by M. Malone
No one had been interested in what was going on in the servant’s wing. They’d just walked straight to the front door and out to his car.
He sent up a silent prayer of thanks that he had been late to arrive and didn’t allow the valets to park his car. He was at the end of the Kingsley’s long drive, along with other family members who’d taken the initiative to park themselves.
“Where to, Princess?” The endearment slipped out before he could catch it. It was how he’d often thought of her, the perfect girl who was too good for the commoners around her.
Georgie’s eyes betrayed her surprise, looking even more blue today due to whatever girl magic she’d done to her face. It was quite a sight to see her wearing a full face of makeup and his old gym clothes but in typical Georgie fashion, she made it look good.
“I’m not sure. Where do you go when home isn’t where you want to be? A hotel maybe?”
The way she asked the question made him sad for her. And angry. Nothing about this situation made any sense. Georgie shouldn’t be running away in shame when she had done nothing wrong. Alex Summerland had been a lucky bastard and clearly batting out of his league. He should be the one slinking off into the shadows looking for somewhere to hide.
“I can take you to a friend’s house. Although I guess most of your friends are probably here, huh?” He was beginning to see her dilemma.
Being a runaway bride was a lot easier in the movies. You just put your sneakers on and took off with your thumb stuck out. But here in the real world, someone like Georgie wouldn’t get far without her wallet, phone, or car. Jamie was suddenly really glad he hadn’t left. The thought of her hitchhiking scared the hell out of him but even if she’d been able to get into the city, she didn’t have any money for a hotel.
He didn’t want to think about the kind of trouble a beautiful woman like Georgie could attract on her own.
“I’m not taking you to a hotel. There has to be somewhere we can go. What about King’s place? You’re on the approved guest list so the concierge would let you up.”
She shook her head. “No way. As soon as everyone realizes I’m gone, that’s the first place they’ll look. I’m just not ready to talk to anyone yet. I don’t want to see the disappointment in their faces.”
“Georgie…” His hands curled around the steering wheel as he drove, wishing there was something he could say to make it better.
But coming from a poor background, Jamie saw the truth of her life probably more clearly than she did. He’d had to learn to navigate a social class different from the one he was born into which meant studying the super rich like they were a new species he’d just discovered. The women in Georgie’s world were expected above all else to marry well. It was utter bullshit but it was also utterly true.
He wasn’t going to lie to her and pretend her parents wouldn’t be disappointed at this turn of events because they would be.
“Okay, not King’s place then. Maybe we can just grab something to eat until you feel better. Then you can make a decision.”
Georgie looked down at her clothes in horror. “Go out to eat. Like this?”
He chuckled. “You always look beautiful.”
She gave him a yeah right look. “You’re very sweet to lie to me like that. I’m more concerned that these shorts will fall down at any minute and I’ll be mooning everyone. The last thing I need is more humiliation today.”
She fell quiet and Jamie didn’t press her for a destination, just drove. When he’d first started working with King, there had been days when everything around him seemed like it was going to shit and he used to jump in his car and drive. He never had any particular destination. Sometimes it was enough to just be on the way somewhere. Somewhere other than where you didn’t want to be.
“He doesn’t love me, Jamie.”
Georgie’s voice was soft but the hurt was so palpable that even Jamie felt it.
“He never loved me. And I think a part of me knew all along.” She sniffed and one hand came up to swipe at her cheek.
Jamie wished he hadn’t spirited her away so quickly but instead taken the opportunity to punch Alex in the face before they’d left.
“He’s an idiot. And I no longer have to feel guilty about all the shit King and I have talked about him behind his back.”
She didn’t say anything, just kept staring out the window and swiping at her cheeks every few minutes or so. He’d never felt so helpless or so useless than watching Georgie’s heart break over someone who wasn’t even worthy of her.
“The worst part is how I let him change me. How could I not see what he was doing? He was obviously trying to create the perfect robot wife to help him get his father’s approval. This is the same man who at his last company holiday party told me I needed to behave with more decorum. That I was representing the Kingsleys, after all.”
Jamie shook his head. “What a douchebag.”
But Georgie wasn’t done. She twisted in her seat and pointed one finger in the air as she continued her angry rant. “The man who made me feel like a whore for wanting to try a sexual position other than boring, basic missionary!”
He almost ran off the road at her pronouncement and had to yank the wheel to right their course.
“Um, okay. I think we’ve established that Alex sucked.”
“Or didn’t suck, as it turned out,” Georgie grumbled.
Jamie snickered at that. “So many things I could say to that. But I won’t.” Although he was inappropriately happy to find out her former fiancé hadn’t ever satisfied her in bed.
So many things were starting to make sense. Finding Georgie wandering around a sex club had seemed so strange and out of character at the time. Like finding a clown in a funeral home. But now he could see why she’d gone there. Georgie was the curious type, always had been, and she’d probably thought going to the club was the easiest way to find out whether the problems in her sex life were universal or particular to Alex.
“Whatever, my point is that I came close to never finding out what it’s like to really be happy in a relationship. That’s what my life would have been if I’d married Alex.”
His phone rang and without looking at it, he silenced it.
“Shouldn’t you get that?” she asked sadly. “It’s probably my mother.”
“Anyone who really cares about you already knows that you’re safe.”
“How?”
“I texted King right before we left. He can handle telling everyone else. Meanwhile you can hide out at my place.”
“Your place? You don’t have to babysit me, Jamie. I appreciate the ride but this isn’t your problem.”
“It’s the only place you can hide out that no one will come looking for you. And we can get something to eat without fear of you mooning anyone.”
She snorted at his lame attempt at humor but he could feel her questioning gaze long afterward.
He kept his eyes on the road. The last thing he needed was to deal with those baby blues staring straight through to his soul while he invented a reason he wanted to keep her close.
Because he wasn’t sure why the hell he wanted her at his place either.
Chapter 4
An hour later, they were eating pizza sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of his TV. Pizza and a cheesy Lifetime movie were a poor substitute for what should have been the happiest day of her life but Georgie hadn’t complained once.
Although she had made herself at home by pouring several tequila shots at his wet bar. Not that he was judging.
Other than the tequila and the faint red in her eyes, Jamie would have never guessed she’d just gone through something traumatic. She wasn’t behaving like a woman who’d just discovered her fiancé had only been marrying her for financial reasons.
Actually she was handling it all a little too well. It was freaking him out.
“What’s that?” he asked, noticing her attention had been captured by a small, pink envelope. There were little cartoon
drawings on the outside but he wasn’t close enough to see what they were.
Georgie shrugged. “You remember my business?”
“Yeah. Sweet Nothings. How are things going with that?”
She stared at him. “You remember the name of my company?”
“Of course. You hounded me for weeks with all those questions about starting a company.”
Her smile lit up the room. “You finally gave in just so I’d go away.”
Jamie grunted, heat blooming in his cheeks. He turned away so she wouldn’t see the truth in his eyes. He hadn’t helped her so she’d go away. Quite the opposite. If anything, he’d taken shameless advantage of a legitimate reason to spend time with her.
Most of her questions about opening a business could have been answered in less than an hour but he’d dragged it out, milking his only chance to spend time alone with her without King or her parents as a buffer. And he’d been happy to do it. When Georgie was excited about something, it spilled out of her and blanketed everyone around her in joy. Jamie had loved every minute of basking in her radiance.
And when she was sad, it was as if a rain cloud was covering everything. Seeing her without a huge smile on her face was so foreign to him.
“You’re sure you’re okay? I can get King over here if you want. Or Olivia. Maybe she can keep you company while your brother and I go look for Alex.”
She shook her head. “I’m sure King already had a talk with Alex. One that began and ended with a fist to the face.”
“No, actually Alex disappeared shortly after you did. King said when he went looking for him no one could find him.”
Which was weird. He wondered what exactly had happened before he’d found Georgie curled up on the floor in that pantry. Had she had a fight with Alex? That would explain why he’d been nowhere to be found. Jamie glanced over at Georgie. Shit. He wasn’t going to be the one to ask her.
“So, the pink envelope is a business thing?” he finally said.
“It’s our signature. We use pink envelopes for all our custom greetings and notes. Anyway, I wrote a special note for Alex. I was supposed to give it to him after the ceremony but I went to see him beforehand. That’s when I overheard him talking to his father. About the partnership he was promised in exchange for marrying a Kingsley.”
Jamie sighed. She’d gone to see her fiancé to give him something she’d written just for him only to have it all blow up in her face. Life really wasn’t fair sometimes.
“I’m sorry, Georgie.”
Her eyes were bright when they next met his. “Don’t be. At least I found out before the wedding. Otherwise I would have been just one more person divorced within a year of getting married. It’s funny that the owner of a love letter business can’t even find a happily ever after. I spent so long waiting for the perfect guy only to find out perfect doesn’t exist.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“He was my first,” Georgie whispered before resting her head on her arm.
Unsure of how to respond, Jamie stood and walked over to the wet bar. Clearly she’d had the right idea from the start. There was no way in hell he was getting through this conversation without scotch. The thought of her being with Alex made him want to throw something.
An image of a teenage Georgie looking up at him with adoration and desire pushed itself into his mind.
Thanks a lot brain, he thought. Keep reminding me of every mistake I’ve ever made.
If he hadn’t pushed her away years ago, he would have been her first. He would have been the one to touch that soft skin and kiss those pouty lips. But then that would make him the asshole instead of Alex because he wasn’t any better for her.
“At least now I know why our sex life was so lackluster,” Georgie moaned.
He took a bracing sip of the scotch he’d just poured, not bothering to look at the label. It didn’t really matter other than as a way to get through this.
“You know what really kills me?” Georgie waved her shot glass in the air as she made her point. “That he always made me feel bad for wanting to try things. Some of us don’t want to have boring missionary sex every Saturday. Maybe it’d be nice to get fucked on a Wednesday. Imagine that!”
The second sip of scotch slid down the wrong pipe and Jamie dissolved into a coughing fit. He pounded his chest trying to clear the burn from his windpipe.
“Jesus, Georgie.”
“What? I’m just saying. Would you want to be stuck having sex once a week in the same position? With the lights off,” she added before rolling her eyes.
Damn, that really did sound boring as hell.
Jamie shook his head hard, trying to clear the weirdness of having this conversation in the first place and also to stop himself from noticing how adorable she was while tipsy and ranting.
“You deserve a man who cherishes you. Who will put you first and not push you to do things that are out of your comfort zone like going to sex clubs. That isn’t you.”
Georgie cracked up. “God, you’re such a guy. You’ve convinced yourself the big bad wolf corrupted me somehow. But it was my idea to go to the sex club, Jamie. I’m the one who wanted to try something new. No one influenced me to take a walk on the wild side.”
Jamie had no idea what to say to that. He could freely admit that he’d assumed she’d only gone to the club because Alex was pressuring her into trying new things. It had never occurred to him that she’d really been there of her own volition. And yes, he realized that made him a total hypocrite. But this was Georgie.
“Speaking of that night–” she began.
“Let’s not actually,” Jamie interrupted.
He spun around to face the other direction before she could see the monster erection pressing against his slacks.
“Um, all I was going to say was that I understand what you were trying to do that night. But I don’t need a keeper. I’m a grown woman and if I want to go to a sex club, I can. As a matter of fact, maybe I’ll go back now that I’ve found out the truth about Alex.”
“The hell you will,” Jamie growled, finally turning to face her again. “That’s not the kind of place for idle curiosity, Georgie. I’m not saying that to be a dick or spoil your fun or whatever. Some of the stuff going on there is pretty hardcore.”
Her face was mutinous and set in the expression he’d come to recognize over the years as her I’ll do what I want face. Even though it was inconvenient, he was glad to see that Alex hadn’t squished all the spunk and defiance out of her.
“I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m sure you don’t want to talk about my stupid problems.”
He really didn’t. But he did want her to have someone to talk to if she needed it. “It’s okay. You have the right to vent.”
Georgie shook her head. “I know you’re doing this as a favor to King. You’ve always been such a good friend to him. But no guy wants to hear about sex from a girl who is like a little sister to him.”
Just like that all the latent sexual tension he’d been holding back boiled over. Between the crowbar in his pants and the mental images of her in that damn sex club, it all proved to be more than Jamie could take.
He abandoned his glass on the bar and stalked back over to where Georgie was sprawled on the floor. Her eyes followed his movements warily. He kneeled next to her and put one finger gently under her chin. “Let’s get one thing straight, Princess.”
“What’s that?” she whispered.
“You are not my fucking sister.” Then his mouth covered hers.
Georgie was in shock. Either that or she’d already passed out and was now hallucinating this whole thing. But even if it was an alcohol-induced dream, she planned to enjoy it. Because Jamie was kissing her and she’d been dreaming about this for years.
Her initial shock gave way and she wrapped a hand around his neck to pull him down. She moaned as she got lost in the taste and smell of him, wanting nothing more than to crawl into his lap and stay all night.
B
ut before she could make good on the wish, Jamie was pulling away. “Shit. That shouldn’t have happened.”
Stunned, Georgie just stared at him. “But … you don’t even like me.”
The look Jamie gave her could have melted steel. “I have always liked you, Georgie. It’s pretty damn hard not to.”
She snorted. “You didn’t like me too much when you dragged me out of that club.”
His eyes narrowed. “I wanted to spank your sexy little ass for that stunt. For months, I couldn’t get the image of you in that corset out of my head. The sight of your perky little breasts pushed up and pointing right at me is one my favorite personal fantasies.”
Georgie knew her mouth was hanging open but couldn’t help it. Clearly she wasn’t the only one who’d lost the filter tonight because she would have never guessed that Jamie had those kinds of thoughts about her.
“Personal fantasies?” she whispered. Was he talking about…
“Yeah, Princess. I gave my right hand quite a workout after you pulled that little stunt. God, you were so fucking wasted on Alex.”
For some reason, his anger at her being with Alex only made the ache between her legs grow. Georgie squirmed at the idea of him stroking one out to the memory of her in lingerie. Her mouth was suddenly dry as her imagination raced with images of Jamie holding his cock in his hand, tugging on it while he thought about her.
“That’s why I went to the club. I just wanted to see if I could feel–”
Suddenly she glanced up at him and the air around them became charged. Her entire existence narrowed to the way Jamie was looking at her right then.
“Feel like what?” he prompted, his eyes intense.
“The way I do when you look at me.” Her lip trembled as the words finally tumbled out. Then she leaned up and pressed her lips against his.
Instinct took over and suddenly who they were didn’t matter. He wasn’t a guy comforting his best friend’s little sister and she wasn’t the heartbroken bride. Right then, their entire world was her lips against his and how astonishingly perfect it was.