since Troy’s best friend Kendrick had married Troy’s sister and Troy’s other best friend Darren had married Kendrick’s cousin, apparently Troy was the only one who knew it wasn’t wise to hook up with women who were so close that you would never be able to get rid of them. There was no such thing as a smooth break when the ties were that connected. And Troy always had to have an easy exit strategy, especially when it came to the fairer sex.
So Jasmine was not pretty even if she was just about the most gorgeous woman he had ever set eyes on.
“Come on, they’re boarding first class, girl. Let’s see if you still have jokes when you’re enjoying comfy seats, better food and free drinks.”
“Oh, you know I keep jokes, Studmeister.”
“I know you do, Jasmine.”
“Jazz.”
He had no idea why she wanted to shorten such a beautiful name. And he wasn’t even going to think about the fact that he never had any trouble remembering her name from the first time he’d seen her picture and been told it was his duty to pick her up from the airport. But he did like being the only one to call her “Jasmine,” especially because it drove her nuts.
“Jasmine, let’s go,” he said as he started walking off.
“Studaroni, I’m right behind you,” she said, laughing.
He chuckled. It was so easy to be around Jasmine even though she worked his nerves most times. He was glad he could help her during her time of need.
First class rocks!
Jasmine got over her mild irritation with Troy as soon as her butt touched the plush seat and the flight attendant brought her the nice hot towel to wipe her hands before giving her a glass of wine and a package of fancy macadamia nuts to snack on before takeoff.
She polished off the glass of wine and thought about how she was going to have to cut back a little in order to be able to pay Troy back for his ticket and her ticket upgrade. She knew that when he found out where she was going to be working when she moved to Detroit, he was going to regret taking the time to help her. The least she could do was give him his money back for this, because he was going to be pissed.
She yawned. All of a sudden her tiredness came pressing down on her. It felt like a steel weight pushing her into an abyss.
“So you never did say where you’re going to be working in Detroit.”
“I can’t say. I signed a confidentiality clause and I can’t say anything until after they make the big announcement.” That at least was the truth. She couldn’t tell him anything even if she wanted to, not without running the risk of being sued. Never mind the fact that he would probably hightail it off the plane if he did know where she was going to be working.
“It must be big-time if they made you sign a confidentiality clause.”
“I’m not saying anything.”
“Fine.”
She yawned again and her eyes gave in to the pressure. They closed, and her head nodded to the side and landed on his shoulder. She quickly jerked. She moved her head as soon as it touched his shoulder and she realized what had happened.
He chuckled. “You can lay your head on my shoulder, Jasmine. I won’t bite you. You won’t be able to put your seat back until after we reach cruising altitude and you need all the rest you can get, starting now. Those bags under your eyes look like you could have packed your clothes in them.”
She shot him an evil look and he laughed even harder before she begrudgingly smiled herself. She could have caught an attitude because of his rude way of making the offer. Or she could have even argued with him even though he was right; she did need the rest. But she wasn’t stupid. She rested her head on his shoulder and let the sleep take over.
Troy stared at the sleeping beauty for a long while as her head crept from his shoulder to his chest and way too close to his heart. He resisted the urge to throw his arm around her and pull her close for all of about fifteen minutes. And he told himself that he was only doing this because Jasmine was like a third little sister, that she was just like his sister Sonya and their mutual friend Alicia. Even though he hadn’t grown up with Jasmine the way he had with Sonya and Alicia, and he barely noticed that Sonya and Alicia were women, the way he couldn’t help but notice that Jasmine was all woman, it was no big deal to comfort her at this moment.
He might be a player, but he wasn’t a total jerk. He knew how to be a good friend, and that was all this was.
He snuggled her closer and brushed his lips across her forehead just as the very sexy flight attendant walked by to see that everyone was buckled up for takeoff. The knowing expression on her perfectly made-up face should have set off warning bells in his head. He should have been easing away from Jasmine now that she was asleep and trying to get his flirt on with the flight attendant. All of those things should have happened. And maybe one day he would be in the frame of mind to try and figure out why they didn’t. The only thing he knew at that moment was that Jasmine needed him and he was going to be there for her.
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