Page 50 of Jasper

They drifted down over his shoulders, lightly tracing the muscles that jumped under the gentle pressure of her fingertips. Her touch set a fire to burning that demanded to be quenched, and all he wanted to do was to push her back and take her right here, but he wouldn’t do that. And if he didn’t stop now, that was exactly what was going to happen.

He pulled back and let out a harsh breath. “Fuck.”

Sloane nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

She sounded shaky and unsure.

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Our first time is not going to be on the kitchen island. You deserve better than that, pretty girl.”

“You’re so sure there’s going to be a first time?”

She tried to sound confident with a shaky, out of breath voice. It was too cute.

He kissed her again.

“Still think there isn’t?”

“I…”

Jasper smiled and helped her off the island. “I need to make sure the barn is locked down. Supposed to be a lot of wind tonight. I don’t want the animals to get too cold.”

She didn’t say a word. He felt her eyes on him, though, as he pulled on his coat and boots by the kitchen door. When he stood, he winked at her before heading out.

“See you soon, pretty girl.”

Sloane waited until he closed the door then slid down the island, her butt coming to rest on the floor.

Oh. My. God.

What the hell just happened?

And why the hell had she asked him to kiss her?

Her head hit her hands, and she took in great gulps of air. Sweet baby Jesus, but he could kiss. He made her forget everything when he kissed her. All her reservations went out the window the moment his lips touched hers.

This was not a good idea, no matter what her hormones were screaming at her. He was Jarrod’s friend, and she was pretty sure there was some kind of unspoken rule about a guy dating his best friend’s little sister, and that was what she was to Jarrod. Same kind of rule applied to best friends. You didn’t date your bestie’s ex. It wasn’t done, and if you did, shame on you.

She’d had such a bad experience with Brad she was afraid to start something with anyone, not just Jasper. He’d torn her down so hard and so completely, if Jarrod hadn’t intervened, she probably would have married him and gotten herself stuck in a situation she might never have gotten out of, especially if she’d had a child.

Brad might not have physically hit her, but the emotional abuse was just as bad. People who were not in the situation would never understand how completely a man like that could control you. He worked meticulously to pull her away from her friends, and Jarrod was a non-issue since he’d been overseas. Once he’d isolated her, the real abuse started. It began small, like how she constantly screwed up whatever she attempted to do.

Then it went a little more hardcore, with him commenting on her body and saying her clothes made her look fat. Sloane was tall for a girl, and she had curves. It was those curves he remarked on.

Soon, the clothing taunts turned into things like fat-ass and Dumbo, meaning she was as big and dumb as Dumbo. By the time Jarrod intervened, she’d started to believe it and had barely been eating. It caused her to develop an eating disorder, yet one more thing she’d needed therapy for. Brad had worked her over good.

And that was why she found herself unable to trust anyone, unable to put her heart back out there. She knew Jasper was a good man, knew it deep down in her soul, but she was terrified.

All because of Brad.

Her skin was singing, and she couldn’t even enjoy it because thoughts of Brad kept intruding. Jasper was so gentle with her, even stopping long enough to ask her if it was okay. Sure, he’d only said her name, but she’d heard the question in it. Brad had never done that. He only took, never gave.

She even tried to tell herself it could be a holiday fling, something she did just for herself, but she knew better. Jasper had the potential to make her fall for him, and if he didn’t want a relationship, it would devastate her. Sloane knew she was already starting to get attached. If she allowed this, she was setting herself up for heartbreak.

Groaning, she picked herself up off the floor and washed her hands. She set about making her pie dough, her thoughts never straying too far from the way her skin was still lit up like the Christmas tree lights in the living room.

Once the dough was finished, she cleaned up the mess. The last pumpkin pie she’d made was for her mother right before she died. A pie her mother never seen because Brad was upset about something and her pie hit the wall. She couldn’t even remember what he’d been so mad about.

Jasper was so different from Brad, it wasn’t even funny. He had taken to calling her “pretty girl.” Sloane knew he had no idea how much she liked that because Brad had constantly told her she was ugly, that she was letting herself go. To hear a man call her pretty and look at her like shewaspretty, it was worth more to her than anything else.

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