by Sasha Burke
That part wasn’t illegal, but it was gross. The only reason why I’m mentioning it now is to explain why I’d wanted to move out of the loft. With the internet now days, it’s entirely plausible that someone would find out about the arrangement and draw some similarities. I actually still worry about that every day. Really, the only reason I haven’t moved out of the loft yet is because I have a strong suspicion Jason has alerted his security to stop me if I try.
God, I hope I don’t lose him over all this.
Just talking about my past out loud is making all the shame, all the disappointment come rushing back, but I shove the feeling back down and keep going. “After that, she sort of graduated to the majors, I guess. When I was in middle school, seems someone told her about this singles ad site online that she could go on. It was a legit dating site, with different local networks, but if she used certain exact words in her ads, it was code for a potential john to know that they’d arrange a ‘date’ and she’d basically screw him for money.”
I can’t meet Jason’s eyes. If he’s even half as repulsed as I am listening to my family history, I’ll be able to see it. And it’ll shatter me.
“She did that for years,” I continue. “We managed to pay all our bills, and for a while, I fooled myself about how she never went to a day job, but always had money. But, that all ended my sophomore year, when she got caught, and ended up having to do a short stint in jail for online solicitation. That’s actually how I came to live full time with my granddad.”
I still remember how the whole thing got splashed all over the local news. For weeks, it was all anyone could talk about since there were so many folks throughout the state involved. “It was kind of a big sex worker sting. And since we were living in a small town then, everyone knew. The newscasters kept highlighting, ‘local resident, Cindy Davis,’ over and over again whenever they reported on it. Like their having that small local link to the big national story made it everyone’s business. It was…humiliating.”
I risk looking up at him then, to see how he’s taking all this.
He looks…livid. “Where is she now?” he asks tightly.
Damn it, I know I should’ve told him all this sooner. With him being a billionaire, I know as well as he does that every detail of his personal life, and the personal lives of those he chooses to associate with, doesn’t just become hot gossip, it sometimes becomes news.
He backs up a step from me, and I feel my heart start to break. But I give him the answer he absolutely deserves. “When she got out of jail shortly after, she didn’t even bother to try and regain custody of me, not that Granddad would’ve given it to her if she’d tried. He told me that she simply took off without a word and ended up in Reno. Found a rich guy to shack up with. So in a way, her getting arrested got her everything she’d been wanting—no daughter annoying her every day, and a successful man taking care of her so she never had to work.”
“Do you still talk to her?”
“She started calling me after Granddad died since the lawyers had contacted her about his estate. He was a good man; despite everything, he made sure to put some money aside for her in a trust that I currently manage. It wasn’t much, so she didn’t go overboard on trying to talk to me, but there was enough to make her interested in getting in touch. After all the legal paperwork for the money—mine and hers—was done though, her calls stopped, and I haven’t heard from her since.”
“Good. Lose her number.” The throbbing anger in his voice is deceptively quiet, almost undetectable, but I hear it.
I shoot my gaze back up to meet his.
“We can have my lawyers handle her trust from now on so you don’t ever have to speak to the woman again.” He’s flexing his hands as if he’s picturing wringing her neck. “Fuck, if I had the power to, I’d get her thrown back in jail for the rest of her life for hurting you like that.” He comes back over to me and grips my shoulders tightly. “I promise, I’ll make sure she never steps foot in your life again. Hell, I’ll get my lawyers to make it illegal for her to even come within a hundred miles of your life again.”
I feel the tears running down my cheeks, but I can’t fully explain why exactly I’m crying. It just feels like a whole mess of emotions are pouring out of my eyes like a deluge of damage, a flood of hurt, anger, and a thousand other feelings I’ve spent most of my life bottling up and ignoring.
I’m also crying out of relief, I realize. “S-so, this isn’t over?” I ask, hoping beyond hope. “With you and me, I mean.”
A genuinely pissed off frown slashes across his features. “Why the hell would this change anything between us?”
“Because. You’re a billionaire. We both know that gossip is more popular than actual facts about rich and famous folks. You won’t just be Jason Steele, young billionaire and philanthropist anymore. You’ll be Jason Steele, dating the daughter of a convicted hooker.”
“I don’t give one shit about gossip.”
“You may not, but your investors and board might.”
“As far as my board goes, I make a point not to hire folks who are idiots, so I don’t think I need to worry there. And as far as investors, if they have a problem with you, I just won’t work with them.” Simple as that, his tone seems to say.
“Jason, I can’t ask you to take that sort of risk.”
“It’s not a risk,” he says tersely. “You’re right, this may become gossip. And a few folks I do business with may care because image means more to some than others. But if you ask me, if the worst gossip about me is that I’m dating a smart, talented, successful woman who overcame a terrible childhood then really, I’m pretty much winning at life.”
Lordy, this man.
“Summer, I don’t care about your past. All I care about is you, and how good we are together. I don’t know why other men think you’re weird. But to be perfectly honest, I’m fucking ecstatic that they do, because it kept some other guy from laying claim on you before I could.” He tugs me into his arms. “You’re an incredible woman, Summer. Yes, you’re neurotic, but I find it adorable. And yes, you have a fucked-up mom, but I think the fact that you do just shows how resilient you are and how hard you’ve worked for everything you’ve achieved.”
His lips come crashing down onto mine. And he then proceeds to kiss me until I have very little oxygen left in my lungs.
“Don’t talk about things changing between us anymore because it’s seriously going to make me lose my shit. You and I are good. Solid. Fucking perfect. Okay?”
“Okay,” I whisper, my heart just about bursting out of my chest.
“Now, I know we have brunch plans, but we’re going to have to make it lunch plans because I need to make you fucking come on my cock a few times to work all this out of my system. Sound okay to you?”
Sounds perfect.
22
* * *
| SUMMER |
MONDAY
(Time: 7:06 a.m.)
Jason and I have a meeting with the architect in ten minutes, but thanks to a big accident on the highway, seems like every worker on site is running late and clogging up the main roads up here.
Finally at the jobsite, I jump out of my truck and run straight over to the trailer for the blueprints we need to discuss, only to stop midway when I smell alcohol in the air.
Frowning, I scan the few guys filing out of their cars parked next to me to find the source.
Tom.
One of our newest men on the project, and the bane of my existence for the past few weeks. The union had sent him over along with a dozen more laborers as our needs increased, and while the rest of the guys have proven themselves to be strong, capable workers, Tom has been just awful. Lazy, snarky, with a huge chip on his shoulder, and—as we discovered at the end of last week—apparently stupid enough to come to work stinking of alcohol from the night before.
“Hey, Tom. Can I help you with something?”
He gives me a sullen look and doesn’t bother with any pleasantries.
“Jason called me yesterday to let me go. I’m just here to pick up my last paycheck.”
This is news to me. Good news, but surprising nonetheless. I’d planned on letting him go today, but a part of me is glad Jason took care of it. Tom always had a…menacing quality about him that gave me the willies.
“Jason and I are going to be in a meeting for the next hour or so, but I’ll tell him you stopped by. We usually mail the final check, but if you want to pick it up in person, we’ll call you to tell you when your check is ready.”
I give him a courteous smile and move to go around him to get up to the trailer.
But he stops me.
“Don’t walk away from me. We’re not done talking.”
I sigh at his antagonistic tone. I hate it when they don’t go quietly. “Oh?” I ask politely. “Was there something else you wanted to discuss?”
“Yeah,” he snarls, swaying on his feet, making it obvious that the alcohol in his system today isn’t from the night before. “I want to discuss the fact that you’re nothing more than the boss’s annoying fuckslut, who has no business running this crew.”
I feel the blood draining from my face. I’ve fired a good number of guys in my day. But this is the first time any of them has spoken to me like this.
Tom sneers, his bloodshot eyes filled with ugly, drunken anger. “That’s right. I know all about you two. I saw you guys going at it in the trailer the other day. Guess the rumors about you are true.”
“Get the hell off my jobsite. Now.”
“Don’t talk all high and mighty with me. You’re just a glorified whore. The worst kind of slut. And your boyfriend’s a pampered asshole who’s going to use you and lose you any day now.”
“You have three seconds to leave, Tom.”
He doesn’t budge.
Instead, he turns and shouts out loudly over his shoulder, “Stop talking to me like you’re the boss of me. We both know you only got the job because you’re fucking Jason. Milking the big-time billionaire for the big-time bucks.”
I do my best not to let him see any of this is affecting me. “Time’s up. I’m calling security.” I pull out my phone.
“Fuck you, bitch.” He tries to grab it from me.
“What the hell’s going on here?” Jack, my main foreman, trudges over with a few of my men, all of whom look ready to punch out Tom without an explanation.
Tom scowls when two of my oldest workers edge their way between us. “What, are you two fucking her, too? I bet you are. She looks like she’s into all that kinky group shit.”
My guys don’t say a word. They just keep standing there like two giant human shields, arms crossed, expressions pissed, but patient.
I call security.
When Tom hears me say that I want him escorted off the property because he’s drunk and being belligerent, he goes back to yelling out to the growing crowd. “Don’t you guys even care that this cunt is fucking her way to the top, right past us? The rest of us, we have to actually work our asses off. All she has to do is spread her slutty ass legs. And she gets the big bucks while treating the rest of us like shit.”
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, man,” calls out Pete, one of my newer guys. “She’s one of the hardest working ones on this entire jobsite. And she’s been a fair boss the entire time.”
Tom scoffs. “If you call getting fingered by Jason in the trailer ‘work,’ then sure.”
I hate that this is getting to me.
Doing my best not to let my embarrassment show on my face, I calmly walk around my two loyal human shields and head to the trailer.
I’m not going to engage. I am not going to engage.
I just keep chanting that to myself as I pass Tom. Security’s on the way. And I still have a meeting to get to. Nothing good will come from letting him have a continued platform so it’s time to nip this in the bud.
“Okay, show’s over,” I call out. “Everyone, get back to work.”
No one budges.
Though I appreciate that they’re feeling protective over me, I’m not used to my guys not listening to me.
“I mean it. We’re on the clock. If no one’s here to listen to him, he’ll eventually have to leave. So c’mon, back to work. Now.” Granddad made me practice my ‘outside voice’ for years. I don’t always use it, but I’m sure as heck using it now. Somewhere in between a bark and a bellow, it effectively tells my guys that I mean business.
Half of the workers start walking back over to their posts. Thank god.
As for me, I keep walking toward the trailer to get the blueprints I need.
I hear him call me bitch and a few other choice words, but I simply ignore him. The longer I ignore him, the more pissed he gets.
Until eventually, the dumbass comes rushing at me.
23
* * *
| JASON |
MONDAY
(Time: Too fucking pissed to know.)
I’m going to kill the motherfucker.
I don’t know what exactly happened before I showed up at the trailer looking for Summer, but all I know is Tom just shoved my woman, my fucking woman, and knocked her down.
He’s a fucking dead man.
But before I can get over there and slaughter the man in cold blood, I see Summer get up, give him a brief you-fucking-idiot look…and then ram the heel of her palm into his face.
Tom screams out in pain as blood starts gushing out of his nose.
God, I love this woman.
“I’ll sue you, you dumb bitch,” Tom cries out before turning to face me. “And I’m going to sue your ass, too!”
The crowd of workers part for me as I go over to check on Summer. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
She shakes her head. “I’m fine. I swear, Jason, I tried to walk away, but he came at me. He touched me first.”
“I know. I saw him. Just like every other guy here did. You’re totally in the right here, baby.”
“No, she’s not!” Tom spits out a mouthful of blood in Summer’s direction.
And it takes everything in me not to fucking beat the dumbshit to a pulp. “Did you call security already?” I ask her while keeping one eye on Tom.
“They’re on their way.”
I turn back to Tom. “You can go ahead and try to sue me, but I’ll countersue. You’re trespassing after your termination, you just assaulted my project manager, forcing her to defend herself, and quite frankly, you’re just wasting me a fuckton of money on a Monday.”
When he spits at me this time, I take a step forward to close the distance between us. The fucking guy is going to learn some goddamn manners.
Summer shoots forward to stop me. “Don’t engage, Jason. I’ve been recording the whole thing.” She points at her cell phone in her pocket, the blinking red camera pointing right at Tom. “He’s got nothing. After I send this video to my lawyer, I’m also going to send it to the union. He’s done. Finished. A piece of shit like him has no business in our profession, and I’m going to make sure of it.”
Damn it, she’s incredible.
Finally, security shows up to haul Tom away. But he doesn’t go quietly. While they’re restraining him and dragging him over to their vehicle, he starts shouting at the top of his lungs, “I don’t care what you say, I’m going to sue. That slut created a hostile work environment here. She plays favorites with the guys, picking which ones she wants to go out drinking with while treating the rest of us like crap.”
What the actual fuck?
“Th-that’s not true,” she sputters. “I just hang out with the guys I know well.”
“You mean the guys you’re fucking,” sneers Tom. “Everyone knows your reputation. The guys who kiss your ass and put up with your weird shit are the ones who get to stick around. But for the guys like me who won’t lower ourselves like that, you ride our asses on site every day. A lot of guys in the union that you’ve let go will back me. You’re going down, you skanky cunt.”
&nbs
p; For the first time ever, that confused look on her face makes me enraged.
And apparently, I’m not the only one.
Though Tom is already well out of earshot, and currently getting driven off the lot by security, Summer’s foreman still steps forward to defend her honor. To me. “Tom’s a dumb drunk who doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. Every guy she’s sent back to the union over the years deserved it. I can verify that.”
“Me, too,” says Mikey, another veteran worker of hers.
“She actually had to let me go once last year for screwing up so much,” chimes in a young college-looking kid I’ve seen do some good work. “And she told me exactly what I needed to improve on. She stayed after work to show me a few things before letting me go, and told me she was going to tell the union that I just needed a more training and hours in certain areas, but that I’d be welcome to come back afterward.”
Seems I was worried for nothing. Her men here would clearly go to war for her, and that’s the only real reputation worth protecting in my opinion.
“Look, guys,” I say. “You don’t need to convince me. I’m on her side here.”
Summer comes up beside me to look at all her men. “Since Tom has just made my personal life your business, I want to clarify something,” she tells them. “Jason and I are in fact seeing each other. It’s a recent development, and it’s not going to affect the project in any way, shape, or form. I just want to be clear on that.”
The silence following her announcement lasts exactly one second…
Before all the guys start talking at once.
“Jesus, took you two long enough,” hollers out Jack.
“About damn time,” adds Mikey.
A few dozen more similar comments echo around and Summer stares at all of them in shock. “You guys were expecting us to get together?”
I’m mildly insulted that she sounds so surprised. We’re perfect for each other.
