Read Online Bending Over Backwards by Samantha Hunter - Free Book Online

in the middle of the best dream. Leo was walking out of the ocean waves, wearing only black trunks, smiling at her in that way that told her his entire focus was on her.
    No wonder. Looking down, she discovered that she was nude, right there on the beach. No one else was around.
    Leo walked up to her, looking at her intensely before he took her in his arms, kissing her until she couldn’t breathe.
    Who cared about breathing?
    He led her back to the waves. She knew she should be worried—the water was cold and deep—but she wasn’t. She wanted to go with him so much. She didn’t care as he kissed her, keeping her warm as the water came up and encompassed them…
    Some sort of ringing in her ears distracted her from the wonderful things he was doing to her underwater when he broke the kiss. What would be ringing underwater?
    “You’d better get that. It sounds important,” Leo said, looking down at the sand, where her cell phone rang.
    How did they get back out of the water?
    Jasmine wanted to go back in but found herself reaching for the phone. The next thing she knew, she wasn’t on the beach, but in her bed.
    Groggy, she fumbled for the phone on her bed stand.
    “Yes?” she answered hesitantly. She didn’t know anyone who would call her at late hours.
    “Jasmine Stanford?” a deep male voice inquired.
    “Yes? Who is this?”
    “Sergeant Drecker, Harwich Police. I’m sorry to call you so late, but the alarm went off in your business downtown. Your studio was broken into and vandalized along with several other nearby businesses, I’m afraid.”
    Jasmine thought maybe she was still dreaming, though it had turned into a nightmare.
    “Body Sense? My yoga studio, are you sure?” she asked, her heart rate skyrocketing, hands shaking. “What happened?” she asked, fighting to clear her head from the deep sleep.
    “We’re still investigating, but someone did a real job on your place, as well as the ice cream shop and an antiques shop. Could be kids being jerks, but we’ll have to know if anything was stolen or if you had any money or valuables on the premises, etc.”
    “Of course. I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
    “We’ve posted two cars outside the businesses to keep watch, ma’am. It can wait until morning. You could come down to the station then.”
    As if. “No, it can’t wait. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
    Jasmine felt her eyes burn as tears threatened while she changed her clothes and pulled her hair back into a tight bun. She didn’t care what she looked like; she needed to get down to her studio.
    When she finally pulled up in front, she could barely speak to identify herself to the officer on duty. She saw her windows smashed in, spray paint all over the brick walls inside, random curses and filth written on the walls. The rest of the place was wrecked, as well.
    The expensive bamboo shades were ripped and lay on the floor, the yoga mats on the display sliced into ugly chunks. Some were thrown out in the street, she realized, barely having registered that on the way in. All of her plants were dumped, and the water feature in the meditation room was pulled out by the plumbing.
    “Oh my God,” she whispered to herself as she took it all in. The intrusive violence of it rumbled over her, through her, and she started to shake.
    “Miss, you should sit down.” The young officer who had followed her in looked around at the room. “If it helps, I don’t think any of this is directed at you personally. It seems random, since the same damage was done at the other two businesses.”
    How could this not be personal? she thought, but didn’t say anything as numbness set in.
    “When you can, if you could look around, let us know if anything was stolen, and an idea of the value of the damage? We’ll need your report, and you’ll get a copy for your insurance. You do have insurance? Or your landlord?”
    Jasmine nodded again, barely hearing him. “I own the studio, yes,” she said