“As if that’s news.” Jessie Kay flipped her hair and shifted from one foot to the other. “So, where’s Jase? I brought him a seven-course meal. Me...and this.” She held up a six-pack of beer.
She was still interested in him? Stomach twisting. “He’s out, but that shouldn’t matter because you two aren’t dating. I told you what he said. He isn’t looking for a relationship.”
“Oh, my darling sis. What do you call a man with only half a brain? Gifted. Jase doesn’t actually know what he wants. I’ve decided I have to show him.”
Stomach twisting harder. “You’re wrong. Jase knows what he wants.” It wasn’t her sister...and it wasn’t her.
Jessie Kay stared her down and glowered. “What’s with you today? Why are you so snappy?”
“Just because.” Because she was tired and hungry and sore, and Jase had been rude, and she didn’t know where he was or what he was doing—didn’t know who he was doing. And it wasn’t her business. She was his employee and would never be anything more. She shouldn’t want to be anything more.
“What’d Jase hire you for, anyway?” Jessie Kay asked, running a fingertip along the top edge of a chair. “What is it he needs?”
“Help around the house.” From someone just desperate enough to agree to slave labor.
“So you’re his maid?”
“Executive assistant. Now, go home. Please. And actually wait there this time. I’ll be right behind you, and we’ll talk about everything that’s happened.”
Jessie Kay protested.
“One,” Brook Lynn said.
Her sister hurried onto the porch. “Dude. You are such a pain.”
“I know. We can discuss that, too, if you so desire.” She shut the door. In the kitchen, she waited for the casserole to finish baking, and when it did, she placed the sizzling dish on top of the stove before writing a note to Beck. Short and sweet.
Had to leave, BL
Outside, darkness had fallen, the only light spilling from the porch. She switched her implants to a lower setting, allowing more sound than usual to filter into her ears. Despite the discomfort, she needed to be able to pick up on certain noises, like the snap of twigs or the grunt of the undead. She clutched her industrial-size hand sanitizer close to her chest the entire trek, making it to the RC parking lot without incident—
Only to find Jase standing beside her car, his own parked behind it. He looked as if he’d just stepped out of a violent windstorm. His hair was disheveled, his clothes wrinkled and askew.
Had he tangled with a tornado?
When he spotted her, he crossed his arms over his chest.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her heart pounding wildly.
“Beck called me. Said you’d taken off...that you were walking. Alone.”
And that was a crime? “He didn’t lie.”
Motions clipped, he opened her door for her. “If I don’t like you walking out of Two Farms at night, what makes you think I’d like you walking three miles through a forest and down a darkened street?”
Had Jase feared for her safety? “Well...”
“Do not ever leave my house on foot again, Brook Lynn. Do you understand?”
All she could do was blink over at him. “Or what?” Seriously. She wanted to know.
“Or...” He cursed under his breath. “You’ll get a very stern lecture. Now go home and drive safely.” He climbed inside his own car and backed away from hers, but he didn’t speed away. No, he waited until she was sealed inside her own vehicle.
“He’s a closet gentleman,” she muttered, awed by that fact. Yes, he’d done other nice things for her. Helping her search for Jessie Kay. The job. The pay. But for the most part, he was emotionally closed off or running hot and cold, and he seemed to care about nothing.
Who was the real Jase?
She waved as she passed him, even smiled. He didn’t wave back, and he definitely didn’t smile. But he did follow her home and take off the moment she made it inside.
She had no idea what to think about this new revelation of his character...actions mean more than words...but she would be lying if she claimed she wasn’t looking forward to their next interaction.