Page 25 of Just to Be with You

“So, you’re the new boyfriend?” Lawrence looked him up and down with contempt. “Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret. She’s a frigid bi—”

Terrence smashed his fist into the man’s face, dropping him like a stone.

The women standing around applauded. Janae grabbed hold of Terrence as he stood over Lawrence’s prone body and half dragged, half pushed him into the store.

“Are you all right?” Terrence asked as he inspected her arm for bruises.

“I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”

“Why?” He flexed his hand.

“You could have broken your hand. You need your hands to play your instruments.”

“My hand is fine. Who’s the jerk?”

“My ex. Can we talk about this later?”

“Sure.”

* * *

“Later” turned out to be while he prepared dinner. “Okay, Janae. Tell me about the man at the store.”

She sighed heavily. “We dated for about eight months and had even talked about marriage. Then I was selected for a teaching position we’d both applied for. He wanted me to turn it down so he could have it. So I walked. That was over a year ago.”

“He’s still pissed about that?”

“No. His contract isn’t going to be renewed, so he’s blaming me for his being let go. There’ve been serious budget cuts, and several teachers have been on the chopping block across the district.”

“Has he harassed you before?”

“About three months ago.”

“Does Devin know about him?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I think you should tell him what happened today. I’m not comfortable leaving without knowing you’ll be protected. What if he harasses you again?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m sure it won’t happen again, especially after what you did.” She stood. “Do you need me to help with anything? If not, I’m going to take care of a couple of things.”

“No. Dinner should be ready in about thirty minutes. Janae?”

She stopped and turned around. “Yes?”

“I still think you should tell your brother.”

She held his eyes for a moment before leaving the kitchen.

* * *

Janae sat in her studio working on her latest painting. She appreciated Terrence’s concern, but didn’t want things to escalate any further. The last thing she needed was her brothers going to jail for killing Lawrence, because that was exactly what would happen if any one of them found out he’d put his hands on their sister. What a mess. A small smile formed on her lips when she recalled how Terrence had knocked him out. Hopefully, it would be the end of Lawrence’s harassment.

She’d only been painting a short time when the aroma of whatever Terrence was cooking hit her nose. It smelled heavenly and made her stomach growl. Janae still couldn’t believe he’d flown to see her. Okay, they were attracted to each other, and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. But the fact remained that he was rich and famous. She was a teacher. He lived in Los Angeles. She lived in San Jose. This relationship was headed down the road to nowhere, and she’d do well to remember that.

Knowing dinner would be ready shortly, Janae finished the area she’d been working on, then cleaned and stored her supplies. Looking down at her clothes, she realized she had been so distracted that she’d forgotten to put on her apron. She exited the studio and ran into a solid mass.

Terrence placed his hands on Janae’s waist to steady her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Is dinner ready? It smells wonderful,” she said when he nodded. “I need to clean up a bit. I’ll be right out.”

He brushed the loose strands of hair off her face and touched his mouth to hers gently. “I’ll be waiting.”

Janae nodded and hurried to her bedroom. She leaned against the closed door with her eyes shut, drawing in deep breaths to slow her heart rate. Hadn’t she just told herself to keep her emotions in check? Being near Terrence made all sorts of foolish thoughts run through her mind, but she was determined not to fall under his spell. She washed up, changed her shirt, then noticed her hair had come loose. She pulled off the band and brushed the curly mass before securing it back into a ponytail, then headed to the kitchen.

“You set the table, too.” Admittedly impressed, Janae realized not succumbing to his charms might be harder than she’d thought.

He pulled out a chair. “Come and sit. I’ll serve you.”

She sat in the chair and waited as he prepared and brought their plates to the table. Next, he set a smaller plate of French bread in the center and opened the chilled bottle of wine. He filled their glasses and took the chair across from her.

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