Page 18 of What He Wants

I loved my upstairs apartment because it was mine and the first place I’d ever lived on my own. It was painted and decorated the way that I liked, and as far away from the dull, plain, earth-tones that Paul had favored. I loved color. Reds, yellows, and greens added pop to my whitewashed walls, hardwood floors, and countless braided throw rugs. The old house had a lot of character, and I’d kept as many of the old fixtures that I could when I’d had the upstairs remodeled. The smallest bedroom had been turned into a nice-sized bathroom, I had one bedroom, and the other two had been opened and turned into a small kitchenette and living room.

Small, comfy, and all mine.

I locked the door, turned off the lights, and we headed upstairs. “I’m going to put on some stew for later.”

“Do you have any wine?”

I made a face. “Wine and stew?”

Jasmine laughed. “Wine goes good with everything, but no, I meant for now.”

I thought about it for a minute, remembering that I’d finished up a bottle of wine the other night. “No, but I have some Bailey’s.”

She snorted. “Great, we can get drunk on coffee.”

“Or at least a nice buzz,” I added, heading for the coffee maker. Jasmine followed, sitting down on one of the stools at the kitchen island that doubled as a table.

“I was kidding, you can’t get drunk on Bailey’s,” she chided. “You can’t even get a decent buzz.”

“So, tell me, how serious is this thing between you and Clay?” I glanced back in time to see a transformation come over her beautiful face. “That serious, huh?” I laughed.

“What?” she asked, as if she didn’t know what I was talking about. “He’s nice.”

“Nice?” I sniggered. “I know you, girl, nice isn’t what attracts you to a man.” Jasmine liked excitement. She liked fun. And I’d known for a long time that she liked a little bit of danger in her relationships. Plus, he was hot. “Clay checks off all of your boxes.”

She shrugged. “Yeah. I’m not going to argue with you. I would never have thought that I’d be attracted to a man like him, you know? In Vegas my clients were polished businessmen and politicians. Clay is rough around the edges without a filter for whatever on his sexy mouth. It turns me on in a big way.”

“Not having a filter seems to be a requirement for them,” I agreed. I sat on the stool opposite her. Big John had been the same way, and, like Jasmine, it had turned me on. Who was I kidding? Everything about the big man had turned me on. “Does he know what you did in Vegas?”

“No. Somehow I don’t think it’d matter, though. The club men seem to be very sexual in nature. Later that night we ended up in their private clubhouse, and there was plenty of sex going on right there in plain sight.”

I knew what room Jasmine was talking about, and I didn’t want to ask her if Big John had been one of the men she’d seen. I remembered what he’d said to that woman about them getting together later that night. It surprised me that the hurt was still there, thinking about him with another woman the very night that he’d given me an orgasm.

“Big John wasn’t there, honey.” Jasmine had guessed the reason for my silence. She reached across and took my hand.

I smiled, aware that it was pitiful and a little sad. “Would you have told me if he had been?”

“Hell, yes!”

I exhaled loudly. “I don’t know why thinking of him with someone else hurts so much. There really was nothing between us.”

“Honey, don’t try and analyze it. It’s his loss that he tossed you away. And it’s better thatyou found out what kind of a bastard he wasbeforeyou become too involved.”

I knew that Jasmine was right. I was about to suggest that she pick out a movie when a loud pounding from downstairs alerted us. I knew immediately what it was. Someone was at the door. We exchanged surprised looks and turned at the same time to head downstairs.

“Want me to go check?” We both reached the entrance door to my apartment at the same time. “They obviously haven’t seen the doorbell,” she groused, as louder knocking continued. Whoever they were, they were impatient.

“Let’s go together. It doesn’t sound like it’s one of our clients. Sounds like a bear trying to break in. I might need you for protection.”

Jasmine scoffed. “What kind of protection would I be against bears?”

“You could act as bait while I run the other way for help.”

We were both chuckling when we reached the bottom of the stairs. I flipped on the salon lights, my gaze going to the glass door, and recognizing Clay and Cooper standing on the other side. Clay’s face split into a huge grin when he saw Jasmine behind me.

“What are you two doing out in this storm?” I questioned once I’d turned the lock and let them in.

“Saw Jasmine’s car,” Clay responded, as if that explained everything. He moved past me and went straight to her. I watched speechlessly as he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her against him, locking his lips to hers. Groaning and moaning ensued.

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