Chapter Seventeen

Jewell had known she was innocent about the ways of the world, and even about human nature — but downright stupid, too? Why had she felt the need to put on that show for Blake? How could she not have realized there would be consequences? She should just be his perfect little servant for the next few days, and then go back to her place of “employment” and forget all about the man.

Apparently she really had needed more training. Until now, she hadn’t understood why Ms. Beaumont normally had the girls train for so long. But Jewell couldn’t believe it would have worked in her case. You had to have your soul broken and rebuilt with their so-called training. And she couldn’t imagine never being able to think for herself. But unlike most of the girls there, she had no intention of staying for long, despite the outrageous sums of money involved.

She knew her own worth, and knew that an escort service wasn’t where she belonged. So if she did just roll over and become the submissive little woman that Blake wanted, wouldn’t that forever change her? Wouldn’t that make her less of a person? Right now, she was a mass of confusion.

No matter how much she thought about it, the answers wouldn’t come to her. She had to get dressed and get out of his apartment for a while. She just needed a walk — that was all. A breath of fresh air, so to speak. It was past time for Jewell to get the heck out of the apartment. She couldn’t stand the stuffy place for even one second longer.

As she opened the front door, she was stopped short by a giant of a man who was holding a key out, about to insert it into the lock.

“You must be Jewell,” the man said, and she drew back a step, then her eyes narrowed and she took a good look at his face.

She knew that face. She’d seen it a dozen times as she’d passed by the picture on Blake’s wall. It was one of his brothers. Though Blake was a tall man, his brother had a few inches on him. She didn’t know which one he was.

“Tyler Knight,” he said, holding out his hand when she still said nothing, leaving an awkward silence between them.

She finally found her voice and accepted the hand that was hanging in midair, waiting for her decision. “Jewell Weston.” What would be the point in lying about her name? He already knew who she was.

“So you’re the girl scrambling my brother’s brain this week,” he said with a laugh after releasing her hand.

“I wouldn’t say I’m scrambling his brain. He’s a tough egg to crack,” she said, being careful not to say too much. This was Blake’s brother, after all.

“Ah, Jewell, you are most certainly scrambling his brain,” Tyler told her before pulling her out the door and firmly shutting it behind him. “Where are you off to? I didn’t think my brother would let you leave the apartment.”

She wasn’t sure whether he was serious or not, but he was more right than he knew. Blake would probably be furious that she was leaving, but she had to get out of there for a while. She would just have to deal with the consequences later.

“I’m free to do what I want.” She wasn’t, but there was no way she was telling that to another living soul.

“Good. We’ll go have lunch. I’m starving,” he said, placing her arm through his.

That made her more than a little uncomfortable. “I was just going to go for a quick stroll. I don’t want to be gone too long.” Blake would be home by six and she couldn’t be gone when he arrived.

“Nonsense. Everyone needs to eat, and I refuse to eat alone. You can fill me in on what you’re doing to my brother.” He didn’t give her an out; she had to go with him.

When they reached the outside of the building, Tyler was still holding on to her and pulling her along with him. Once again, her options were limited — she had the choice of following him or falling on her face if she stopped and he didn’t.

“Are all three of you bossy and used to getting your way?”

Tyler kept on walking, but he laughed and threw her a nice smile. “Pretty much. What would you like to eat?”

“I’m easy,” she said before wincing. Yeah, she was pretty damn easy. At least now she was. Talk about a depressing thought.

“All righty. Then sushi it is,” he said as he approached a shiny black sports car — did all three brothers go for the same type of ride? — and held the passenger door open.

“Perfect.” Raw fish didn’t exactly float her boat, but maybe some company wouldn’t be so bad.

Once Jewell had settled into her seat, Tyler rushed over to the driver’s side and hopped in, then revved the engine and pulled out into traffic.

“So, is Blake treating you well?”

She didn’t know how to answer that question. Had Blake sent his brother to quiz her? Was Tyler going to report all her answers? She had to be very careful.

“I can’t complain. You know this isn’t a relationship, right?”

“Any time a man and woman are together, it’s a relationship, babe. Don’t fool yourself.” He turned and winked at her, nearly giving her a heart attack when the car swerved a bit across the centerline.

“Well, I’ll only be with him a few more days.” She wasn’t going to say he’d picked her up at an escort service, but she didn’t want Tyler to think that they were going to bond and she was going to be around for a while.

“I’m not so sure about that,” he said with a secret smile that seemed to say he knew a lot more than she did. She wished he would fill her in on what he did know.

When they drove up to a small restaurant, she jumped when her door opened unexpectedly. An attendant in uniform held out a hand to assist her. Then Tyler came around, took her arm again after tipping the attendant, and led her inside.

“I’ve been craving some fresh crab rolls,” he said as he led her to the sushi bar and held out a seat for her before seating himself.

Jewell soon found herself relaxing as they were served, and Tyler began filling her in on old stories from the workplace, from a time when both he and Blake were more hands-on in their business.

“Yeah, I totally thought I was badass. Our electrician was nowhere to be found, and the lights were off, so I thought, how hard could it be to hook two wires together? We needed some light. I was up on the lift and, thinking the power was cut, grabbed the wrong wire. It sent me right down on my ass and scared the hell out of me. I don’t frighten easily, but I walked from the building and went and laid down in the back of my truck for the next hour, thanking anyone up above who was listening that the electric jolt hadn’t just stopped my heart.”

“That is horrible,” Jewell gasped. “Why didn’t you go to the doctor?”

“Because I didn’t get hurt. Yeah, my heart was beating erratically for a while, but I was fine. You can’t run to the doctor for every little thing.” He shrugged and popped a roll into his mouth.

“When it comes to electricity, I wouldn’t mess around.”

“Ha! Blake has done even worse. He was on the job site and his finger got caught in the door. Blood was pouring out, and all of a sudden he went all white, passed out, and smacked his head. Then, when he came to, he just wrapped his finger in tape and finished the day. It was two days later when the finger wouldn’t stop throbbing that he finally agreed to go to the doctor. Not only was it infected, but he’d broken it in two places and had to have surgery because it had already begun to heal wrong.”

“I don’t think that’s brave, Tyler. I think it’s foolish.”

He laughed again. “I dare you to tell him that.”

“You have an infectious laugh,” she said, and joined him. “And there’s no way I’m telling him.”

“You’re just all talk, aren’t you?” he said with a hint of sarcasm.

It soon became time to go and he led her back out to the car.

“Thank you for a great lunch, Tyler. I’ve enjoyed visiting with you. I really should get back, though.” She’d begun to worry that Blake might be checking on her. She hadn’t brought her cell phone, so he’d be furious if he’d been trying to get ahold of her.

“You are a buzzkill, Jewell, but I suppose I’ll take you back now, so my brother doesn’t think I’m trying to steal his woman.” Tyler said, and threw the car into gear.

She didn’t correct him. Why bother to repeat that she wasn’t really his brother’s woman? Whatever she was, it would be over in a few days.

A speaker in the car started ringing. She looked over to see what Tyler had done, but then she heard Blake’s voice.

“I need you to get over to Bill’s house,” Blake told Tyler. “The stubborn fool sent our crew away. He said he wouldn’t accept charity.”

“What do you mean? I thought it was all taken care of,” Tyler replied with a frown.

“Yeah. So did I. But when the roofing crew showed up, Bill came out and threatened to have the cops haul them off for trespassing. Tim called me and asked what to do. I told him to head out, that I would come talk to Bill. I got here thirty minutes ago and he said there was no way he would allow me to pay for him to get a new roof.” Blake’s frustrated sigh came through loud and clear over the speakers.

“Damned old man. There’s no way that roof can last another winter. What are we gonna do?” Tyler asked as he turned on the freeway.

Jewell wasn’t very familiar with the area, but it seemed to her they weren’t moving toward Blake’s apartment. Had Tyler forgotten she was in the car? She didn’t want to say something and have Blake hear her, so she just fidgeted in her seat.

“It looks like we’re roofing the place. He won’t let us pay for it, but he sure as hell will let us climb up there and do it ourselves,” Blake said, a smile clearly in his tone.

“Yeah, I can see that. What I can’t see is you up there with your pristine white shirt, holding a hammer,” Tyler joked.

“Whatever. I don’t see you up on any roofs anymore either,” Blake fired back.

“Point taken. Let’s see if we still know how. I’m ten minutes out. See ya in a few.” Tyler pushed a button and the call was disconnected.

Jewell sat there in silence a moment longer just to make sure Blake really was gone before she spoke. “Um, Tyler, I think you took a wrong turn,” she finally said.

“Nope. Change of plans. We have to go roof a house.” He turned off the freeway and headed down a city street.

“I…um…can’t roof a building. Maybe you should just drop me off first,” she said, growing more and more nervous as he continued in the same direction.

“No can do. We’ve already lost over half the day.”

“I can’t go there!” She was more insistent this time.

“Look, Jewell. Bill was my grandfather’s best friend and has always been good to my brothers and I. He’s also been the most stubborn old coot I’ve ever met in my life. He won’t let us pay for anything for him, won’t accept what he deems charity, but his roof needs fixing. The only way we’re going to get it done is by doing it ourselves. And it’s supposed to rain in a few days, so we have to haul ass. You’ll be fine. You can visit with Bill while we work.”

Tyler’s tone seemed so reasonable, but she knew that Blake was going to flip out when he saw her pull up with his brother. He might be so furious that she’d gone to lunch with Tyler that he would call his driver and have her removed from his life right away.

Even though she would lose her job, the more time she spent with Blake, the more she realized that she most likely wouldn’t be able to jump into this sort of thing again with another man. She just wasn’t the sort of person who could keep selling her body. She’d just take her check, bank it, and then find any job at all. She wouldn’t sleep until she’d turned up another opportunity. And really, there was no point in arguing with Tyler any further. The Knight men obviously didn’t take no for an answer.

When they pulled up to a small home surrounded by at least two acres of land, and she saw Blake walking toward the car, her heart thundered. His eyes locked in on her in the passenger seat and his silver glare seared right through her, making her wish she were any other place in the world right then.

“Smile, Jewell,” Tyler told her. “It looks like my brother is going to growl.” He opened his door and said hello.

When Blake didn’t reply to Tyler but instead went immediately to her side of the car and ripped open the door, she was seriously thinking of diving across the seat and out the driver’s side door and making a run for it.

“What in the hell are you doing here?”

Words wouldn’t come from her throat. When he took her arm and dragged her from the car, she shook in terror. This was going to be bad — really, really bad.