Page 17 of Tempting Jada

A few of the girls raised their hands.

Jada looked around. “With all of us, this shouldn’t take long.”

Jada glanced to see where the driver was. He was closing the doors to his truck. Good. She wouldn’t be 100% until he was gone.

She glanced to see Traeger staring at her, and his gaze slid to the driver and then back to her. She ducked down and concentrated on putting chips on the shelves.

Zoe bumped her shoulder with her as she squatted down next to her. “What’s up?” she asked.

Jada knew Traeger was still around, and she didn’t want him to see them. She mouthed the word “later” and got back to work.

Zoe didn’t show any expression but a smile. “I think it’s my turn to pick out a movie today.”

Jada relaxed and chuckled. “Yes, it is, but you have to stop making us watch those gory ones. They give some of us nightmares.”

Zoe snorted and rolled her eyes. “That’s pathetic. You guys are pussies.”

Jada laughed, and they argued back and forth, and Jada enjoyed it immensely. It gave her time to release all the negative energy.

When everything was put away, Jada looked around and relaxed when she couldn’t see Traeger. Her job wasn’t done because they had a long line of men wanting to check out, and it would take the three of them—herself, Lina, and Kyra—or they’d be there for an hour. Lina exhaled and leaned next to her on the wall behind the counter.

“I think it’s hilarious they swarm the store. It’s like they hadn’t had junk food or beer in a month,” Lina said.

Kyra snorted and took a drink of her water. “I think we can close up for lunch. If one of the guys needs something desperately, he can get in himself. He knows he has to write us a note of what it is and how much.”

She loved the system the men had set up. Each man had a tally that they paid at the end of the month. All that money would go toward buying and filling the shelves with the things they liked. The girls never had to worry about tracking someone down to pay his voucher, because they knew the girls would tell Fury or Traeger, and they didn’t want that to happen. It had happened only once. When Fury tracked the guy down, he made him pay, beat on him for a bit, and grounded him from the store for a month. It was pure torture for him. That’s all it took to keep the guys in line.

Chapter Nine

Jada thought about talking to the girls but wanted them all together because she didn’t want to have to tell it twice.

“Hey, it’s about lunchtime,” Lina said. “Let’s go to the house and come back here later.”

“Let’s go.” Jada nodded.

They made it up to the house and were able to help the girls before making their own plates. Jada pushed her food around her plate and listened to the other girls talk.

“Jada, tell us what’s going on,” Zoe said.

Jada set down her fork.

“What’s going on?” Tara asked.

Every woman looked concerned, making her feel better knowing they had her back.

“I headed to the store, and when I got there, the truck driver was just opening the doors. The look on the guy’s face was terrifying. It almost felt like he was undressing and raping me. I’ve never felt like that before. I looked around and didn’t spot one of the guys, but I knew they were coming, so I opened the doors and walked behind the counter.” Jada looked around again. “I keep a knife under there, and you know I can use it.”

“I want to see you throwing sometime. I want to learn,” Tara said.

Jada smiled. “I’d love to teach you all, but we’ll have to get the guys’ approval first.”

“We all know that,” Alicia said and laughed.

“Anyway, I told him the guys were coming, and he said something like he knew they never left us alone. And then he said, ‘until now, of course.’ The way he smiled was pure evil. The guy stepped into the store, and I told him he needed to leave. I reminded him again that the guys were coming, and he said that they were slacking and it wasn’t a smart thing to do, you never know what can happen. He stepped out, and a second later, the guys walked into the store.” Jada looked at Tara “Traeger came up to me. He knows something happened, but I told him nothing because I wanted to talk to you guys.”

“Why didn’t you say something to him?” Ella asked.

“Because I knew I’d be responsible for a man’s death, and it makes me sick.”

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