My jaw tightens. “I didn’t know I was being filmed.”
“I have no doubt of that.”
“I was trying to see what no one will tell you. How it really is.”
“And what did you discover?”
“You’re invisible to a lot of people when you’re broke and dirty. It doesn’t feel good to be invisible, and it becomes easier to believe you’re not worth looking at. You forget there’s a way out, especially when you’re treated like dog shit. Anyway, I could talk about this stuff all night.”
Jaimie raises her glass to her lips and smiles. “Then talk about it. I’m not bored.”
That’s like pouring lighter fluid on hungry coals for me. I launch into how I’ll make it happen, and she and I exchange ideas. The conversation expands to include all the topics I’ve been preaching about that need change. Jaimie keeps throwing out suggestions that further inspire me. She’s good at building on what I’ve presented and offering a solution when I hit a wall. We go through this bottle of wine and then open another, the air crackling with passionate brainstorming. I see her laughing over something stupid I said and the sound makes me go quiet.
“What?” she smiles. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re beautiful.”
Her smile shifts a little. “Justin…”
I shut her up with a kiss, running my hands down her side as she responds. Pulling away I search her eyes. “Stay here tonight.”
Justin
“We can’t have sex,” Jaimie tells me, and I can see she’s about to make a break for it. That wall of hers is threatening to come back up.
“Don’t go. Sleep here.”
“Justin—”
“Stay.”
I can tell she’s surprised. Hell, so am I.
I kiss her objections into oblivion and her arms slip around my neck, goblet still in one hand. Her soft curves feel so good against me, I have to hold her tighter. My erection is obscene, an obvious tent in these cotton sweatpants and I know she feels it. How could she not? She moans softly into my lips but starts pulling away before things go too far.
“Ignore it,” I rasp, my hands gripping her back like I want to rip this dress right off her body. “Jaimie, I’m not going to do anything tonight but talk with you and kiss you until your lips are raw.”
She gazes back at me and whispers, “Because Hannah’s sleeping in the other room.”
“No. Hell, I could lock the guest bathroom and we could fuck quietly in there. I’m doing this to show you I’m good for more than just sex.”
“Why?”
“Stop asking stupid questions.”
Her black eyelashes flutter closed as I kiss her again. With my mouth molding hers I take her glass and place it on the floor, sliding my hands up her sides on the way back. She moans into my lips and the primal part of me wants to fuck her against this window and hope someone’s got binoculars because it would be hot as hell to see her ass pressed into the glass. I’d envy the man. But I won’t do that. I’m going to fight this.
I’m not sure I can abstain.
No matter what I’m telling her.
I’ve never wanted any woman as much as her.
We make out against my kitchen counter forever and I could go on longer. When I pull away from her lips, she’s breathing as heavily as I am.
“You want to borrow some sweats?”
On a hungry-for-more frown she nods and slips her hand into mine, following as I guide her to my room. We enter really slowly and I pad over to my dresser while Jaimie waits by the door. I could be a spy, that’s how quietly I’m digging for something she could sleep in. My eyes land on Hannah and I go very still. She looks like an angel, pure and innocent, and so small. The photo is on the pillow next to her now. It’s getting bent from all the attention. I’ll have to get some more printed. I’ll make sure when they clean out the apartment that I get the computer. I bet there are hundreds more photos on it.
Meeting Jaimie at the door I motion for us to go. In the hall I whisper, “I’m going to be a dangerous father.”
Jaimie whispers back. “You’re not going to let any men near her, are you?” She takes the clothes from me. “Where’d I leave my purse?” she mumbles to herself, heading off. I wait right here by the guest bathroom and when she returns her eyes light up with questions. “What?”
“Change in front of me.”
“That’s pushing it a little too far.”
“It’ll be torture,” I shrug. “Do it anyway.”
She takes my hand and brings me in the bathroom with her. “Hold these.”
“We’re just passing my clothes back and forth now,” I tease her as she starts untying her wrap dress. Her smoky eyes never leave mine as she unravels the thing and lets it slip to the floor in a soft heap. I hiss through my teeth seeing her in black bra and panties. “My favorite color.”
“Black is not a color.”
“It’s the only color.”
She smiles seductively and reaches back to unsnap her bra. Soft mounds with tightly aroused crests tumble out and I close my eyes lest I attack her right here and now. “I thought you said you could do this, Justin.”
Peeking at her with one eye, I shake my head like I can’t but say aloud, “I can.”
She laughs. “Then look at me. No one wants to be invisible, remember?”
I grit my teeth against desire pulsing in my blood, the way an animal must feel when it sees its prey. “I can touch, too.”
“No. You can’t.”
“You’re killing me.”
“This was your idea,” she teases as her slender fingers dip under the straps of her panties and she slides them down her thighs, revealing a dark, trimmed bush. My knuckles go white on the clothes I’m holding for her.
“This was the worst idea I’ve ever had.”
She pauses with her panties around her knees, looking up at me with her breasts hanging under gravity’s pull. “You want to go outside?”
“Fuck no!”
She steps out of them and extends an open palm. “Give them to me.”
“My cock and balls?”
On a laugh, she says, “The clothes, you idiot.”
Chuckling I hand them over, but don’t let go, stepping forward until our lips brush against each other and I can feel the sweet heat of her breath. Neither of us are able to breathe as I trace the side of her body from under her arms to her ribs, her waist and then her hips, with just the tips of my fingers and so softly that she shivers. “I want to taste you.”
She whispers, “Oh God, yes,” eyes heavy with permission.
“But that’s sex. No matter what Clinton said.” With a smirk I open the door and leave the bathroom, her staring at me like I’m a bastard, and loving every second of it.
I knew she would have let me.
I’m craving more, too.
But I’m set on proving something to her.
Justin
I’m on the couch when the bathroom door opens. Her hair is brushed and her makeup is gone, cheeks rosy from being scrubbed. She’s got my sweats rolled over at the waist because they’re too long for her legs. My cock twitches as her hard nipples bounce braless in my t-shirt on her way to me.
“That shirt looks way better on you than it does on me,” I smirk.
“My face is up here,” she laughs.
“And I’ll look at it in a second. Damn you look hot.”
“You brought out pillows and a blanket.”
“I did.” I pull her onto my lap so she’s straddling and facing me. “You don’t need makeup.”
“Men always say that.”
Jealousy lashes into my gut. “I don’t want to hear about other men.”
Her eyes cloud over and she touches my face. “No, Justin. I meant they say it to all of us women. Not to me in particular. I’ve heard a lot of my girlfriends complain about it.”
I slip my hand into her hair and bring her down for a kiss. Her moan into my lips s
tiffens my cock to full hardness in less than three seconds. Forcing our lips apart I gasp for air. “Okay, let’s try this whole sleeping with no sex thing.” I pull her down to lie with me spooning her.
She whispers, “Do you really think pressing it against my ass is going to help you?”
I chuckle into her hair and adjust myself to get more comfortable. “Why were you only in Atlanta a year?”
“My dad.”
“What about him?”
“When my parents split up I was seven. My dad was hardly there, which is why their marriage never worked. And I never really got to know him.”
“After the divorce?”
“No, before that, too. When we moved back to Boston where my mom was from, it was the same as it was when I was here.”
I trace her side with my fingers, back and forth. “Where did you go to elementary?”
“Garden Hills. But I don’t remember much of it. Were you there?” She glances to me.
“No, I went to Trinity.”
“When I moved to Boston with Mom, Dad acted like he’d been rejected. Not all the time, just when he was between wives.”
I’m well aware of Senator Rothdale’s marital history. It’s something his followers tolerated, but never played in his favor. “So, you came here to appease him.”
“Yes, junior year,” she sighs toward the ceiling. “And even though I came all this way and left everyone, including my mother who was my best friend, he didn’t make time for me. If I could have left before the end of the year and still gotten into college I would have. But transferring everything would have been a bigger nightmare. So I stuck it out. And sat next to you for a whole year without you looking at me.” She winks at me.
I grin, “I knew you were looking at me.”
Her eyes go big. “You did!?!” Covering her face she exclaims into her palms, “Oh my God, how embarrassing.”
I pull her hands back and climb on top of her. “I think it’s good you were hideous back then.”
She laughs, “I wasn’t hideous. I was still growing!” With heavy sarcasm she demands, “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because.” I kiss her and she fights me back. But I trap her and kiss her again.
“Answer the question, Justin,” she smiles up at me.
“Nah. I’m starting to think the word because is an answer unto itself. Worked with Hannah.”
“I’m a grown woman!”
Grabbing her breast I groan, “Don’t I know it.”
She bites her bottom lip on a moan as I massage her. “Stop.”
“I’m going to, in just one second. The way you’re arching your back right now is making it hard. And by it I mean me. Oh man, okay, dammit. I’m stopping now.” I slide off of her and spoon her again, pressing my forehead into her hair. “I want you and I’m not going to do anything about it. But fuck, I want you.”
“Goodnight,” she whispers.
“Jaimie?”
“Yes?”
“Will you come shopping with us tomorrow?”
She’s silent a second. “Yes.”
I tighten my hold on her and exhale. I’m not sure when sleep takes me down, but I know I don’t fight it. I need to escape this torture before I fail.
Jaimie
Thank God I brought my toothbrush. I’ve been carrying it in my purse for months with all the travel. I’m in the guest bathroom when I hear Justin explaining to Hannah how he lives.
“I work at an office about ten minutes from here for the government. Do you know what that is?”
I can’t hear her reply but his voice is much louder as he proudly gives her a brief summary while I brush my hair, smiling to myself.
“It’s a body of people – body means organized group – who are paid by taxes to look after other people.”
Walking out into the high-ceilinged penthouse, I call out to him, “That was very clear.”
He gives me a crooked grin then looks back at Hannah, who’s sitting at the kitchen island gazing at him with a suspicious look. “Let’s just say I help people.”
“You’re a nurse?” she asks.
He makes a face. “No way. No, your daddy is no nurse. You know the streets outside?” She nods. “We keep them safe.”
“You’re a policeman?”
Justin frowns while I hold back a laugh. “No, not a cop. But I do have power over them.” Her eyes go wide. Seeing her finally impressed, he puffs his chest without even knowing it and purses his lips. “Yep. I tell cops what to do.”
I’m about to argue, but he shoots me a look and I clamp my mouth shut immediately. Hannah glances over her shoulder at me. She’s still in her pajamas and her hair looks almost as bad as Lou’s. I motion for her to come sit next to me and she climbs down, running over in tiny bare feet to jump onto his sleek recliner chair with me. I hand her my purse and she starts rifling through it and laying my compact, wallet, phone, and keys on her lap while I untangle the knots in her super fine hair.
“You want cream and sugar?” Justin asks, pouring me a cup of coffee.
Glancing at him I see that look in his eyes again and hope pitches into my chest so fast I must look away. “Just cream, please.”
“How are you doing that?” He did his best to sound casual but I hear a sincere need-to-know behind his tone.
“You hold her hair steady at the base and then work the knots. I like to take a section and hold at the top, like this. That way she can’t feel it. If I were to just brush then it would tug her whole head. That’s when it’s painful.” Walking my coffee over, he’s watching with interest piqued, so I continue. “It takes patience. Just a section, like this. And the knots unravel from the bottom, never the top. See this one? Steadily brush here and then it comes undone.” I smile as her white-blonde hair smoothes out in my hand as she sits patiently patting the powder puff on her cheeks.
“Huh. Okay,” he mutters as I take a sip. He takes the cup from me so I can finish. Hannah becomes interested in my phone, but I’ve got a lock on it. Let’s just keep it that way for now.
“Justin, I need to take a shower.”
“Go right ahead.”
Glancing to him I see a dirty smirk on his face that makes me laugh. “Never underestimate a woman’s need for her own conditioner.”
He takes a seat across from us on his coffee table, legs spread out, hair mussed up from sleeping, coffee cup held in both hands. He’s so gorgeous my heart can’t stand it. Justin’s eyes are acutely sharp today, like a shark’s. All the soft exhaustion from last night is gone and he’s attentively observant of every move I make. I love how smart he is, but I hate that I don’t know what he’s thinking. Hate it with a passion.
Don’t kid yourself, Jaimie. If he weren’t so lost with what’s been thrown into his life we wouldn’t be having this coffee.
He would have taken my call only to shout at me.
I would be in my own bed wondering if I’d ever see him again.
Actually, if Hannah weren’t here, that speech would have gone very differently and there would have been no call at all.
But I want to indulge in this for however long its duration. Call me a masochist but I couldn’t skip shopping with them today even if a therapist sat me down and said, “You know this is unhealthy, right? Let’s talk about your father.”
“There you go,” I smile to Hannah, lightly clasping her tiny shoulders. “No more knots.” Her fingers reach back and slide down her head and she turns and smiles at me.
“Thank you,” she twinkles.
My forehead melts. “You’re welcome, honey.” She climbs off the chair and runs to her suitcase while Justin and I both watch. Glancing to him I whisper, “Tanny did a good job.”
A frown filled with regret materializes as Justin stares at his daughter. Standing up I walk to him and slide my fingers gently under his jawline, guiding him to look up at me. He’s lost five years. It’s all over his face how much he wishes that weren’t true. Nothing I could say to him wou
ld be sufficient, but my smile lets him know that I understand he’s feeling pain, and I wish I could help.
He holds my hand to his cheek for a fleeting moment, then pats it with finality, rising up with his cup to his lips. “Hannah.” Her head whips toward us, both hands filled with clothes like she can’t decide. “Pick your favorite and let’s get going. You like shopping?” He takes a sip.
“Yep!”
He laughs and sets the cup where he was sitting. “Get ready to overdose.”
She runs into his room with a purple skirt and yellow shirt in her hands. I walk to the suitcase and select a pile of socks. Everything is spread out without rhyme or reason. “Where are her shoes?”
“In the bag there. After she comes out, will you watch her while I change?”
“Sure.” We hold a look that heats up as neither of us looks away. Justin’s shark-eyes narrow as he walks to me. Imminent danger fills my heart.
Here it comes.
The warning not to get close.
“Jaimie,” he begins but pauses.
“Just say it,” I smile. “It’s okay.”
“I care about you.”
My lips part like he just slapped my face. “Oh.”
He frowns. “That’s a funny response to what I just told you.”
“I’m shocked.”
On a smirk he says, “Thanks.”
I’m gazing at him in wonder while I try to recover. “How long have you known that?”
“A while. Am I alone in this?”
Shaking my head a little, I whisper, “No, you’re not.”
A smile transfers from my face to his and he pulls me in for an embrace, very quietly whispering in my ear, “And I’d kiss you right now but I haven’t brushed my teeth, so….”
I laugh and hug him as his arms tighten around me. “Justin?”
“Yeah?”
Teasing him, I whisper, “It’s because I’m the first woman who spent the night without fucking you, isn’t it?”
He chuckles and releases me, slapping my ass as he heads for his room. “That’s exactly why. I’m smitten because I didn’t get to stick it in.”
Cocky Senator's Daughter: Hannah Cocker (Cocker Brothers of Atlanta Book 8) Page 33