6: Surprise

Japheth pov

“Japheth, I think it’s time to go home. You’re done, man.” Edmund had a grip on my arm, steering me out of the bar.

I’d been drinking for hours,  got roped into a tequila shot contest with some girls from the bar, and I’m a lightweight, so it hit fast.

“I can still take a few more, Edmund,” I slurred.

“Shut up, drunk-ass. I’ll lose my job because of you, baby Japheth.”

I took a swing at his arm and missed. “Stop calling me baby Japheth or I swear…”

He just laughed. My eyes were already falling shut by the time I hit the back seat.

“Night, Edmund.”

“Just shut up,” he said, not unkindly, and turned the music on.

The doorbell dragged me out of sleep, ringing over and over. My head was pounding hard enough that sitting up felt like a mistake.

I rubbed my temples. Whoever was at the door better have a good reason,  family was the only one who could get up here without going through security downstairs.

I swallowed two tablets off the nightstand and drank the water next to them in one go. It helped, a little.

I dragged myself to the door, still half-blind, rubbing my eyes. The bell went off again.

“Coming. Jesus.”

I unlocked it and pulled it open.

“Can’t you be a little patient?” My voice came out wrecked. I left the door open and walked back inside without checking who it was. Then I heard a gasp behind me and turned.

Peaches. Hand over her mouth, staring.

I froze. I wasn’t wearing a shirt,  just yesterday’s pants. She didn’t move, didn’t blink, just stared.

I cleared my throat. “Peaches,  come in, close the door. I’ll grab a shirt.” I walked off, leaving her standing there.

“Oh my God.”

“Sit down. Be back in a minute.”

I splashed cold water on my face at the sink, and that’s when I felt it, a sting across my back, sharp, like sunburn. I reached back and touched the spot, and the pieces of last night started coming back in fragments.

“What the hell did I do?”

I turned to face the mirror.

A tattoo.

JASMINE pov

“What am I doing?” I asked my reflection.

I’d spent most of last night turning over in bed, restless for a reason I didn’t want to admit. It was the first night since Oli died that I hadn’t thought about him before falling asleep. Instead, all I could think about was a pair of gray eyes that had bolted out of a meeting and never come back.

What was even his problem?

I twisted my engagement ring around my finger, humming along to whatever was playing in my headphones as I got swept into the elevator with everyone else. Some people said good morning. Some looked straight through me. I knew exactly what they whispered about, so I turned my music up louder.

*Enough thinking about Japheth. That was last night. He’s definitely not thinking about you.*

I started my usual routine at my desk. No sign of him. Nine a.m. came and went.

“Wow. Very impressive for day two. Most punctual Montgomery in Montgomery history,” I said out loud, dropping back into my chair.

“Well, thank you, sweetheart.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Seb Montgomery, Japheth’s older, gray-eyed mirror, stood over my desk.

“S-sorry. Good morning, Mr. Montgomery!” I shot up out of my seat, heat creeping into my face. He knew exactly who I’d meant.

“Peaches, Japheth won’t be in today. His driver says he’s still in bed, not feeling jet lag well. I’ll let him work from home, or take the rest of the week if he needs it.” Seb was, without question, the best father either of his kids could’ve asked for strictly at the office, nothing like it the second he stepped outside the building.

“So he’s not coming in at all?” My voice came out more disappointed than I meant it to. *Jeez.*

He chuckled. “I need him to sign some paperwork. Would you mind running it to his penthouse? I need it back by the end of the day.” He pulled something from his pocket, a key. “In case he doesn’t answer. I’ll write down the passcode too.”

I took the key, unsure what to do with the strange little flutter in my chest. He smiled and I found myself smiling back.

Edmund met me in the lobby and brought me up. He left once I was standing at Japheth’s door.

I rang the bell. Seb had said to use the key only if there was no answer.

I tapped my heels against the floor, a gift from Kate, from a shopping trip a couple weeks back. One of the perks of being best friends with a billionaire’s daughter.

I rang again. Nothing.

I rang it a third time, annoyed now. Was he ignoring me? Actually sick? Did he eat something he was allergic to peanuts, strawberries, either of those would knock him flat.

Before I could hit it a fourth time, I heard him call out that he was coming. I straightened up, hugging the folder to my chest, and took a breath.

The door swung open.

If he’d looked good before, half-asleep, half-dressed Japheth looked like something unfair. His hair was a mess in exactly the way that shouldn’t have worked. His eyes were barely open.

“Can’t you be a little patient?” His voice was rough with sleep. He held the door for me and turned to walk away without waiting to see if I’d come in.

He ignored me. Great.

*What did you expect, Jasmine?*

I gasped before I could stop myself. He'd turned his back to me, and I saw it. He froze mid-step and turned around slowly, and I realized my hand had already flown to my mouth. I couldn’t say a word.

“Peaches, come in, close the door. I’ll grab a shirt,” he said, and disappeared before I could respond.

“Oh my God,” I finally managed, to no one.

“Have a seat. Be right back.”

His back, his whole torso, actually, was carved in a way that had no business being real. He must have worked out constantly overseas. Meanwhile I hadn’t been near a treadmill in years and somehow still hadn’t gained a pound since I was fourteen. Life wasn’t fair.

Once he was out of sight, I finally made myself move, crossing into his enormous living room. I set the folder down on the coffee table and sat, sinking into a couch that probably cost more than my rent.

I let my eyes wander, black brick walls, floor-to-ceiling windows, a chandelier that looked like it was raining glass from the double-height ceiling. I was used to money. His family had always had more of it than anyone I knew. But this still felt like a lot, even for him.

Footsteps. I stood, straightened, and turned to face him.