She grabs the thick mass of her hair and pushes it over one shoulder but doesn’t raise her head and look at me. That strange meekness when she’s usually so full of fire and spirit nearly takes me out at the knees. “You have every right to be angry with me. But please, can I say my piece first?”
I nod. Only because I want her to get it all off her chest. I want her to know that I will always listen to whatever she has to tell me, big or small.
She wipes at her mouth with the back of her hand, still not meeting my eyes. “When I first saw that Sophie hired a college counselor, I was… stunned. It felt like the ground falling away under my feet. She’s my best friend, my sister, my… family. Everyone thinks I’m the strong one because I can soothe her but she… she was there for me when I needed her. Even as I acknowledged that she needs to go out into the world, to learnfor herself what a wonderful person she is, all I could think of was how it affected me.Me.”
Her slender shoulders shake, and it takes everything I have in me to not pull her into my arms.
A long sigh leaves her. “All I could think of was how I would lose the security of this home. How I would lose everything.”
She looks up now and her heart shines in her amber eyes so brightly that it’s like my very own beacon. “Not just her, butyou, Mr. Grayson. I…was devastated. I mean, yes, I knew that I…” she clears her throat.
Her fingers are laced tightly in her lap, the black dress bringing her youth to a keener contrast. “So, I made a plan. And then I realized how Sophie’s plans would hurt you. You love her so much and if she leaves…” Her throat moves on a swallow even as energy fills her limbs. “Suddenly, I felt this overwhelming need to protect not just her but you too. For as long as possible. And I knew that learning it from me would hurt more. I wanted her to tell you. I was working on persuading her to come clean with you, to give you time.”
Jesus, she wanted to protect me from being hurt by Sophie’s actions. Of course she did. This is Jasmine, my beautiful, courageous little bird. Of course, she gave thought to my feelings even as she was caught between me and Sophie.
“Jasmine—” I say but I don’t know where to start, what to say. My heart is in my throat, blocking every word. My muscles tremble with force of my love for this waif of a girl.
She turns on the bed, her eyes big and solemn in her face. And I see it then, the necklace I gave her, at her throat. Tangled in some of her hair. “In the end, I did wrong by both of you. I’m her best friend and until she told me tonight, I didn’t see how important this is for her. How high the stakes are in her own mind. I was so consumed by you that I —”
I slide one knee onto the bed but not too close. Even as every cell in my being is screaming at me to take her in my arms. “What plan did you make?”
Her head jerks towards me, gaze sweeping over my lips, my damp chest, my wet pants. “What?”
“You said you were devastated when you realized that you’d lose me too. That you made a plan. What plan did you make, little bird?”
Hesitation dances in her eyes. “It’s stupid.”
“Nothing you do or say or think is stupid, Jasmine.” Pure command echoes through each word but I can’t help it. “Don’t ever say that.”
She nods and a flash of resolve lifts her chin. But there’s also a streak of pink dusting her cheeks. “It’s not like I planned to seduce you. I just…I thought I would make you notice me as more than Sophie’s pathetic friend, as your housekeeper, as the orphan girl you took pity on. I wanted to make you see me. Just so I could have a little more of you in turn. Before I had to walk away.”
“Ahhh…Right.” I say, my chest so tight with love that it’s a wonder I can breathe at all. “Because Sophie wants to leave and that brings your role with me to an end too.”
She nods. “Once we started doing stuff, I... kept quiet for selfish reasons. I was afraid you would put a stop to this—” her fingers move between us, as if that small movement can encompass the enormity of us, “—once you learned that I was hiding stuff from you.”
“Put a stop to this...” I repeat like a moron, staring down at her.
Does she have no idea how much she means to me? Does she think I can just put a stop to...thiswhenever I pleased? Why did she think I threw her a birthday party? To simply continue our... fling?
Suddenly, the word tastes dirty on my tongue.
Fuck, the girl has no idea what she’s brought into my life and that’s my own fault. Shame on me. I’m older, more worldly. I should have acted like the fucking powerful CEO that I am.
“I need to get out of these wet clothes. And clearly, you need a shower too.” I cast a look around the dark bedroom, my thoughts ahead of my body and my heart. For what I have in mind, we need to get out of this room. Not surprising that Sophie knows me well. “Meet me in the kitchen, in say, twenty minutes.”
Her eyes grow bigger, her shoulders folding in. Still, the damn thing is so brave that she lifts her chin. “Are you...” she licks her lips, and I stifle a groan, “are you firing me, Mr. Grayson?”
“No, Jasmine. But I think we do need a shift in boundaries.” I push off the bed, before the scent of her, the heat of her body, lures me in. My heart is beating a mile a minute. “Come on, little bird. It’s not like you permanently want to be my housekeeper, do you?”
Or my dirty little secret, when you deserve so much more.
But I keep that thought to myself.
I cast one look at her over my shoulder before I close the bathroom door behind me.
Chapter 19
Jasmine
