Page 11 of Plain Jade

Words failed her.

Everything seemed to fail her.

****

Braxton never looked in on anyone’s life. He didn’t care. No one was important to him.

He lived his own life without a single concern for anyone else. He liked it that way. Life was simpler, easier.

The biggest mistake he had made was responding to that single scream. There was nothing to draw him to Jade. He lived a life on the edge. No one and nothing tied him down and that was the way he liked it. He was his own boss.

Until he’d walked down that alley, and met Jade for the first fucking time.

Now, he was pissed off. He woke up every morning thinking about her. Nights, he thought of her, curious about how she was doing, what she was doing. He couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind. That obsession was dangerous. Any connection made life harder for her.

He’d tried to deny temptation, had tried to thwart it with every fiber of his being, but it hadn’t worked. Against all odds, he found himself following her.

Jade didn’t even realize he followed her, from the moment she left work until she got to her apartment. At the grocery store, he stayed in the darkness, keeping an eye on her until she left and walked home. She didn’t linger. She walked like a woman who was terrified, and that pissed him off. He would make sure no one hurt her.

Braxton knew he couldn’t take every threat off the street, but he did his best. There were a lot of monsters in the world.

He took a step toward her. Jade finally seemed to be wising up, because she took a step back, then another one, and another, until she couldn’t go anywhere. He had trapped her in the corner of her kitchen with nowhere to go. He pressed his hands either side of her, locking her against his body and the counter.

“You’re boring,” he said.

She rolled her eyes, and rather than looking insolent, she looked so cute. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

He smiled. “You’ve been told you’re boring?”

“Many times. Trust me. Throw your insults at me, mystery man. I’ve heard them all before.” She lifted her hand and began to list them. “Ugly, plain, bland, boring, waste of time. Not worth it. Can’t remember you. You need plastic surgery. Do you want me to continue?”

“You don’t need to, I got the drift. Were these said by some of those asshole dates?” he asked.

She nodded. “And my mother.”

Braxton frowned. “Your mother?”

“Yes, she didn’t want to give me any kind of false … feelings. She told me I wasn’t a pretty girl.” She shrugged.

Now he wanted to hurt her already dead mother.

“No woman should ever tell her child that.”

“Why not?”

“It’s cruel.”

“But it’s the truth.”

“You’re not ugly.”

“You don’t need to lie to me.” She shook her head at him. “I don’t even know your name.”

“What does my name have to do with anything?” he asked.

“If you liked the way I look, I bet you would have told me your name.”

He tutted. “You think you know ugly.” He took her hand and placed it against his face. “I know ugly.”