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“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.
I followed Ty to my temporary bedroom in the sprawling house. I had already dropped my stuff there, but I hadn’t taken much time to get settled in. I plugged in my phone on the nightstand and looked around me. I could put on my pajamas and lie in bed replaying the horrible events of the day. That was the plan. I would normally check the company email one more time before going to bed, but I was afraid to even click the app because, what if Chris had emailed? What if I clicked on my inbox and his name was there, with a message I wouldn’t be able to resist opening, and fear crept down my spine? Ty interrupted my spiral.
He touched my sleeve. “Jas, tell me if I’m overstepping here.”
“You’re not even inside the room,” I said.
“Tell me if I read you wrong,” Ty’s voice was low and smoky, and something tugged low in my belly at the sound.
He touched my face again and I smiled softly, stepped toward him. “I think you better come all the way in the room to ask that question,” I murmured, catching hold of his shirt and pulling him closer.
Ty’s mouth slanted over mine and before I could catch my breath or do more than lift on my tiptoes, his tongue was in my mouth claiming me. Waves of heat rolled through me and I held on to his shirt just to make sure I stayed upright. The strokes of his tongue made my knees go weak. He groaned and wrapped an arm around my hips, drawing me flush against him.
My breasts ached, nipples hard, and I reached for his hair, a bit lighter than the others’ and he wore it longer, slightly shaggy. It made him look more like a fun, sexy surfer than an in-demand interpreter and security pro.
I tipped my head back and let him shift the angle of the kiss, delving deeper with his tongue, hot and heavy. My skin pebbled with goosebumps in response to the heat of his mouth.
He nipped at my lips, made me giggle. I pulled back a little and looked at him.
Ty,” I said, “would it be a problem for anybody if I asked you to stay with me tonight?”
“Why would it be a problem? I want to, you want to, and we’re way past old enough to make our own decisions.”
Ty kissed me just below my jaw and made tingles slide down my neck. I shivered deliciously.
“I didn’t even know it could be this way,” I confessed.
“Let me make you feel good,” he said, his eyes dark with intent. How could I say no to that?
7
DREW
Ihad plans to try out the boxing workout on my new Smart setup in the home gym. So far I liked the interval training and the adaptive strength training features, but I wanted to mix it up, try something new. I took a detour to check on our guest first, to see if Jasmine was settling in okay and if she needed anything.
