Free Finding Focus by Jiffy Kate Page B

wants. Normally, I’d let her have her way and give in, which is how I end up in her bed occasionally, but the fact that Dani is in the next room has me on edge. I don’t know why, but I really don’t want her and Valerie in the same room.
    “Well, I was hoping I could catch you before you left the cottage. I was kinda hoping we could maybe have some breakfast . . . in bed .” She winks, and I smile at her, shaking my head. “When you weren’t home, I decided to come track your ass down.”
    “Sorry, Val. I’ve got plans for the day.” I look up and my gaze meets a set of emerald green eyes staring at me from the doorway. Her eyes leave mine and zero in on Valerie. The look she gives her is interesting, to say the least.
    Her eyebrow quirks and her lips draw together, like she’s trying to keep from saying something.
    “Dani! I was wonderin’ if you’d be out here,” Valerie says. Her fake-ass niceness doesn’t slip by me.
    Dani’s eyes narrow and pink tinges her cheeks. “Valerie, it’s good to see you.” Her words and tone don’t quite measure up.
    She’s not jealous, is she?
    The possibility that Valerie pissing on my leg evokes that kind of emotion from Dani excites me. I want her to want me, because I sure as hell want her.
    Wait. What?
    “I take it you two have met,” I say, already knowing the answer but hoping to get rid of her before things get too awkward.
    “Of course. She’s staying at the motel,” Valerie chirps, throwing her arms around my mid-section. She’s clingier than an octopus. “Dani, did you know Micah is my boyfriend?” Valerie asks in her syrupy-sweet voice, cutting her eyes up at me. She knows she’s treading on thin ice. We’ve had this discussion a million times.
    She ain’t my damn girlfriend.
    I give her the look , which she knows well because she gets it often.
    “Valerie, we’re not—”
    “Semantics, Micah!”
    How she manages to pull a word like “semantics” out of her ass, I’ll never know. I’m sure it’s something she’s picked up off one of those reality TV shows she’s always watching.
    She brushes past Dani without another look and heads straight for the kitchen. Dani is just standing there, looking puzzled as she glances up at me.
    I run my hand through my hair and motion toward the kitchen. I don’t trust Valerie to be left alone in the house.
    I swear she’s going to be the death of me . . . both of them . . . for entirely different reasons.
    We walk into the kitchen, and Valerie is helping herself to stuff in the fridge as if she owns the damn place.
    “Val, we’ve really got to get busy. I’m supposed to be showing Dani around the house today.” I wink at Dani, who’s watching the two of us from the doorway.
    “Fine.” Valerie huffs, not liking the dismissal. She hates when she doesn’t get what she wants. “Call me later! I imagine you’re just dyin’ to have your itch scratched,” she says, pulling at the front of my shirt as she walks by. “I know you don’t like takin’ matters into your own hands, so I’m sure you’re just about ready to explode.”
    She begins to walk out of the kitchen but stops and turns on a dime. Touching her finger to her own lips, she presses it to mine, then gives Dani a wave before leaving the room.
    What she doesn’t know is I took care of that shit in the shower this morning . . . all thanks to Dani and her luscious tits. I keep my focus on the floor so Dani can’t see the smug grin on my face or the blush on my cheeks.
    “You know the way out, Valerie,” I call out after her. “Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!”
    “Hey, uh, I’m going to get to work,” Dani says from where she’s been watching the one-sided pissing contest.
    “Did you still want me to show you around?”
    “No.” She shakes her head and fiddles with her camera bag. “I know you have more important things you could be doing around here.” She huffs as she finishes collecting her