Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
And then there was Lucy.
She hated my gifts, but received them just the same. Loved being in my presence, but asked me never to touch her in any way. I understood, and to be truthful with myself, never truly saw Lucy in that way. Out of all three, Lucy represented the one person I could talk to and be myself with no expectations for money or time.
Then Jasmine changed the entire game. How can one woman come into my life and replace all three in just a few weeks?
Chapter 6
JASMINE
Hours later. Darkness cloaked the space. The bed vibrated. An engine hummed below as a muscular arm clamped possessively around my waist. ’A hard body smoothed against my back and behind. Beatles music drifted in the air, so I knew it was Chase, but even if I hadn’t realized it, I would’ve caught his intoxicating scent. It covered me like a warm blanket, and I loved it.
“The music is too loud.” I yawned and blinked as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. “You’re going to get us kicked out of the hospital.”
“We’re not in the hospital.” He nuzzled the back of my neck and inhaled. “God, you smell so good. One would never know you’d been through so much in the past twenty-four hours. Are you hungry?”
“Of course.” I stretched my legs and flexed my toes. “Wait. What do you mean we’re not in the hospital?”
My last memory was of Dr. Scott looking at my arm and doing a few quick observations—checking my vitals, the usual stuff, and then giving me something to help me rest before he left. Chase held my hand the whole time.
“If we’re not in the hospital, then where are we?”
“We’re on my plane,” Chase said as if it was the most logical answer to my question.
“Excuse me?” I struggled to sit up. “You’re playing with me, right? And where the hell is the light? Why is it so dark?”
“Relax.” He let me go. Something beeped. Lights turned on. The master bedroom on his private jet came into view—all cream walls and soft carpet.
“You’ve lost your damned mind!”
“Don’t yell,” he said.
“Don’t yell?” I placed my hand on my chest as I continued to take in the room as if eventually I’d wake up and realize it was all just some twisted dream. He had the nerve to have a picture of him and me in a gold frame next to the bed. In Paris during a beautiful bike ride, Chase stopped a kid and gave him a couple dollars to snap the image. I’d forgotten all about the picture. Too bad I had no time to enjoy the photo as fury rushed through my veins. “You kidnapped me?”
“I can’t steal away a woman who’s already mine.”
“I haven’t even decided if I’m going to get back together with you or not.” I scooted out of the bed. A red silk gown clung to my body.
There he goes dressing me again.
“You already decided that you were mine.” He seized my unhurt arm.
“No. I actually did not.”
“The moment you let me make love to you in Lan. You returned to me.”
“That was just sex. Now let go of my arm.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the pilot.” I yanked my arm away. “I’m going to tell him that if he continues to fly me to wherever you ordered him to take me, then he’s an accessory to a crime.”
“Put some clothes on first.” His gaze lingered on my breasts as he lay back down. He wore no shirt, just black pajama pants that formed around an erection pressing against the silk.
“That’s all you have to say?” Rage built in my chest. “Put some clothes on?”
“Jonathan, the pilot you’re going to bother, will nod and smile at whatever you have to say, but he’ll land where I tell him to, and that’s it.” He adjusted himself under the material. “Meanwhile, your food will be cold, and I’ll be pissed that you’re away from me.”
“I don’t give a damn if you’ll be mad.” I stood up and swayed a little.
“You’re weak.”
“I wonder why.” I put my hand on the night stand to help me balance my weight. “Maybe it’s the drugs that the honorable Dr. Scott gave me.”
Chase sat up and pressed an intercom button on the wall. “Tell Chef Roberto Dubois to prepare dinner for us. Ms. Montgomery is up.”
“Chef Dubois?” I crossed my arms around my chest. My right one throbbed from the movement. Thick bandages coated the whole arm. “The Chef Dubois from the television show Combat Cuisine?”
“I figured you’d recognize him.”
Chef Dubois is going to cook for me? Focus! Do not let good food drag you off the path of whipping Chase’s behind.
Clearing my throat, I spotted my slippers and put them on. “So I’m supposed to just get over the whole abduction situation because you have a celebrity chef on the plane?”