by Shayne Ford
“No. Nothing for me. Thank you.”
She invites me to take a seat before she walks into the kitchen and pours a cup of coffee for herself.
She ambles back to the living room and slips into a chair across from me.
“Is he okay?” she asks, concerned.
“Yes, he is.”
“Where is he?”
Suspicion threads through her voice.
“He got caught up in a work project.”
“He did?” she asks incredulously.
I quickly remember his words and realize I need to make this story as plausible as possible.
“What kind of work?” she asks.
My mind spins for a moment, trying to come up with a valid answer. I glance down, my gaze landing on a stack of crayons and a paper pad. My eyes fall on the sketches.
The image of a baby bear comes into focus, Jaden’s name scribbled at the bottom.
“Illustrations for a children’s book.”
Sara’s smile drops from her face.
Cringing inwardly, I swiftly pull my mouth shut. Shit. I must’ve gotten this all wrong.
Next moment, her eyes brighten up with a smile.
“Are you serious? That’s great!” she says.
“Yes. It really is,” I mutter, more confident this time.
“I always told him he’s good at drawing,” she says.
“He works with a children’s book author, and he wants me to give you this,” I say, pulling out the wad of cash.
Her smile falls from her face.
“What is this?”
“An advance.”
She takes the stash of cash and looks at it suspiciously.
“That’s a lot of money,” she says.
“He works with a successful author.”
She lifts her gaze to me.
“So where is he?”
“At the author’s vacation home. They are working really hard to wrap it up and meet the deadline.”
“I see...” she says, not entirely convinced.
“He also suggested you should take a couple of weeks off and go on vacation. You deserve it, he said. He thinks Emma would love it too. He’ll send more money as soon as he can. He also said the sooner you leave, the better for both of you.”
“Okay,” she says, sounding a bit overwhelmed.
“Oh... I also have something for Emma.”
I push out of my chair and head to the exit. She follows me and watches me from the doorway as I pull the truck open and scoop out a Llama ride-on toy.
“No...” she says, grinning.
“Oh yes,” I say, smiling as well.
“Oh, my God. It looks like a pony.”
“It comes with a blanket too. And reins.”
“She’ll love it,” she says, the light flashing in her eyes making her look even younger, reminding me so much of him.
“I love it,” I say. “Too bad they don’t make them for grown-ups.”
I give her the toy while I carry another gift inside her place.
“Horse.. horse,” Emma mutters, clapping her little hands.
“It’s not a horse,” Sara says.
“It’s a llama,” I say.
“What’s a llama?” Emma asks mumbling her way through the word.
“It’s a camel...” I say.
“What’s a camel?”
Sara looks at me.
I shake my head.
“I’m out of ideas,” I say, laughing.
Luckily, it doesn’t take long before Emma straddles the llama and forgets about the question.
“This is for you,” I say, handing Sara her gift.
She takes the box, her smile withering away.
“Is there something wrong?” I ask, no longer grinning.
“No... No,” she says, apologetic.
“Open it.”
She slips her fingers inside the wrapping paper and tears it open. Her hand flies to her mouth.
“Oh, my God!”
“Is it okay?” I ask, unable to read her reaction.
“A tablet?” she asks, her voice filled with disbelief.
“Yes? Is it good?”
“It’s perfect. Thank you.”
She hugs me. Taken by surprise, I freeze and melt at the same time. She pulls away, her eyes examining, curious.
“Are these from you or Jaden?”
“Him,” I say without flinching.
She shifts her gaze to Emma, and then back to me.
“Thank you again,” she says, a bit conflicted.
“It was nice meeting you, Sara,” I say. “I have to go, now.”
“Sure... Emma? Let's say goodbye to Senna.”
“Goodbye,” Emma mumbles, holding her little hands up in the air, and waving at me with half of her body.
I kneel and open my arms. She comes to me and hugs me. A tiny, warm body. Her skin soft like silk, her hair smelling like flowers, her eyes... Jaden’s eyes.
A feeling I’ve never experienced before pours into my heart. She reminds me of me as I used to be, of Jaden, and all the beautiful things in this world. My chin begins to tremble as tears well up in my eyes.
Reluctantly, I pull away from them.
Sara takes Emma in her arms, and both accompany me as I walk to the door. Once I step outside, I turn to her one more time and look her in the eyes.
“Please leave tonight,” I say seriously. Her eyes search mine for a moment. “He wants you to be somewhere safe.”
“Okay,” she says.
“He’ll call you.”
I step down the stairs, and before I reach the car, her voice rings out behind me.
“Senna?”
“Yes?”
I turn to her.
“Who are you?”
I smile.
“A friend.”
I wave them goodbye as I climb in my car, my eyes taking a snapshot of them, lodging it in my memory.
13
SENNA
TEN DAYS LATER
“Senna?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you want me to publish it?”
Harper’s voice rolls in my earpiece.
“No, no... I’ll do it,” I say.
I curl my fingers around the glass and bring the ice coffee to my lips.
I take a sip. She starts singing a carol.
“Are you serious?” I ask, setting the glass on the table.
She laughs, utterly entertained.
A slant of wind tousles my hair. Running my fingers through it, I comb it all back. The temperature is mild, and it’s a pleasure to be outside.
I push my laptop to my knees and lean back in my chair, stealing a glance at Jade, who’s lounging not far from me.
His eyes roam over the pool.
“Perhaps you should take this week off. It’s Christmas after all.”
“Maybe you should mind your own business, Harper,” I mumble under my breath.
“You sound distracted,” she says, a smile weaving in her voice.
“Which part of ‘mind your own business’ don’t you understand?” I ask, stifling a chuckle.
Her laughter fills my ear.
“Is the hot pool boy there?”
“Mmm-hmm,” I say, glancing absently at the guy who flexes his muscles cleaning the pool.
Smoothly, I shift my gaze and take in Jaden’s body.
As my eyes run down on him, tingles roll between my thighs. I haven’t touched a man since, well... I’ve been with him the last time.
Raising his eyes from his tablet, he shoots me a questioning look.
He looks pissed.
“You can’t talk, can you?” Harper asks.
I bend my knees and pull my laptop higher, hiding my face and eyes. From time to time, I peek at Jaden.
“Yeah. Something like that.”
“Is he that close?’
“Uh-huh,” I mutter.
Jaden’s eyes flick at the pool boy, then throw a glare in my direction.
Oh... Shi
t. That’s what this is.
“The pool boy?” Harper chirps.
“I have to go, now. I’ll talk to you later,” I say to her as Jaden shifts his eyes to me, his eyebrows lifting slowly.
The pool boy walks by, swiftly vanishing inside the house. Without a word, Jaden rises to his feet and strides away.
“Jaden?”
I toss the laptop on the chair and rush after him. I catch up with him as he enters the house.
“Where are you going?” I toss behind him.
He cuts his way across the living room and swiftly veers to the bedroom. I follow him, a bad feeling crawling up on me. Frozen, I stand in the doorway, waiting for him to walk out of the closet.
A few moments tick by.
He emerges, clothed. Aside from the T-shirt, he wears his own jeans and boots. He drops all the clothes I bought for him on the bed. He snatches his jacket from a chair, shrugs it on and heads to the door.
I block his way.
“I need to go, Senna,” he says firmly as he pulls a cigarette out of his jacket.
He slides it between his lips. Without lighting it up, he shoves his hands into his pockets, waiting for me to move out of his way.
I stare at the cigarette, and then at his lips as they curve slightly around the filtered end.
It wasn’t easy having him around and not being able to touch him all this time. We slept in different rooms and tried to keep ourselves occupied.
I worked. He read a lot.
We never talked about the night I found him bloodied or about Sara, and Emma. I never asked because I didn’t want to pry, and he never offered me an explanation.
He talked to Sara on the phone several times, but he never shared a single thing with me.
“Where are you going, Jaden?”
“Home.”
“Where’s that?” I hurl at him, barely containing my fury.
“Where you delivered the money.”
My jaw clenches as tears wash my eyes.
“Who are they, Jade?”
My voice trembles. My shoulders shudder.
He locks my eyes–– cold and distant, the sadness I have seen in him so many times spilling in his gaze.
Bad omen.
“That’s not your business,” he says curtly, slashing me with his words.
Breathing out a long exhale, I slowly slide my hand off the doorknob.
He pulls the cigarette out of his mouth, the tension dissipating from his features.
“Listen... I’m grateful for what you’ve done for me, and I know why you did it. I know you risked a lot. Of all people you are probably the only one, I would’ve asked for help, and yet, you are also the only one, I didn’t want to see me down. It wasn’t my choice, unfortunately.”
He pauses, registering the tears in my eyes.
“I’ll pay for my stay and clothes,” he says with a softer voice.
“You need the last check-up. You’ve heard my doctor,” I say, foolishly hoping that I can make him stay.
“He gave me a clean bill of health,” he says, his lips creasing into a small smile. “Come on, Senna. I don’t need the last exam as much as you don’t need all these hot dicks doing work for you.”
His burst of frustration brings a grin to my lips.
“You’re jealous.”
“I’m not,” he says, wiping the smile from his lips. “I need to leave. It doesn’t have anything to do with you,” he says as if that makes me feel any better.
“What are you going to do?”
“That’s my fucking business,” he says, a flash of anger flitting through his eyes.
“You’re not doing that again,” I say, unable to get a grip on myself.
I’m perfectly aware I’m on a slippery slope with him, and if there’s anything to make him pull away from me even faster, it’s me having ideas on how he is supposed to run his life.
“Don’t do that, Senna,” he says.
“What?”
“Acting protective and shit.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you fucking are,” he says, his eyes shooting a nasty glare. “I don’t need your fucking sympathy.”
“It’s not that,” I murmur.
“That’s exactly what it is. You have your own problems, and you need to deal with them first. Fucking men like Nick to pull them out of a maze, or trying to straighten me up, won’t do it for you. It won’t make you feel better. It will always remind you of what’s wrong with you.”
“Don’t say that...” I murmur.
“It’s the truth,” he says, adjusting his voice. “I hate being on the streets. It’s not as if I like it, but I need to find my way out on my own.”
“At least, stay here...” I mutter. “You can do whatever the hell you want. You don’t have to risk your life going back, or living at your old place.”
He takes a long slow breath and runs his fingers through his hair, his eyes drowning in sorrow.
He looks away.
“I can’t stay,” he finally says.
It sounds like a sentence.
“Only for a few weeks until things get settled, and you figure something out.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry.”
He pushes my arm to the side and slips by me. I catch up with him in the foyer.
“Or you can work for me,” I throw at him, pretty much exhausting all possibilities.
He stops. I turn to stone a couple of steps behind him. He turns around and closes the distance between us, fury blazing in his eyes.
“And do what? Joining the line of dicks who dust your furniture, make your eggs and clean your pool?”
I cringe.
“No. That’s not what I had in mind...”
His lips part slightly as he lets out a soft, dark chuckle, sarcasm boiling in his eyes. He tips his head back and looks down his nose, crushing me with his stare.
“I’m not fucking you for money, Senna.”
Clearly, I’m getting nowhere with this. Fucking me for money was not what I had in mind, but I might as well go with it.
“What’s so bad about it? Money is good, and you seem to enjoy it as much as I do. That’s why you need to go back there anyway. So why not make more money in a more pleasurable way, without the risks?” I ask, my pitch making his eyes go wide with surprise.
I know I’m risking a lot, and with him, it’s probably everything, but I don’t have much of a choice, do I?
“I’m clean, and you’re clean. It can’t get safer than that,” I say, cold as him.
His eyes glint with deep-seated pain.
He curves his lips into a dark, faint grin, and I brace myself.
“You already have a whore on a retainer... or maybe more. You don’t need another one. Plus, I don’t do that,” he says, throwing words at me like bullets.
It’s my turn to feel the grip of sarcasm.
“Really? Then, what exactly is it that you do, Jaden?” I sneer at him.
Frustrated, I clasp my hips with my hands.
“It’s sucking cock in back alleys any better?”
“I’m not sucking cock...” he barks, a vein pulsing in his corded neck.
“Whatever the hell you do... and then almost get killed over it.”
“That was over a woman,” he says, deadpan.
My mouth falls open.
“A woman?!”
My voice goes sideways, filled with disbelief.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You said you’re not fucking women for money.”
“Not anymore,” he says.
His expression changes, a shred of dark amusement flitting through his eyes.
“What’s so fucking funny?”
“You... Being angry.”
“Ugh! You drive me fucking crazy, Jaden.”
He tips his chin down, his lips pursing into a smirk. I feel like slapping him.
I crush a retort and take a deep breath before I raise my hands and hold them up.
“Okay... Okay
. What about this? You work for me. Legit work. No sex.”
He lifts an eyebrow, the temperature of his smile rising, giving me an instant flash.
“You know it’s not gonna work,” he says as if he reads my mind. “We both know it. You said the same thing when you hired me.”
“It will fucking work. I’ll make it work. I promise.”
He ponders for a moment.
“What kind of work?”
“I’ll teach you how to do what I’m currently doing.”
He looks at me, serious. And surprised.
“What about Harper?”
“She’ll keep her job. You’ll work with her and do my work. I’ll show you how. This way I can focus on other projects.”
“And you stay out of my life?” he asks incredulously.
This is the hardest promise to make and also the least likely to keep.
“Yes. I’ll stay out of your life. You can fuck anyone you like, hopefully not for money,” I say.
His head cocks to the side.
“Let me rephrase it. I stay out of your life, and you stay out of mine. What about that?” I toss at him.
He nods, his eyes gleaming with a mysterious smile.
“One rule, though. We don’t bring people home,” I say.
“Okay,” he says, his quick answer taking me by surprise.
“It’s two grand a week, board and food included, incidentals covered.”
His eyebrows lift slowly. That’s a lot of money for a job, and it’s the same amount I’d pay anyone else to do it, and yet he doesn’t seem impressed, or perhaps, I just can’t read him.
“It’s less than fucking... I’m sorry. But it’s a job. That’s what you wanted.”
“I didn’t say anything,” he says.
“Good. Here...”
I pass by him, snatch a key from the counter and push through the door, entering the garage. His footsteps follow me.
Several cars fill the space. A couple of SUVs and a few classic cars. I walk across the room and stop next to a vintage Camaro, similar to mine. He swivels his head, taking in the rides.
“Do you know how to fix them?” I ask.
He nods. I hand him the key.
“This is yours if you fix it. Any parts, I’ll cover. It needs extensive work. I kept postponing taking it to a mechanic, leaning toward selling it as is, so if you can make it yours, I’d be more than happy to sell it to you for a nominal fee.”
His eyes rove over the Camaro.
“You’re quite the collector...” he mumbles.
