Page 24 of Taking The Virgin

“It’s okay, honey,” I say. “Are you still inbed?”

“Yeah.” She takes in a stilted breath then says, “You know Mr. and Mrs. Terry make me get a lot of sleep so I’ll do well in school, but I can’t sleep. I just keep thinking…” She breaks down again.

“Shh. It’s okay.” God, I wish I could tell her that I’m going to get us all back together again, but it’s too soon to do that. There’re still too many hoops to jump through with social services, and there’s still our currently uninhabitable house to deal with. “Do you have BooBoo withyou?”

“Yes.”

BooBoo is one of the stuffed animals I had with me at college. I gave the worn bear to her when we were forced apart. Jasmine’s eleven, but she held onto that memento as if it were a life raft. Truthfully, my sixteen-year-old sister Jemma did the same thing with the blue elephant I gave toher.

Owen rigidly turns away from the closet with a suit on its hanger as well as a button down. He goes into the bathroom.

“Jazzie,” I say. “You hold BooBoo tight, just as if you’re hugging me. Then shut your eyes. I know you’ve got to be so tired.”

“I am.” She lets out an unsteady breath. “I still can’t sleep, Jules. It’s sohard.”

“Iknow.”

When I look up, Owen is standing in the open bathroom doorway. There’s enough light for me to see that he’s aggravated.

He gestures for me put a pause on the conversation, and I tell Jasmine to hold on, then cover the bottom of the phone with myhand.

“I thought the rules were clear,” Owen says in a formaltone.

What—is he really going to get on my case about consoling my littlest sister?

“They are clear,” I say, “but my brothers and sisters happen to have foster parents who let the kids call every once in a while to tell me how things are going. I don’t know how much you know about my situation or how much you don’t want to know, but Jasmine’s upset tonight, and I’m not going to leave her thatway.”

He braces his large hand against the wall. “I don’t think you understand what I expect out of our arrangement.”

Now my temper is up. “Look, I know you didn’t want to know anything of a personal nature about me. You made it abundantly clear that you don’t want to get attached to your transaction. Believe me, I understand.”

“Good. Then you’ll also understand that this isn’t about your talking on the phone with your sister—it’s about my not wanting to listen in on your rather intense conversation.” He jerks his chin toward the bedroom door. “Now, if you don’t mind, continue the call elsewhere on the jet. I’ve heard too much already.”

Mortification seeps into me. Just how granite-hearted is he? And after what we just experienced in the shower? Maybe I should also remind him that we don’t have a contract tonight.

“Fine,” I only say, getting up and yanking the sheet off the bed so I can wrap all of it around me. Then I stomp off. “I’m going.”

“Thank you,” he says coldly.

Jerk.

As I leave the room with the door open just to annoy him more, it feels as if my chest is folding into itself. It’s bad enough to have to hear and feel the pain and loss Jasmine is going through. The burden is excruciating. But then to be made to feel embarrassed for taking the call in front of Owen makes things worse.

It’s like he’s ashamed to even listen to me talk. He doesn’t have it in him to realize that I’m a real person with an actual life outside of fucking him for money.

Once again, I feel like this is all a lie, and that I am worth nothing more to him than a warm body tofuck.

I don’t want the flight attendant to see me dressed in only the sheet, so I slam into a different room nearby, close the door, and lean against the wall. Uncovering the phone, I slide to the floor as I put my sister on speakerphone.

“Jazzie?” Iask.

She sniffs, and I can tell she’s been crying somemore.

“I’m so sorry about that,” I say, forcing my voice to be calm, unruffled. But all I want to do is cry—loudly and angrily at Owen, atlife.

“Are you with somebody?” sheasks.

“Just a friend.” Hah! Some friend, or even lover. Or whatever he is to me. “Are you still holding BooBoo?”

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