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She shook her head, and she stated, “You didn’t take advantage of me.”
My finger wiped around the corners of her mouth, and our foreheads remained pressed together for a few seconds longer.
“I feel like I did. But I also felt like it was fate that brought me here today.”
She pulled back and stared into my eyes.
“Why? There’s nothing that you can do about this. My townhome is gone, along with it all the memories . . .”
“What memories?” She shook her head. “Tell me. You’ll find that I’m a great listener.”
“No. It’s okay.”
“It’s not, really. I want to hear about it. I told you, Giselle. You need someone you can lean on in times of trouble too. You need to be able to share the load with someone and not take it all on yourself.”
“Don’t you have a business you need to be running, Casimir?” Giselle asked.
“No. I’m where I’m supposed to be,” I replied.
Before she could respond, a knock sounded at the door.
“Hey, just checking to make sure everything is okay,” Jude stated, sticking his head through the doorway. He was mugging the shit out of me, and I knew that it was his warning for me to tread lightly.
“Yeah. We’re good.” I couldn’t hide the irritation in my tone, and he knew it based on his smirk.
“We were just getting ready to call you back in,” Giselle declared, and I knew the moment was over.
Giselle
Thank God Jude came back into the room when he did. I had no business kissing Casimir Perez, no matter how distraught I was. But it was hard to fight the attraction whenever I was in his presence.
When Jude returned, he had a laptop that he must have brought from the car. He used it to show me several listings. I was pleased with each of them online, but he said that I needed to see them in person. I wasn’t too fond of the asking price for two of them, but I was certain that we could work something out.
Once we narrowed it down to three places, we headed out to see them. Casimir found something wrong with each place, but finally, Jude had advised him that he wouldn’t be the one renting, buying, or living in the place. In the end, I didn’t find anything that I liked.
“I know that I might seem picky, but I promise you that I’m not, Jude. I just know that when I find the perfect spot, I will know it. I don’t want to choose a place just because I’m inconvenienced right now. I don’t want to pick something because it’s the best deal or whatever, and then later, I’ll be stuck with the property that I bought out of desperation.”
“I promise that I won’t let you do that,” Jude stated. “Let me show you a couple of other places for tonight.”
“Not tonight. I’m sorry. I’m too tired. I appreciate all the time that you spent on me, but can we put it off for another day or so? Or whenever you have time to do another showing,” I suggested.
“Sure. Whatever works for you.”
“Thank you,” I replied softly.
“Where are you staying in the meantime?” Casimir asked.
I looked away because I didn’t want to say that I was staying in my office.
“No. You’re not doing that.” It was like he read my mind.
“Casimir, I’m fine, really.”
Jude looked back and forth between us. I wondered what all he knew about Casimir’s marriage.
“No. You’re not. I’m not about to let you sleep in your office and on that couch where people’s asses have been. It’s not safe or sanitary.”
“I cover it with blankets, and it is very much safe. No one knows that I’m here.”