“So, the help,” Sterling said with his eyebrow raised.

“Don’t call her that. She has a name. Beulah. And she’s not the help any longer. Although you all treated her like it today.”

“Sorry about that too. In our defense, last time we were here she was, in fact, the help. Why didn’t she correct us? She just let us order her around.”

Because she was Beulah. She was kind. She didn’t have an ego. “She’s the most genuine person I’ve ever known. She didn’t wait on your asses because she thought she had to. She did it because you’re my friends, and this is my home. She was making sure you felt welcome.”

Sterling frowned. “Really? That’s . . . different.”

“That’s Beulah,” I replied.

“Damn, man. When you change shit up, why don’t you let us know? That was completely unexpected,” Tate said as he walked back through the entrance gate.

“I was unaware you would be coming unannounced for a visit.”

“We always come unannounced,” Tate reminded me. He was right. I’d never had an issue in the past. I wanted them here. Anyone to help me deal with this place. With my mother.

“I know. And it’s fine. I should have told you but things changed fast. There wasn’t time to tell anyone.”

“Can’t say I blame you. I’ve thought she was smoking since the first day I saw her. Couldn’t figure out how she’d managed to get Portia to hire her,” Sterling grinned as he took a drink of his beer.

They didn’t get it. I could try and explain that she was more than just gorgeous. But I knew them well. They wouldn’t understand. They hadn’t had a Beulah walk into their lives. They’d lived similar lives to my own and it was foreign to them.

“I’m going to get Beulah. You can start over, and apologize for ordering her around all day. Not for her sake because she doesn’t expect it. But it’ll make me feel better. Not much. But some.”

Tate looked back at the pool house. “So we fix our own drinks, right?”

I wasn’t even going to respond to that.

“Jesus, dumbass. Yes,” Sterling replied with a shake of his head.

“Just checking. Is the bar in there stocked?”

I turned to get Beulah. Tate could fend for himself. I had no idea if the pool house bar was stocked or not. But he had two fucking legs. He could see for himself.

Beulah was wiping down the bar in the kitchen when I went in to find her.

“You can’t stop cleaning, can you?” I asked amused.

She shrugged. “I clean when I get nervous. I can’t be still.”

I walked over and took the rag from her hand, then pulled her into my arms. “There is no reason for you to be nervous. I got rid of Maisie. The two idiots now know the score. Let’s go outside and try to enjoy their company. I’d like you to get to know my friends.”

She nodded her head, then kissed my chin which was as high as she could reach. “Thank you.”

Why she was thanking me after she’d waited on those three all day I had no idea. “You never have a reason to thank me. Now, let’s go before I decide kissing you is a better idea and we end up in my room the rest of the evening.”

Beulah laughed and nodded her head. Happiness was back in her eyes and the nerves she said she’d dealt with were gone.

I held her hand and walked her back through the house, then outside with the others. Sterling looked up at us immediately, but Tate was on the phone with a beer in his hand now.

Sterling smiled at her. “Sorry about today. I had no idea. And the Maisie thing was bad. We should have called.”

“Have you ever called before you came?” Beulah asked him.

“Well, no.”

“Then why would you have started now? I didn’t mind.”

Sterling’s eyes softened and I could tell he was sinking into it. She had that effect on people, although she didn’t realize it. I would have to get used to seeing men look at her that way. A lifetime of it. I could handle it. I knew I was lucky. I also knew I’d never let her go.

“How exactly did Jasper convince you to give him a chance? The ugly bastard that he is?” Sterling was teasing.

She shrugged. “Oh, you know, promised me millions, a new car. I prefer a Mercedes. Maybe a little red convertible one. And then he said he’d get me a private jet so I could go shopping in Paris when my wardrobe needed sprucing up.”

Sterling looked confused for only a second, then he burst into laughter. I was grinning like a fool myself. “Damn, she’s awesome!”

I nodded in agreement then kissed her temple. “I told you the jet was for our six-month anniversary.”

She sighed dramatically. “Dang. I was hoping it would be sooner.”

“What am I missing?” Tate asked walking back over to us.

“How witty Beulah is. Stick around and you’ll be trying to figure out how to steal her from Jasper like I am.”

“There’s always the jet,” Beulah told him which made him laugh again.

Beulah and I were going to be fine. She was a charmer. It didn’t matter the crowd, she could charm anyone just by being herself.

“We’ll get that damn jet tomorrow,” I said.

Beulah beamed up at me. “Or you could just order a really good pizza with everything on it. That or tacos. I love tacos.”

“Please tell me we are keeping her,” Sterling piped up.

“Oh, I am,” I assured him, but I didn’t look away from her gaze. This was all I wanted in life.

I’d order pizza and tacos. Fuck, I may even get a jet.

Beulah

A GENTLE TOUCH ON MY head caused me to stir. I opened my eyes after I felt a hand run through my hair. My head was in Jasper’s lap. The only light in the room was the candle’s we had lit after eating pizza and tacos with Sterling and Tate. Then Tate had found a movie he wanted to watch and we all settled in to watch it, but apparently, I’d leaned against Jasper’s shoulder and fallen asleep. At some point, he’d moved me to his lap. Or maybe I had moved down here myself.

I turned until I was on my back looking up at him. “Hey,” I said.

He smiled down at me. “Hey.”

The movie was over, and the others were gone. I wasn’t sure how late it was or how long he’d been sitting there letting me sleep on him.

“Sorry I fell asleep,” I said, then had to cover my mouth as I yawned.

He smirked. “Yeah, it was hard having someone like you lay on me for hours. A real chore.”

“It was rude of me.”

“Completely,” he agreed, then ran the tip of his finger down my cheek. “I can’t believe you’d do such a thing.” The amused gleam in his eyes made me smile. He liked teasing me and I enjoyed it.

The silence in the house and the candlelight made this perfect. We were here alone, looking at each other, and it was safe. It felt right. Had anything in my life ever felt this right? I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t remember if it did.

“Having to smell you and feel your soft body pressed against me wasn’t that easy. It was incredible. I’ve never enjoyed watching a movie that much before. I wanted them to leave so I could pull you into my lap and wake you up with my mouth.”

I was awake now. I shivered, excited at the thought.

“They’re gone now . . . and I’m already awake.”

His expression grew serious. Those eyes I loved to look into became dark. My body tingled with anticipation.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said. His voice was low, his words were a gruff whisper. “They wanted to be me tonight. But who wouldn’t? I saw them watching us. Looking at you. Wishing. They wanted what I had. I didn’t like them even looking at you. It was insane. But I was jealous they got to see you like this. It was mine to see. You make me crazy, Beulah. I’ve never been crazy.”

I sat up, and he took me by the waist and moved me to his lap.

“Straddle me.” His words were a gentle command.

I did, but I didn’t sit down. When I did, I’d feel his hardness were my throb had begun already.

“I don’t want to share you with anyone. That’s impossible, I know, but there’s this dark need in me to have you all to myself. Seeing them look at you the way they did bothered me.”