Jasmine had been reluctant to leave his side after tucking him into his bed. Phantom was correct; she’d sustained minimum injuries, just a few stitches on the back of the arms she’d thrown up when the Mercury Cougar’s glass shattered.
But Amira, the nurse who turned out to be Ant’s Black foster sister, not his sister by blood, had advised against them sleeping in the same bed until his ribs had time to heal.
“Why don’t you try to get some sleep in your room while I take a nap?” Han advised.
Her chin lifted in that stubborn, defiant way. “I could sit in the chair,” she counter-offered. “Maybe just hold your hand while you fall asleep?”
That she was so reluctant to leave him touched his heart, but Phantom would be here with Han’s request anytime now, so he needed her gone. “If you’re in the same room, I’m not going to be able to sleep. And Amira said no rigorous activity for at least six weeks.”
Jasmine’s chin dipped, and she pushed the hair she still hadn’t tied back up out of her face. “Okay, in that case, I’ll leave you to it. Can I at least kiss you before I go? I know you don’t do intimacy just for intimacy’s sake—but I was really scared for you. Like, terrified.”
This sweet side of her was new and unexpected. He liked it.
Han squeezed her hand and pulled her closer, uncaring of the pain the action caused in his ribs. He kissed her on the lips, soft with no tongue, and marveled at the fact that he was now capable of doing such a thing without the expectation of sex. All because of her.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” he said, pressing his forehead into hers. “And I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
She gently rubbed one of his shoulder blades. “It’s okay. We’re okay right now. It’s over. And that’s all that counts, right?”
“Right,” he parroted, though what she’d gone through, what she’d done for him, it mattered. So much more than she knew. And as for it being over.
Not quite yet.
But she’d find that out soon enough.
So he just kissed her one more time, then sent her off to her room.
A couple of hours later, after everything was set up, he sent one of his men to get her since they’d both lost their phones in the accident.
She came barreling through the door a laughably short time later.
“Good, you’re up. This place is great. Two floors—looks like a regular house, other than the ocean view. It’s like, almost normal compared to that mansion in Rhode Island and the penthouse—”
She stopped short when she saw Phantom on one side of the bed…and the man he’d brought with him at Han’s request on the other.
And perhaps she had some sixth sense of what would happen next. Her voice turned wary as she asked, “What’s all this?”
28
JAZZ
Three months later, and I still wasn’t talking to him.
So I groaned when Ti-an and I pulled up to the house to find an Audi RS Q8 parked in our usual drop-off spot. I’d been on the East Coast long enough to know by now that when it came to fleet assignments, the Dragons drove RS’s while everybody else just had to make do with the regular Q8 versions of the luxury SUVs.
“Want me to run inside, get the keys from Phantom?” Ti-an asked, mistaking the reason for my groan. “You still probably so cold with your crazy freeze water surfing!”
“No, I’m fine,” I grumbled. Then I climbed out of the car before he could insist on it.
I was all bundled up in a sweater, long johns, and sweatpants after this morning’s private lesson with one of my many wealthy middle-aged lawyer clients. But even though he’d replaced Wang as my driver/guard a few weeks ago, Ti-an just refused to believe that I was really okay after what he always called “your crazy freeze water surfing!” with a thick Chinese accent and a grandma-level exclamation mark.
Also, I didn’t want to explain that I’d groaned because if Phantom was here, that meant I might have to interact with Han. Han, who I’d hated with the inferno of a thousand suns since that fateful day he called me to his room back in September. Han, who, unfortunately, refused to let me go home even though I’d made my hate very clear and hadn’t let him so much as touch my elbow after what he did.
Actually, I refused to engage with him in any shape or form after what he did. No more hot sex, challenging conversations, or wicked teasing. I did everything in my power to avoid him.
Which was probably why I was actually thriving money-wise in Delaware after throwing myself fully into setting up and marketing the East Coast version of my business. The only good thing I could say about the situation was that I hadn’t lied to my parents and Mika about taking a lucrative job on the mainland for a season or two—well, I didn’t completely lie anyway.
