Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Jasmine

My heart skips a beat when I hear someone turning the doorknob. The apartment door opens, and Liam steps inside. The security alarm is quietly beeping, and he quickly disarms it. “By the way, the code for the alarm is zero eight zero five. It’s my mom’s birthday—August 5th.”

It’s sweet that he’d use his mom’s birthdate for his security system code. I smile. “Thanks.”

He nods to the book in my hands. “You like it?”

“Yes. Your brother’s a really good writer.”

“Yeah, he is. When his books come out, they always hit the top of the New York Times Bestseller list.” Liam grabs a black case out of the coat closet. “How about we do some online shopping? You can’t wear my clothes forever.” He grins. “They’re way too big for you.”

He kicks off his boots before he sets the bag on the coffee table, unzips it, and pulls out a sleek silver laptop computer. Then he sits beside me on the sofa and sets the laptop on the coffee table and opens it.

Liam clicks a few times, and the Amazon website pops up on the screen. “We should be able to find everything you need here.” He leans back in his seat and motions to the laptop. “Go ahead. Order whatever you need.”

I sit there, frozen to the spot. “Can you do it for me?”

“Well, sure, but wouldn’t you rather do it yourself?”

“I haven’t touched a computer in five years, Liam. I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“I doubt anything has changed that much, but sure, I’ll help you. Let’s start with something easy. Name one thing you need.”

“Underwear?” It comes out like a question, when it shouldn’t. “I need underwear,” I say, more forcefully. “And socks.”

“Okay.” Liam types women’s underwear in the search box and hits the enter key. “That’s a lot of results. Can you be more specific? Like size and style? Do you want the little bikini underwear or the big ones?”

I chuckle. “Type in women’s bikini underwear size 5.”

He revises his search terms and hits enter again. “That’s much better,” he says. “Why don’t you look at these and pick a package? It looks like you’ve got a lot of options to choose from.”

I pick a package and put it in my shopping cart. Then I locate a package of socks and some flannel pajamas. I try my luck at searching for bras and end up picking two plain beige ones. Normally, I wear matching silk panty and bra sets, but those are designed to impress my clients. Now I don’t have to worry about impressing anyone.

Next, I select a pair of sneakers and a pair of ankle boots, a pair of skinny jeans, some long-sleeve shirts, a couple hoodies, two dresses, and leggings. Then I grab a fleece jacket, gloves, and a hat.

I glance at the shopping cart and the total price displayed. “That’s a lot of money, Liam.”

He shrugs. “You’ve got four hundred dollars, remember? Use it. If you need more, I’ll give you more.”

“I won’t take charity.”

“Okay… let’s call it a loan with zero interest. What else do you need?”

“Hair care products, soap, lotion, and make-up.”

“I’ve got plenty of shampoo and soap,” he says. “You’re welcome to use it.”

I look at him out of the corner of my eye. “No offense, but your shampoo is for white people.” I wind a curly strand around my index finger. “I need products for my hair.”

He chuckles. “Okay.” He motions to the laptop. “Go for it.”

I search for my favorite brands and make my selections. “I think that’s it.”

“You like to read, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then how about a Kindle?”

“A what?” I have no idea what he’s talking about.

Liam gets up and goes to the bookshelf to grab a flat little rectangular device that he brings back to the sofa. He turns it on and hands it to me. “Here you go. An e-book reader. You can download any book you want right to this device.”

“Really?” That sounds a little too good to be true.

“Sure,” he says. “Name a book you like. Something you’d like to read.”

“The Hunger Games.”

Liam types in the title, and the cover of the book pops up on the screen. He taps a few buttons, then hands me the device. “There you go. The Hunger Games at your fingertips.”

I read the first couple of paragraphs. “That’s insane. You can just dial up any book you want?”

“You’ve really never seen an e-book reader before?”

I roll my eyes at him. “We were dirt poor. We didn’t have money for food, let alone something like this. I got all my books from the library—you know, real books. The kind you can hold in your hand.”

“Well then, let’s add a Kindle to our order.”

Our order. Not your order, but ours. The way he said that floods my chest with warmth.

I nod. “I’d like that.”

I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that I had someone on my side. I didn’t have friends at school because I didn’t want anyone getting too close. I couldn’t risk anyone finding out how bad it was at home. The closest thing I had to friends were the librarians who fed me when I visited after school. I stayed there every evening until they turned off the lights and locked up for the night.

After the shopping is done—Liam swears most of the items will arrive tomorrow, which I don’t believe for a second—he shuts off the laptop and puts it back in its case and stows it in the closet. When he returns to the sofa, he sits beside me. “So, I was thinking.”

“Yeah?”

He starts to speak but stops.

“What?” I ask. Clearly there’s something on his mind. “Just come out and say it, Liam. You don’t need to baby me.”

When he clears his throat nervously, I almost laugh.

He runs his hand along his thigh. “I think—I mean, given the nature of… what you’ve been doing—”

“You mean, since I’m a ho.”

He winces. “Technically, you’re not a… sex worker now, right?”

I shrug. “Technically.”

“Okay. Since you were, though, in the past, it might be a good idea for you to, um—I think you should consider—”

“Oh, for god’s sake, Liam. Just say it.”

“You should see a doctor and get checked out.”

My expression is puzzled. “Checked out for what?” I know exactly what he’s talking about, but it’s fun watching him squirm.

“For any medical conditions.”

“But I feel fine.”

Again, he winces. “But you might have a medical condition and not realize it. If you get checked out, you can get it taken care of, which would be in your best interest in the long run.”

I laugh. “I’m sorry, I’m just teasing you. You’re right—I should get checked out. I usually do a couple of times a year. I’m due for another visit.”

He looks relieved. “My sister-in-law, Beth, has an OB-GYN that she likes. A Dr. Shaw. We can make an appointment for you to see her.”

“All right. Sounds good.”

Liam sighs. “I’m glad that’s taken care of. Now, how about we watch a movie? Would you like to watch The Hunger Games?”

“It’s a movie?” I ask, shocked.

“Yeah. You didn’t know that?”

“Like I said, we didn’t have TV at home. And I hardly got a chance to go to the theater.”

“Then how about we watch the movie? I’ll make some popcorn and grab us something to drink. I’ll be right back.”

While Liam’s in the kitchen—opening and closing cupboard doors, the microwave, the fridge—I pick up his Kindle device and resume reading The Hunger Games. It was one of my favorite books when I was younger. I identified with Katniss and her sister, with how trapped they were. And I loved it when she fought back.

“Do you want butter or salt?” Liam calls from the kitchen.

“Salt, please.”

“Coming right up.” The microwave dings. A few moments later, Liam returns to the sofa with a bowl of popcorn and two cold soft drinks. “Ready?” he asks as he drops down on the sofa beside me.

I set the Kindle aside. “Yep.”

Using the remote control, he calls up the movie on the TV.

“How did you do that?” I ask, stunned.

“Easy. Now you can stream just about any movie ever made on your TV or computer. Even on the Kindle.”

“Any movie? I feel like I’ve been living under a rock.”

Liam chuckles as he starts the movie. He leans close, nudging my shoulder with his. “Don’t worry. You’ll catch up quickly.”

When the movie starts on his huge TV, with the fancy Surround Sound, I feel like I’m in a movie theater. Liam props his feet up on the coffee table and props the bowl of popcorn on his lap. I mimic him, putting my feet up, too, and lean back to get comfortable. Our shoulders are close enough to brush whenever one of us shifts position. It’s nice. I imagine this is what it’s like to have a friend. Someone to hang out with. Someone you can trust. Someone who won’t stab you in the back the minute you let your guard down. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I’m able to relax.

By the time the movie ends, I can hardly keep my eyes open.

Liam turns off the TV. “So, what did you think of the movie?”

“It was good. The books are always better, of course, but still, I enjoyed it. She’s a survivor. Did they make movies of the other books in the series?”

“Yes. We can watch those, too, if you’re interested.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

When I yawn, Liam laughs. “You’re tired,” he says. “Why don’t you go to bed? Take the Kindle with you if you want to read a while.”

“You don’t mind?”

“No, of course not.”

I take his advice and head to the bathroom to wash up for bed. “Goodnight,” I tell him as I head into the bedroom.

He follows me to the bedroom door. “Would you like something to sleep in? Maybe a T-shirt?”

“Do you have one with long sleeves? And do you have some long pants I can sleep in?”

He nods. “Sure, I can find you something.”

He digs around in his closet and pulls out a dark blue, long-sleeve T-shirt bearing a logo for an international martial arts championship. He hands it to me. “Here you go.” And then he pulls a pair of red flannel PJ bottoms out of the closet and tosses them over. “Goodnight, Jasmine,” he says as he heads for the door. “Sleep well.”

“Thanks. You, too.”

He closes the door, leaving me alone, and for a minute I just stand there. It’s all so unreal. Being here, in a safe and comfortable space, with Liam just on the other side of this door. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it. At the house, I shared a room with three other girls. They were always sniping at each other, arguing, trying to take advantage of each other. It was a constant battle. And before that, when I lived at home, I had to constantly be on guard to protect myself from Mom’s tricks.

As I get comfortable in the big bed, I feel bad that Liam’s sleeping on the sofa. This is his apartment—his home. He shouldn’t get kicked out of his own bed. Certainly not for someone like me.

When I hear the water come on in the bathroom, I struggle to focus on my book. I’m trying hard not to think about the fact that Liam’s naked just across the hall. I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it. Men are the last thing on my mind. And yet the image of him in the shower lingers in the back of my mind way longer than it should.