“Uh-oh,” she says meekly. “I was texting you like a mad woman last night. I thought you were really trying to give me the three day silent treatment. I mentioned him in the texts. I don’t remember what all I said exactly, but I do remember saying something about how you were being bitchy and should just let the God-like creature with beautiful eyes fuck you, and maybe you’d loosen up.”
I’m sure my eyes are as wide as saucers. I just stare at her, trying to find words. She just squints and bites her lip, waiting for my reaction.
“Emilie, I ought to kill you. How can I face him now? He’s gonna know we’ve been talking about him, and now I look like a psycho.”
“Calm your psycho pants down. It’ll be fine.”
“Oh my God. This is gonna be completely awkward. Good-bye potential sex life.”
Emilie ignores my complaints. “Come on. Let’s pick you out the hottest outfit ever. He’ll take one look at you and forget about any text messages.”
I groan and let her pull me into my bedroom.
After getting out of the shower, I throw on a pair of jeans, a black blazer on top of a white shirt, and a pair of casual Stacy Adams shoes.
I glace at the clock and it reads five till six. I figure it’s best to go ahead and catch a cab to make my way down The Strip. You never know what the traffic will be like, and I have a feeling if I’m late, Adrienne will leave.
Walking out of the elevator and into the lobby, I see John at the counter.
“Leaving, Sir?” he asks.
“John, please call me Jace. Really, it’s fine. And yes, I am leaving.”
“Okay then. You want me to call you a cab, Jace?” He sounds awkward saying my name. I’m sure it’s just habit for him to say Sir or Ma’am to anybody who lives here.
“Yeah that would be great.”
While he’s on the phone, I sit in one of the lobby chairs. When he’s done, he comes around and sits across from me.
“Got another date tonight?” he asks with a grin.
“Well, I guess you could call it that. I have her phone, and she has to meet me in order to get it.”
“Stealing people’s phones now? Doesn’t seem like you’d have to do that,” he says playfully.
“You’re right, I don’t,” I say with a laugh. “This girl’s a tough one. She’s definitely not throwing herself at me. I guess we’ll see what happens tonight. I’m gonna try to break down those walls that she has up.”
“Good luck with that, buddy. There are women who are put on this earth to make our lives more difficult. Don’t get me wrong, I love my wife; lord knows I do, but she’s one of the difficult ones. It took me a long time to convince her to give me a shot.”
“Ah, but John. Isn’t that the fun part? The chase? The wooing and seducing?”
John shakes his head. “Maybe for you. It’s different these days, plus I’m sure you have the means to do more wooing and seducing than I ever could.”
“I have looks and personality, doesn’t that count for something?” I ask with a laugh.
“You’re humble, too,” he says, his voice dripping in sarcasm.
“Hey. I can make money off these looks,” I reply with a wink. I get up and make my way to the front where I see a cab has just pulled up.
I hear him laugh as he stands up to make his way back to the front desk. “Well, good luck tonight with the lady.”
“Thanks, John. If I’m lucky, maybe you’ll meet her in a few hours.”
It takes a second for him to figure out what I meant. He shakes his head again, and smiles. “Stay humble, Sir…Jace.”
“Although I like the sound of Sir Jace, just Jace will do,” I joke.
After the twenty minute ride, I have about five minutes to get to the restaurant. I can only hope she’s one of those women who takes too long getting ready and is late. I hurry into the casino and find my way to the restaurant. When I arrive, I don’t see her, so I hang out near the entrance. I look down at my watch to check the time. It’s exactly six-thirty.
“Are you waiting for someone?” a sultry voice asks.
I look up and I’m face to face with Adrienne. I take a minute to look over her body. She’s wearing a short, turquoise colored cocktail dress. The middle is slightly see-through with different colored beads. It looks like it’s made to show off her small waist and curvy hips. Her long, flawless legs are on full display, and the silver heels she has on makes them look even better. I can’t help but think about how I’d love to have her wearing only those heels, with her legs thrown over my shoulders.
I hear her clear her throat, trying to get my attention.
“Sorry,” I say as I look those beautiful gray-green eyes. “I’m glad you came.”
“Was dinner necessary? You could just give me my phone now.”
“Of course dinner’s necessary. We all need to eat. Now come on,” I say as I extend my arm so she can hook hers through it.
She hesitates only briefly before taking the few steps needed to reach me. Her arm slides through and rests in the crook of my elbow.
I tell the hostess my name and we’re immediately seated.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, I break it.
“God-like creature, huh?” I ask with a smirk.
With her elbows on the table, she drops her head and puts her hands on her forehead, shielding her eyes from mine. When I laugh, her head snaps up, and she drops her hands to her lap.
“You really shouldn’t read people’s personal texts.”
“I’m sorry. Your friend was very persistent and the damn thing kept going off. The messages were continuing to pop up on the screen. My curiosity got the best of me. I apologize.”
“Your nosiness,” she murmurs.
“So, care to elaborate on that nickname?” I ask.
“Not really, and how do you even know she was talking about you? Are you that full of yourself that you think you are the only God-like creature on Earth?”
“I’m not full of myself, but you do realize that you just admitted to thinking I was a God-like creature, right?”
“What? No I didn’t.”
“Yeah you did. You said ‘are you that full of yourself that you think you are the only God-like creature on Earth?’”
I can see a little blood rush to her cheeks, and she tries hiding a smile.
“Anyway, can I have my phone now?” she asks, trying not to look directly at me.
“I think I’ll hold onto it until after dinner.”
“Fine,” she huffs.
“Is it really so bad to be out on a date with me?” I ask.
She finally looks me in the eyes and studies me for a minute like she’s thinking about something.
“No. It’s not too bad.”
The waiter comes by, takes our orders and leaves us again in awkward silence. This time she’s the one who speaks first.
“Thank you for the flowers. They are beautiful.”
“You’re welcome. I was hoping to soften ya up a bit before tonight. I’m not so sure it worked, but I’m glad you liked them.”
She gives me a shy smile. “I don’t need to be softened.”
“No?” I ask.
She only shakes her head.
“I’m sure you’re soft in all the right places,” I say, unable to stop myself.
She looks me right in the eye and shocks the hell out of me.
“I’m sure you’re hard in all the right places.”
“I’m getting there,” I respond. I lean forward with my arms resting on the table, waiting to see if she’s going to continue to play this game or not.
Once again, she hesitates. I don’t know if she’s trying to come up with something to say, or if she’s thinking about running out of here.
She grabs her glass of water again, and while she’s taking a drink, I see the condensation fall into her lap. Placing the glass back onto the table, she uses her hand to wipe off the water that has fallen. With the moisture now on her fingertips,
she brings them to her mouth and licks it off.
“Oh, excuse me. I seem to have gotten all…wet.” There’s a look in her eye when she says it, and her voice has gotten huskier. Oh, she’s good.
I clear my throat and sit back. She smiles, and the waiter brings us our food.
I know he wasn’t expecting me to say what I did. I figured I’d give him a taste of his own medicine, though. Sure, he has a way to get me flustered. But now that I think about what I want from him, or better yet, what I should only expect from him, I’ll up my confidence. I can play the sexual innuendo game. I’m definitely not innocent when it comes to this sex thing.
I can feel his eyes on me while we eat dinner. I can only assume he’s trying to figure out my personality type. He thought he had me pinned as the innocent, easily flustered young girl that he could take advantage of. Well, with thoughts of him with other women out the window along with thoughts of anything serious, I can concentrate on getting what I want. Mr. Blue Eyes didn’t bank on me wanting sex as much as he does, I’m sure. The question is, do I go for it now, or should I wait? I don’t want to seem loose, giving it up on the first date, but hell, it’s been nine long fucking months. I’m getting tired of the solo loving.
“So, I see you’re not a soup and salad kind of girl,” he says, gesturing towards the steak on my plate.
“No. I like a big piece of meat.”
He looks shocked momentarily before he smiles. “I like a girl who can handle a big, thick piece of meat. So that’s good.”
I try to hide my smile by biting my lip and concentrating on my food. I set my silver wear down and reach for my drink. It’s a mixture of black tea infused vodka, SoCo, lemonade and peach puree. It’s delicious, but has a kick. I better remember not to have too many.
I glance at his plate. “I see you like crabs.” I try hard not to laugh, but a giggle escapes.
I see him shake his head slightly, and the right side of his mouth pulls up. “This is Alaska King Crab. I eat this because I’m a king among men.”
I bark out a laugh that I’m instantly embarrassed of. “King among men, huh? And what exactly does that mean?”
“It means I’m the best at everything, nobody is better than me. I live my life like a king would. I do what I want, when I want. I get what I want, when I want. I succeed at whatever I put my mind to. I’m a king, baby.” He gives me a smile and wink before he digs into his crabs again.
“I think you may be more confident than a king, too. But I don’t doubt anything you just said.”
He raises an eyebrow at me, but says nothing in response. It’s a few more minutes before he does speak again.
“Do you have any plans later?”
I look up from my food and into those mesmerizing eyes of his. “Not really. I had planned on staying home tonight, but things changed,” I say with a raise of an eyebrow.
“I think this is better than staying home,” he replies. His tongue snakes out over his bottom lip and I find that I can’t peel my eyes away from his mouth.
I shrug. “Maybe. I could have had steak at my house.” I’m going for nonchalance.
“Could you have had steak in the presence of a king, though?” he asks with a devilish grin.
I can’t help but smile back at him. “I guess not. You’re the first king I’ve met.”
“Baby, I’m the only king you’ll meet.” He leans closer to me and gazes into my eyes with such intensity that my heart may jump out of my chest and onto the table in order to get closer to him.
At the term of endearment, my body gets warm and I hope the heat that I feel in my body isn’t showing on my face. I know it’s such a simple term, but the way he said it has me wanting to pour my water on myself. Again, I go for a casual answer.
“We’ll see.”
Once we’ve finished dinner, the waiter brings our check and Jace instantly pulls out his credit card, handing it to him without looking at the cost of the meal.
“Thank you for dinner,” I say.
“Thank you for joining me,” he responds.
“It’s not really like I had a choice. You were holding my phone for ransom.”
“So you didn’t enjoy yourself?” he asks.
“Well, I dined with a king, had some delicious meat in my mouth, and was able to wear one of my favorite dresses. I guess it wasn’t too bad.”
“If you enjoy those things, I can make sure you have an even better night,” he says in his deep, husky voice.
“Oh? How so?” I ask, hoping my voice wasn’t as breathy as I thought it was.
“How about visiting a king’s castle, having more delicious meat, and I’m not so sure about the dress.”
I narrow my eyes slightly and purse my lips at him. “What do you mean visit a king’s castle, and are you saying you have more steak at your house, and why aren’t you sure about my dress?”
He leans over the small table and licks his lips. “I mean, you come to my house where we definitely won’t be eating any more meat, but where I have something else that can fill you up, and you may not be wearing that dress. Shoes can stay though.” His voice is low, throaty, and full of promise.
Warmth floods my body, but especially in between my legs. My heart beats faster and my stomach flips in excitement. The thought of him filling me up has me ready to jump up from my seat and find the nearest cab to make our way back to his place. Everything about him screams sex. I have no doubt that he is a pro in bed, and this would be the perfect person to end my sex drought. I finally find words.
“Well, are you ready to leave?”
He gives me a small smile just as the waiter returns with his credit card. Jace scribbles his name across the receipt and stands up. His large hand reaches down for mine and I take it while I stand. “I am now,” he finally responds.
We make our way out of the restaurant and into the warm evening air.
“I didn’t bring my car. I hope you don’t mind riding in a cab,” he says.
“That’s fine,” I reply.
“We stand on the curb and he raises his long arm into the air, hailing a cab for us. When the cab pulls up, he opens the door and ushers me into the back seat. As soon as we’re both enclosed in the back, the tension thickens. His long leg grazes the side of mine. I can see his hand resting on his knee and can’t help but imagine the things he can do with those fingers. My eyes wander up his leg until I spot a bulge on his inner thigh. My eyes widen for a minute, and I think I must be mistaken, because there’s no way that’s what I think it is. Maybe it’s just the darkness and the way his jeans are laying that has my eyes playing tricks on me. I chance a peek up at his face and see that he’s watching me. Shit. I’ve definitely been busted checking him out. I bite my lip and turn away.
As I’m looking out the window, watching all the pedestrians walking the streets of Vegas, I feel warmth on my leg. I glance over and notice his hand settling on the skin between my knee and wear my dress ends. He squeezes once and then moves it up just slightly. My eyes dart to the cabbie that isn’t paying any attention. I try to control my breathing while watching his hand disappear under my dress.
I look up at him, but I can barely see his face in the dark. I can definitely feel his fingers, though. They are making their slow and tedious way up to the warmth in the middle of my thighs. I feel a finger glide over the lacy material of my underwear and I gasp. He touches my clit with perfect precision and then makes his way down to where wetness is collecting in my panties. Two fingers glide back up and press onto my clit, making circles. My hands fly down and one grips the edge of the seat while the other grips his muscular thigh next to me. I throw my head back and bite my lip.
“Here ya are,” the monotone voice from the front says, ruining the moment.
Jace slowly moves his hand down my leg and reaches for his wallet. I see him pull out a few bills and throw them up front.
“Thanks,” he says to the cabbie as he slides out.
He extends his hand to me
and helps me out of the cab. It’s then that I look up and realize where we are. Holy fuck this place is nice. The high rise has to have like fifty floors. I feel his hand on my lower back and can’t help but wish it was lower. We walk into the fancy lobby and my breath hitches at how beautiful it is. The entire room is light oak wood that has a glossiness to it. The front desk has a marbled table top, and there’s a small oak wood table in the center with gorgeous bouquets of fresh flowers. A twinkling chandelier hangs above with teal colored accents. A man is at the desk talking with someone when he glances in our direction. He quickly does a double take, smiles and shakes his head slightly.
“Mr. Jamison,” he says in greeting.
“John,” Jace responds with a smile.
We turn left and make our way to a hallway that leads to the elevator. When the doors finally open, he allows me to go in first, then follows and presses the button that says PH.
I look up at him with my eyebrows raised.
“What?” he asks, feigning ignorance.
“Penthouse, huh?”
“I told you, baby. A king.”
I roll my eyes and he laughs.
When the elevator dings and the doors open, we get out and I notice we’re on a floor with relatively no doors. We get to another elevator and he puts in some passcode and we walk in. I look at him with questioning eyes but he only shrugs.
The doors open and when I walk out, I’m inside of his suite. To the left I see a long bar with several chairs, to the right is a long hallway. He ushers me towards the bar. I notice that to the right of the bar is a huge kitchen with dark cabinets and sterling silver appliances. There’s a breakfast bar with several more chairs attached to the kitchen area. Behind the bar I’m currently sitting at is a living room with a long, light colored, sectional and a glass top table. The couch is facing the floor-to-ceiling window, but it’s not only a window; you can actually walk outside.
This penthouse makes my place look like a studio apartment. I love my place. It’s only twenty-two hundred square feet, but I have a den and spare bedrooms. This place is going to make me not ever want to go home.
Living in Sin (The Escort Series) Page 7