The Big Boss - Penny Wylder Page 0,28
the outskirts of one of the local farms. “This is it,” I say.
“What is?”
I smile. “This is where I grew up.”
Justine gazes at the small house in wonder. “You lived here? No wonder you asked if I missed the stars.”
“This was my aunt’s house,” he says. “She worked on the nearby farm and she took me in for a while when my parents weren’t able to care for me anymore. They were far more interested in their drugs and fighting each other for every cent of drug money than they were in being parents.”
“Oh my god,” she says, leaning on my arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I say. “Coming here is probably the best thing that could have happened to me. I learned what it meant to be normal and healthy. What hard work meant, and that what I had always known wasn’t the way the world had to be.
“Here, I figured out how to take control of my life. And I became determined to make it so no one could take anything from me by force again. That’s why I do what I do. The money was never about…making other people feel less. I just wanted to make sure that I never had to worry.” I smile. “It worked better than I could have hoped.”
Justine rises up on her toes and captures my mouth with hers. I kiss her back—a kiss of understanding and consolation.
“Thank you for showing me this,” she says. “It’s beautiful. I’m sorry about your aunt.”
I laugh. “Oh she’s not dead, she’s just too old to do farm work. I bought her a place in the city so it was easier for me to visit. I should go more than I do, but half the time I go she’s busier than I ever imagined she would be. I swear she’s the life of the party.”
“I think I would like her,” she says.
“I’m pretty sure that you would. I actually pay for a similar service to the one you work for to help her with her groceries. She’s still independent, and loves to do her own thing. But her eyes aren’t good enough to drive anymore, and she likes the glamour of having someone deliver her groceries. She tells me that it makes her feel like a queen.”
Justine laughs. “Which service? I probably know it. There aren’t that many of us.”
“Delovery,” I say, and I watch her face transform into shock. “What?”
“That’s where I work. What’s your aunt’s name?”
“Ellen Bassa.”
“Oh my god.” She’s laughing now. “I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard stories. You’re right, she really is the life of the party. I think that she would be best friends with my client Rose. They seem like they’d be two peas in a pod.”
I smile and start to walk her back toward the car. “Maybe we can get them together.”
“Rose would love that. One of her friends recently passed away and she could use some new ones.”
We’re quiet as we walk back through the field, and I feel more at peace than I have in a long time. Being here with Justine feels absolutely right.
“Now I know all your secrets,” Justine says.
“Not quite.”
Her eyebrows rise in surprise. “Oh?”
“You don’t know my biggest one,” I say, stopping to face her. Even totally alone it doesn’t feel right saying it at full volume. Instead I press a kiss to her cheek before whispering in her ear. “I’m already falling in love with you.”
The way she kisses me tells me that she is too.
14
Justine
I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect weekend. I’m sore from the sheer amount of sex and I feel like I’m glowing from being so close to Keenan. Getting to know him better and hearing his confession, I can’t stop smiling.
It’s still early, and I have clients this afternoon, but right now I feel like I’m bathing in perfect bliss, and I stretch out on my bed to take a glorious nap. There wasn’t much sleep to be had last night.
I feel like I’ve barely closed my eyes when my phone starts to ring and I wake with a start, realizing that a couple of hours have passed. It’s Morgan, but I’m not late yet. Probably something about the next protest. She was over the moon when she got the news that the plans to demolish the building were reversed.
“Hey Morgan,” I say, answering. “What’s up?”
“I need you at the Aster building right now. They’re about to tear it down and we need bodies.”
It feels