Chapter 27
Zeus
Keeping things cool with Yasmine was not easy, but it was working.
She’d wanted a goodnight kiss last night.
She’d wanted a kiss when he’d knocked on Sarah’s door this morning so they could walk the dogs together.
She’d wanted a kiss when the morning walk ended, and he’d returned her to Sarah’s house.
Hopefully, denying her the kiss was making her realize she wanted it.
When she was the one who texted him, to let him know when she was leaving, he couldn’t help but smile to himself.
Yas
I’m heading out.
Zeus
Okay. Do you want me to follow you home just to check things out?
Yas
No, it’s okay. The security system is up and running, and no one has come to either of my doors.
Zeus
Alright. If you need me, call me.
Yas
Thank you, I will.
Then all he could do was watch out the window as she drove away.
The weekend had gone well. Things were probably going to be a little more difficult going forward since she wouldn’t be staying at Sarah’s anymore.
On the other hand, they’d agreed to do the friends-with-benefits thing, so all he had to do was make sure to keep arranging get-togethers that didn’t feel too much like dates.
What he hadn’t told her yesterday was that, while he would never ask a date over for leftovers, it was the kind of thing he would do with a girlfriend.
She hadn’t needed to know that.
Mostly, he’d just wanted a second dinner with her this weekend and to solidify the time they were spending together.
Once her car was out of sight, he sat down on the couch with his laptop to do some more research on Pete and Stacy James.
Not just for Yas now, but for Drew and Naomi.
He also wanted to do some research on where they all intersected, other than The Outlands and Yas teaching classes at Naomi’s shelter.
Unfortunately, Naomi’s social media presence was miniscule, and Yas seemed to have shut hers down at some point.
He wondered if she’d done that this week after Pete James, or if that had been in place before.
The one place she was still active had nothing but photos of flowers that she’d taken.
She definitely had an eye for pretty flowers, something he made a mental note of.
Trying to find their connections wasn’t his main goal, though, so he gave up fairly quickly. He could always ask Yas more about it later.
The more important thing was Pete James and Stacy James.
It looked as if Stacy had gotten clean away from her husband for the moment. He’d reported her missing, but that report had been canceled. Zeus assumed the shelter had helped her take care of that.
At the moment, she was completely off the grid. She’d probably pop up eventually, but he would be willing to bet it would be somewhere far away. Or she might just wait to see if her husband lost interest in following her. He checked, but at the moment, no divorce papers had been filed.
Considering how the shitbag had been acting, going after Yas and Naomi at home, he couldn’t blame Stacy. The most dangerous time for a woman was when she tried to leave.
Which was why sometimes they chose not to at all. Even when they were given a way out.
He would know.
Zeus gritted his teeth, shaking his head and rolling his shoulders. Thinking about it never helped anything. He couldn’t change the past or his mom’s decision.
Letting out a long breath, he refocused on his research.
Yas, Naomi, and the unknown Stacy were women he could help. And he was going to do his best to make sure Pete James never bothered any of them again.
Yasmine
Sunday afternoon meant book club. Not that they read a new book every week; Yasmine was pretty sure it was just Brenda and her friends’ excuse to get together on a weekly basis to socialize.
She was pretty sure the three of them actually did read a book a week, and possibly more, but Yasmine didn’t have time for that.
She hadn’t even finished her lumberjack book yet.
She’d gotten pulled into book club when Audrey and Cassidy had, thanks to Brenda. Apparently, book club had more people originally, then Brenda, Angela, and Karen had introduced spicy romance to the mix and lost some of the members. They’d decided to replace them with Cassidy’s friends.
That was a little awkward because while Brenda, Cassidy, Audrey, and Claudia all knew about Yasmine and Zeus, Naomi and Jennifer did not. Yasmine had no idea if Brenda had told Angela and Karen. She might have, but she might not have. Either was equally possible.
It was an eclectic group of people for sure.
Brenda was foul-mouthed and tended to wear inappropriate t-shirts—today’s said “Get in Loser, We’re Doing Butt Stuff” with an alien spaceship on it.
Next to her, Karen dressed like a kindergarten teacher, but she was the one who liked the filthiest books and suggested the more out-there kinky reads.
She’d been the one to introduce hucow romance to the group.
With her long, silver hair, peaches-and-cream complexion, and manner of dress, no one would guess what she read by looking at her.
Angela preferred romantic suspense or something with a bit of danger, though she wasn’t against the kink or steam.
She’d been the one to suggest this week’s book.
Right now, she was dressed in loose tan linen pants and a button-down white linen shirt.
Her short, cropped salt-and-pepper hair had a gold pin that matched the gold jewelry she was wearing.
The color combinations made her brown skin shine, although that might also be the expertly applied highlighter on her cheeks.
Yasmine really needed to ask her what color that was.
“So, who finished Wicked Altar this week?” Brenda asked once everyone was settled in her living room.
Hope rested at Yasmine’s feet, head on her front paws, after having accepted love and pets from everyone in the room.
Including Karen, who had immediately had to go wash her hands afterward because she was allergic, but that hadn’t stopped her from giving Hope a good rubdown.
Now, she was sitting as far away from Hope as she could but still looking longingly at the dog.
“I haven’t even started it,” Yasmine admitted.
“Oh, well, you’ve been busy; you’re forgiven,” Brenda said with a wave of her hand. She turned a gimlet eye to the rest of the room. “What about you slackers?”
“You know I did,” Cassidy said with an eyeroll. As usual, she had her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a plain maroon shirt. She was the epitome of the All-American white girl next door. “We listened to the audiobook together, remember?”
“Of course, I remember. I’m not going senile.” Brenda sniffed. “I was talking to everyone else.”
“Not only did I read it, but I’m now down a Jane Henry rabbit hole,” Karen said gleefully, rubbing her hands together. “I love it when an author has a ton of books for me to binge through.”
“I read it.” Audrey raised her hand as though she was in class.
Like Yasmine, she liked to dress up and always had her makeup and hair perfectly styled, though she preferred a pin-up look that complemented her curves.
Today, she was wearing a green-and-white polka-dot sundress with a matching green-and-white polka-dot headband to hold her red locks away from her face.
Winged black eyeliner emphasized her green eyes and pale complexion, which was somewhat brightened by the pink on her cheeks.
“I loved it. I’ve already started book two. ”
“Same,” Jennifer said, leaning back against the chair she was sitting in, shifting slightly so she could draw her long braids over her shoulder rather than trapping them between her and the chair.
Those were new since the last time Yasmine had seen her.
Little beads threaded through the ends clicked together as she settled them on her chest. During the work week, she was always in cute outfits at the office.
Today, she was wearing black leggings and an oversized purple t-shirt that showed off one shoulder and a lacy black bra strap. “Claudia didn’t read it, though.”
The look Claudia shot Jennifer was pure dominatrix. Claudia was not intimidated easily, but she did seem to step more cautiously around the trio of older ladies, even though she wasn’t like that when it was just Brenda.
“I read a few pages.” She shrugged. “I can already tell where it’s going. That guy is going to deserve a hell of a spanking, but she’s the one who is going to get it. Can’t we choose a book where the woman is in charge for once?”
“It’s your turn to choose next month,” Audrey reminded her. “You can definitely choose one then.”
Karen made a face. “I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’ve never read a book like that before.”
“It’s just for one month. Suck it up,” Angela told her. “I want to see what Claudia comes up with. If I can read about hucows and lactation, you can read about a woman being in charge for once. I like the idea.”
“Of course you do,” Karen muttered.
“It’s really good though; you should finish reading it,” Cassidy said to Claudia.
“I will, I just didn’t think we had to be totally done by today.” Claudia scowled at Brenda. “We’re supposed to have more time to read.”
“It’s so good, you shouldn’t need more time.” Brenda waved her hand in front of her face, fanning herself. “I got some good inspiration from that book.”
Audrey groaned, putting her hand over her eyes. “Please, say no more. I swear to God, if you say anything about doing anything we read about with Mick…”
“What about you, Naomi?” Yasmine said hastily.
Asking Brenda not to talk about something was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
Something Audrey and David both seemed incapable of learning, even though she was their grandmother and they’d spent the most time with her.
Brenda knew how to get under their skin.