Page 25 of Tempted

She hadn’t thought about that. While Mr. Meade never said anything about her being in the house with the children twenty-four seven, she wasn’t sure he’d appreciate her going out at all hours of the night to be painted. “I don’t think so.”

“Have you asked?”

Despite herself, Jasmine chuckled. “You’re persistent aren’t you?”

“Like I said, when I see something I want, I go for it.”

“I’m sure there are more suitable women for what you want than me. I have no experience in this.”

“Can you be still for more than ten minutes at a time?”

She shrugged. “I guess so.”

His smiled. “Then you’re perfect. My studio is in my condo a couple blocks away from here. I can pay you half your fee right away and the other half once the painting is complete. What do you say?”

Jasmine moistened her lips, allowing all possible scenarios of what could go wrong through her mind. This was definitely something she’d have to give thought to. “Look, I’ll need to think about this some more and plus, my boss might not like me being away from the children. If one of them were to get sick…”

“They’re big kids. I’m sure they can get on fine without you for a couple hours.”

Jasmine shook her head with a laugh. There was definitely something engaging about this man if nothing else. “You’re a bad influence aren’t you?”

“But my mother still loves me.”

“I’m sure she’d have to in order to put up with you. I bet you ran rings around the poor woman when you were a kid.”

He raised a brow. “Who said I ever grew up?”

“You’re incorrigible”

“So they tell me. Hey, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Because I didn’t throw it.”

“Touché. Do you plan on leaving a poor guy in suspense?”

“Jasmine.”

Topaz eyes briefly roamed her face, although Jasmine got the impression he saw far more than he was letting on. “A pretty name for a pretty lady. Now that we’re old pals…what do you say?”

She held up her hands. “Whoa. Slow down. I said I’d think about it, and even if I do it, I’d need to run it by my boss. He might not be okay with me leaving the kids at night.”

“I suppose I’ll have to wait if I must, but I can’t see why your boss won’t let you go out for drinks.”

Jasmine lifted a brow. “Are you by any chance asking me out on a date?”

“Why not? I’m single and you’re not sporting any rings on your finger so what do you say? If it makes you more comfortable, we can meet at the bar.”

“You sound pretty sure about my saying yes.”

Jason shrugged. “Wishful thinking?”

It was one thing when he was just an artist approaching a potential model, but now he was a man coming on to a woman. Jasmine didn’t know how she felt about that. Besides, she was still dealing with what happened between her and Mr. Meade.

Jasmine shook her head. “Look, Jason I don’t even know if I’ll allow you to paint me, let alone date you. You seem like a nice guy, but I’m not ready for a relationship of any kind.”

He gave her a long probing stare, but finally nodded. “I won’t push you then.Keep my card. My number is on the back. Call me when you’re ready to talk business.”

“So you’re for real?”

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