Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
“What?” I said.
“You called the meeting. You sounded dead serious,” Drew said. “What’s wrong?”
“Just like I said in the message. We need to be on the same page about Jasmine. How we’re going to protect her from her stalker ex and how we decide which one of us is going to pursue her,” I said and then heaved a sigh just relieved to have the words out in the open.
“What, are we going to arm wrestle for her?” Jake asked. “Because I’m in good shape but Drew works out like twice a day, so I think it makes sense to forfeit and save ourselves the humiliation. Also, the last time I arm wrestled Eli, he tried kicking me under the table to distract me because he was losing. He’s a cheater. Just know that going in.”
I laughed. Eli made an offended noise, and we all looked at each other. We laughed and slapped Eli on the back good-naturedly. Then we ordered heaps of food and devoured it.
Drew spoke again first. “I want to know what you think about—nobody bowing out. We don’t make a big deal and stand in a line like we’re on the stupid Bachelorette show for her to pick one of us.”
“Well,” Eli said, “it makes sense. She’s amazing.”
“Can’t argue with that,” I said with a nod. “So what do you all think about what Drew said? We share a business. We share a home. What if Jasmine is someone we have in common as well?”
“I think that’s the lady’s choice,” Drew said.
“Agreed. If she’s up for it, I can’t think of anything better,” I said.
“I’m in if she’s in,” Jake said.
Eli replied, “Same, brother.”
I gave a sigh of relief, “That would be perfect. As long as Jasmine’s into it, I don’t see a problem. The last thing I wanted was to have hard feelings between us.”
“If it comes to that, we’ll figure it out. We haven’t let anything come between us yet. And I think we all care enough for Jasmine that we don’t want to put her in a position where she’s uncomfortable in any way,” Jake said.
“Exactly,” Drew and Eli said in unison.
“That sounds about right,” I said.
We toasted to family and set about planning a strategy to keep Jasmine safe from her ex without any or all of us committing a felony. Jake had a list in his phone of security measures to switch up or add. Eli offered to call in favors to get her out of town in a hurry thanks to a lot of his friends in private aviation.
Drew favored direct intimidation—track him down, scare the shit out of him, and run him out of town. I offered to call him vulgar names in several languages. When nobody laughed, I mentioned a couple of associates I had in the State Department who could be called on in a dire emergency.
“Could we have him deported?” Drew said.
“He’s from Alabama,” Eli pointed out.
“Ok, could you borrow a plane and dump his ass over the border in hostile territory, maybe wearing an offensive t-shirt?” Jake offered. “Something nasty about the religion or government of the area?”
“Apart from being severely illegal and violating his human rights, it isn’t logistically possible given the fuel capacity of the private jet that I’d request access for on short notice,” Eli said seriously.
“On the other hand,” I said, “I could supply the t-shirt. I know a lot of dirty jokes. Ones that only land in certain languages and cultures.”
After that, the discussion turned serious again and we strategized a way to keep Jasmine safe. Even though she wasn’t a paying client, she was now our top priority.
14
JASMINE
The fourth candidate I interviewed seemed like a good prospect. I told her we’d be in contact with her soon. After she left, I made some notes in her file about how I thought she’d fit in with the team. I replied to some emails and turned down a job because we were booked solid. While I worked through voicemails and signed for a delivery of toner for the copier, my stomach grumbled. As if on cue, Jake walked out to my desk and asked if I could come to the conference room for a meeting. The bookkeeper would man the phones since it was time for my lunch break.
We didn’t usually have formal meetings in the high-tech conference room unless it was to impress some client. We just sat on the couches out in the waiting area and had a chat, so I was a bit thrown off. Maybe my nerves were just on edge because of the situation with Chris making an appearance.
A sick sense of shame rushed through me and twisted my stomach, taking my appetite instantly. I was the idiot who had gotten with him and stayed even when things got bad. I’d been a dumb, stubborn teenager, and I was still paying for it to this day. I cleared my throat and blinked hard. I was not going to cry and feel sorry for myself and I wasn’t going to throw up. Even though I felt so much regret that it was physically sickening.