Safe Word: Rosé

Chapter 10

Narrator-

Cara blinked in astonishment and slight concern as she looked at Jason, who stared back with a calm façade, while his hands rested in his pockets. The excitement and adrenaline began to rise in Cara's veins, her heartbeat accelerating beneath the pressure of the tall man's gaze. She tried to appear calm, and silently thanked her melanin tone which hid the heat that caused her face to flush with blood due to the tension in the large hallway. Otherwise, her shame and slight fear would've painted her cheeks crimson red, and her guilt from being caught for breaking a rule would've been as scarlet as the letter A itself.

On the other hand, Jason found this situation to irk him to the bone. He knew that Cara was going to be a challenge. She showed her true colors quite early on, but now that she expressed no care for the boundaries he instilled within the walls of his home, he felt that some action would have to be taken. The thought of reprimanding Cara in a way that would get her in line caused a rumble of emotions to rise from Jason's abdomen. His palm warmed and tickled inside the fabric pocket of his slacks, and the signature tremor that signaled an imbalance in his emotions made itself known in his index finger.

Cara gulped again, while Jason's questions rang in her ear like a siren's call, signaling her doom.

At Cara's silent mental paralysis, he rose an eyebrow in sign that he wouldn't repeat himself, forcing the brown beauty to blink and finally break eye contact.

Silently telling herself to get it together, Cara replied, "I was just looking at the guests. Nothing more."

"But you know that you're not supposed to be here. Cindy wouldn't miss to tell you that." Jason answered calmly, almost too calm in Cara's opinion.

"She did," Cara agreed, "But I figured it wasn't too strict since Monique was over here earlier." Cara fired, feeling her adrenaline morph her earlier surprise into a defense mechanism.

"Miss Thompson," Jason began, his tone calm yet chiding, "need I remind you that you are nothing but a mere guest in this house, you have no authority here, and it's very inconsiderate of you to cross boundaries meant to keep everyone in line." Jason scolded.

The way Jason addressed Cara sent her up the wall and gone was the silent girl and in her place, a woman who wanted no bar of being treated like a child by a heartless businessman.

"Save the lecture my friend," Cara raised her hand, "I'm going."

Cara rolled her eyes at the end of her announcement and brushed passed Jason, with the aim of escaping the tense dialogue.

"No you're not." Jason said turning around, his voice still low, and yet the sharpness of his syllables stopped Cara in her tracks.

Cara didn't want to risk Jason following her, so she sighed audibly before turning to face Jason, not surprised to find him still appearing calmer than the ocean breeze on hot sunny day.

"Look, I'm sorry for crossing into the forbidden wing, it won't happen again." Cara provided a half-true apology.

She had no real intention of simply 'falling in line'. Cara told herself that if Jason wanted to go through with this deal, she would make it as painful as possible for him.

Jason didn't comment on Cara's words. Instead he took a step towards her, prompting her to back away. He took another step, and again Cara backed away in slight panic.

"What are you doing?" Cara asked, but Jason didn't say a word.

He moved towards Cara again and this time she held her ground. She didn't move back, especially since another step would simply land her against the wall. Jason closed the gap until Cara could note the soft warmth emitting from his skin. Cara tried her best to hold eye contact, while Jason's eyes drilled into her gaze. Cara felt the heat of this heavy stare down burn its way to her head, feeling as if the cavities of her skull was being pumped full with piping hot lava.