Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Not going to pretend I’m something I’m not just so her mom doesn’t feel uncomfortable.
It’s a passionate monologue I give myself, almost speeding to get back to her place.
And when I finally do pull up, right out front this time, my intention is to walk around back and find which window is Jade’s.
I’ll sneak her out of here if I have to.
But even with everything running through my mind, I carefully watch myself lift the breakfast food out of the car. I gently close the door with my foot and march right up to the front door before I ring the bell.
Really going to show ‘em, huh? Going to slip Jade right out through the window, were you?
Okay, so maybe that’s not such a bright idea after all.
I guess I’m just going into withdrawal symptoms from not having Jade’s lips on mine for a few hours.
There’s no answer at the door immediately, but it’s barely after seven.
My finger is poised to ring the bell a third time when I hear the heavy thud of steps from inside. The door swings open suddenly, and I half expect to see Jade’s mom in hair curlers and night cream, furious at being disturbed so early.
But it’s Jade.
Her eyes grow wide as soon as she sees me, followed by her face blushing crimson with embarrassment.
“Hi,” I murmur, all my fire and determination to just take her vanishing in a moment.
The cold morning air and the reality of the situation suddenly snaps everything into focus.
“Zak! What are you doing here?” she whispers, twisting her neck wildly as she looks behind her as if her mom’s looming up behind her.
Which she’s not.
I can hear the running splash of a shower faucet, and the hallway filled with steam tells me her mom is busy in the shower.
“I brought us some breakfast,” I explain, feeling a little wounded that she’s not as glad to see me as I am her.
“I said I’d be in at eight,” Jade says firmly, almost sounding like she’s angry I’ve just turned up before her expression shifts.
There’s something else worrying her, and I feel that my just turning up is exactly what she’s been waiting for somehow, no matter what she tells me.
“Jade, what’s happened?” I ask, on the defensive now.
Jade thinks a moment, looking up with tired eyes as she struggles to find the words.
“My mom freaked last night,” she murmurs, looking down as she tells me all I need to know.
“She said I’m not to step out of this house until she’s spoken to you about the job. She won’t let me…,” she tries to finish, but the shimmering lines of tears down her face and her shivering sobs stop the words.
I feel my brow crease, and my jaw sets with more than just a little irritation.
“Not a step out of the house?” I ask in a low voice, and Jade nods tearfully.
“You do want this, don’t you Jade?” is the only other thing I ask her.
Her head gives another nod before I finished, sealing both our fates.
“Then hold these,” I command her, pressing the paper sacks and cardboard trays of food into her hands before I open the door wider.
Scooping her up off her feet in one movement, I make her gasp in shock.
“What are you doing!?” she squeaks as I pull the front door closed and head straight for my car, making sure her feet don’t touch the ground as I settle her into the passenger seat.
“You haven’t taken a single step,” I remind her, feeling the edge of my mouth curling into a grin.
“And you’re not going to stay here anymore,” I inform her. “Apart from being fucking miles away from anywhere useful, I don’t want you anyplace I can’t grab hold of you when I feel like it. You’re coming with me and staying with me.”
Closing the car door before she can answer and letting myself in the driver’s side, I expect to hear her protesting at being snatched like this.
But she’s already opened one of the paper sacks I handed her. “You got fried chicken bagels? I love these,” she sniffs, returning my smile before I make a hasty exit out of her driveway and down the street.
Not even daring to look in the rearview until we’re near a turn-off.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jade
I haven’t slept a wink and was up mostly all night crying. I felt as if the one good thing to ever happen to me was being squashed by my mom before it even got off the ground.
But Zak, being the amazing man he is, has done what every knight in shining armor does.
He’s come to rescue me.
Even making sure I don’t break my mom’s terms by not letting my feet even touch the ground on my way out.
More than that, he’s brought my favorite food with him.