Read Jessie Slaymaker's Rules of Engagement (The Jessie Slaymaker Series Book 2) for Free Online Page B

Sonia had been in the same taxi with them, would she have stared in awe and wonder at the ginormous buildings rolling past? Hardly. Not that Sonia ever took a taxi anyway. She was more of a chauffeur-driven gal these days.
    He couldn’t put his finger on it exactly, but Jessie made him feel positive about life. She’d definitely given him a fresh impulse to get up off his backside and actually do something constructive with his time. He was still young. Too young to retire. And she made him want to do well again. There was a time, when he’d first moved to Shanghai, when he’d been ambitious, a dreamer; but he’d lost that feeling at some point. Over the years there, despite his success, he had slowly, imperceptibly lost sight of his initial passion. He’d become tired, jaded; hence his return to England. But now things were so very different. With Jessie at his side, he felt altogether more fired up and positive about the future.

Chapter 9
    Jessie felt numb as she entered the serviced apartment that was to be her home for the next two months. It was in the heart of Central, in an area known as Mid-Levels on account of it being partway up the rising relief of Hong Kong Island. Her new neighbourhood was a lively district populated by a mixed expat and local community, within easy reach of the business district and practically on the doorstep of an explosive plethora of bars and restaurants.
    Now that she was actually there, it all felt a bit surreal.
    The apartment itself was a bit of a letdown, however. It was nice enough, she supposed, but it was small, and the view rather left something to be desired. There was no glorious vista across the harbour, like she’d seen when she’d researched online; rather, the windows looked out onto the building opposite. Still, it was a clean and functional space that ordinarily she would have been delighted with. So why was it that Jessie felt uncharacteristically sombre as she surveyed each room in turn? It wasn’t just her missing luggage which had her in a fug. Although, now she realised she had nothing to unpack, it was playing a part. What girl wouldn’t be a little lost without the things she’d carefully selected for her new life adventure?
    Jessie tried not to feel disappointed about her missing luggage, the apartment, or Jack’s jealous reaction earlier. She was just tired, was all. She pushed the idea that these separate little instances were omens to the back of her mind and tried to pass it all off as bad luck. People lost their luggage all the time, and it was perfectly normal for boyfriends to get jealous, and sometimes companies misled you when it came to making their properties look bigger and more glamourous than they actually were. That was just life.
    Jessie sighed as she returned to the living area, unsure what to do next. Jack was standing there, holding out a little black box towards her, smiling.
    Jessie’s breath caught, and she fought to maintain a neutral face until he said something. She wasn’t going to jump to conclusions—which was an easy thing to do, considering her overactive imagination. Just breathe calmly, Jessie willed herself. Of course he wasn’t about to do what her overactive imagination was suggesting. Of course not. Or was he? Maybe that would explain his angsty behaviour at the airport. No. No. Of course he wouldn’t be doing that . It was far too early. They barely knew each other.
    ‘I wanted to get you something,’ Jack began, pushing the little black box into Jessie’s hands, forcing her to stop conjuring up a million scenarios involving rings and diamonds. ‘Something to tell you how much you mean to me, and also a kind of welcome-to-Hong-Kong present.’
    ‘You didn’t have to do that,’ Jessie said, a little shakily. ‘But thank you.’ She stood motionless, staring at the box, wondering if he was going to say anything else.
    Or if there was going to be a question.
    ‘Well, open it,’ Jack prodded.
    ‘Okay,’