“Paper money works.” It’s also one of the least offensive things we do in our territory.
“Yes, yes.” She waves that away. “I wouldn’t dream of decreasing that operation. My point is that balance is key. Relying only on paper money is like nibbling at crumbs that have fallen from a table piled high with food. We can increase our profit exponentially if we do it correctly.”
We.
I don’t think she realizes what she’s said, the slip of her tongue that indicates the truth—when she looks into the future, she sees us there together. I choose not to comment on it, enjoying this conversation too much to push her on a personal front. “How many people would you need?”
Her smile fades slowly. “I don’t know. The college degree was only the start of it, and I’m already seven years behind where I would be if my father had allowed it when I first suggested the idea. I stopped looking into programs when he cut off that option. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
My offer to send her to college was as much to keep her busy as to help her blossom. This is something else altogether. “Have you considered a less traditional education?”
“Jafar, I haven’t considered anything until an hour ago when you sprang this on me. After my father forbade me from going to college, I managed to learn the basics on my own, but it seemed too cruel to continue when it wouldn’t amount to anything.”
I incline my head to acknowledge her point, but I’m already spinning out possibilities. “It shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone with the skillset you’re talking about. They’d have to come here, of course, but we can arrange that.” I tap my fingers on the table. “I’ll get Jeremiah looking into it tomorrow.” I could ask Hades. He has the kind of connections that ensure he can find anything or anyone, so a person with this skillset should be child’s play. But there is the price of his help to consider. I won’t ask him until I’m sure I can’t do it myself.
“Just like that.”
“Just like that.”
She gives me a look like she’s never seen me before. “I don’t understand you. You lock me up but then you do this. And there’s the sex.”
Amusement flickers through me, but I push it down deep. She might give the impression of a kitten staring at a grasshopper, but I know better. The woman has claws. I won’t undermine her wavering self-confidence, and once I decide that, it’s the easiest thing in the world to relax into this conversation. “Elaborate.”
“I’m sorry, I was assuming you could pull the thought right out of my mind the same way you do with my sexual fantasies.”
Ah. That.
I take a long drink of my wine and consider her. “We’ve spent a long time circling each other, baby girl. Over the years, you’ve given yourself away in a thousand different tells, but the real deciding factor was the night I staged the coup.” My blood heats at the memory. “I would have let you walk out, you know.”
“I know.” She fiddles with her napkin. “I wanted you to catch me.”
“I’m aware.”
She frowns. “You’ve checked in with me a lot, haven’t you? Not overtly, but you’re constantly analyzing and shifting to accommodate my reactions.” Jasmine frowns harder. “It’s hard to tell in the moment, but that’s the truth, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” I set my wine glass down. “No matter what flavor of games we play, it’s about giving you what you need.”
“And what do you need.”
“You.” The admission slips free before I can stop it. Too late to take it back, to alter the course I’ve just set us on.
“Jafar,” She looks away. “How can this ever work?”
I reach across the table and take her hand. The touch does little to steady me. There’s no convenient map of our path forward. Jasmine might trust me with her body, but she doesn’t trust me with her heart. If I was a better man, I’d respect that. I wouldn’t push her. I’d seduce her slowly until I’m the only one she can imagine herself with.
I don’t know how to do that shit. I can play cultured with the best of them, but the man that emerges whenever I get my hands on her is the true me. Rough. Possessive. Unexpectedly tender at times. I can’t force her to trust me, so I’ll have to wait her out. It’s the only option. I stand and tug her to her feet. “It will work because it’s us.”
“I truly wish I could believe that.”
“You don’t have to believe it, baby girl. I’ll believe enough for both of us.”
Chapter 17
Jasmine
It would be the easiest thing in the world to fall in love with Jafar.
As the remains of our dinner are taken away, leaving us staring over the table at each other, I’m forced to admit the truth—I’m more than halfway there. I wish I could find joy in that knowledge. Love is supposed to be this wonderful, all-encompassing feeling that sends flowers springing to life inside me and has me walking around with a foolish grin on my face. This doesn’t feel anything like that.