Page 26 of Jasper

“My brother is in the military.”

She didn’t know that.

“How long do you think you’ll need?”

Hope sprang to life that she might actually have a job to go back to when all this was over.

“At least until after the first of the year. He needs…he can’t…let’s just say he needs a lot of help right now.”

Chris blew out a breath. “You should have told me, Sloane. I would have worked something out with HR for an extended leave of absence.”

She decided to put it all out there and ask the dreaded question. “Am I fired?”

He was quiet a moment. “I don’t know. I have to talk to the producers and see if I can get them to hold your job. None of this would be necessary if you’d just taken five damn minutes to talk to me.”

“I’m sorry, Chris. I really am, but I didn’t have five minutes. I got the call, and I ran. I was scared.” That much was the truth. She’d been terrified of being found by killers. There was no way in hell she’d have hung around to try to save her job with that threat hanging over her head.

Chris let out a breath. “I’ll do what I can, Sloane, but after that mess with Cooper…”

“HR is looking for a reason to fire me, and I just handed it to them.” The truth tasted like she’d bitten into rotten fruit.

When he didn’t answer, she knew she was right. Dammit.

“I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know what they decided.”

“Thanks, Chris. I really am sorry for all the trouble I caused.”

He sighed. “It’s fine, Sloane. Had it been my brother, I’d have dropped everything and run too. Like I said, I’ll do my best, but no promises.”

Sloane rubbed her eyes and put her phone back on the bedside table. She knew this was coming, but it still felt like a blow. If she lost her job, it would be hard to get by. Living in Miami wasn’t cheap by any means, and even with a steady paycheck, she had to do side jobs. Granted, she had enough tucked away for about six months, but then she’d really start to worry.

What she truly wanted to do was to branch out into the movie industry. It was why she’d taken the shit job on a dinky little reality show. It got her foot into the door, but if they fired her, chances were it wouldn’t look good to any other production company. She might have just ruined her career dreams of working with major motion pictures or even those sappy afternoon soap operas.

She was screwed.

Sloane shook her head and dug out her favorite blue cotton underwear set. They weren’t fancy or the least bit sexy, but they were super comfy. And right now, what she needed was comfy so she could wallow in self-pity and not be tugging to keep her panties from riding up her ass. It was one of the most uncomfortable things a woman could experience.

“Sloane?”

Her head snapped up when she heard Jasper calling her name, and she desperately tried to hook the latches on her bra.

The door swung inward, and she stared, horrified when he walked in, a look of surprised shock on his face.

“I-I…” he stammered. “Your door wasn’t closed…”

Jasper swallowed, his eyes taking in what he considered nearly naked perfection. There wasn’t a flaw on her honey gold skin. While she was small, she had curves in all the right places, and she filled out her bra more than generously. She was beautiful.

“Turn around!” she shrieked.

Her shout forced him out of his lust-induced stupor, and he whirled, facing the door. “Sorry.”

She made a choking noise that told him exactly what she thought of his apology. “Do you always barge into women’s bedrooms without permission?”

He winced.Shit. “The door wasn’t closed.”

“Yes, it was.” He heard clothes rustling, and the image of her standing there in nothing but her underwear seemed to be burned into his memory.

“No, it wasn’t. The door was ajar. I assumed if you were still getting dressed, it would be firmly shut. I’m sorry.”

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