”
A level glare hit her hard. “You’re going to make bad
decisions. Things you regret. Things that can’t be undone. If
you’re not thinking clearly, not thinking like yourself, then
everything is going to go to shit.”
Jenny didn’t have to ask if watching over her included
toying with Haley’s emotions and her body. It was written all
over her face. She was deeply astounded, and Claire didn’t
blame her. Jenny had never known her to lose control over
anything. She’d barely shown any emotion. God, she’d barely
felt anything before Haley. It was like, with her arrival, the tap
that had been stuck shut for so many years had finally been
wedged open and it was pouring out of her at a rate that was
entirely unacceptable because if it didn’t stop, it would flood
everything and create a messy ruin that there would be no
cleaning up after.
“I’ll handle it,” Claire ground out. She tried to make it clear
that she was finished with the conversation. Jenny might not
have believed her, but she was very in tune with other people’s
moods and emotions, and she knew not to press. She did press
her lips into a thin line, but she nodded and left Claire to the
unpeaceful quiet of her office.
But inside her head, the shitstorm of noise was only
beginning. She tried to go somewhere else, to banish her
thoughts, or at least order them, but all she could see was
Haley’s innocent, beautiful face. She saw her pressed up
against the bookcase, only a few inches away, her face twisted
with rapture and surprise as she came on Claire’s fingers. She
saw her at the piano, her body so responsive, begging, aching