Forever Branded (Billionaire Love Series #1) by Jessa Eden Read Free Book Online

scooting across the floor filled the cinder block room as names were rattled off.
    Not particularly concerned about the assignment, I was glancing over my notes as I heard, “Marla Matthews and Beau Shepard.”
    “Ugh,” I muttered under my breath, caught off guard.
    What the hell?
    Did that woman have no shame?
    I glanced back at Beau. “Come on over, Sunshine,” he called happily from across the room, motioning me over.
    I sat still for a second, contemplating my options. I could insist on a different partner or I could muddle through with Beau.
    Neither choice appealed to me.
    Furthermore, I was pretty sure Mrs. Sprite wasn’t willing to let me switch things up. She seemed determined to make us work together.
    Crap, I was just going to have to suck it up and suffer through.
    Resigned to my fate, I picked up my backpack to move as Ashley DeGraw shot me a cold stare. Great, now I had the meanest, most popular girl in school shooting daggers at me because I was working with Beau.
    Just what I needed.
    “Let’s just get this over with,” I said, sliding my desk in Beau’s direction.
    “Cheer up, Sunshine. You could be working with Dusty over there.” He pointed to the other side of the room to a goofy looking kid known for weird outbursts. “I hear he picks his nose.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Good to know. I guess there’s an upside to working with you.”
    He laughed. “That’s a first. Most ladies would be happy to work with me.”
    “Why’s that? Your sparkling personality?” I fired back.
    He grinned again, blowing on his fingers and polishing them against his grey T-shirt. “No, it’s for my awesome good looks.”
    I laughed despite my desire to stay detached. “All right, Shepard. Let’s get to work.
    “Yeah, I can’t wait,” he let out on a heavy sigh.
    “I guess it’s good that at least one of us read Jane Eyre .”
    He twirled his finger in the air. “Whoo-hoo.”
    “You have no idea what a good story this is.”
    “Is it really that good, Sunshine? I just couldn’t get over all the angsty words they use.”
    I grinned at his use of angst. “Did you try to read it?”
    “I took another crack at it. But I still didn’t get very far.”
    “Okay, then, let me fill you in on poor Jane Eyre. She’s an orphan. One that life has not been kind to. She lives with her mean aunt and cruel cousins who make her life miserable. Eventually, when she’s a little older, she is sent away to school. It’s not much better than her aunt’s house, but she does make a couple of friends she loves dearly. After a while, one of her friends dies and the other marries, and Jane decides to leave the school.”
    He crossed his lanky arms. “Doesn’t sound so great.”
    “Well, give it chance. This is where it gets interesting. She gets a governess job at Thornfield and meets the passionate demanding master of the house, Edward Fairfax Rochester, whom Jane finds attractive and fascinating.”
    “Yeah, still not working for me.”
    He was starting to irritate me and I didn’t like him bashing the book. “Would you just stop with the comments? You don’t have to like the story, but you do need to know it.”
    He stared back for a long second. “All right, Sunshine. Tell me the rest.”
    “Jane saves Mr. Rochester one night when she notices smoke and flames coming from his room. She puts out the fire which was about to take him out.”
    “A little action. That’s good.”
    I just couldn’t contain my excitement for this story anymore. “This is where the mystery begins. Who is trying to harm Edward? He tries to convince Jane a servant has set out to kill him, but she has her suspicions that it’s someone else.”
    “Oooh...” he supplied sarcastically.
    I just frowned at him. “Anyway, while Jane is trying to solve the mystery, Mr. Rochester also appears to be pursuing a woman, Blanche, who is a similar class to him while Jane quietly holds her love for him in. Jane knows that Mr. Rochester