Page 86 of Security and Submission
“I hadn’t thought about it… um, I’ll have to check my schedule.” Yasmine shook her head. “Like, I knew that she couldn’t go home today, but all I could focus on was being here while she was in surgery, to make sure she got through it okay.”
“Understandable.”
“I can check it and get back to you.”
“Sounds good.”
They’d reached her car. Yasmine stopped next to the driver’s side door and looked up at Zeus, who was standing far closer to her than was necessary. There was something in his eyes. Lust? Desire?
“I have to get back to the office,” she said. “That didn’t take as long as I thought it would, so there are a couple things I need to get done. Especially if I’m going to help pick up Hope tomorrow.” And she wanted to help pick up Hope tomorrow. Not just because it was another good excuse to see Zeus, either.
“Alright, then.” He reached out, leaning slightly forward and brushing against her, to open her car door for her. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.
But he didn’t.
Dammit.
Yasmine got into her car, and Zeus closed it behind her, giving the window a rap with his knuckles before stepping back. He watched her pull out, and she glanced into her rearview mirror to see him sauntering toward his own car. The man had a damn fine ass in those jeans, and it took some effort to rip her gaze away and focus on getting out of the parking lot without running into another car.
Crap.
If she wanted him to kiss her, she needed to figure out what she wanted. Exclusive fuck buddies sounded pretty good right now.
Neither Amara nor Veronica was in the front when she returned, which was fine. Amara’s door was closed, so Veronica had probably just run out to do an errand or something. Yasmine went to her own office to handle a few quick things she could check off her to-do list before tomorrow and grab some files to take with her. Combined with her laptop, she might be able to get some things done from home tomorrow.
When she left, Veronica still wasn’t in the front office, and Amara’s office door was still closed. Maybe they were continuing the conversation they’d been having earlier. Yasmine hefted her purse on her shoulder, already thinking ahead to tomorrow. Her phone buzzed, and her heart did a little leap in her chest thinking that maybe it was Zeus… then sank back down when she saw Payam’s name on the screen instead.
Which either showed she really was getting over the curse… or that she really was more interested in Zeus, even if Payam more closely matched the list of the kind of man she would normally be looking for.
He’d gotten her number on Monday but waited two days to call, showing extra interest without being overly eager. Going by Yasmine’s old rules, if he’d called the day after, she wouldn’t have picked up or answered him until the next day at the earliest. If he’d waited more than three days, she wouldn’t have responded to him at all.
Letting out a long, slow breath, Yasmine answered as she got into her car, putting the phone on speaker and tucking it into the cupholder next to her. She’d lost the cord to connect it to her car system a while ago and hadn’t replaced it yet, something she kept meaning to do.
“Hello?”
“Yasmine? Hello, it’s Payam.” His smooth, cultured voice was very nice to listen to. Even if she’d started to prefer a deeper voice that was maybe a touch more rough around the edges. “How are you?”
“I’m good, thank you. How have you been?”
Easy. Polite.
Boring.
“I’ve been good. I’m calling because I was wondering if you might have any free time this weekend to have a meal with me.”
Well, he did cut right to the chase.
Her parents would be happy if she said yes. Old Yasmine would have wanted to jump at the offer. He was so perfect that even with her determination to no longer give the curse another man to take from her, she might have been willing to take the chance. Especially if she hadn’t met Zeus.
But she had met Zeus.
“Yasmine?”
Crap. She’d hesitated too long, and he’d noticed.
“I… ah…”
