“You can work,” he decided out loud. “I’ll arrange for one of my men to stay with you. He’ll also return to your home with you and help you pack.”
Jasmine started protesting before the words were barely out of his mouth. “Are you kidding me? I can’t show up to teach a class with a bodyguard! My students will freak out.”
Han shrugged. “He can pretend to be one of your students if that makes you feel better.”
Jasmine shook her head at him. “What about my private one-on-ones? And the kid classes!”
With an aggrieved sigh, he closed the space between them, not stopping until he loomed over her petite frame. “Do you have the money you still owe me, Jasmine?”
Her face tightened. “You know I don’t.”
“Then stop complaining and start obeying,” he said between clenched teeth.
For many of the women Han had slept with, the chance to live in a penthouse overlooking the ocean with him would be nothing less than a fantasy come true. Some might have even whined about not getting to share a bed with him.
But Jasmine glared at him now as if he’d ruined her life by showing up again at her door.
“Hate is a strong word, but I’m getting there with you.” she all but hissed.
Han refused to flinch at her words, inside or out.
Instead, he took another step toward her, getting as close as he could without touching her. “Yet, you still have to do what I say. Into the foreseeable future.”
Jasmine released a low animal sound, and he wondered if she’d attempt to hit him as she had Kuang Jr.
But no, she simply walked into her room and slammed the door.
It would not be the last time Han felt as if he’d invited a petulant child into his domain.
The next day he was woken from a dead sleep by a loud grinding sound. He had no idea the penthouse came with a blender until he walked out to find Jasmine making a smoothie in the kitchen.
“Good morning!” she said when the noisy grind finally concluded. Her voice was full of aggressive cheer. “You finally woke up. Want a smoothie? It’s the post Dawn Patrol breakfast of champions.”
He knew just enough about surfing to get that Dawn Patrol referred to a sunrise surf, which meant Jasmine had gotten up even earlier than this. He’d be impressed if his schedule wasn’t the exact opposite of hers.
“I don’t go to bed until around five in the morning.” He glanced at the single-digit number in front of the dots on the microwave’s clock. “And I usually don’t wake up until after noon. Do not do this again.”
“So, no smoothies before noon,” she translated as she poured the colorful liquid into a large stainless steel travel tumbler with a lid straw. “Is that an order?”
Usually, Han would have tried to inject some charm into the situation. Perhaps answered, “No, it is a request,” with a flirty tone and grin. However, he had a bad feeling about taking that tack with Jasmine. She struck him as the kind of person who would say no to such a request.
“Yes, that is an order,” he answered, somehow feeling petty even though she was the one who’d woken him up.
He expected her to argue with him as she had about staying. But she raised her takeaway smoothie and said, “Copy that. Anyway, have another surf class, gotta jam. See you whenever.”
“Take…” he started to say as she headed for the door.
“Chen’s meeting me downstairs,” she called back, without breaking her stride.
That morning’s battle was resolved easier than he’d expected.
But it wasn’t the end of the war.
Over the next couple of weeks, he had to issue many more orders—and almost always between the hours of seven and ten a.m. No, she wasn’t allowed to blast Dick Dale over the apartment’s state-of-the-art sound system while she made herself breakfast. No, she couldn’t play ukulele on the lanai right outside his closed sliding glass door. And where the hell had she found a yappy dog to “babysit for a friend” the following morning—he didn’t even want to know, but he had to order her not to do that again too.
After that, he had a conversation with Chen about checking in with him before letting her bring anything into the house that made noise.
Yet, she still found ways to disturb his sleep. Cheerleading routines she’d learned on YouTube, Action movies played at maximum volume before he asked her to turn it down, Karaoke songs she just had to sing at the top of her lungs—who actually claimed to have adopted a morning karaoke practice with a straight face?
Jasmine, that was who.
“I read it was great for stabilizing your mood at the beginning of a day,” she explained when he came out to confront her for the thirteenth day in a row—this time because she was singing Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” loud enough for everyone in the building to hear.
