Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
When I’d made my way through the layers of security to get in the house, I took off my shoes at the door and went in. I found Jasmine curled up in my recliner holding a cup of hot tea and watching some kind of baking show.
“Who’s been sitting in my chair?” I teased.
“Just me. I’m not blonde enough to be Goldilocks but I’m crashing here for a few days. Do you want me to move?” she offered.
“No way. You’re good. Anything I can do to help?”
“Actually, there’s no question who is in your chair since Jake makes us all undergo a retinal scan to get in the building,” Eli piped up.
“There is no retinal scan,” Jake said.
“Yet,” I quipped.
“I was pretty impressed by the whole setup. Especially the vestibule where packages can be delivered and the door locks behind them but the delivery person can’t access the house. That was pretty cool. Porch pirates are out of luck here.”
“Porch pirates probably get zapped with an electric shock if they even think about it,” I said.
“I have never put in traps intended to cause bodily harm. I’m not sure you know me at all if you think I’m propagating torture. It’s about keeping the structure secure and the people I care about safe.”
“Yeah, whoever isn’t in the immediate family better say their prayers. Because I’m pretty sure you have ways of deterring the uninvited.”
“I don’t have a fleet of robotic hounds of the Baskervilles to deploy when someone shows up selling Girl Scout cookies,” Jake protested.
“Really? Seems oddly specific to deny having robo-hounds,” Jasmine quipped and drank her tea. “Robo-cats maybe? Some other bionic guard animal…”
“You sure you want to stay here?” I teased her.
Jasmine shifted uncomfortably in the recliner and looked down.
“I wish I didn’t need to. You guys are so generous to invite me to stay while Chris is out there making trouble, but I know I’m in the way. You have your lives and your routines, and I don’t want to intrude on that or make you think you have to entertain me.”
“You’re a hell of a lot better looking than the other residents,” Eli teased.
“Not to mention that you’re too valuable to us. We wouldn’t risk your safety for any reason, much less for whatever inconvenience you think you’re causing. Which you’re not,” Drew insisted.
Jasmine blushed, her pale cheeks going a fiery red. Standing closest to where she sat, I noticed her flush and wondered if she was embarrassed by the compliment or if it was something else. Experimentally, I reached out and brushed her cheek with my hand. “I’m glad you’re here,” I said truthfully.
She leaned into my touch, practically nuzzled against my hand.
Ever since we met Jasmine, she’s been the cool girl, the one I compared every woman to when I went out. Everyone else seemed less clever, not as quick to snap back and roast me or lacked the warmth behind the smart mouth.
“You must be tired after today. Let me show you your room, teach you how to get through the laser beam motion sensors and avoid the poison darts in case you need to get up and pee in the night,” I joked.
Jasmine shifted in her seat and unfolded her long legs. She put her tea down and took my offered hand. It felt way too good to have her take my hand in front of everyone.
6
JASMINE
Everything roiled inside me like a cauldron of misery. The sick terror filled me every time I remembered that Chris had found me. A surge of shame that I’d ever been with him, that I’d turned my life inside out for him and still spent years trying to get away from him. Maybe I’d never get away really—that dread weighed me down.
The worry and embarrassment that I had to depend on the Burns brothers not only for employment but now for shelter and protection as well was eating at me. It could make things tricky at work, living with them, invading their personal space that way.
Maybe worst of all today, it seemed like my body and brain had gone haywire after I saw Chris’s application on our website. It was hard to open up about everything I went through with my ex, especially with all the shame I still carried from it.
The most confusing thing though was how my body responded when Eli held me. I was upset. He gave me a comforting hug. Except my hormones or something activated. Before I knew it, I was drowning in insta-lust, despite having known these men for years and spending countless hours with them without being out of control of my feelings.
It was jarring to realize how much I wanted him. I chalked it up to shock and feeling vulnerable. I put the incident behind me until I was drinking my tea at the Burns residence and Ty swaggered in and touched my cheek. It was all I could do not to lick his fingers. I was acting like a horny idiot and didn’t want to offend my bosses by making an unwanted move on any of them.