Choosing Theo: The Clecanian Series Book 1 Victoria Aveline (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📖

An idea struck her. Maybe he’d even be able to help me get home.

If his job was to work undercover, then maybe he knew some folks who were underhanded enough to break the law and bring her home.

Jade had made up her mind. She needed to get as close to Theo as possible.

Chapter 24

How am I supposed to get close to him if he’s never here?

Jade had awoken in a warm bed with morning sunlight gently streaming in through her glass wall. She felt relaxed and excited now that she’d decided to make the big guy like her.

The night before, she’d lulled herself to sleep by thinking of different things she could do, most of them sexual in nature, to get on Theo’s good side.

Ready to get started, she cleaned herself up in the bathroom, threw on his shirt, and headed down to the kitchen, quietly singing, “Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go.”

When she arrived in the kitchen, however, Theo was nowhere to be seen. Plates of delicious-smelling food were on the table, but there was no brooding man waiting to eat with her.

She searched the whole house and couldn’t find him anywhere.

Must be out. Deciding not to be annoyed that he’d left without any explanation, she began to eat.

The food was as delicious as always. She noticed there were fewer plates than usual today, but they all contained the foods she’d enjoyed the most.

Her mouth full of a delicious tangy bean she’d decided was more fruit than actual bean, she smiled. Was he keeping track of which foods she liked the most and then making only those?

Her stomach gave a small flutter, and she wondered if she was setting herself up for failure. Her plan required her to seduce him and then eventually leave him. Would she be able to keep her feelings for him from growing stronger?

She’d only been here three days and already she felt warmth spread through her whenever she thought of Theo. If these sweet gestures kept up, she doubted she’d have much say in how she felt about him at the end of their marriage.

After she finished eating, Jade spent the next hour and a half cursing at different machines in the kitchen while trying to figure out how to clean a dish.

The square appliance she’d assumed was the dishwasher sprayed a large stream of water at her as soon as she opened its door.

Nothing in the kitchen was normal. Even the refrigerated foods were located throughout the kitchen in different refrigerated areas rather than one large area.

Since the evil super soaker appliance was the only one that had water, she guessed it was, in fact, a dishwasher. After being sprayed three more times, she gave up on trying to use the dishwasher and arranged the dirty dishes as neatly as she could on the counter.

When she was just about done mopping the floor—with a towel, since the mop also eluded her—she heard a knock at the door.

Cebo, who’d been wholly unhelpful through this ordeal, attempted to dash toward the door, but slipped on the sleek floor and ended up sprawled in the middle of the kitchen.

Chuckling, Jade walked to the door but didn’t open it. It would not be the smartest idea to open the door to an unknown guest, wearing only a soaking wet T-shirt.

“It’s Asivva,” a woman’s voice called through the thick door. “Jade, are you there?”

Quickly, or as quickly as she could manage, considering it weighed about a thousand pounds, Jade opened the door. Asivva’s warm smile faltered when she took in Jade’s appearance and faded completely when Cebo once again tried to run to the door but instead slipped and slid into an entry table.

“Is everything okay here?” she asked, starting to chuckle at Cebo’s continued clumsy attempts to get to her.

“Yeah,” Jade said blowing a piece of hair out of her face. “One of the appliances in the kitchen and I had a disagreement.” Jade sidestepped, letting Asivva through. “I’m so happy to see you. Please come in!”

Jade was about to close the door after Asivva, but three more women wheeling racks of clothes and boxes followed her.

Asivva turned to Jade and said, “Theo called and told me you wanted to visit with me. I figured I’d bring you the clothes you ordered.” She eyed Jade up and down. “It’s a good thing I did.”

Jade glanced down at Theo’s shirt. “He has very comfortable shirts, but some real clothes would be nice.”

Asivva directed the women to Jade’s bedroom before taking a seat on the living room couch. A bitter twinge of jealousy sliced through Jade. How does she know where everything is?

Cebo finally managed to hobble over to Asivva, and she stroked his head before he collapsed at her feet, exhausted.

Trying at nonchalance, Jade asked, “So you’ve been here before?”

“Yes, all the time,” Asivva said, patting the couch next to her in invitation.

“Why?” Jade snapped, no longer able to keep a cool tone. Why would this gorgeous woman come to Theo’s home “all the time?”

Jade glanced over her shoulder. What would he do if he came home right now? It wouldn’t be hard to choose between a drop-dead gorgeous model and Jade who, at present, looked like a drowned cat.

Asivva stared at Jade with a confused expression for a moment then said, “Did Theo tell you how he knows me?”

“He said women sometimes come by to have sex with him.”

Asivva grinned. “After the ceremony, I was very concerned that you two wouldn’t get along.”

Jade scowled as Asivva started laughing.

Through giggles, she managed, “I’m so happy to see my brother has found someone who’s so possessive of him.”

“Brother?” Theo had said his sister lived close by.

Jade’s face heated as embarrassment hit her. She’d never been the jealous type before. This guy was doing a number on her. She sat down and hastily began, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

Asivva held up her hand and said, “It’s already