Page 78 of Enticed
“Stay out of this, Nash,” Woody warned. Nash shrugged, completely unbothered by his father’s vitriol, and puffed on his cigarette.
Woody turned his focus back to Jasmine. “He’s too old for you. There’s only one thing a man his age wants from a girl like you,” he claimed with a sneer, and my gut twisted. How could my best friend think that about me?
“Woman,” Jasmine corrected. “I am a grown ass woman, and I will sleep with whomever I want.”
“He’s old enough to be your father.” Woody’s voice boomed, and it took everything I had not to deck him for raising his voice at her. “He should’ve known better than to go after someone your age.”
“Not that it should matter, but I’m the one who pursued him. He refused to get involved with me out of respect for you,” she said, jabbing a finger in Woody’s direction.
“He should have kept refusing,” Woody snarled.
“He makes me happy,” Jasmine countered, appealing to the soft spot he had for his only daughter. “He treats me with respect, and he puts me first. That’s more than I can say for anyone else I’ve dated.” Love and hope swelled in my chest, and my throat grew tight at her declaration.
Woody gritted his teeth together, and his nostrils flared. “You’ll find someone else who can make you happy,”he declared, and that hope deflated.
“I don’t want anyone else.”
“You’ll change your mind. You’re still young. You have your whole life ahead of you,” he said, his tone pleading.
“Yeah?” she replied, a hint of challenge in her tone. “And what if I want to spend it with him?” I sucked in a sharp breath as warmth spread through my chest.
“I won’t allow it.”
“It’s not your call!” Jasmine cried, and Woody recoiled at the sharpness in her tone and the volume of her voice.
RaeAnne stepped in between us and held up her hands. “Okay, why don’t we all just take a breath,” she said in a soothing voice, attempting to diffuse the situation. “We can work through this. Let’s just go inside, sit down, and have a civilized conversation.”
“That man isn’t welcome in my home,” Woody said, pointing an accusatory finger at me, and I flinched.
“Elwood.” RaeAnne’s voice was gentle as she tried to calm him down.
“Matter of fact,” he continued, “he’s not welcome here at all. He no longer works for me, so he’s trespassing.” He glared at me with hate filling his eyes. “You’ve got however long it takes for me to get my shotgun from the safe to get off my property.” My stomach dropped, and I swallowed down the bile rising in my throat. When I envisioned the worst-case scenario around Jasmine’s family finding out about us, this was what I pictured. It was my nightmare coming true.
“Elwood,” RaeAnne hissed, her voice sharper this time and her expression horrified.
“Daddy, no!” Jasmine cried.
“This is your only warning, Montgomery. I better not catch you anywhere near my daughter or my land again.”
Jasmine whirled on me, her big, hazel eyes pleading and full of fear. I hated Elwood for what he was putting her through. I understood his need to protect his daughter, but that wasn’t what he was doing. He was only hurting her.
“I’m going with you,” Jasmine said, and Woody stiffened.
“The hell you are.” His words were aimed at Jasmine, but his sights were trained on me. RaeAnne gripped his arm to keep him from coming after me again.
“Jasmine,” RaeAnne said and shook her head, her eyes pleading when Jasmine turned to face her. Jasmine wavered, consumed with indecision as she looked back and forth between me and her parents.
“Go,” I urged gently, not wanting to drive the wedge further between them. That one word splintered my heart, but taking her away from them in this moment would only make things worse. Emotions were already running high, and Woody looked like he was about to explode.
Sobbing, Jasmine threw her arms around me, and RaeAnne wrapped her arm around Woody’s middle to keep him from lunging at me.
“I’ll fix this,” Jasmine whispered into my ear. She pulled back and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before crossing to where her parents stood. Woody looked like he was mentally plotting where to bury my body. I left quickly before he decided to use me as target practice.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
JASMINE
Icouldn’t eat. My head hurt from crying, and my heart ached from Gabe’s absence. If he’d tried to contact me, I wouldn’t know since my parents had blocked his number from my phone. The first thing I would do once I had enough energy to get out of bed was get my own account and cell phone. They didn’t get to control who I communicated with. I wasn’t a fucking child, and I wouldn’t allow them to treat me like one.
