Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
God. I thought I had time.
I bit my lip and removed my headphones, but kept my blindfold on like it was totally normal.
Coward.
“Can we talk?” Chase’s voice stirred the soft flesh between my thighs as if I were naked and laying in front of him with my legs open and he’d gently blew right on that spot. “Jasmine?”
“Yes, we can talk,” I muttered.
“Without the blindfold.”
Struggling not to whimper, I cleared my throat and removed my blindfold.
Lucy slept in the seat across from us with hot-pink headphones on her ears. Earlier, she’d swallowed a Valium and explained that her fear of flying was way more extreme than mine so she chose to be in a deep comatose sleep during most of the flight.
Chase’s bodyguards and two lawyers lounged in chairs on the other side. They typed into their laptops and didn’t look our way. Everyone had lowered their shades so the space possessed only the dim lighting from the computer screens.
“That’s better. I love looking into your hazel eyes.”
I rolled them. “What did you want to discuss?”
“Let’s go in the back and talk about it.”
Red alert! His bedroom is in the back. No way.
“N-no. I can’t.”
A pained expression spread across his face. “Are you afraid of me?”
“What? No.”
“You look scared shitless right now.”
My mouth fell open. “I-I just don’t want to go into your bedroom.”
His lips shifted to a smirk. “I planned on us talking in my personal lounge, not my bedroom. I’m not that extreme.”
“Okay.” I unbuckled and rose out of my seat.
He clasped his fingers around my hand. He wore a white linen shirt, blue jeans, and flip flops. I couldn’t decide if he looked hotter this way or in a towel.
And surely a man with pretty toes couldn’t be trusted.
“I have a personal lounge in the back.” He led me there and carried my book bag with him.
“I know. Lucy showed it to me.”
“Did she show you the room with the spiked chains and wooden spanking paddles?”
“What?” I paused in the hallway. My fingers shook.
“It’s a joke, Jasmine.”
“Not funny,” I mumbled.
A beige door appeared.
He opened it.
We’ll just talk. Stop being so scared.
We entered a small place that fit a black loveseat and carpet. A red coffee table rested in the middle of the floor. A massive flat screen TV hung on the wall. It was split into three different channels. One showed a soccer game. The other two played the news.
He sat my bag on the floor next to the couch and got in front of me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?” I noticed he maintained two feet of distance between us.
He put his hands into his jeans pockets.
“You ran home last night without saying goodbye.” He gestured for me to sit down. “Did I take things too far? Maybe push myself on you?”
“Yes and no.” I averted my eyes. “I don’t want to . . . do that again, so . . . let’s just maintain some sort of professional environment.”
“Can we be friends?”
“Yes.”
“So everything is fine?” he asked. “I won’t be seeing a resignation letter or transfer request on my desk?”
Now was the time to take my easy way out.
I could just say the words, right?
But, I was already nervous enough, so I wussed out. “No. Everything is fine.”
“Will you hang in here with me during the flight?” he asked. “Solely as two friends sitting in a room looking at TV.”
“Yes, but that’s it. Nothing else.”
“Of course not.”
“I don’t want to do anything but be friends.” I sat down.
Soft leather surrounded me.
Those green eyes brightened as he smiled. “Feel free to listen to your music, read, or whatever you were going to do.”
He sat down next to me and pressed a button on his remote. The screen showing soccer widened until it filled the screen. He muted it and pressed another button. Music came through the speakers. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t figure out who the singers were.
I dove into my book bag and yanked out a brown paper bag. “Who’s this?”
“That’s not funny?”
“What isn’t funny?” I raised my eyebrows.
“You really don’t know who this is?”
“No.” I shrugged.
“Okay. You have to get out of this room right now.” He pointed to the door with a grin. “How the hell do you not know who the Beatles are?”
“Oh. I’ve heard of them. I just never really listened to them.” I focused on some of the lyrics and nodded. “This sounds okay.”
He frowned at me. “Did you just say the Beatles sound okay?”
“They’re not mediocre.”
“Not mediocre, she says. I’m buying you their entire collection. Hand over your iPod.” He held out his hand. “Clearly you have not familiarized yourself with the greatest band that ever lived. No one should walk this earth without having at least one favorite Beatles song. I don’t think you can even enter the gates of heaven without having one.”