Jasmine looked across the desk as the agency employee typed into her computer. Her feeling of unease deepened as the woman kept clicking and clicking.
“Well, Jasmine. To be honest, as I’m entering in your information, there’s not much you’re qualified for. You don’t have any work experience or schooling. All you have is your experience as a housewife.”
The irony wasn’t lost on Jasmine. “Then how do I get experience?”
“You start out low and work your way up or you get some education.”
Jasmine let out a long breath, swallowing hard so the tears wouldn’t rush to her eyes. “Is there anything you can find me?”
“We’ll find something.” She gave Jasmine a resigned look. “It’ll probably involve cleaning, however. Most of those jobs don’t ask for much experience, if any.”
“Okay, that’s fine. I just need something.”
She finished typing and turned to her. “I should have some interviews set up for this week.”
Jasmine left the employment agency feeling deflated. If she hadn’t gotten married so young, or listened to her parents who said you don’t need college, just a good man, then maybe she wouldn’t be in this position. Maybe she would go back to school. But for what? She felt like a little kid asking herself, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Later that day, the phone rang with the number from the employment agency.
“I have an interview for you,” the woman said. “It’s a housekeeping position for a group of five men who live and work together. They’re looking for someone to come in everyday to do things like dishes, laundry, vacuuming, dusting, and other basic cleaning.”
“Okay, that sounds great!”
“Great. I’ll set up the interview for tomorrow then.”
Jasmine hung up, both nervous and excited. This was her first interview, her first time stepping out on her own to be responsible for things like bills. She scoured through her few items of clothing and put together a decent outfit for the next day.
Jasmine stepped off the bus and looked at her directions. She’d gone online to look at maps so she’d know where to go once she got off her bus. It took about twenty minutes to walk there, which was what she had planned. With a deep breath, after smoothing out her skirt, she knocked on the door.
A tall blond-haired man answered the door. She was a bit shocked at first, not expecting someone so close to her age, or someone so good looking and so big in size. With his thick muscles and long hair, he was nothing like her lanky ex. His eyes, too, bore deep into her when he held her gaze and they were an odd sparkling gold. He was her opposite in many ways. She was small and petite, long black hair and an olive-toned complexion. She’d spent so much time around Persian men—her father, brothers, cousins, uncles, and then, of course, her ex, that she didn’t realize someone of such a fair complexion could be so sexy.
She gulped and said, “Hi, I’m Jasmine, the employment agency sent me?”
“Yup, come on in.” He stepped aside and held the door open. “I’m Knox. This is my brother, Beck.” He gestured to a man very similar in appearance.
Knox led her to a chair beside the sofa. She sat and took a quick look around. The hardwood floors looked dusty, the coffee table had rings and crumbs. She could see into the kitchen and it looked like the dishes were piled high. A house of five men. Did she really know what she was getting herself into?
When she brought her attention back to them, Knox was staring at her. Beck looked down at a sheet of paper. His hair was shorter than Knox’s, though it hung in his face. He didn’t have Knox’s perfect thin nose, but he did have the same golden eyes. She looked back at Knox for a moment, but had to let her gaze fall when her cheeks went warm.
“So, Jasmine is it?” Beck asked.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“What experience do you have cleaning?”
She had been afraid of this question, though she fully expected it. “Well, I’ve cleaned my house for six years now, but I don’t have any employment experience just yet. To be honest, I’m new in the work force and I’m trying to gain experience. But I clean very well.” The woman at the agency had told her it was best just to be honest and that people may have sympathy for someone just starting out.
Beck nodded, made a note, and Knox watched her.
Beck continued, “We’re looking for someone to come every day. Can you do that?”
“Yes, absolutely. I’m looking for full-time work.”
“You do know there are five men who live here,” Knox asked. “We can be very messy. Is that a problem?”
“Not at all,” Jasmine said.
Knox smiled.
Beck glanced at Knox, then asked, “What about references?”
“References?”
“Someone who can vouch for your work ethic and ability, or even your character,” Beck said.
“Oh, I…” The only one who would know about her cleaning ability would be her ex or her family. No way would she list her ex, and her family was all in Iran. She had made a friend at the shelter where she was staying. “Would a personal reference be okay?”
“Sure,” Beck said. “What are the names and phone numbers?” He held a pen, ready to write.
“Her name is Sarah. I don’t know her phone number off the top of my head, but I can get it for you.”
“Okay.”
Was it just her, or did this Beck sound exasperated? She swallowed hard, ignoring the way her throat was growing thick. She glanced over at Knox and he smiled at her.
“What do you think your best skills are?” Beck asked.
“Well, I’m very punctual, I clean well, and I’m friendly. I work very hard.”
Beck nodded and made more notes on his paper. “We have several other applicants,” he said. “What sets you apart from all the others?”
Jasmine felt the panic rise in her throat. There was nothing that set her apart. She had no experience, no good references, nothing to prove that she could do this job well. She wasn’t even so sure of her own skill, to be honest. Nothing was ever clean enough for her ex, so maybe she wasn’t even very good at that. She glanced over at Knox again, who gave her an encouraging look.
She chuckled a little, and, hoping it would come off as endearing, said, “My good looks?”
Beck blinked at her, but Knox looked like he was holding back laughter.
“You’re serious?” Beck asked.
“Umm.” She gulped and her eyes pricked. He didn’t find it amusing or charming. This man clearly hated her. There was no way he was going to hire her. “I’m sorry. I am just started out, and I really don’t know how to answer that. I will work hard and clean how you like and I am reliable.”
Beck nodded at this, what was clearly a much better answer. She should have said that in the first place.
“Okay,” Beck said and stood. “We have one more interview, and then we’ll make a decision and let you know.”
She and Knox also got to their feet.
“Thank you very much.” Jasmine held out her hand to shake Beck’s. When she shook Knox’s hand, she noticed how much warmer it felt and how he held it just a moment longer.
“I’ll walk you out,” Knox said.
She followed him back to the front door and walked through it when he held it open. He looked outside, confused. “Did you drive here?”
“No, I took the bus,” she said.
“The bus? Isn’t the closest stop over a mile from here?”
“Yes, it’s about a twenty-minute walk.”
“That’s nuts. I’ll drive you, hold on.” He went back into the house and came out a minute later with keys in his hand. “That’s okay with you? If I drive you home?”
“Oh, s-sure.” She took in a slow, deep breath. It would save her a lot of time and money, but to be alone with him? Her palms broke into a sweat.
Knox led her to a pickup truck, blue and covered in mud splatters on the side. He opened the door and took her hand to help her up the high step. She buckled her seatbelt while he walked around and got in.
“Where do you live?” he asked as they turned out of the driveway.
There was no way she was going to tell him about the shelter. “Oh, can you take me to the drugstore on Eighth Street? I need to stop and get some things. It’s only a block from there.”
“Sure.” They drove in silence for a few minutes. Then he asked, “Do you have family around here?”
“No, not really. Are you related to the men you live with? Like cousins or brothers?”
“Beck is my brother. The other guys are just my business partners and best friends. We’ve all been best friends for most of our lives.”
“Oh.” Beck was his brother? There was no way she was getting this job, then. Even if he had seemed to like her, his brother clearly didn’t, and blood always came first. “What’s the business?”
“We make honey. And other things.”
They turned onto Eighth Street and she saw the drugstore. “This is it, right here.”
“I can wait and drive you home after you get what you need.”
“Oh, no, thank you.” She pulled the door open. “I really appreciate it.”
“You sure? I’m happy to wait.”
“Oh no, really, this is perfect. Thank you very much.” She hopped down to the curb.
“Alright then. Have a great day.”
She waved and they exchanged smiles. When she closed the door, he didn’t pull away, though. She went quickly into the drugstore and ducked into an aisle. She watched until he drove off, waited a few minutes, making it seem like she was looking at the makeup selections, then walked the block to the shelter.
* * *
Jasmine had spent the whole day after the interview and all the following morning feeling full of dread. She’d blown it. There was no way they were going to hire her. After breakfast, she opened her newspaper to the employment section and started looking. She’d have to go with a minimum wage job that needed no experience and hope she could earn enough to get her own place soon.
Her door was partially opened, and Sarah knocked, then stuck her head in. “Hey Jas, you have a call.”
She hopped up and dashed downstairs to pick up the phone. “Hello, this is Jasmine.”
“Jasmine, hi, this is Knox. Knox Ryker. We talked to you yesterday about the housekeeping position.”
“Oh yes, hello.” Her heart squeezed itself tight in her chest, ready to be let down.
“I just wanted to give you a call and see if you’d like to accept the job.”
Accept? Had he said accept the job? Meaning they wanted to hire her?
“Yes, I would love to!” She’d probably sounded a little too excited. She tried to tone down her voice before asking, “When would I start?”
“Well.” He chuckled. “To be honest, the place is a wreck. You can start today if you want.”
“That’d be great. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Perfect. See you soon.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much for this job. I will work very hard for you.”
“I know it.” He chuckled again. “Bye, Jasmine.”
She hung up the phone and stared at it for a minute. Many emotions rushed over her. She was elated that she’d gotten the job, and especially a first job that paid so well. But nervous. What if she wasn’t good at it and they let her go after a short time? And then Knox. Obviously, now that he was her employer she couldn’t have feelings for him, but she was attracted to him. Not only his looks, but he seemed to be kind, and he seemed to like her, and the way he said her name in his silky voice…
She dashed upstairs, went straight to Sarah’s room, and told her the good news in a serious of squeals and shrieks. Then she hurried into her room and dressed. She was out the door and on her way to the bus stop in a matter of minutes. Less than an hour after he’d called, Knox opened the door and smiled at Jasmine.
“That was fast,” he said.
“I told you I was punctual.” She smiled and stepped inside.
“I’ll give you a tour of the place, show you what we want done. Basically, we’re slobs, and we need someone around who’s not. I guess Dax’s girlfriend complained that it’s a mess.” He shrugged. “We never seemed to mind much.”
They started in the living room, where they’d interviewed her the day before. “In here, I guess just dusting and vacuuming, that sort of thing.”
“And wiping down the tables and cleaning the windows?” she asked.
“Uh, sure, whatever.” They next went into the kitchen. “We always have dishes in the sink. The usual crumbs and stuff all over the counter. I swear, I do wipe it off constantly. It’s like the crumbs just find their way back.”
She glanced around the kitchen. It was a decent sized room, big enough for a table and four chairs. But it was filthy. The floors seemed to have a dirty film, there were crumbs and dishes as he’d said, but also sticky spots and an overflowing trash can.
“So, mainly just the dishes in here.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Surely, the floors and counters and table, refrigerator, and trash as well?”
He looked around and nodded. “Yeah.”
They walked down the hall and passed a dining room and office. “In there, you can just vacuum and I guess dust. Nothing major.” He opened a door to a small half bathroom. “This is one of the bathrooms. We try to keep it cleaner for guests.”
She didn’t want to seem horrified, but if she had been a guest, she wouldn’t have felt comfortable using the bathroom. It smelled and it was grimy on every surface. The seat was up, revealing splotches of yellow and brown. The hand towel smelled of mildew, the rug had clumps of mud, even the light switch had some sort of sticky substance on it. Was this all honey? Did it get into the house and stick to everything?
They next went upstairs to a long hall of bedrooms.
“All the bedrooms are up here and the big bathroom.”
She was afraid to look in the big bathroom after seeing the one downstairs. It was much the same, but here there was also a shower covered in soap scum, a sink full of toothpaste and tiny hairs, and products sitting all over the counter.
Knox didn’t say much about the bathroom except to give her a resigned look. “I’m sure that’ll be the worst part.”
They walked down the hall a little way. “We don’t have to go in all the bedrooms, but just to give you an idea, this is mine.”
He opened the door to a room that looked like clothing had exploded inside of it. On the floor, on the bed, on the desk, were shirts, pants, and socks. The bedside table had a collection of dishes, including a bowl with some liquid at the bottom that was starting to mold.
“So probably just vacuum the bedrooms. Or whatever you normally do in a bedroom.”
“Sure,” she said. And dust and scrub the furniture and windows, and do the laundry, and tidy up and make the bed.
“That’s pretty much it. You still want the job?”
“Yes, though…” How could she ask this without sounding like she wasn’t up to the job?
“You’ll need more money? I can probably arrange that.”
“Oh. That’s not what I was going to say. Just that, at first, it may take longer to clean than normal? I may not get to all the rooms today, but once I clean each room, it will be faster to clean from now on.”
He laughed. “Oh goodness. No one expects you clean this whole house today. Whatever time it takes. I know it’s a dump and we’re messy. Blair—that’s Daxton’s girlfriend—does the dishes and stuff sometimes, but she refuses to shower here until it’s cleaned, so Dax was whining that were too messy, and that’s when we all decided it was time just to pay someone. There’s no way we’ll ever be able to keep it clean. So, anything you do will be an improvement.”
“Do you have cleaning supplies? I can get started right away.”
“Oh.” He scratched his neck. “Uhh… well, let me give you the full tour, then we can figure all that out.”
They went back downstairs and then into a basement. “You don’t have to clean down here, in fact, you don’t ever need to come down here at all, but I just thought you should see the whole place.” He motioned to several large metal barrels. They had tubes coming and going from them. “We make whiskey, too.”
She nodded, not sure what to think of that, then followed him back upstairs. Next, they toured a large building full of machines and a few workers running them. This was where the honey was made, and again, he assured her, she never had to go in there. In fact, they had someone that cleaned in there since food was processed there and it had to be kept cleaner.
They walked out of the building and stepped into a large patch of grass. Square wooden boxes were in a row and there were bees everywhere. When he’d said they made honey and had shown her the processing facility, for some reason, she hadn’t thought about how they got the honey. Of course they had bees. She walked close to him and tried to move very slowly.
“These are all the hives.” He walked over to one and started to pull something out of it.
“Oh no, that’s okay, you don’t have to do that.”
He looked at her and must’ve seen her nervousness. “Don’t be afraid. They won’t hurt you unless they get agitated.”
She nodded, but backed away. He led her back into the house. “My brother and I are the beekeepers, so I spend a lot of time with them. They get a much worse rep than they deserve.”
Three men walked toward the house from another direction.
“Ah,” Knox said. “Here are the guys.” He waved them over.
These men, too, were all huge in size. Maybe they liked to go to the gym together or had met there. He introduced each of them and she tried to remember a defining characteristic so she would remember their names. Daxton had black hair, and he wore business suits, since he was the sales guy, according to Knox. Slade ran the business, though, and he was the tallest, also the most serious looking. Until he smiled. Then a dimple popped in his right cheek, and made him look softer. And Amir, who was the one to do all the moonshining in the basement. He was easier to remember because he was the one with darker skin and a slight accent. The thing that stood out the most about all of them, besides their large muscles and wide chests, were their eyes. They all had the hypnotic golden eyes that Knox did.
“You’re not related in any way?” she asked Knox after the men had walked away.
“Not by blood.” They went inside and he stood in the living room. “Okay, so what all do you need to get started?”
“Do you have any cleaning supplies?”
“Oh, right.” He went to the kitchen retrieved a few bottles. Dish soap, anti-bacterial spray, a floor cleaner. “There’s a mop and broom in the kitchen closet.”
“Great. I can get started in here. Are there other things? Rags or cleaner for the bathrooms?”
“Umm, there might be stuff upstairs. The vacuum is up there in the hall closet. Let’s just do this. You get started and do whatever you can do. Anything you need, just make a list and I’ll be sure to get it.”
She nodded.
“Okay, well, I’ll be out back with the bees. If you need anything, just holler.”
She watched him walk away, then got to work.
* * *
* * *
After four days of hard cleaning and multiple trips with Knox to the store to purchase various cleaning supplies, the house was starting to look much better. Soon, she’d be ready to just maintain and the deep cleaning would be done.
“It’s really looking awesome in here,” Knox said, peaking into the bathroom. “And it smells good. I like that floral cleaner stuff we got.”
“Thanks.” Jasmine brushed a hair from her forehead with her arm and set down the scrub brush. The tile floors were gorgeous—once she scrubbed the layers of dirt off.
“I talked to Slade, too. We’re going to pay you more than what we agreed on. This place is so gross, and you’ve already done such an awesome job, it’s the least we can do.”
“Thank you very much. It’s a big help to me, and just that you would take a chance on someone with no experience.” She chuckled. “I thought I did very poorly in the interview.”
“I think it was the ‘my good looks’ comment that won it for you.” He winked at her.
She shook her head and felt her cheeks warm. “I can’t believe I said that.”
“Well, it’s certainly true.”
She looked down, her pulse speeding up at his words.
“I came up here to ask you a question, though. A favor.”
She pulled the gloves off, one finger at a time, and stood up.
“Something is up with one of the hives. We had a lot of deaths.” His smile faded and his face became concerned, maybe even worried. “We’re not sure what’s going on, and we don’t want anything to affect the other hives. Can you come take a look at something? We want to clean it all out, but I’m not sure what would be best.”
“Okay, sure.”
She followed him out of the house, into the backyard, her heart racing now for a different reason. She didn’t want to be anywhere near these bees. But how could she say no? He’d just given her a raise, and compliments, and he was her employer. She prayed the bees would stay far from her.
Knox took her to one of the wooden boxes where Beck stood, looking inside. Several flat pieces of wood leaned against the box. She thought it was the honeycomb, but wasn’t sure.
“So, here’s the thing,” Knox said. “First, we have all these dead bees. There’s a place we can send them for testing, and we’re going to do that, but we only need to send a few. We need to get the rest out of there, and we need to clean everything out in case there’s a contaminate. So, what can we clean it with that won’t be toxic for the bees when we rebuild the hive?”
She looked down in the hive and her eyes widened. The box was full of bees and the sides of the box were coated in a sticky substance. She didn’t know if it was honey or something else. There were several products that would take off stickiness, but something safe for bees?
“I’m not really sure,” she said. “Vinegar can clean a lot of things and is usually not toxic.”
Beck nodded. “I think I’ve heard of that. I’ll check online. I’m sure there’s info for that.”
“Can you help us with this?” Knox said. “We need to take all these frames in to be processed.”
“Okay.”
He picked up a few of the frames that were leaning against the box. He handed some to her, several to Beck, and took the rest. They walked toward the building. She looked down and noticed that one of the frames she carried had a bee crawling slowly across the wood. She watched it for a moment. It seemed to be moving slowly, but it made her nervous.
“Umm, Knox?”
He looked back at her over his shoulder.
“This bee is alive.”
He stopped and looked at the frame. “I’ll take it.”
When he picked it up, the bee flew off and landed on her hand. She let out a startled scream and yanked her hand away. Then she felt the pinch of a sting.
“It stung me!” She almost dropped the other frames, but handed them to Knox so she could inspect the sting.
“It’s dazed from whatever killed the hive. I probably aggravated it by picking up the frame. We have stuff in the house to clean out a sting.”
“Umm, should it look like that?” Jasmine looked down at the place the bee had stung her, which was now rising on her skin into a small mound.
Knox’s eyes grew wide. “Are you allergic to bee stings?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever been stung before.”
“Crap.” He set the frames down and said to Beck, “I’m gonna take her to the hospital.”
Beck picked up their frames and stacked them onto his. He glanced at her hand. “Oh wow, that looks bad. Hurry.”
“I will. Come on,” Knox said, and took her other hand to pull her along. “Can you breathe okay?” He yanked open his truck door and helped her in.
“Yes.” She buckled her seatbelt as he sped off.
“Can you swallow okay?”
She swallowed and thought it felt maybe a little tight, but didn’t know if that was just from her increasing panic. “I think so?”
He looked over at her, then sped up. They pulled into the ER, and he slammed the truck into park after pulling into a spot.
Her hand was now swollen to the point where the entire back of it was puffy and her wrist was swelling, too. In the center, where the sting was, had turned an angry red.
Knox took her by the hand and hurried her into the ER. He made her sit, then went to tell a nurse what was happening. They immediately took her into a small exam room. The nurse shined a light in her eyes and looked down her throat.
“It looks like your face is starting to swell and you’re having a fairly serious reaction,” the nurse said. “We’re going to give you a shot of epinephrine to stop the allergic reaction.”
The woman prepared a needle and gave her the shot. The swelling started to go down quickly.
Another woman came in and took down all her information. Name, address, birth date, etc. She still had active insurance, luckily, and gave them the info for her policy.
She and Knox sat in the exam room for a while. They wanted to watch her reaction and get her an Epipen, they said. She wouldn’t need to be admitted, which she was relieved to hear.
After a while, the woman who had taken her information came back. “Okay, we have your insurance all set. We connected your next of kin listed, Darius Cruz, per the instructions on the account. He said he was on his way.” The woman smiled and left the room.
Whatever panic Jasmine had felt at the sting was nothing compared to the panic she felt now. She looked at Knox with a wild expression.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Why would they do that? Why would they call him?”
“She said your account said to. Why? Is that a problem?”
Tears already formed in her eyes. “I have to get out of here before he gets here.”
Knox seemed shocked by her reaction. “Okay. I’ll find the nurse.”
“No!” Jasmine looked around, making sure no one was near the door. “If they know I’m leaving, they might tell him.”
“Okay, it’s okay.” He stood up and went to the door, looking out in both directions before saying, “Come on.”
They hurried through hall, trying not to draw attention to themselves. He kept looking around, watching for anyone that might notice them or approach them. They got to his truck, and he pulled away quickly.
Jasmine closed her eyes and couldn’t stop the tears from running down her cheeks. She felt the truck stop and opened her eyes to look at Knox. He had pulled over and was turned in his seat to face her.
“What’s going on, Jasmine? Who is Darius, and why are you so afraid of him?”
“He’s my ex-husband.” She wiped the tears away. “He can’t find me. He just can’t.”
“Okay…”
She didn’t want to tell him everything. Maybe he didn’t want an employee that had so many problems.
“Jasmine.”
She bit her lip and met his eyes.
“Did he hurt you?”
Her vision blurred with fresh tears. She heard her seatbelt click as he released it. Then felt his arms around her. He pulled her close and let her cry on his shoulder.
“I’ll keep you safe,” he whispered.
* * *
* * *
When she’d finished crying and making a complete fool of herself, Knox drove them back to his house.
“Why don’t you just come inside and rest for a while?” he said. “Don’t worry about doing anything else today.”
“Maybe you should just take me home.”
“I will. Later. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
He led her into the living room and brought a small blanket to her. She laid down and started to relax. Here, she felt safe. All these big men around and Knox who said he’d protect her.
“Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m okay, thanks,” she said.
“Alright. I’m going to head back outside, but just yell if you need something. Amir is in the basement and Slade’s in the office, so you’re not alone.”
“Thank you.”
She managed to calm down enough to take a short nap. The chaos of the day had gotten to her and made her tired. But she hadn’t slept long, and she woke to shouting. She recognized Knox’s voice out front and went to the window to see what was happening.
To her horror, Knox stood in the front lawn, yelling at Darius, who was flailing his arms and yelling back. She put her hand to her mouth. He had found her. She snuck to the door and peaked out the window in its center, listening carefully to what they were saying.
“She is my wife! I have a right to see her. I know she’s in there,” Darius said.
“I don’t care what you think you have a right to. This is my house and my property, and I said you need to go, now.” Knox poked his finger into Darius’s chest.
Darius stepped back. He was nothing in size compared to Knox, and she thought that he looked somewhat scared.
“I have a gun,” Darius said. “I will come in the middle of the night and shoot you in the head.”
Knox threw back his head and laughed. Darius made a huge mistake then. He swung his fist and tried to hit Knox. Knox put his hand up and caught the punch effortlessly. He swung his other arm and punched Darius in the jaw. Darius started swinging wildly, his hands flying, not connecting, but just trying to hit something.
Knox took a step back, away from him. He dropped to the ground, putting his hands down like he was doing a push up. Jasmine thought this was odd, but her confusion turned to shock when Knox’s clothing burst and split, revealing thick black hair. He stood up and the man that had been Knox was now a huge black bear.
She gasped. Darius reacted much the same way. His jaw hung open and his eyes were huge as he backed away. Knox growled and leapt at him. Darius turned and ran, and Knox chased after him.
Jasmine watched them run into the woods. Minutes later, Darius reappeared and ran to his car. He got the door open, whipping his head around frantically. He climbed in and didn’t even have the door closed fully before he sped off, kicking a dust storm up behind him. She kept watching for Knox. She didn’t know if he’d come out as a bear or a man, but she kept her eyes on the place where he’d disappeared into the woods.
“Everything okay?”
Jasmine jumped and let out a startled scream. She turned to face Slade.
“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
She pointed to the door, her speech failing her. “Knox… Darius…” She shook her head. “He turned into a bear.”
“Ah.” Slade nodded in understanding. “I guess you didn’t know he could do that?”
She blinked at him. So, this was something people knew about? So, it had actually happened then and she hadn’t imagined it.
“Don’t be afraid,” Slade said. “I know it might seem a little strange at first. You’ve probably heard horrible stories about shifters.”
She nodded slowly, thinking back to her childhood and the stories people told. That they were terrifying beasts capable of horrific things. She could see why people believed that. Knox as a bear had been quite scary.
The front door opened and Knox walked in, wearing only shorts. “Hey. Everything okay?”
Jasmine just stared at him, at his muscular bare chest. He had a collection of thick black curls in the center, and she could see the veins popping from his arms.
Slade said, “She saw.”
“Oh.” Knox gave her a concerned look. “Let’s just sit down and talk, okay?”
She walked numbly to the couch and sat. He sat across from her on the chair.
“Please don’t be afraid. Are you afraid?”
“I—I—”
He let out a breath in a hard sigh, then reached out slowly to take her hand. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m a shifter. I can change into a bear, but it’s something that I control completely. It doesn’t happen by accident or if I get mad or anything like that. I’m not like the Hulk. And even when I am a bear, I’m still me. I know what I’m doing and who I am and who you are.”
She stared into his gold eyes, listening carefully.
“Did you see that Darius showed up?”
She nodded.
“I chased him off. I doubt he’ll come back. Usually people get pretty scared when I shift. Do you have any questions?”
She thought about how all five of them were so huge and had the same gold eyes. “Are you all bear shifters?”
“Yes. That’s primarily why we live together. We’re actually a clan. Slade is the alpha. That’s also why we deal in honey.” He quirked his mouth into a crooked grin and shrugged. “Bears like honey.”
She chuckled a little at that.
“How’s your hand?”
She looked down at the place she’d been stung. It was now just pink, and the swelling had gone. She held it up to show him.
“Good.”
They sat in silence for a while, staring at each other, or at the floor, or at the wall.
Finally, he said, “Are you okay? Are you totally freaked out? Say something.”
“It’s surprising,” she said. “But I think… I think I’m not afraid.”
Knox moved to sit beside her. He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I will do whatever I have to to keep you safe.”
He tilted her chin up, then leaned forward and kissed her. It caught her off guard and she almost pulled back. But then she realized, he was kissing her. Kissing her.
She relaxed and kissed him back, enjoying the feel of their lips sliding together and pressing against each other. He ended the kiss and pulled back to look at her.
She broke into a grin and looked down, suddenly feeling shy. He pulled her into a hug and whispered into her ear, “I really like you.”
She hugged him back, letting the feeling of warmth take over her. In that moment, she had never felt so safe or cared for. She never wanted it to end.
* * *
* * *
“I’m starving after the day we’ve had,” Knox said. “Will you go to dinner with me? Do you have plans or anything?”
“No plans.”
“Okay then.” He stood and took her hand and led her to his truck.
They drove to a small restaurant that she’d never seen before.
“I know this might not be the nicest looking place, but the food is amazing,” he said.
They sat at the table across from each other and placed their order.
“Thank you for everything today,” Jasmine said. “I feel like I’ve brought so much trouble into your life.”
“No,” he said. “Are you kidding? You’ve made things interesting. Though, I do wish you would have told me sooner about your ex. That way I would have known to tell the nurse at the hospital. But oh well, at least I knew before he showed up at the house looking for you.”
“But that’s the problem. He might come back. He does have a gun. You don’t need my problems on you. I should find another job.”
“What! No, don’t do that. You’re an amazing housekeeper, and we need you desperately. And don’t worry about him. One thing that comes with being a shifter is that if people find out, they like to come after you. We’ve been hunted before and we’ll be hunted again. There are guns and knives all over the house and on the grounds, but we’re all the deadliest weapons.”
She nodded. “You’re not bulletproof, though.”
“No, but in bear form, I’m much stronger. Bullets don’t do near as much damage as they would to a human.”
“I feel like… I don’t deserve you. To go through all this for me. We barely know each other.”
He reached across the table and covered her hand in his. “I want to know you more. You deserve to be safe. You deserve to be happy. Does working for me and spending time with me make you happy?”
“Yes. Very.”
“Okay then.”
“I like you, too.” It came out as almost a whisper, and she felt self-conscious saying it. A man like him shouldn’t like a woman like her.
“Do you?” He pulled his mouth into a glowing smile.
She nodded and giggled. “I have never felt this way. I didn’t like my husband very much when I married him.”
“Then why did you marry him?”
“My parents. They brought me here from Iran when I was very little. They wanted to go back, but I didn’t. I was almost 18, so they agreed to let me stay if I married a Persian man. That they chose.”
“Oh wow. Must be horrible having to be married to someone you don’t like. Did he treat you good at all?”
Tears flooded to her eyes again, making her even more self-conscious. She swiped at them quickly. “Not really.”
He squeezed her hand. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that now. I’m not perfect, but I’ll treat you right. I’ll protect you.”
“I’ve never felt so safe in my life.”
After dinner, they returned to Knox’s house. “I want you to stay here tonight. Just to make sure you’re safe and the bee sting is okay. You can sleep in my room and I’ll take the couch.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine at home.”
“No way. My bedroom is clean and everything. I have this really amazing housekeeper who does a fabulous job.”
“Thank you, but really. I’ll be okay.”
He shook his head. “I’m insisting on this. Do you live alone?”
“No, not really. I’m… staying at a women’s shelter.”
He looked over at her, surprised. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then there is no way I’m sending you back there tonight.”
They pulled into the driveway and found the other men outside, gathered around the hive of dead bees. She and Knox entered the house, and she put her leftover food in the refrigerator.
“I’m going to go outside for a minute to see what’s going on. Why don’t you go upstairs and get settled? Grab one of my shirts or something to sleep in, okay?”
He hugged her and kissed her forehead before walking outside. She walked slowly up the stairs, the weight of the day crashing down on her.
The bed had been made by her earlier in the day and now she turned down the sheets. She took a t-shirt from his closet and changed into it, then stretched out on the bed to wait.
Several minutes later, the door opened. She sat up and froze. She’d expected Knox. Even one of the other guys. Instead, staring down at her with a triumphant grin on his face, was Darius.
* * *
* * *
Jasmine’s first reaction was to scream. She let out a yell so loud, it hurt her throat.
Darius laughed. “All your friends are outside. No one can hear you.”
He came toward her and she backed away, off the bed.
“You are going to come with me.”
“No, I’m not. Get out of here. Get away from me!”
“You can’t escape me. I’m your husband.” He took another step toward her. He was at the foot of the bed, ten feet away. “What would your parents say if they knew you had left your husband and were screwing another man? You would bring nothing but shame on them!”
“What would your father say if he knew you beat your wife when she didn’t make dinner correctly?”
Darius laughed and stepped closer. “He would say, ‘Good job.’”
Knox had said there were guns and knives all over the house. Could some weapon be in his room somewhere? She didn’t remember ever seeing one when she cleaned. Maybe in the drawers.
“Then your dad is as sick as you,” she said.
He leapt at her and she didn’t have time to think about finding a weapon. He grabbed her wrists and pushed her to the floor. He climbed on top of her and pulled Knox’s t-shirt up to her waist.
“You are my wife. Now do your wifely duty.”
She screamed again and clawed at his face. He leaned back and smacked her hard across the cheek. With as much force as she could gather, using all her fear and adrenaline, she pushed up with her hips, tilting at the same time, and managed to throw him off balance enough that she could slide out from under him.
She ran faster than she ever had before. When she came to the end of the hallway, she nearly collided into the wall, she was running so fast. She gripped the railing tight, almost tripping several times before her feet landed on the floor of the entryway.
He was right behind her. He reached out and grabbed the end of her shirt, but she took off again, out the front door, and pulled out of his reach.
The gravel on her feet hurt. She ran into the grass, which was softer, but she was heading for the woods. How she wished she hadn’t changed yet and still had her sneakers on.
Her feet hit the first branch of the woods and she crumpled for a moment in pain. She could not run fast in the woods with all the rocks and branches, no matter how badly she wanted to. She hurried along, but with Darius right behind her, and him wearing his thick boots, he caught up to her quickly.
He reached out and closed his wrist around her arm, then yanked her back so hard, her face smacked into his head. She felt dizzy with the shock and pain and tried to yank free. Once she regained herself, she kicked him hard in the knee. He cried out, but didn’t let go.
Then he pulled out a knife from his waistband.
“I really didn’t want to have to use this,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to damage that pretty face of yours, but I guess I have no choice. Maybe if I cut you up, this bear man won’t want you. No one will want you then.”
She tried again to pull free. She kicked him. She tried to hit him. But he was faster and he still had shoes. He pulled her along, deeper into the woods.
She couldn’t think or decide what to do. If she couldn’t get away, what else was there? She realized she was outside now. And so were Knox and his friends. If she screamed here, they might hear her.
Jasmine opened her mouth to scream, but instead of her voice, heard a thunderous roar. She whipped her head toward the sound and saw a huge black bear bounding toward them.
The relief was so great that her knees failed, and she fell to the ground. Darius let her go and faced the bear, knife in hand.
“This is between a husband and his wife. This is not your business,” Darius said. She thought she could hear the fear in his voice, though.
Knox charged at him. This time, instead of running, Darius charged back and sunk his knife blade into Knox’s stomach.
Jasmine screamed. This scream, for fear of Knox’s life rather than her own, was more horrified than terrified. She needed him. If anything happened to Knox, she was at the mercy of Darius.
Knox roared loudly and swiped his paw across Darius’s face. Darius cried out in pain. Knox swiped at him again, and sent the knife flying through the air. Jasmine saw where it landed and scooted her way over to it.
Her fingers closed around the handle. She glanced down at it, at Knox’s blood all over the blade, and her hand shook. She got to her feet, trembling. She could barely hold onto the knife. As she reached for a nearby tree to steady herself, Knox took another swipe at Darius, who was trying to protect his head.
Jasmine stumbled her way over, holding onto trees, until she was behind Darius. Then, with wild determination, she hobbled forward. Knox probably saw her. She didn’t look at him. Darius was so focused on the bear in front of him that he hadn’t noticed she moved.
She took one step, then another, her feet aching with the pain of twigs and rocks. She took one more step, and sunk the knife blade deep into Darius’s back.
He cried out and spun, his eyes savage and horrified. He fell to the ground, grasping the place in his stomach where the tip of the knife stuck out, blood pouring free around it.
Jasmine was panting. She watched him lie there, blood gushing from his stomach and dripping from the cut on his face. She braved a glance at Knox, who sat still, observing.
The woods seemed to go eerily quiet. Darius started to shake, then he was still.
Jasmine waited a while, but eventually went over to him and, with extreme caution, picked up his wrist. She felt for a pulse. She waited to feel or see something moving in him. But there was nothing.
She looked at Knox, still terrified, but now at herself, at what she’d done, at what he’d think. She could go to jail for this.
“He’s dead,” she whispered. “I have to run. I don’t want to go to jail.” Tears began streaming down her face.
Knox’s golden bear eyes looked sympathetic somehow, if that was possible for a bear. He stood up on all fours, swiped the knife out of Darius’s back, and with large, fast movements, used his claws to cut him up, in the spot where the knife wound had been. He flipped him over and continued to maul him.
Jasmine watched, realizing finally that he was covering up what she’d done. He stopped and checked the body, sniffing around it. Then he sat down again, and laid down on his side.
Strange, she thought. She’d never seen a bear act like that, but when the bear started to shrink and the hair receded into skin, she knew he was changing back.
He stood up, and he was naked. Blood poured out of the stab wound in his stomach, but he hardly seemed to notice. He covered himself with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know, not really.”
Knox backed up and looked her over. “You have a bump on your head. A few scratches. Your cheek’s red. Did he hit you?”
She touched the place on her forehead where she’d banged into Darius, then where he’d slapped her. Her feet, too, hurt and she lifted one, then the other.
“Okay, we need to get back to the house. Can you carry the knife?”
She went over and picked it up.
“Try not to get blood on you.”
In one motion, he picked her up and carried her out of the woods.
It felt weird, knowing he was naked. But she buried her head into his chest and breathed in the smell of his sweat. His arms, tight and strong around her, were like a security blanket. She held the knife away from her and him, trying to do as he’d asked.
* * *
She knew when they were close enough to the house for the others to see because they all started calling things out to them at once.
Someone opened the door for them and Knox carried her to the sofa.
“We’ll need to call the police soon,” Knox said. “Someone has been killed by a bear.”
The chatter stopped.
“Are you sure he’s dead?” Beck asked.
“I’m sure.” Knox grunted as Slade pressed a towel to his wound.
“You need stitches,” Slade said.
“Now, how’s that going to look,” Knox said. “I go to the hospital for a stab wound and there’s a dead guy in my backyard.” He pulled on a pair of shorts that someone had handed him.
“You have to go, man,” Daxton said. He looked over at Jasmine and took the knife from her.
She was afraid to touch anything with the blood still on her hand.
“First, we need to get Jas cleaned up,” Knox said. “Burn the shirt.”
Amir came to her and helped her up from the sofa. “Let’s go get you in the shower.”
She looked back at Knox with a pained longing. “It’s okay,” he said.
Amir led her upstairs and got her into the shower. He closed the door and said, “I’m not looking, but I need you to take everything off and make sure you scrub everything really well. I’ll get you a towel and something to wear when you get out. Are you wounded?”
“No,” she croaked. She pulled the shirt off and wrapped her underwear in it, then handed them out of the shower. She turned on the hot water and scrubbed, as he’d instructed, until her skin felt sore.
When she shut off the water, Amir handed a towel into the shower. “There’s a shirt out here for you, and shorts. I’m going to stand just outside the bathroom door.”
She dried off and pulled on the clothes. She had to roll the waist band of the shorts several times to get them to stay up. When she came out of the bathroom, Amir took her arm and guided her back downstairs.
Knox was sitting in the kitchen on a chair, Slade inspected his wound.
“Hey, you all cleaned up?” he asked.
She nodded. “Are you…” Okay seemed so far from the truth that it was ridiculous to even ask.
“I’ll be fine.”
“You have to go to the hospital,” she said.
“Good luck,” Slade said. “I’ve been telling him that for twenty minutes.” He stood up and put his hands on his hips. “I don’t have enough medical training to know if it hit anything major. Does it feel like it hit anything major?”
Knox shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt that badly.”
“Yeah, well, you could be going into shock,” Slade said.
The tears returned and Jasmine shook her head. “What if you die?”
Knox looked at her and his tough-guy face softened. “I won’t. It’s really not that bad.”
“He stabbed you!” Her words were getting hysterical now, and she could feel herself losing it.
“Okay, calm down.” He got up, despite Slade hollering at him, and came to her. He held her the best he could.
“At least hold something on it,” Slade said, the disgust obvious in his voice as he pressed the towel to Knox’s stomach again.
“It’s okay, Jas.” He wiped her tears and, while she liked the way it felt and how he called her Jas, which he hadn’t done before today, she didn’t think she’d stop crying anytime soon.
“You—have to—go,” she said through sobs. “I can’t—lose you.”
He took in a deep breath and kissed her.
“I will. Okay? I will. We just have to go somewhere far and we might have to lie a little, okay?”
She nodded and tried to calm herself.
“You stay here and I’ll go and get stitches and come right back.”
“No!” she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Beck came into the kitchen. “You’re in luck. Greg is on his way.”
“You’re a lifesaver,” Knox said.
Slade snorted. “Yeah, maybe literally. Stubborn ass.”
“I’d just rather not get us all in trouble or go to jail,” Knox said.
“Who’s Greg?” Jasmine asked, wiping away new tears.
“He’s our friend who was in the army,” Beck said. “Luckily, he has plenty of basic medical training and can do stitches. It’s gonna hurt, though. I doubt he has morphine or anything.”
Jasmine sat in the other room while Greg worked on Knox’s wound. Every time he yelled out in pain, she gripped Amir’s hand or Daxton’s hand. Beck and Slade were in there with him, probably holding his hand as he squeezed through the pain, too.
When it started to grow quiet, she heard Greg say, “You’re lucky. It wasn’t bad at all.”
She sagged in relief. He left a short time later, and Knox walked into the living room, leaning toward his injured side.
“We decided it would be best to call about the body tomorrow,” Daxton said. “If it was a real bear attack, we wouldn’t necessarily know right away, and since he was kind enough to not park his car at our house, we wouldn’t know he was here. We’ll say we heard animals in the woods fighting, went to check it out, and found the body.”
Knox nodded. “Sounds good.”
“I wonder if he could be the one who killed the bees,” Beck said. “We found out what caused it. The report came back today. Toxic smoke.”
Jasmine shook her head. “I don’t think he would have been that smart.”
“It does seem a little far-fetched,” Amir agreed.
“I can think of someone who might have had something to do with it,” Daxton said.
“Who?” Slade asked.
“Same people who were pissed when Blair’s store stopped carrying their products. Same people who’ve tried to run us out of business for years.”
“The Harper clan?” Slade asked.
Daxton nodded. “When they found out Blair pulled the SheBear Honey line, her store got egged, and she got threats for weeks. She had to call the cops.”
“I’ll look into it,” Slade said. “Seems like a likely suspect.”
“We’re going to bed,” Knox said. He took Jasmine’s hand and led her slowly up to the bedroom after they’d said goodnight to the guys.
He closed the door behind them and pulled her close. “I will gladly sleep on the floor or downstairs, but I really—”
“No. Please. Stay close.”
He chuckled. “I was going to say that I really want to stay close to you.”
She set her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
“I’m sorry you had to do what you had to do. But it’s over now. He can never, ever hurt you again.”
She took in a slow deep breath and wondered how long it’d be before that fact seemed real to her. Knox released her just long enough to slip carefully into bed and pull her close again.
“Tomorrow, I want every detail of what exactly happened,” he said. “I could kick myself for leaving you in the house alone. I just never thought…” He growled softly. “When I saw you run out of the house and him following you, I lost my mind.”
“I’m glad I got out of the house. I didn’t think I was going to get away.” The things that could have happened to her right here in this room... She shivered with the fear of it. But he was right, Darius would never hurt her again.
Knox kissed her, and this time, their kissing became heavy and passionate. His hands caressed her stomach and back. He ran his fingertips over her skin, sending chills of pleasure to replace the chills of fear.
“I want you,” he whispered.
She hadn’t been with anyone but Darius. When she was with him, it was always forceful and often painful. The thought of having sex scared her. But with Knox, she knew it would be different. She felt so safe with him and knew he’d never hurt her. Maybe it could even be good. And she wanted him, too. Her whole body was hot and tingly with his touch.
She dug her fingers into his long hair. “Me too,” she whispered.
“We’ll have to be careful of my wound, but I think we can make it work.”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Just… be gentle.”
The look he gave her was so pained and sympathetic at the same time, it melted any hesitation she had left. “I will.” He slipped her over-sized shorts down and touched her.
He was gentle. Almost too gentle. But every time he touched her in a new way, he paused to make sure she was okay. And when he slipped inside her, he did it so slowly, so carefully, that she finally pressed her hips against him to bring him in deeper.
She was surprised at how good it felt. Of course, it was a little awkward with his injury, but that only meant it could get better once he healed. Though, she didn’t see how it could get any better than what he’d made her feel.
When they were finished, and for the first time in her life, she’d felt the rush of pleasure she should have gotten from sex all along, she kissed him up and down his face and neck.
“Was that okay?” he asked.
“Yes, yes.” She laughed. “More than okay.” She rubbed her nose against his and beamed. “I have to tell you. I haven’t known you long, but I think I am falling in love with you.”
He moaned softly and kissed her. “Good, because I’m falling for you, too. I was thinking about something.” He paused to brush a stray hair from her face. “I hate the thought of you going back to that shelter. Move in here, with me.”
“Really? Are you sure?” She hated living in the shelter and even though she made good money now, the thought of having her own place all alone was daunting and gave her anxiety. If she moved in with him, she would feel safe all the time.
“I’m very sure.”
“But what about the others?”
“Already talked to them.”
“You did?” So, this wasn’t a new idea.
“Right after I found out you were staying there.”
She smiled again and felt tears that were tears of joy. “I would love to.”
“Perfect. Then you’ll never be far from me again.”