Page 44 of Forbidden Desires

“Jasmine—”

I shook my head and cut him off, because if I didn’t, I wasn’t sure I could finish the story. “I might not have gotten a restraining order against him, but Dominique threatened to ruin him if he so much as came near me again. She has a lot of shit on bad people, and whatever she said to James finally made him back off. I know he wasn’t happy with the ultimatum, so yeah, there’s still bad blood between us, as well. That night with you was the first time I’d actually talked to him since Dominique put him in his place.”

Eric frowned. “He probably thought it was fine to approach you, under the guise of speaking to me.”

I nodded, because that made sense. “When I saw him at the gallery again, I had hoped that it was just a fluke. A coincidence, but if he’s going to you and making suggestions about me…”

“I can guarantee it was no coincidence,” Eric said with conviction, his jaw clenched tight. “James is calculating and devious. He doesn’t do anything without a purpose. He has no ethics or morals and right now my concern is that he’s going to try to use you somehow to retaliate against me over the fact that I bought a lucrative piece of property right out from under him. So, after the conversation I had with him, I’m concerned. About you. I’d like for you to stay as far away from him as possible because I don’t fucking trust him, not after what you told me he did to you, and honestly, you’re not the only woman that he has a reputation like that with.”

He hesitated, and something softened in his gaze as it met mine. “I want to make sure you’re safe, Jasmine. I care about you, and I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I didn’t do everything in my power to make sure he never hurt you again, all because he just wants to retaliate for a business deal he lost out on.”

Much to my chagrin, my throat grew tight, tears stung my eyes, and when one escaped, I swiped it away from the corner of my eye. I hated my emotional response, but I didn’t think telling any other client I’d ever had about James would have led to this type of care and protectiveness Eric had just displayed, and I wasn’t sure what to do with that. What had happened with James was collateral damage for an escort, something that came with the territory and most people just didn’t give a shit what happened, consensual or not.

“Hey,” Eric moved over to the couch I was on, sitting beside me. He reached out, gently cupping my cheek, his thumbbrushing away the moisture along my lash line. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“It isn’t that,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m used to a very particular response when it comes to shit like this. I’m used to people thinking that as an escort, it’s all par for the course and something that I deserved because of what I do. I appreciate so much that you’re not like that, Eric.”

He smiled, leaning in. It wasn’t a kiss, but a gentle nuzzle of his nose against mine. A soft, intimate caress. My heart fluttered in my chest as I looked into the clarity of his eyes.

“No matter what anyone else thinks, you’re worth caring about, Jasmine,” he said. “Remember that, always.”

CHAPTER 20

Eric

Jesus fucking Christ.The guy had brass balls, that was for damn sure.

“Why are you in my office again, James?” I asked, my voice cold and hostile, not that I gave a fuck after learning what he’d done to Jasmine. It was all I could do not to pummel the shit out of him.

A little over a week after his first visit, the bastard had the nerve to stand across the room from me once again, a sly grin on his face as he leaned against my office door frame, oh-so-casually. Unfortunately, my receptionist had called in sick with the flu, which left the front end unmanned, and this asshole had waltzed right in as if he owned the place.

Pretentious, obnoxious fucker.

“I know it’s early, but I just wanted to come by and talk a little business with you,” he said with a shrug. “We are colleagues, after all, in the same circles. Is that so odd?”

My gaze narrowed on him. “After our last conversation, I wasn’t under any sort of impression that we needed to speak with each other further, honestly.”

James chuckled and finally moved into my office, clearly unfazed by my unwelcoming tone and comment. I exhaled a harsh, frustrated stream of breath, closing the file that I had out on my desk detailing a new art house project I wanted to fund.

“What do you want?” I asked again. “I’m busy.”

Stopping on the other side of my desk, he pushed his hands into the front pockets of his slacks. “I just stopped by to see if you received an email from my office about that Shoreside property we spoke about the last time that I was here.”

The fucking nerve of the guy. During his last visit, James had insisted he wasn’t bothered that I’d acquired the property over him, that he was fine without Shoreside, but I’d known better. A man like James didn’t like to lose, and he certainly didn’t like being made a fool of while I’d snatched the prime piece of real estate right out from under him.

“As a matter of fact, I deleted the email without reading it because I don’t give a shit what it might have said.”

Indignation flashed in James’ eyes, before he quickly concealed it. “I should have known. You could have just sent a polite decline, Eric. No need to be so rude.”

“I think deleting the email was more politeness than you deserve,” I said, leaning back in my leather chair, wanting him to feel small and insignificant after what he’d put Jasmine through. “My acquisition of the property is not negotiable. I’ve already secured it. I’ve already lined up a suitable selection of vendors for the venue. I have already scheduled an opening and several showings. I have nothing to gain from reneging on my contract, and quite frankly, I have nothing to gain by giving you the thing that you want the most because I don’t fucking like you, James. So why the fuck are you here? Because surely you don’t thinkthat speaking to me in person is going to make me change my mind.”

By the time I was done, a faint flush of anger suffused his face. He leaned over my desk, his hands resting flat on the top of it, a sneer on his lips. “We both know you have enough money that giving up the Shoreside property wouldn’t hurt you. You’re just entertained by scalping other people’s business ventures, namely, mine. But it’s bad for the economy, even worse for the flow of money in Coral Gables, and ultimately that’s what I care about—"

My harsh laughter cut him off. “The irony here is that you’re implying that I seed enough money into the flow of Coral Gables’ economy when it thrives because of the investments I make into its culture is monumental.”

James gave me a tight lipped smiled. “There would be more money and profit being made if you weren’t practically giving it away hosting these fucking poor people you’re always entertaining in the galleries. You don’t make them rent spaces, people spend so much on their pieces that the artist’s profit is one hundred percent, and you have them ‘pay it forward’ as something optional—”

“Almost all of the artists pay it forward because they see the value in helping the artistic community overall,” I countered. “Stop embarrassing yourself, James. You’ve got enough money that this tantrum of yours is frankly, making you look desperate. There are plenty of properties all up and down the Florida coast, and especially in Coral Gables. You don’t need the Shoreside property.”

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