“Yeah, she really had to lower her standards to do that,” I replied with a grin.
“Lucky for you she did.”
I was about to take a bite of food when I was interrupted by a familiar voice.
“Jake? Ina?”
I turned to see Chris standing nearby, waving at me. “Oh, hey, man. What are you doing here?” I called out.
He headed over and gave Ina a kiss on the cheek before answering my question. “Big company business dinner tonight. Everyone’s here, in the function room over there,” he said, pointing to the western side of the restaurant, where a set of stained glass dividers cordoned off a function room for big group bookings. “I was just heading back from the bathroom when I saw you guys.”
I looked over at the dividers, and through a crack in the opening, I saw James summoning a waiter. Damn, of course he was here—Chris had just said the whole accounting company was at the dinner.
I was sorely tempted to go over and punch the weedy little prick for continuing to harass and terrorize Nora, but I didn’t want to attract attention to myself in such a way, not when I was trying to clean my image up for her sake. Getting arrested for assault wouldn’t help with that, and I’d already had a narrow miss when I punched him last time. He’d threatened me with assault charges then, but luckily he never ended up pursuing it. If I acted like a hothead and attacked him again, I might not be so lucky this time, especially with all the other patrons of the restaurant as witnesses. I also didn’t want to make things even more awkward in the workplace for Chris, so I kept my cool and turned my gaze away and back to our table.
“Company dinner on a Tuesday night? That’s gotta suck,” I said.
He shrugged. “At least it’s not on a weekend. Then I’d have to waste my Saturday night when I could be out slaying puss.”
I laughed, and Ina rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You two are terrible.”
“Hey, I’m not anymore,” I protested.
“No, now that he’s with Nora, he’s a changed man,” said Chris, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. “Anyway, I better leave you two to your meal and get back to the most boring event of the century. Nothing like dining with thirty other accountants to make you want to end your life.”
“Oh, wait, speaking of accountants,” Ina said, holding up a hand. “Would I be able to talk to you for a minute before you go back to your thing? Our business accountant is going on maternity leave soon, and we need someone to fill her shoes while she’s away. Could you help us find a decent new one who understands our line of work?”
Chris grinned. “Sure. Anything to escape those guys,” he said, taking a seat. “I’ll tell them I’m drumming up new business if they ask. Anyway, there’s plenty of people I could recommend. Some in our company, others elsewhere. Really depends on what exactly you’re looking for.”
I wiped my mouth and stood up. “I actually have to get up very early tomorrow for filming, so why don’t I leave you two to chat about this stuff?”
“Are you sure?” Chris said. “Sorry, didn’t mean to hijack your meal.”
“It’s fine. Like I said, I’ve gotta be up first thing tomorrow morning.”
I said goodbye and headed off to collect my jacket from the restaurant’s small coatroom. After handing over my ticket to the checking attendant, I waited for a few minutes, and when he finally returned, his face was drawn with anxiety. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Archer. I can’t find your jacket.”
I frowned. “Well, can you look again? I definitely checked it. I had my phone in the pocket, too.”
“I already looked everywhere,” he said, twisting his hands nervously. “Let me just get the manager.”
I sighed and waited for the manager to show up, and after she did an extensive search of the coatroom as well, she returned with a hangdog expression. “My deepest apologies, Mr. Archer. I think your jacket has been taken by someone else by mistake. Sometimes a ticket will be misread and the wrong item handed out to patrons. We’re happy to reimburse you the cost of your—”
“It’s not actually the jacket that’s important, it’s the phone,” I cut in, holding up a hand. I was more than a little irritated by this point. Usually I kept my phone on me at all times, but I’d wanted a quiet evening with Ina to celebrate our impending divorce over dinner and drinks, and so I’d checked it.
Just my fucking luck that it went missing the one time I did that.
“Again, I’m so sorry. Whoever took it will probably realize quite soon that they received the wrong jacket, and I’m certain he or she will be back as soon as they realize. Can I take your home number so we can contact you when that happens?”
I gave the manager my home number, then left the restaurant with a frown on my face. My cell phone had all my contacts in it, not to mention the fact it was linked to my online cloud storage account, which had literally everything on it…including the little tape I’d filmed with Nora all those weeks ago. If the phone fell into the wrong hands, her reputation and livelihood could be on the line, because how many production companies would hire a consultant who created—and accidentally leaked—a sex tape made with an actor who starred in one of the films she worked on? Not many, that was for sure. To add to that, she’d be humiliated and hounded by the media for months, maybe even years.
Christ, I needed to get that phone back without any trouble, because if I was responsible for doing anything to harm Nora’s career or life in general, I’d never forgive myself.
And she might never forgive me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Nora
“So your phone was stolen?”
I frowned as I reclined on the leather sofa in Jacob’s bedroom. Wait, no….our bedroom, as of ten minutes ago. I’d just returned home from my cleaning escapade-slash-girly pizza night with Angie at my old house, and now I was officially a resident of Beverly Hills.
Jacob ran his hands through his hair, something I noticed he always did when he was stressed. “No. I mean, I don’t know. The restaurant manager said it was probably just accidentally given to the wrong person.”
“Well, I’m sure they’ll return it.”
He sighed. “I don’t know about that. James was at the restaurant.”
My eyebrows shot up. “James?”
“There was some sort of company dinner for all the accountants at the firm my friend Chris works for. I saw James there. I’m worried he saw me too and stole the jacket with my phone in it.”
I chewed on my lip as I mulled it over, and then I shook my head. “I don’t think so. For one, how would James even know your phone was in the jacket in the coatroom? Most people keep their phones on them at all times these days.”
“True.”
“Secondly, he was there on a company dinner. It’s not like he purposely went there to hunt you down.”
“Also true.”
“And lastly, he’s been very careful with his harassment of me. Careful not to get caught, I mean. He’s been using a VPN to send his online messages, and he’s also doubled down on that by hacking that Robert Quinto guy’s Wi-Fi and using that just in case anyone cracked the VPN. And he also made sure the security cameras and guard didn’t catch him when he went to trash my old house. I don’t think he’d change that now and brazenly steal your phone from a restaurant you knew he was at. I mean, surely he saw you talking to Chris, so he must’ve known that you knew he was there.”
Jacob let out a sigh of relief. “Yeah. Good point. But still, I’m worried. Even if it’s just a random accident that someone got my jacket and phone, it could still be bad. All my photos and videos auto-save to the cloud, which is linked to my phone. Including…”
My heart began to race, and my stomach turned over. “Our tape. Shit.”
He nodded grimly. “Yeah. If whoever accidentally got my phone goes through it to see who it belongs to, I’m screwed. Or more specifically, you’re screwed. People would probably expect a sex tape from someone like me. But you…”
&nbs
p; “It could seriously mess things up for me,” I said with a nod. Something suddenly occurred to me, and I sprang to my feet. “Wait, never mind. I know how to fix this.”
“How?” Jacob asked.
“You said your photos and videos auto-save to the cloud, not the actual phone itself, yes?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“So just log on to the iCloud from your laptop and remove all connected devices. That’ll stop your phone from being able to connect to it, and whoever has it won’t be able to view anything on it.”
Jacob slapped his hand against his forehead. “Jesus. How the hell did I not think of that earlier? I’ve been sitting here for two hours wondering what the fuck to do, and you came up with that in under thirty seconds.”
I smiled and hugged him. “You’re the beauty, I’m the brains.”
He pulled back and grinned. “Nah, you’re the beauty and the brains. I’m just the big dumb oaf.”
“The brawn?”
He nodded and chuckled, and then his smile faded. “But wait. What if the person already looked through my phone in the last couple of hours that they’ve had it?”
“I seriously doubt it,” I said, giving him a comforting squeeze. “They probably haven’t even realized they have it yet, and even if they have, I doubt they’d go through it. I mean, if I found a random phone, I wouldn’t go through it. And you have a lock code on it anyway, right?”
Jacob gave me a guilty look. “Yes, but it’s my birth year. Not exactly hard to crack.”
I shrugged. “If they don’t know who owns the phone, then they wouldn’t know your birth year or any other details that might help them guess the unlock code. It’s fine, Jacob. I think our little secret is safe for now.”
He breathed another sigh of relief. “Fuck, I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been driving myself crazy worrying about this shit.”
I smiled and sat down again. “Do you have a spare phone you can use for now?” I asked.
“Yeah, in the study somewhere. I’ll set it up now,” he said. “Which reminds me, do you want me to have a room set up as a sort of home office for you?”
I hesitated and looked down at the floor, and Jacob frowned. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s about me living here,” I began.
He sighed. “Shit. I knew I probably asked you to move in way too fast.”
“It’s not that,” I said hurriedly. “It’s just…I have an interview for a new job tomorrow. With Hartwell. It was sprung on me at the last minute, and it’s for a movie that films in New York.”
“That’s great. When is it happening?” Jacob asked.
“If I accept it, I’ll have to leave in a week.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “Jesus, that’s fast. For how long?”
I looked at the floor again. “Six months.”
“Shit. That’s a while.”
“I can just say no,” I said, looking back up at him. “Delos will have other contracts for me here; I don’t need to accept this one.”
“Nora, it’s Hartwell. You shouldn’t say no to them. They’re a huge deal.”
“I know. It could be so great for me, but at the same time, I literally only just moved in here. So if I suddenly picked up and left for six months, I feel like…”
Jacob reached forward and put his hands on either side of my face. “Baby, you don’t need to worry. I can tell you’re freaking out, but you’re freaking out about nothing. Remember three minutes ago when I was so worried about the phone thing, but then you had an easy solution and I realized everything was actually fine?”
I nodded, and he went on. “There’s an easy solution to this as well. You go east for work, and I stay here for my own work. And then I can fly out to New York every two weeks for a couple of days. That means we’re only going ten days between seeing each other, and we’ll both be so busy with work that those days will fly by anyway. And after just twelve visits, it’ll all be over. Six months is really not that long.”
“You’d really fly out to see me that often?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” he said with a grin. “It’s only a six hour flight.”
My shoulders relaxed, and I smiled. “So you really think I should take the job? And you think we’ll be okay?”
“Of course. I know we haven’t been together for long, but fuck, Nora…this is solid. We’ve got something good here. Being apart for a while isn’t gonna change that. Got it?”
“Got it,” I said with a weak smile. “But now I’m kinda nervous. What if they interview me and don’t even want me for the job?”
Jacob chuckled. “Okay, now you’re just being ridiculous. Who wouldn’t want you? I certainly do.”
I smiled. “Oh, do you?”
“Yep. I fucking love you, Nora Valencia.”
My eyebrows shot up, and in those seconds, all my worries dissipated. Of course our relationship could survive a six month long distance episode. Jacob loved me, and I loved him too.
“You’ve never said that before,” I said softly.
“I know. I was waiting for the perfect moment to tell you for the first time, but I kinda think all the moments are perfect when you’re around. So may as well be now, right?”
I smiled widely and threw my arms around him, and he kissed the top of my head. “Gonna leave me hanging?” he asked, a tinge of amusement in his voice.
“Oh, I love you too!” I said. “Sorry. I thought it in my head but I didn’t say it out loud.”
“Thank god. That could’ve been awkward.”
“You already knew I loved you back,” I teased. “Why else would I move in with you?”
“Because I’ve got a big house,” he said, eyes twinkling with humor. “Maybe you’re just using me.”
“Oh, I am,” I replied with a mischievous grin. “But not for your house. For your body.”
He held his hands up and slowly backed toward the bed. “Go ahead. You can use me right now.”
“Maybe I will…”
I pushed on his chest, and he moved closer to the bed before reaching forward and grabbing me, sliding his big hands over my soft skin. “Get that skirt off,” he murmured. “Right now.”
I reached down and pulled at the skirt, letting it slip down over my thighs and knees until it was pooled on the floor. Then I yanked my top off too, and Jacob groaned softly at the sight of me in my black lacy bra and panties before sliding his hands up my back and unclipping the bra. My breasts spilled out as he pulled my underwear away, and he leaned down and buried his face in them, kissing them and laving my nipples with his tongue.
Jacob pulled back for long enough to pick me up and throw me down on the bed, and then he was back on me, worshipping my breasts, neck and shoulders with his mouth and hands. He kneaded and massaged, licked and sucked, and when he was done, my skin felt raw and red, claimed so utterly by my man. He began to work his way down my body, kissing as he went, and I writhed as he sank below my bellybutton, teasing me just above the hem of my panties.
“Please, Jacob…please,” I said with a moan. He always liked to make me beg.
He grabbed my panties with both hands and tore them off me, and I could feel how wet I was as he gazed down at my pussy. He ran a hand down along my trimmed mound, and then he moved ever so slowly and gently further down across my bare skin. When his finger grazed my soaking and swollen lips, I let out a yelp and bucked my hips.
“I’ve barely touched you yet,” Jacob said with a smirk.
“Then touch me more,” I said breathlessly.
He pressed against my lips and slid his fingers slowly down. Then he pressed one finger into my drenched entrance before pulling it back out and sliding it toward my clit. As soon as he pressed lightly against it, my body tightened. He rubbed gently, and my back arched off the bed. Jacob dived between my legs and ran his tongue up the length of my pussy, and my legs wrapped around his head, begging him for more without saying a single word.
He gave me w
hat I wanted, bringing his tongue up to my clit, and I moaned as he began to lick up and down over the swollen nub. He held me still, grabbing hold of my hips and worshipping my clit, and when my moans became frenetic and breathless, he quickened his movements. I came hard against him, whimpering and quaking as I said his name over and over, digging my nails into his head.
“Oh god, I don’t think I can go for six months without that,” I said breathlessly as I lay back on the bed a moment later, still recovering.
Jacob grinned. “I told you, I’ll be visiting as often as I can.”
“Oh, you better,” I said, giggling as he wrapped me in his strong arms.
As far as I was concerned, everything in our cozy little world was perfect at the moment. Our lives and careers were crazy right now, and things were only going to get crazier if and when I got this job with Hartwell, but we had each other. That was enough to keep us blissfully happy, grounded, and sane no matter what curveballs the universe decided to throw our way, and I couldn’t think of a single thing that could come along and screw it up for us. It simply couldn’t happen…right?
Wrong.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jacob
“Good news, Mr. Archer. We found your phone.”
The L’Amio restaurant manager was on the other end of the house line, and I sighed with relief. It’d been three days since it was taken from the restaurant coatroom, and I hadn’t heard anything. I’d honestly started to think that I’d never see the phone again.
“Great. So you have it?” I asked.
“Not exactly. A customer called us a moment ago saying he had it. He just realized he took the wrong jacket home the other night, and he looked through the pockets to make sure he hadn’t accidentally taken anything else too. That’s when he found the phone and called us. It’s a black iPhone, latest model, and the jacket was black with an Armani label.”
“Yep, that’s my stuff.”
“The man who accidentally took it has left us a number for you to contact him on. He said to call or text him anytime to arrange a time for him to drop off your phone.”
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