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“I’ve heard of reflexology, but like you, I always thought it was stupid. Hippy dippies just spewing their nonsense.”
“Nope. It’s the real deal. I asked him if he could teach me how to do it.”
“Why? It’s not like you can do your own toes.”
“Irma has really bad knees. I wanted to help her,” he said simply.
“That’s really nice of you,” Cassie replied.
“That’s me. Mr. Thoughtful.”
“Who woulda thunk it?” Cassie sighed. She let out another moan as Jamal switched to the other foot. “Damn, Jamal. That feelssogood.”
“Obscenities, Bambi? You’ve been hanging around my daughter too much.”
“Mmmm, hmmmm,” she said, unable to even form a complete sentence. “Jeeves trained you well. I will definitely be coming back over.”
“For a foot rub?”
Cassie paused before answering. She didn’t know when it had happened, but she found herself wanting to come back for much more. Too bad she couldn’t tell him that. “Yep. I’m just using you for your foot rubs.”
“I’ll take it,” Jamal said with a smile.
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CHAPTER EIGHT
Jamal leaned back into the couch and gently placed Cassie’s other leg in his lap. Sometime during the foot rub on her other foot, Cassie had fallen fast asleep. He thought he could look at her forever. She was absolutely beautiful, but really didn’t even seem to know it. For Jamal, two kinds of girls existed in the world. The first were the high-maintenance ones who took three hours and a bunch of gunk on their face to look attractive. Yes, they were pretty all made up, but once their face was removed, they were kind of scary, a lot like the majority of the Thunder cheerleaders. Kyle’s Callie and her friend, Aria, were two of the few who didn’t fit that mold.
Then, there were the other girls. The ones who didn’t need anything to make themselves attractive. No makeup, no curled-to-an-inch-of-its-life hair. Just a natural, God-given beauty. Cassie was definitely one of those girls. Here she was, asleep on his couch, in a pair of orange Nike shorts and an oversized turquoise and orange tank top with the strap falling over one shoulder, giving him a peek at the orange sports bra underneath. Her hair was all askew, falling halfway out of her ponytail to drape over her shoulder. She took his breath away.
He didn’t know what had happened in her past to make Cassie so jaded, but she was like a skittish colt around him. Every so often, she would let down guard and he could see glimpses of who she was when she was comfortable and relaxed. Probably the Cassie her friends saw. Most of the time, however, she looked like she was about to bolt. He hoped he could break down her walls and get to know the real her. The small glimpse he’d seen was enough to stop him in his tracks.
Gently moving her legs off his lap, Jamal gently placed them on the couch and went to the bookshelves surrounding the window and retrieved a blanket from the bottom shelf. Walking back over to the couch, Jamal gently covered her up. She would probably kill him for not waking her up and letting her go home, but it was late and he just didn’t want her driving at night.
Good lord. I have never been this overprotective of a girl,Jamal thought. He didn’t want to think about what that meant. Grabbing his phone off the table, he opened up his messages and shot a text to Kyle.
Cassie fell asleep on my couch,he texted.Don’t want her to drive sleepy. Keeping her here til morning.
A few seconds later, Jamal’s phone buzzed.
Why the hell is she at your house, man?!Jamal read.That’s Callie’s BFF. You better not screw my wedding up.
Jamal laughed.Who are you and what have you done with MY BFF? Has he been replaced by a 14yo girl?
He was rewarded with an eye-rolling emoticon.Seriously, man. Don’t do anything stupid.
What’s stupid about letting her sleep on my couch? I’ll send her home in the morning.
It better not be in your t-shirt.
Jamal sent his friend the middle finger emoji in response.
Placing his phone on the table next to the couch, Jamal stifled a yawn and looked down at the sleeping beauty. He would never admit it to his best friend, but Cassie would look damn good in one of his shirts. He reached down to tuck the hair falling in her face behind her ear before it started to itch. He had a gamut of emotions running through his heart and mind, but he didn’t feel like deciphering them tonight. He just wanted to go to bed and dream of the girl asleep on his couch.
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Cassie stretched her arms above her head. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so well. She yawned and opened her eyes. A small face framed by crazy curls was peering back at her.
