AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was Benjamin's turn to look surprised. "Fire you? I can be stupid sometimes, but not that stupid. Why would you think that?"
"After this morning, I just thought you wouldn't want to work with me anymore. When you showed up, I assumed you heard what happened with Kevin Burke?—"
His hand wrapped around hers to stop her signing. "Kevin Burke? What happened with Kevin Burke?"
Jewell explored his face. She knew by the confused look in his eyes and the way his gaze shifted over her expression that he didn't know what happened. Good lord! Now she would have to explain. How could she tell him what kind of rumors were going through Bulwark? Could she say with a straight face, without bursting into humiliated flames, what Kevin assumed she was doing the day he came in? And what he—and many others at Bulwark—assumed was going on between the two of them.
With a fortifying breath, Jewell lifted her hands and explained. As she detailed the stories and rumors of their affair, his brown eyes darkened. Jewell tried to put a light air to the whole thing, saying how silly everyone was to take such innocent actions and make them into things they weren't. "He asked if our fight this morning was a lover's quarrel," she finished.
His powerful stare held hers, and no matter how hot her cheeks burned, she couldn't look away. "There is something you aren't telling me," he signed slowly.
Jewell had to close her eyes to break the connection, and opened them again to look down at her hands. When she looked back, she had to find a point beyond his shoulder to look toward. She couldn't meet his eyes again.
"Do you remember the day he came in your office and I was…" She couldn't find the words to explain their positioning that day without sounding like a fool. "When I nearly fell and you caught me? And Mr. Burke walked in…" Benjamin nodded. "He assumed I was…" She had to stop, her hands shaking. Jewell didn't know the sign for what Kevin thought she was doing. How could you sign oral sex without looking crude, and without dying of embarrassment?
Her stomach clenched and a wave of nausea hit her. This was just too much. Anyone else and this wouldn't be a problem. But Benjamin was different. Just the thought of…oh, God! Hot tears burned her eyes, and she looked away to hide them.
Benjamin touched his fingertip to her chin, gently urging her to face him again. "Jewell, look at me," he said.
Fighting the humiliation of the conversation, coupled with the devastating effects of his slight touch, Jewell looked at him again. His eyes had softened, and the special smile she liked to think of as her very own spread across his face. He caressed her cheek and his thumb brushed away the tear wetting her skin. He seemed reluctant to take his hand away to sign.
"What did he say to you?" She tried to shake her head, but his hand came back to her face, his palm against her cheek. "What did he say to you?"
Jewell swallowed hard, her throat now dry and rough. She couldn't sign anymore and had to rely on him to know what her lips said. When she spoke, his eyes shifted down a slight degree to watch her mouth. "He said you've been around long enough to know you should lock your door before getting me on my knees."
His entire body tensed, his jaw clenching tight. But the touch on her cheek never changed. When he spoke again, it was through clenched teeth. "I'm going to?—"
Jewell laid her fingers to his lips, and his eyes immediately jerked back to look straight at her. She shook her head, and let her hand slip away before another warm breath touched her skin. His fingers wrapped around hers and he held them together on the cushion between them. "No. I made it very clear to him that I won't put up with that. If he looks at me crossed-eyed, I'll take it to Human Resources."
"Kevin Burke is an ass and an idiot."
"You won't get any argument from me," she said with a soft chuckle. Her voice barely carried between them, her nerves fluttering with the contact.
"If he says or does anything, tell me." Jewell nodded, thankful he let it go at that. "Now," he said, his entire expression changing as he smiled. "Are we friends again?"
Jewell smiled back, relieved that that conversation had shifted away from her miserable day. "Again? Were we friends to begin with?"
Benjamin grinned and nodded. "Can I get that drink now?"
"I'm just going to change my clothes," she said, quickly indicating her scant shorts and tight top.
His smile took on an amused tilt. "Don't change on my account."
Heat rushed over her entire body. Jewell stood and walked to the kitchen to get a can of cola for him. When she went back into the living room, Benjamin was reclined in a more comfortable position against the assortment of pillows on the couch. He had picked up a small photo album she kept on the coffee table and was looking through it, one ankle balanced on the other knee in a relaxed position with the album open on his lap. Instead of sitting on the cushion, Jewell put her knees on the couch and sat back on her own feet. Benjamin took the cold can from her and pointed at the album.
"You were a cute kid," he commented.
"How do you know which one is me?" she said.
Benjamin set the can down on the side table before pointing toward the hallway. "I saw your family portrait in the hall. You are the only one with red hair. You don't look anything like the rest of the family. What? Were you adopted?"
Jewell touched her nose with the finger of one hand and pointed at him with another. "On the nose."
Benjamin's face grew serious. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
Jewell shrugged. "Why be sorry? We're all adopted. All four of us."
His eyebrows arched. "All of you? That explains why you don't look alike."
