Page 24 of Jasper

“We’ll have to try that.”

Jasper watched her carefully without appearing to study her. She was stressed and extremely jumpy. He wished she’d confide in him, but he understood why she didn’t. He was a stranger to her, a stranger she found herself forced to share a home with for an indeterminate amount of time. She didn’t trust him.

But that would change. He’d show her she could trust him.

“Tell me about yourself.”

She glanced at him and then away just as quickly. “Not much to tell.”

“You’re a photographer, right?”

She nodded and shoved a forkful of roast in her mouth.

“Haven’t I convinced you by now that I’m not a stalker or a murderer?”

“The jury’s still out on that.”

This girl was a hard nut to crack.

“Don’t worry, I’ll wear you down with my charm.”

“Uh-huh, you keep thinking that, Mr. Ted Bundy the Second.”

He laughed. “Come on, tell me a little about yourself. You’ve already heard more about me than I have you.”

Jasper saw the struggle to talk to him flash through those blue eyes of hers. Something was going on, and he had no doubt he could help her if she’d just open up and let him.

“What do you want to know?” she asked cautiously.

“Tell me about being a photographer. Were you taking school photos or family portraits?”

“Not all photographers fall into those stereotypes.” A small smile graced her face. “There are lots of other jobs they can do.”

“What did you do, then?”

“I was a photographer on a reality TV show down in Miami, but I did do wedding photos on the side to help boost the salary.”

“You worked on a TV show?”

“Yeah, but it’s not nearly as exciting as you think. I came home after twelve and fourteen-hour days with sore feet and blurry eyes from looking through a lens all day. And some of the people on that show were real dicks.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “You wouldn’t believe some of the crap they pull. It’s not like they’re Keanu Reeves, but they act like they’re hot stuff. They’re just regular people on a reality show. They’re not movie stars who can shout at me to bring them some complicated Starbucks order. But they do it anyway, and then I get in trouble with my supervisor when I tell them to get it themselves. Apparently, according to Chris, I should tell one of the staff, and they’ll take care of it.”

“That sounds…”

“And then when they corner you and make sexual advances, we’re supposed to keep it quiet. Um, no. I flat out told HR the next time one of them laid a hand on me, I was suing them for sexual harassment.”

“They put hands on you?” A knot of anger began to form in the pit of his stomach and bloom through his body. Sloane was tiny. The thought of some asshole trying to overpower her made his blood boil.

“Jarrod made sure I knew how to put a guy down who was bigger than me. He walked away with a few bruises. HR was not happy, but they understood if they fired me, they’d be facing a huge lawsuit. Their best option was to make it clear to the guy I was off-limits or he was off the show. Not that it matters anymore, though.”

“Why wouldn’t it matter?”

“Because I took off for North Dakota without getting the time off approved. I did leave my boss a message telling him I had an emergency and wouldn’t be back to work for a few weeks. They’ll use this as an excuse to fire me.”

“Emergency?”

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