Page 38 of Burn for Me

I lift my glass to hide my lips as I say, “One voice at a time.”

Jasmine finally sets down her drink and takes a deep breath.

“We have eyes on you two. I accessed the security footage, but after a certain hallway, it goes black.”Caspian comes through the speaker. At that moment, a man a few years older than me ushers his date into the booth and sits across from us. Instinctively, my fingers flex against Jasmine's leg.

“Hi!” I can almost hear Jasmine’s forced smile in her voice as she tries to engage the very irritable woman. I don’t look at her; my attention is drawn to the man before me. He smiles back.

“Are you lost?” I unintentionally interrupt Jasmine's awkward attempt at conversation as I address Jonathan. We don't talk about him on base for good reason. Why Caspian chose him… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand.

He leans back, resting his arm behind the grumpy lady's back.

“I don’t think I’ve had the honor of meeting your wife yet,” Jon says as he leans over the table, extending his hand. Jasmine takes it with a slight grin, a soft blush creeping onto her cheeks as he kisses her knuckles.

“Jasmine.” she hums.

“Jonathan,” he replies.

My hand trails higher on her thigh, and she stiffens, quickly pulling her hand away and dropping it onto mine as if trying to push it off.

“And you?” Jasmine asks, clearing her throat when I tighten my grip, warning her not to brush my touch away.

“Delilah,” the woman responds, practically gritting her teeth. She looks just as thrilled as I do on abadday.

“Hey… uh—honey?” Jasmine laughs nervously, so I shift my gaze to my palm, now placed so high on her leg that it has raised her dress, exposing her red lace underwear. The flesh indents beneath my fingers, leaving a red mark around my hand as her skin resists the pressure.

“Yes?” I raise an eyebrow as I pull my attention back to her. If she thinks I’m going to move, she’s sadly mistaken.

“Keep it together, Sam.”Caspian’s voice comes through, prompting me to rub my hand over my mouth as I ask my question, knowing he’ll understand without further elaboration.

“Where is he?”

“Not here, so let’s hurry this up.”

Jasmine easily starts a conversation, smiling gently and laughing at all the right moments.

“So, how did you two meet?” She hums as a waiter approaches to pour our glasses.

“Ah, well, I've known Sammy since—twenty-sixteen, right? It doesn’t matter the year, but we…workedtogether.” Jonathan responds.

“Don’t call me that.” I flick my gaze over to the entrance, pushing the glass away, and follow a couple as they are directed toward the large red curtain.

“Of course, it was only for a short period, but it was memorable, to say the least,” Jonathan continues casually, making me scoff.

“Oh, so you work in the UK?” Jasmine crosses her legs, and I toy with her garter while she keeps my hand trapped.

It's mesmerizing. Typically, I would be fuming with everything happening, but with her warm skin under my fingertips and her hand resting on my wrist instead of pushing away, I feel like I can think clearly.

“No, sweetheart. I may be from the UK, but...” Jonathan hums in contemplation, rubbing his hand over the thick beard lining his jaw. “I settled in America for a time. Unfortunately, a few incidents caused me to be transferred to Australia. There, I learned my position, and the rest is history.”

My teeth grind.

He doesn't know, so I shouldn’t feel angry. Perhaps it’s the tension from our past, or a protective instinct that kicks in for those I’m closest to that makes my mouth move without thinking.

“Yes, unfortunate, isn’t it—”

“Enough, Sam.”

I clear my throat and look at the woman who seems uninterested in the situation. I usually don’t take an interest in learning about other faction members unless necessary, but when Sharkie tried to use her as an alias at one point, I did some digging.

---