Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Rexy pressed against her thigh and Aspen rubbed her hand over the dog’s short fur. Could they be happy here? The feel of Jerico’s lips moving against hers ricocheted into her mind. The man definitely knew how to kiss.
“We’ve got the truck unloaded and need to head back to the base. Anything you need? Help yourself to anything in the fridge for lunch. We’ll go shopping tonight for food you like,” Jerico said, maintaining eye contact with her even as Rexy galloped over for pets.
“I’ve got some stuff,” Aspen assured him.
“Eat the fresh food in the refrigerator. Your stuff will last forever. I’ll cook us some steaks for dinner tonight.”
“I have to go to work at four,” she said quickly. “Do you mind if I leave Rexy here?”
“Of course not. We’ll get to know each other,” Jerico assured her before asking, “Where do you work?”
“I clean several small offices in the Tate building,” she explained, naming a tall office building downtown.
“What time do you get off?”
“It depends on the mess. Usually by ten. You’ll want to eat before then,” she said.
“Do you have a safe place to park?” he asked, ignoring her last statement.
“I usually find someplace on the street. The business employees are leaving then, and the lots empty fast.”
“I don’t like that you’re leaving alone late in the evening,” he stated firmly.
Aspen noted his eyebrows were pulled together in concern. She rushed to reassure him, “I’m always careful.”
“We’ll talk tonight when you get home. I’m sorry I have to go,” Jerico told her when a toot from the truck horn sounded.
He walked forward and wrapped his arms around her. “Call me when you’re walking out the door.” Kissing her hard, Jerico erased all thoughts from her mind.
Forcing her hands to release his clothing as he stepped away, Aspen watched him turn and jog around the house. She caught Rexy’s collar just in time to keep the mutt from racing after him.
“Come on, you big lug. Do your business and let’s go back inside.”
CHAPTER 5
Leaving Rexy at Jerico’s house was tough. In a strange place that was quiet, clean, and comfortable, the dog clung to her, needing some normalcy. It made perfect sense. Aspen had tried to dog proof the house as much as possible.
Please don’t let me find he ate the sofa, Aspen thought as she dragged herself to her car.
Her work was always physically challenging. Tonight, it was even tougher. A repairman was there working on the service elevator. Aspen was not allowed to use the clients’ elevator to haul her equipment from office to office, so she’d had to take the stairs.
Lugging a bucket full of cleaning products and rags from floor to floor was exhausting. The climb up the stairs to the tenth floor had not been pleasant.
“I need some more offices on the second floor,” she told herself aloud as she rounded another corner in the stairwell.
It didn’t help that the image and feel of Jerico kept ricocheting into her mind. Each time, her body reacted. How such a hot man could be interested in her, Aspen couldn’t understand. There was no doubt that he was. His fiery gaze followed her and those kisses… Damn, he was good at that.
After constantly pushing thoughts of Jerico out of her mind, Aspen finally completed all of her job duties. Looking at her watch, she noticed it was after eleven. That was too late to call Jerico. Surely, he’d given up and gone to bed. She took a shortcut through an alley to reach her car. Seeing it in front of her in the lot just through the alley gave her the energy to walk faster.
Crap! She stopped in her tracks as she realized she didn’t have a key. How was she going to get inside Jerico’s house without waking him?
A ringing sound swept that concern away. Aspen looked around, trying to see who or what had caused that sound. It came again and Aspen zeroed in on the direction the noise had come from. There.
“Good evening, sir. Just passing through,” she called to the man standing by the dumpster.
“I’ll take that bucket and everything else you have,” his growling voice announced.
“You don’t want a bunch of furniture wax and toilet cleaner,” Aspen said, as she weighed her options. Part of her mind told her to set it down and run, but those cleaning products were expensive.
If she edged past him, she could dash to her car. She tried to be very subtle as she reached into her bucket of cleaning supplies and blindly searched for something she could use that wouldn’t cause permanent harm. It made her sick to think about hurting someone, even if they were threatening her. Skipping over the round sprayer that held an ammonia-based cleaner, Aspen closed her fingers around the dish soap she used for greasy spots.