Chapter 19

Jasmine

I went into autopilot last night, getting all the laundry sorted out before dinner and bedtime. Bella chattered non-stop about the trip to Emily and Clyde’s mansion-farm. She was in bed by 7 pm. I spent most of the evening thinking about the visit. What happened between us, and what he told me before he left. After I assessed all his interactions and his family. I concluded he is genuine in his interest in me. My concern is Bella.

I watch him smile and wave to Bella as she stands in the doorway to wave at us. I lift my hand up and wave back at her.

“Have a good day, baby.” I shout out to her.

She nods at me before going inside. As soon as she is gone, Christian puts his hand in mine and pulls me back towards his car. We had to park a few blocks away. Parking is a nightmare at school and nursery times.

“You need to come into the office with me. Miles sent over some paperwork that we need to go through. Your signatures are required on them.”

“For the restraining order?”

“That is one of them. I can go through them with you. I’ve cleared my morning so we can take our time.”

I immediately feel guilty for interrupting his work.

“We can do it after work tonight. I don’t want to interrupt your work.”

“I had nothing pressing today. It’s fine. It’s all been arranged now.” He said and tightens his hand around mine as if to reassure me.

It’s another warm morning. There is a slight wind in the air. I get another whiff of his cologne. He always smells good. My courage falters in asking him what his intentions are. Reese was only a year older than me. Christian is eleven years older than me. I scoured the internet last night trying to find out more about him. I only found a few pictures of him at some events. There was only one where he was with another woman, but she looked like a model. I’m not super skinny, my stomach has stretch marks because Bella was healthy when she was born.

We reach the car and I am still mulling everything over in my head. He opens the door for me again. I slide onto the leather seat and smooth my hands over the material of my dress. Remembering when I first tried to get into his office, I am glad I didn’t wear my normal grungy clothes.

He takes my hand and puts it on his leg. When I try to pull my hand back, he grips onto my hand and refuses to let it go. When he jumped out of bed and went back to his room, I didn’t even look at him. I had my face buried in the pillows, trying to get over what he had just done. In his parents’ house, of all places.

As soon as he parks his car, I pull my hand off his warm, hard thigh.

Damn it.

This is what the lack of masturbation does to you. For such a long time, I didn’t want to feel anything. I preferred the numbness and the seclusion. If it wasn’t for Bella, I wouldn’t have even made it out of bed.

Christian opens my door and holds his hand out for me. I unclip my seatbelt. He pulls me out of the car before he opens his trunk and gets his briefcase out. We go through his main door and I smile at the receptionist.

“Good morning, Mr Hayes.” She simpers while giving me a death stare.

I give her a small finger wave with a smug smile. I see her eyes widen as she recognises me.

“Good morning.” He said without looking at her.

He pulls me down another hallway and there is a smaller lift.

“You have a private lift?”

“Yes. You never know when I need to escape from unwanted visitors.” He said. He pressed a button on the lift.

It pings open, and he pulls me inside.

“How did you get past everyone?” He asks as he pushes a button on the panel.

“With great difficulty.”

“That’s good to know.”

He drops his briefcase on the floor and wraps his arms around me. His hands cup my bottom. His face dips down, and he softly kisses my lips. I close my eyes and he deepens the kiss, pushing past my lips. I feel a shiver run down my back at the feel of his tongue. His hand runs up my back until it reaches my neck. He holds me in place, gripping my neck. The elevator pings and I open my eyes to see his eyes are half closed.

I push back on his chest.

“This is your workplace.” I hiss at him.

He smirks at me before he lifts his briefcase up.

“I know.”

He takes my hand and pulls me along towards his office.

The grey gatekeeper in front of his office is sitting there. She is looking at her computer screen.

“Mr Hayes. I have re-scheduled all of today’s appointments, but I don’t understand…”

Her voice trails off as she looks up at us. She reminds me of Mavis with her pinch faced expression. Her eyes drop to our hands and she looks at my face with narrowed eyes.

“I have some work to do with Jasmine. Just bring me my coffee. Would you like a coffee, Jasmine?”

“No, thanks. I had one this morning.”

We go into his office and I never took my time to look at it last time. I had been so angry with the receptionists and him by the time I got up here. His office is enormous. One side has a dark mahogany bookshelf with all sorts of thick books or manuals on it. A drinks section. On the opposite side, there is a cream leather couch with a glass coffee table. All along the back are wide-open windows just where his desk is.

He sits me down where I sat last time. He puts opens up his briefcase and pulls some files out with a large cream envelope.

“Do you ever read those books or are they there for show?” I muse.

He pauses to put the paperwork on his desk.

“What? You think I have them there to look intelligent? I’m highly offended.”

I give him a small smile and give a small shrug.

He sits down in his chair.

“I have to refer to them. Dealing in property and projects, you have to be knowledgeable about a variety of topics. I can’t remember them all. The regulations keep changing so it would be near impossible to keep it all up here.” He said as he taps his temple.

There is a knock on the door and dour Veronica comes in with his coffee.

“Thank you, Veronica. Please don’t disturb us this morning.” He said to her, but he is looking at me with a mischievous look.

“Of course.” She said stiffly before placing his coffee on his desk.

I watch her walk out and close the door behind her.

“Before we get onto the paperwork. You said you were looking for a job. I wanted you input with our HR department. You can work around Bella’s nursery hours. That isn’t a problem.”

Confused, I look at him for a moment as he sips his coffee.

“I don’t know anything about employment law.”

“You don’t need to. We are going to structure a flexible working policy in our employees’ handbook. I would like your input. The team you will work with will deal with the legal aspect. It will take around six to eight weeks. But it’s well paid, as you would be a consultant on the team.”

I sit up in my chair.

He is being serious.

“I would love to help. It will give me something to do while Bella is in nursery and it will look good on my CV.”

“Excellent. I will let HR know you are on board. Is tomorrow too soon?”

“No. Tomorrow is great.” I said in excitement.

I can’t wait to tell Bella.