Jamie Begley - Tainted

“Can I get anyone anything else?” the sweet voice of R.J.’s assistant had her smiling as the young woman nervously waited for everyone’s reaction.

“No, thank you, Ms. Jordan. That was delicious. We’ve missed having a good meal lately and that made up for it. I’m looking forward to breakfast,” R.J. said as an afterthought.

Sawyer barely hid her laughter at the look of panic crossing her face before she could hide it. Sawyer decided to set her alarm so that she could rise early enough to help her.

The woman disappeared back into the kitchen as they rose from the table. Sawyer was still angry at Kaden for ordering her around, but he ignored her as he went into the other room with two of the other women guests. Sawyer had no intention of watching the women flirt with him for the rest of the night, instead deciding to go to bed early.

She caught Briana before she went into the formal living room.

“I’m going to go to bed.”

“It’s pretty early,” Briana protested half-heartedly. Sawyer felt that the woman wasn’t anxious for her company, either. R.J. must have told her why she was with the band, or perhaps she simply stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the other women.

Sawyer went up the steps to the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She went to the drawers and pulled out one of the new nightgowns that had been purchased for her. Getting changed, she enjoyed the feel of the silky material sliding over her skin. Her nipples tightened against the material. Sawyer ran her hand through her hair as she went to her bag, pulling out her brush before passing it through her long hair. Brushing her hair had always soothed her.

As she continued to brush, she walked barefoot across the carpeted floor, going to the window and pulling the curtain open. She stared out into the night, seeing a large pool lit up. R.J. and the band must have gone outside to enjoy the fresh air. The pool area was well lit, so Sawyer had no difficulty making out who sat around the pool.

Kaden was sitting on one of the lounge chairs with a pretty woman sitting next to him, while her hand was casually rubbing his thigh.

“I wonder if she asked his permission?” she said into the silence of the bedroom.

Almost as if he could hear her voice, his eyes lifted to the window she was standing at. Sawyer froze in place as his gaze took in the gown she was wearing, her hair framing her face. The hand holding the brush dropped to her side, realizing belatedly it was the movement of her brushing her hair that had drawn his attention to her window.

She dropped the curtain, taking a shaky step back. Setting the brush down on the nightstand, she turned out the light before climbing into bed. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the escalating tension between her and Kaden. She had been around several good-looking men the last few years as a waitress, but had never experienced the desire to get to know any of them. It was a constant battle, however, to stay away from Kaden. The only thing saving her was her instinctive dislike of him. God help her if she ever discovered he was a nice guy under that sexy body.

Sawyer was busy in the kitchen when R.J.’s assistant came in.

“You shouldn’t be in here. Mr. Cross wasn’t happy that you helped out last night. R.J. had a talk with me after dinner.” She went to the counter to pour herself a cup of coffee, taking a piece of stuffed cinnamon toast. Sawyer watched her in amusement, noticing R.J.’s talk didn’t stop the woman from taking advantage of the available food.

“Ms. Jordan.” Sawyer paused. “What’s your first name?I can’t keep calling youMs. Jordan.”

“Just call me Jordan.” Her twinkling eyes laughed at Sawyer. “He doesn’t want us getting friendly. That’s not in my job description,” she mocked R.J.’s snobby attitude.

Sawyer rolled her eyes. If the young woman knew just to what depths R.J. would sink to keep the band happy, his professional façade would be exposed.

“I can live with calling you Jordan.” Sawyer went to pour herself a cup of coffee before taking a seat at the kitchen table.

They sat and talked for several minutes, and Sawyer discovered she liked the woman. She was around Vida’s age. She also was friendly, bubbly and wanted to prove to R.J. that she could handle the job as his assistant.

Kaden came into the kitchen as they finished their coffee. When he went to pour himself a cup, Sawyer escaped without a word, trying not to wonder if he had spent the night with the woman she had seen him with the previous night. Stir crazy and not wanting to return to her room, she went out the front door. It was pretty outside. Wanting to stretch her legs, she wandered around the side of the house to the pool area. Bored, she sank down onto one of the lounge chairs, trying to think of something to keep herself occupied.

“Are you going to run off if I take a seat?” Kaden stood next to her chair, waiting for her answer.

“N —no, and I—I wasn’t running. I was finished,” Sawyer clarified.

Expecting him to sit down in the lounger next to her, he instead sat down beside her hip, facing the house. He had put on a pair of sunglasses; the dark lenses stared down at her, giving him a ruthless appearance.

“How did you get to the pool?”

Confused by his question, she frowned up at him. “I walked?”

“I know that,” he said impatiently, “but I was in the kitchen, and I could see the only other entrance to the pool and you didn’t come out that way.”

“I went out the front door. I wanted to take a walk. I walked beside the house and it led back here,” she explained. She couldn’t understand why he looked angry. She hadn’t tried to leave; she had just wanted out of the house for a few minutes.

Sawyer looked up at him cautiously, wishing she had just gotten up and gone back indoors to the safety of Jordan’s company.

“Don’t go back out front again unless me or one of the other men are with you. Alec let some of the men go home while we’re on break; there’s only a skeleton staff for security.”

Again, through no fault of her own, she was confined. She had no more freedom here than she’d had on the bus.

“Why are you looking so unhappy? The other women seem happy enough to be here.”

“I’m bored. I’m sorry if I don’t find hanging out with your band entertaining,” Sawyer snapped.

“What did you do before you were kidnapped?”

“I worked; I was a waitress. I shared a small apartment with Vida.”

“To me that sounds boring.”

It was. Vida was constantly studying, and with no other friends, she had often found herself at a loose end.

“What did you do to keep yourself occupied?” Kaden questioned her perceptively.

“I cooked. Vida constantly studied, so I cooked when I became bored. I would take what I made to the homeless shelter down the street.” Sawyer didn’t realize she had let it slip that she didn’t live in one of the safest areas of Queens City.

“I see. You didn’t want to go to college with your friend?”

Sawyer shook her head regretfully. “I hated school. I was never good at it and was happy to get out of high school. I didn’t want to tie myself down to four more years of misery.”

“You’re planning on being a waitress for the rest of your life?”

“No, smartass, I don’t. When Vida graduates this semester, we had plans to travel. I was going to learn about different cuisines. I planned on going to cooking school once we decided where we were going to settle down.”

“How were you planning on supporting yourself when you went to school?” Kaden asked her.

“I took care of all the bills while Vida earned her degree. She was going to take care of expenses when I went to school. We had it all planned out.” Sawyer’s lips trembled as she thought of the many nights they had sat planning their future together.

“What if one of you met someone and decided to go your own way?”

“We wouldn’t do that to each other. We both want to travel too much.”

“You’re getting to travel now,” he reasoned.

“It isn’t the same. No one lets me cook, and when I do, Jordan gets in trouble.” Not so subtly she was letting him know she hadn’t appreciated his interference last night.

“Ms. Jordan didn’t get in trouble for your helping to cook. The guy’s were too starved for that. What I don’t want to see again is you serving anyone.”

Sawyer frowned up at him. “It’s what I do. I enjoy it. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“So it’s just my orders you don’t want to take?”

She didn’t think his twist on her words was funny.

“Let me up.” Sawyer tried to get up from the lounge chair, but Kaden—who had continued sitting by her hip—put his hand beside her opposite hip to pin her to the lounger without touching her, effectively preventing her escaping back into the house.

“Why is it that you’re always running away from me when you don’t have any trouble talking to Ax, D-mon or Sin?”

As his hand reached out, his thumb brushing her cheekbone, she jerked her face away from his touch.

“Did I give you permission to touch me?” This time it was Sawyer throwing his words back in his face.

Kaden gave a low, seductive laugh. “Did that make you angry, Sawyer? I didn’t mean to make you angry. Which do you appreciate more: something easily given, or something you have to ask for, something you crave?”

“I didn’t notice that woman sitting next to you last night asking to touch you.”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Did you see me touch her back?”

Sawyer had to admit to herself that she hadn’t seen him touch the woman back.