What! “No. No, no, no.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” her sister insisted. “You can bury your stubborn side in a cow patty, where it belongs. He’s already paid the hospital bill. You think they’ll give the money back to him?”

She wouldn’t be a drain on him. She would rather die. “They won’t, but I will. I’m paying him back even if I have to get a third job.” And a fourth one. “Even if I have to sell my organs on the black market!”

“First, I call dibs on your liver. I could use a new one. And I’ll expect a sisterly discount. But why can’t we let him—”

“I said no!”

“Okay, okay. Calm down.” Jessie Kay pursed her lips, as if she’d just sucked on a lemon. “I’ll get a job.”

Please. Heard that before.

“I know you’re not actually speaking any words, but I don’t think you’ve ever been ruder to me,” Jessie Kay said. “Your eyes are saying plenty.”

“Well, I hope you’re listening. They don’t like to repeat themselves.”

“I’m listening, all right, and they have a seriously dirty mouth.” Her sister gave her hand another squeeze. “So...did you talk me up to Jase?”

Sickness churned deep in her stomach. “Of course.”

“Did you mention my ability to make any conversation about sex?”

“Somehow that detail got left out,” she said drily.

“Well, it’s time to put it in.” Jessie Kay wiggled her brows. “See what I did there?”

Brook Lynn rolled her eyes.

“I’m going to marry that boy, you know,” her sister said with a firm nod. “And I’m going to break him in like a carnival pony then ride him into the sunset for a happily-ever-after. For both of us.”

The churning and sickness grew worse. Marry him? As in, take his last name, sleep in his bed every night and have his babies, marry? “Why Jase? After the way he’s treated you, the things he’s said to you, why not pick, say, Beck?” Please.

“Beck was a mistake. He’s like an older brother now. Jase, on the other hand, is the white knight I want guarding my back.”

The moisture in her mouth dried. I can’t steal a white knight from my sister. I just can’t.

Not that he was Brook Lynn’s to steal.

“We need him,” Jessie Kay said. “He can make our lives better.”

He could. He was strong. Smart. Funny. Teasing. Passionate. Resourceful. Sexy. “Or he could make our lives worse.” Am I trying to change her mind for her good...or my own?

Once-bright cheeks turned waxen. “Do you not think I can win him over?” Jessie Kay asked with a tremor. “Do you not think I’m special enough?”

Her sister’s vulnerabilities didn’t show up often, but when they did...I would rather have my heart ripped out by a zombie than see that look on her face. “I think you’re the specialest. I know you think he doesn’t know what he wants, and that you can show him, but are you sure you should try? Shouldn’t a man be willing to fight for you? You are a prize, and if he can’t see that on his own...”

“Am I, though? Am I really a prize?”

“I think so. Mom and Dad thought so. I mean, are you a total underachiever? Yes. But you’re also smart and witty, and you sure aren’t ugly.”

Her sister snorted. “Your compliments are like poetry.” She fluffed her hair. “But you’re right. I’m definitely a prize, and he’d be crazy not to want me. I will find a way to change his mind. Because I want him. Bad. I’ve never met a guy so capable and concerned, so willing to step in and make everything better.”

A flood of different emotions hit Brook Lynn, one after the other. Anger. Frustration. Worry. Sadness. Regret. Affection. Hope. More anger. Her chest hurt. Her temples, too.

“I texted him a bit ago,” Jessie Kay said. “Told him you were up. He’d like to see you.”

“No. Absolutely not.” Can’t face him right now.

“But why not? He’s your future brother-in-law.”

“Because,” she gritted out, doing her best not to reveal her frustration with the term. “Just because.”

Jessie Kay hesitated, nodded. “Okay. I’ll go tell him you’re not up for visitors.”

“Thank you.” Yes, she needed to express her gratitude to him for all he’d done. He’d gone above and beyond what was expected of a boss or even a friend. But with her sister’s words clanging around in her head, she didn’t think she could bear to be in the same room with him, looking at him, breathing him in. “Tell him, and then head home.”

“No, I—”

“Yes. You need to rest, and so do I. Just...find me a notebook and a pen before you go. Please,” she tacked on when she realized how rude she must sound. Warden strikes again.

Jessie Kay shook her head. “Sorry, sister dear, but I’m here for the long haul. I’m staying, and that’s that. I’ll be right back.” Before she left, she kissed Brook Lynn on the forehead. And, true to her word—for once—Jessie Kay did, in fact, come right back with a notebook and pen.

Expression bemused, Jessie Kay said, “Dude. Jase does not like being told no.”

“Learned that my first day as his assistant.” Her heart drummed erratically. With guilt or longing, she wasn’t sure. “Did he leave?”