by Kelly Moore
“That sounds romantic. Did she not like the show or something?”
“We never went. I made it to the hotel, and she was sitting in the bar with a man.”
“So? Most of her clients are men.” She raises her shoulders.
“This wasn’t a client.”
She gasps. “No. Did you confront them?”
“I never spoke to either one of them. She never knew I was there.”
Aubrey purses her lips together, stands directly in front of me, then the next thing I know, she smacks the heel of her hand against my forehead.
“Owe! What the hell was that for?”
Her hands fly to her hips. “You didn’t even talk to her. I bet you read the entire situation wrong. That woman loves you. She wouldn’t cheat on you!”
“You weren’t there. You didn’t see the way they looked at each other, and their hands were all over each other.”
“All over like how? Where exactly were they touching one another?”
“What difference does that make?”
“A big one!” She waves her hand in the air, and I duck out of the way.
“Shoulders, arms, elbows”—I point at her—“he kissed her on the cheek.”
She grabs my finger and bends it back. “You’re such an idiot!”
I snatch my hand away from her. “How am I the idiot and why are you siding with her? She’s supposed to be up there in a meeting, and I find her laughing in a bar with a guy that can’t take his eyes off her cleavage!”
She huffs around the room a few times before she sits on the edge of the desk again. “Have you ever had a meeting in a bar with one of your clients?” Her voice is softer but still stern.
“Yes.”
“Did said client ever touch your arm?”
“Yes.”
“Did they bat their eyes at you because you’re so damn handsome?”
“I suppose.”
“Did you act upon it?”
“No, never.”
“I’m sure she didn’t either.” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“They knew each other very well.” I rock back in my chair.
“So what? Maybe it was someone from her past, just like you and me. We’re friends and nothing more. I can laugh with you, touch your arm, and even kiss your cheek.” She swoops down, placing a quick kiss on mine. “See, doesn’t mean we’re having an affair.”
I bounce the thought around in my head. “It doesn’t mean she’s not either.”
“But, you’re willing to throw it all away without even confronting her? The poor woman has no idea what she’s done. She walks around the office growling, and then she sits in her office crying. She’s obviously in love with you, and if I were you, I’d want to know the truth before it’s too late because I think”—she places her hand on my chest—“that you are just as crazy about her. You’re scared of getting hurt, and I get that. Don’t let that fear ruin this for you. Go find her, talk to her. I’m sure it is all a misunderstanding.”
I lean my head from side to side, rolling out the tension. “Okay, you win.”
“It’s not me winning, Jameson. It’s you not losing the person you’re meant to be with because you’re afraid.” She stands and walks toward the door.
“Thanks for the kick in the pants, or should I say the slap upside the head.” I chuckle.
“You’re welcome. Don’t wait too long and don’t make me come hunt you down again. It’s a long-ass drive from Los Angeles to Sausalito.” She winks at me.
As if on cue, my phone vibrates with Reese’s name. I debate answering it or not and choose the latter. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it in person. I cancel my afternoon appointment and reschedule for next week. I rush home, change clothes, and grab a few things, throwing them into a small suitcase. I’m on the road headed to Los Angeles in no time flat. My screen flashes, telling me I have voicemail. I hit play.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me you came to New York. I just got off the phone with Greg, and he asked me if we enjoyed the play? Does this have something to do with why you ended things with us?” I hear a sob catch in her throat. “I don’t understand. I’ve gone from crying, to angry, to crying again, and now I’m pissed off!” She’s quiet for a moment. “I love you, Jameson…no, I take it back…I hate you!” she yells into the phone, and the beep of the voicemail ends her call.
At least she’s able to express how she feels, except it seems to change moment by moment. I pray Aubrey is right and I was a complete asshole. If I read the situation wrong, then I deserve her anger, and I’ll have to get on bended knee to beg her for forgiveness.
All sorts of scenarios run through my head on the long drive. I think about the first time I laid eyes on her, which was only a short time ago. I fell for her snarky charm so quickly. When it’s just the two of us, closed off from the rest of the world, it’s a beautiful thing. I love her smile, her laugh, and her confidence. I would never admit it to her, but part of me even likes the fight. It lets me know she’s so alive in spirit. She’s worth fighting for, and I’ve been an idiot. No more.
I’ve driven so fast, I cut an hour off my time. I stop by the office first to see if she’s working late. Just my luck, her car is parked in the garage. I lock the door and run to the elevator. Greg’s secretary is working late too.
“Hi, Mr. Wilde.”
“Is Ms. Adams in her office?”
She nods. “Do you want me to see if she’s busy?”
“No, it’s okay.” I tap my hand on her desk as I walk by.
She’s on her phone when I stand in her doorway. Her feet are bare and propped up on her desk. Her entire face frowns when she sees me.
“I’ll have to call you back,” she tells whoever is on the other end of the line. She jerks her feet off the desk. “What are you doing here?” Her voice is clipped.
“I need to ask you something.”
“Ha! Now you want to talk.” She stands, slipping on her shoes, grabbing her purse and throwing it over her shoulder.
“Please, let me explain.”
“Mmm…I don’t think so. You break my heart without any explanation, and you think you can show up at my office to talk? You’re a distraction, and I’ve got work to do.”
I see how shitty that sounded when I said it to her. “Your voicemail, you know I went to New York.” I trail after her when she starts stomping down the hallway to the exit.
“So you do listen to your messages.” She sticks her finger out to hit the down arrow, and I hit the up arrow. “Childish, don’t you think?” She juts her chin out.
“I’m not letting you leave here without us fighting this out.”
“The naked fighting contract has been ripped to shreds, so don’t even think about taking your clothes off!” she shouts, and we both look in the direction of the secretary because she’s snickering.
“Sorry,” she says, then looks down at her desk.
Reese takes off to the stairway exit sign. I’m not sure why, but on her way, she grabs a broom that was sitting by the garbage. She opens the door, slams it in my face, and shoves the broomstick into the handle so I can’t open it behind her.
“Oh, now who’s being childish!” I slap my open hand on the door. She flashes me her middle finger through the small window, then heads down.
I run over to the elevator door that’s opening and get in and push the button to the lower level. The doors close, and the elevator starts to rise. “No!” I repeatedly push the lower level button like that’s going to change the elevator’s direction.
It rises, opens, closes, and starts moving down, reopening on the level that I got on. I frantically hit the close door button and see Greg’s secretary wave at me.
By the time I reach the bottom, Reese’s car is gone. I jump in mine and race over the speed bumps in the parking garage. I make a right turn, heading for her condo but the road is blocked by an accident. I put the car in park to get out to see if her Yukon is ahead of me. I
t’s not there, so the accident must’ve just happened. There’s a Jetta flipped upside down and a garbage truck on its side. I get back in my car, but there’s no way to maneuver around it. I’m blocked in from behind and buildings are on either side of me.
“Damn it! Call Reese!” I yell at my Bluetooth.
“Calling Pete,” it says.
“No!” I hit the cancel button. “Call Reese,” I annunciate slowly.
“Push one for…” I hit the cancel button again and find my phone. I go to recent calls and push her name.
“This is Reese, you know what to do.” Beep. God, what I’d give to hear one of her snarky messages. “I’m stuck in traffic on the way to your condo. Please don’t leave. I know I’ve been a complete asshole, but I really want to work this out.” I let out a long sigh. “Please, I’m sorry for the way I’ve handled things. I can explain if you’ll give me a chance. The one thing you do need to know is that I fully let go of Lyla. I went by her gravesite one last time to tell her. I know you think I don’t see you, but I do.” Beep, it ends the call.
I’m stuck in traffic for the next two hours. I’ve called her phone repeatedly, and each time, it’s gone straight to voicemail, but I haven’t left another message. I try one more time when the accident is finally cleared, and I make it to the freeway.
“This is Reese…yes you were an asshole, Jameson Wilde, but I’ll wait for you. The naked fighting law is not enforceable. I’m really angry at you and don’t need to see your junk.” The message ends.
Chapter 15
Nighttime has fallen by the time I make it to her condo. There’s a single light on by the front door. I park along the curb and jog to her door. I ring the doorbell and wait. I can hear her inside, but she doesn’t answer the door.
“Reese, let me in, please.”
“Go away.” I hear her voice behind the door.
“You said you’d wait for me.”
“I changed my mind.”
“I’m not leaving. If I have to camp out here, I will.”
“I’ll call the cops.”
“Then they’ll have to arrest me. I’m not going anywhere until we talk.”
The chain clinks as she slides it into the bar, and the door cracks open. “I’m mad at you.” I can only see one of her eyes, and she has streaks of mascara running down her face.
“I know, and you have every right to be for the way I handled things. When you came to my house that day, I should’ve told you.”
The door shuts, the chain comes off, it swings open, and she blocks the doorway with her body. “Told me what?”
“Can we not do this outside for all your neighbors to hear?”
She moves to the side, letting me step by her. “I’d offer you a drink, but I don’t see you staying that long.” She drops into a chair.
I take a seat on the couch facing her. “I did go to New York. I wanted to surprise you, but I was the one unnerved when I got there.” I pause.
“Go on, I’m listening.”
“I heard your laugh coming from the bar. I went in to find you, and you were being entertained by another man.”
Her eyes grow large. “I…we…”
I hold up my hand to stop her. “I assumed by the way things looked between the two of you that you were having an affair. Please tell me I was wrong.”
“God, no.” She gets up and sits beside me. “I know what it must’ve looked like, but it’s not at all what you think.”
“Please enlighten me.” I turn to face her.
“What you saw was me with my ex-husband, celebrating that fact that he wasn’t going to be sent to prison for insider trading. We met because he needed money to pay all the fines back. His accounts had all been frozen and raided by the government. He’s broke.”
“You gave him the money?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I wouldn’t have had a dime to my name if it wasn’t for him in the beginning. He took what I had and invested it. It grew to a large sum that allowed me to get to where I am today.”
“So, you felt you owed him?”
“In a way, yes, but that’s not why I did it.”
“Why then?”
“Because of you.”
“I’m not following your thought process.”
“You’ve made me realize that life isn’t about money. It was my way of letting go. I gave him almost every dime I have.” She shrugs one shoulder. “I’m broke for the first time in years, and I’m okay with it.”
“He loves you.”
“He does, but he loves men more.”
“He looked at you like he wanted you.”
She laughs. “He only wanted me because he was jealous of you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you idiot. I told him all about you. That’s what we were talking about when you saw me laughing. I shared the story of our naked fighting in the office and how you left when we were done fighting.”
“He kissed you.”
“Ah, you saw that too.”
I nod.
She takes my hand in hers. “I promise you, nothing happened between us. We’re nothing more than friends.”
“I didn’t like it.”
“I can see that.”
“I don’t want his lips or anyone else’s around you.”
She places her warm hand on my cheek. “I won’t let it happen again, but you have to promise to not shut me out when I do something you don’t like. I’m never going to hurt you intentionally. We’re going to have disagreements, but we’ll work them out.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re forgiven. Did you really let Lyla go?”
“I did. I wanted to be able to give you all of my heart.”
She scoots closer, brushing my hair off my forehead. “I want all of you, Jameson Wilde. The broken parts”—she kisses my lips—“the sweet parts.” She kisses me tenderly. “The not so sweet parts.” Her kiss is deeper. “And the part of I love most.”
I lean my head away to look at her. “What part is that?”
“The kinky one. The man that likes to control me in the bedroom.”
I kiss her this time, crashing my mouth to hers. She opens and lets me in. Our tongues play a dangerous melody together. In one move, I sweep her up in my arms as I stand. I kick out of my shoes, and hers fall to the ground. She kisses and nips her way down my jaw and neck on the way to the bedroom. I set her down, unzipping her skirt before her feet have hit the floor. I draw my hands up underneath it, bunching it up as I go. I grip the waistband and tear it down her body.
She gasps and bites her bottom lip. Her coppery eyes are dark and lustful. Next, I work on peeling her blouse off. Her coral lace bra is sexy as shit. I reach in her cup, and her breast pops out, filling my mouth. Her nipple tightens when it meets my warm tongue. I suck it in and bite playfully at the same time. Her head falls back, and a hiss fills the room. “Yes!”
“I’ve missed your body next to mine for far too long.” I slide my fingers on either side of her soft panties and rip them off, tossing them on the ground.
“My turn.” She flings her hair over her shoulder with a swift movement of her head.
I take a step back and hold my arms straight out to the side. She feverishly untucks my shirt, pulling the hem up over my head. I raise my arms to get free of it. She plants her lips in the middle of my chest, raking her fingernails firmly into my skin. I hiss but don’t stop her. She fumbles with the button on my jeans. I try to help her, but she pushes my hand away.
“You’re taking too damn long,” I groan.
Her sexy smile covers her face, and she takes her dear sweet time unzipping me, setting my throbbing cock free. I growl and push her back on the bed, and she laughs.
“Now is not the time for laughing.” I push my jeans and boxer briefs down over my hips and step out of them. Pinning her on the bed, I bear my weight on my hands that are on either side of her head. Her eyes lock with mine. “I love yo
u, Reese.” I gaze down her gorgeous body. “I see every sweet, beautiful, sexy, captivating inch of you.”
“Good, now put every inch of you inside me before I die.” She cups me in her hand.
I bite at her lip and pull her hand up to her breast. She twists her nipple between her fingers, and it drives me nuts. “You forget who’s in charge. I have plans for you before I bury myself balls-deep in you.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“For you to tell me where you want my mouth first. That’s the only choice you’ll get to make tonight.”
Her hand slides between the two of our bodies, and she touches herself. “I think this would be a good starting point.”
“I’m going to enjoy this. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I move down her body, and she willingly untangles her legs, spreading them wide. I position myself at her opening and feast on her. Her hips move when she can take no more, and I grasp either side of them, pressing them into the bed. She tries to buck a few times but gives everything over to me. I give her a few minutes to come back down, and I repeat kissing and licking her into another orgasm that has her body quaking. Flipping her over, she pushes her chest off the bed. I put my hand in the center of her back, pressing her back down, then reposition her with her knees tucked under her, giving me access to her ass. I rub her slickness between her folds and slide a finger inside. She bolts forward, trying to escape the burn.
“It’s okay. Trust me.” I wait for her to settle down and press in further. This time she pushes against me, sliding my finger in further. I take my other hand and toy with her swollen nub.
“Yes, Jameson!” she screams, rocking her hips backward, riding out wave after wave of orgasms rippling through her body.
She’s still shaking when I roll her over. I capture her mouth in mine so she can taste her own sweetness.
“Please…” she rasps out, attempting to catch her breath.
“Not yet.” I kiss and massage all the way down her body, covering every inch of her. When I get down to her toes, I repeat the process going back up her body. She wiggles underneath me. “If you don’t stay still, I’m going to start all over again.”
She completely stops moving other than her rising chest caused by the panting of her breath. I stop at her breasts, sucking in one nipple while my hand tugs at the other one. I look up to see her bite her lip, holding in a scream and trying desperately not to move. My smile brushes against her breast, and I move up to her neck. Her nails dig into my back, running all the way to my ass. I know I’m the one that’s supposed to be in control, but she just took that away from me. I lose my ever-loving mind and slam into her.