Page 16 of Challenging Jayce

JAYCE: I need your help.

Okay, not the text she had been hoping for but it piqued her curiosity.

KENNEDY: That sounds ominous. What exactly does this help entail?

Completely forgetting about the story she was supposed to be writing, Kennedy watched the bubbles appear and waited anxiously to see what he needed.

JAYCE: I need to find a house but the realtor sent too many options.

This was not a conversation she could have through text. Without giving herself time to think about it, she hit the call button.

"Why are you looking at houses?" she asked as soon as Jayce answered.

He sighed before answering. "Because right now I live in a shitty apartment in a really crappy part of town. Not exactly the kind of home I want Michael visiting."

Her heart skipped a beat. Whether it was from him describing his current living situation or the fact that he wanted better for her nephew was anyone's guess.

"I'd be happy to help." Kennedy hoped she didn't sound as choked up as she felt. Something told her Jayce didn't do well with overly emotional women.

"Great. I'm not sure what your day or evening looks like . . ."

She slammed her computer shut. "I can come now. I wasn't doing anything anyway."

Not a total lie. No amount of effort she gave would have her putting words onto paper at the moment.

"Okay, great. See you in a bit."

He didn't give her the opportunity to respond before he hung up.

A side note for the future: Jayce was not much of a talker, so don't take his abruptness personally.

Kennedy made quick work of shoving her arms in a hoodie and her feet into a pair of slides. Not her most attractive outfit but she never claimed to be someone who cared about what others thought. She was of the mindset that a person needed to accept her for who she was. Flaws and all.

Based on the hungry look Jayce gave her when she showed up at his hotel room door twenty-five minutes later, he also didn't give a shit about impressing someone.

"I'm in way over my head."

She could tell. Jayce looked frazzled. His hair was sticking up in all different directions as if he had run his hands through it countless times. She pictured her own fingers doing the same. Their encounter yesterday left her wanting more, but now wasn't the time. She was there to help, not fantasize about having sex with him again.

"Show me what she sent and let's see if we can narrow it down."

"Or you could just pick a place and I’ll buy it."

That stopped her in her tracks. She doubted he meant anything by it, but the thought that he wanted to buy the place she picked was causing her romantic heart to do extra flips. She needed to shut those thoughts down and fast.

"Or . . ." she countered. "You can show me the places and we go from there."

There was no use arguing when he looked determined to push the task off. There was something about his flippant attitude toward house-buying that made her want to dig deeper.

"Fine. Here are the places." He grumbled, shoving his phone at her. It was unlocked and opened to his email app. A slew of links filled the page.

Kennedy clicked on the first one and took her time looking through the pictures and reading the description of the house. Right off the bat she knew it wasn't the one. The interior was too high class, despite it being a one story. It reminded her of a place Jasmine would've picked because of the bronze fixtures throughout.

The next one was a little better, but in her opinion, it was too small. It had only two bedrooms, and based on the dimensions, those rooms weren't all that big. Jayce might be used to sleeping in a crappy apartment but that didn't mean he needed it in the house he bought.

"Anything specific you were looking for in a house?"

It would help if she knew what he liked. Otherwise she was going in blind.

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