Oh, sweet ancestors. I was going to murder Goo-Poh!
“That’s . . . just . . . good for you, Jessie.” I patted him on the shoulder. He grabbed my fingertips and let out a little moan. Uh-oh.
“Your skin,” he whispered. “It’s so damn soft.” He clenched my fingers in his as his head fell back. “By the way, I hope you don’t mind, but I altered a few of the things in your business plan, it was open. The trajectory for the next ten years is off with all the clientele you’re getting, and I noticed you were going to hire two more PIs, but I think you need to hire at least five. I added a few notes, you can delete them, but—”
My heart thundered against my rib cage. “You . . . you took notes for me?”
He kissed my hand. “Yeah, like I said, if I overstepped—”
“Notes,” I repeated. “You typed out notes.”
“I highlighted them in different colors too,” he just had to freaking add.
I was ready to maul him right there, ready to shove my computer onto the floor and accept my blessing, alright.
Wide.
The doorbell to our suite rang.
“Shit!” Jessie rubbed his eyes. “Is it already time for dinner?”
My entire body revolted.
No.
No dinner.
He took notes!
In different colors!
I was ready to lick from navel to chin, and I was tealess.
Jessie released my hand and stood, clearly not noticing the way my chest rose and fell, or the way I had to clench my thighs together to keep myself from doing something stupid.
So stupid.
I really needed to stop wanting him.
My body and brain did not want distance between us. My heart said, He took notes! My body went, Damn, his ass looks good in those sweats.
And my brain said it hurt too much to think of all the reasons we couldn’t at least have him one more time.
Inside us.
Accept your blessing.
Hah!
Thanks, Goo-Poh. She was probably on her hands and knees chanting right now, that’s why I was feeling funny.
And maybe the tea made him more likely to do something nice?
I made a mental note to ask him later.
Colin and Blaire piled into our room dressed for a fancy dinner while I was still in a bathrobe. “Give me like five minutes!”
“Jessie, man, you too?” Colin shook his head. “What were you guys doing anyway?”
“Working,” Jessie answered for me. “Sorry, I got distracted, I was looking at her business plan, and the contracts.” His face lit up. “It was impressive, sucked me in a bit, to be honest.”
Blaire’s eyes widened in my direction.
I waved her off, meaning Drop it.
Which in Blaire’s world meant Please pursue him like a bank robber, use aggression if necessary.
“Well, Isla really is the brains behind this whole operation, I’m glad you’re helping her out, that’s not really my thing, I’m more of the muscle than the brains.”
Lies. All lies. She helped me write the whole thing!
She winked.
I prayed for patience and disappeared into the bathroom. A hard knock came on the door, I pulled it open a crack. Jessie stood on the other side with clothes in hand. “Sorry, I just noticed you brought your dress in here.”
“No, come in, what’s up?”
He gave his head a slow shake and then pressed a hand to his chest. “Sorry, my heart just feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest.”
Shit, was that a side effect? Racing heart!
“Let’s get you some wine tonight,” I said helpfully. “That should calm you down.”
“Yeah . . . okay.”
“Did you need to use the bathroom?”
“No. Yes.” He took a deep breath. “I just need to make sure my hair isn’t a mess and brush my teeth.”
“Do both.” I kicked the door wide. “I just have to shimmy into this dress and brush my hair and I’m done.”
“Great.” He sidestepped me and hung up his suit.
The shirt was a light blue.
It was gorgeous.
And his pants were a dark gray.
I tried not to stare as he stripped, then I quickly turned around and dropped my bathrobe and grabbed my white strapless cocktail dress. It was simple. Classy.
I stepped into it and pulled it up just in time to feel Jessie’s hands at my hips as he slowly moved his fingers to my zipper and pulled up.
Without me asking.
He just. Knew.
He really was getting harder and harder to hate.
When he was finished, his hands lingered on my shoulders. I could feel the heat from his chest. The temptation to lean back was so strong I held my breath. Slowly, he ran his hands down my arms and backed away.
I hated the loss of those hands.
That heat.
His body.
The tea was seriously messing with my mind.
When I turned around he was already dressed and brushing his teeth. It was such a normal thing to see him doing, it almost made him look approachable, human.
When he wasn’t any of those things.
He was a football legend who had more money than most Hollywood actors and who just happened to want to end me. At least I was going to cling to that threat even if he was being nicer, because if I acknowledged things were changing, I really would shove him up against the sink and lick him.
Why was he suddenly taking notes?
Was it to really bring me down?
Or was he finally seeing he could trust me?
My head spun with the possibilities as I brushed out my hair and wrapped it in a low, messy bun at the nape of my neck.
“Ready?” He was watching me with such intensity I wanted to lock the door and see what the tea was made of.
Instead I nodded and said, “Ready.”
Disappointment flashed across his face so briefly I almost missed it. “You look beautiful.” He kissed my cheek, then opened the bathroom door.
Colin and Blaire were watching TV.
“Finally.” Colin tossed the remote. “Let’s go to the stakeout.”
“It’s not a stakeout,” Blaire grumbled. “It’s a dinner.”
“Spy dinner,” he corrected.
Jessie grinned and wrapped an arm around me. I tucked my body into his and let myself believe it was real when it wasn’t.
Chapter Thirty-Three
JESSIE
My body felt heavy.
Everything looked brighter, I kept blinking my eyes as I rubbed small circles on the back of Isla’s hand. I didn’t want to let it go. Her skin felt so good in that spot beneath her thumb. I could stay there forever.
I smiled at the stupid-as-hell thought.
Stay on her thumb? Really?
I chuckled.
I sounded high.
Isla elbowed me.
“What?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you’re okay to go to dinner?”
“Headache’s gone.” I smiled even harder. “I feel . . .” The elevator jolted, causing her to grab my shoulders. I winced as my hard-as-nails cock grazed the front of my pants. “I feel . . .”
She looked worried. “You feel what?”
“Hot,” I finally answered. “And”—I leaned in—“what perfume are you wearing?”
“What I always wear.” She laughed awkwardly as the elevator doors opened. I had her walking slightly in front of me so nobody took a picture of my raging hard-on as we passed filled tables.
I pulled out her chair, nearly harming myself in the process, then sat next to her and quickly put my napkin in my lap.
“Alright.” Blaire was all business. “Vanessa and Wayne have reservations at six, the plan is to feed her curiosity, jealousy, her need to be in the spotlight. She’ll most likely know people are watching us and will walk over to face you, to create a scene.”
“Sc
ene,” I repeated slowly, liking the way it felt on my lips and confused why the word felt funny. “Got it.”
Blaire frowned at Isla, then at me. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Great.” I reached for the bread basket, suddenly starving, and grabbed a piece of hot bread, then took a huge bite and moaned.
Isla coughed next to me.
I opened my eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
Isla started fanning her face. “Hah, well, it’s been a hard day.”
“So hard,” I grumbled. “Harder than nails.”
Isla gripped my thigh with her hand and dug her nails in. It did nothing to alleviate the ache, if anything my dick twitched in the direction of her fingers. Every blood cell in my body rushed south.
I moved my hips a bit.
Her hand slid toward the napkin as she covered my lap, but not before grazing her knuckles against me.
I kicked the table with my knee and knocked over my own water.
“Jessie?” Colin leaned forward. “Your eyes are like pinpoints, are you sure you’re up to doing this right now?”
I would do her right now.
So hard. Next to that bread basket.
She’d be screaming my name for days.
I ached in a way I’d never experienced before, like I was ready to spill into my pants, every time they brushed against me, my hips had this insane need to pump.
I’d never felt so . . . fucking aroused in my entire life.
I was ready to rub one out under the table. Desperate.
Insane.
I eyed Isla, she patted her mouth with her napkin and hid a smile behind it.
And then choked on a laugh as I moved again.
Laughing.
She was. Laughing.
I pinched her side.
She yelped, then stared back at her menu. When Colin and Blaire looked away I whispered in her ear, “What the hell was in that tea?”
Her throat moved as she swallowed and whispered, “Oh, leaves. You know . . .”
“Leaves,” I gritted out. “Fucking leaves don’t make me want to rip that dress from your body and thrust into you without warning. Leaves don’t make me think of pumping into you a million different ways only to do it again and again. I am minutes away from taking you on the table, and you say leaves?”
Isla’s face flushed as her eyes darted around the table. Both Blaire and Colin were in deep discussion over the menu.
“They were special . . . Chinese herb leaves.”
“You drugged me!” I hissed.
“Shhh!” she hissed back, her blood-red lips spread into a smile. “You said you were grabbing Tylenol, but no, you just had to grab tea!”
“Why the hell did you label it Headache Tea if I wasn’t supposed to use it for my headache?” I whispered, my lips touching her ear, wanting to stay there, kiss down her neck. Damn it, I’d never been so horny in my entire life.
Ever.
Including that time in junior high when I first discovered I had a dick.
I held back a moan as she whispered in my ear, “Look, it was just an accident, I visited my aunt, she gave me tea—”
“Clearly you weren’t using it for a headache,” I grumbled.
“It was mislabeled.” She cringed.
“Hey, guys,” Colin interrupted, “looks like our girl’s a no-show, or gonna be a few minutes late . . .”
Jessie’s eyes met mine. “Why don’t we call it a night, it’s been a hard day, just like Isla said.”
Her eyes widened. Oh yeah, you’re trapped now. With me. In a room.
I was going to seek my vengeance.
In the best way possible.
“But—” Isla protested.
“Jessie’s right.” Blaire nodded seriously. “Plus we have a really difficult morning since Vanessa’s hell-bent on being seen by everyone at the pre-parties.”
“Exactly,” I agreed cheerfully, giving Isla my hand.
She had no choice but to toss her napkin and stand. I turned my back to my friends.
“Don’t worry,” Colin called out, “I’ll just charge the bread basket to the room.”
“Thanks, man!” I called back, not even caring he was smirking like he knew exactly where I was headed—and what I was going to be doing.
I pressed the elevator button.
It opened.
“Get in,” I whispered in her ear.
Isla shivered and took a few steps into the elevator.
I didn’t wait for the doors to close.
I attacked her from behind, my mouth on her neck as she arched against me, my hands cupping her breasts, squeezing, feeling her nipples strain against the thin fabric. “This is coming off.”
“Yes,” she breathed, lifting her leg high enough for me to run a free hand up her thigh, and spin her around. My cock ached harder when her body was pressed against mine. I pinned her arms above her head and plunged my tongue into her mouth as I grazed her hips and tugged at her lacy thong.
The elevator doors whooshed closed.
Isla tried to break away from me.
“Not a chance in hell,” I muttered. “I don’t care who sees, let them all see, this is mine.” I squeezed her ass so hard she whimpered, just as the elevator stopped and the doors opened again.
Someone cleared their throat.
I glanced over my shoulder to see none other than her ex staring back at us with wide eyes.
“Something bothering you?” I snapped.
He shut his mouth, then smirked. “Enjoy her, I know I did.”
I lunged for him just as the doors closed, leaving him outside. The bastard almost ran out of there, probably because he knew I would actually kick his ass into Sunday.
Isla grabbed my head with her hands and pulled my mouth back to hers. I dragged my teeth along her bottom lip and moaned when she started unbuttoning my shirt.
“Did you drink the tea too?” I asked between heated kisses.
“Don’t need tea,” she confessed.
I locked eyes with her. “Me either. Been wanting this for—”
“Shut up.” She kissed me again.
We stumbled back against the elevator door, it opened seconds later. Down the hall, I waved my key card over the door’s sensor and we pushed into our dark room.
I ripped off my shirt.
She kicked her shoes into the air and shimmied out of her thong.
It was so hot.
Her need being as great as mine.
When she turned, I unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor. She stepped out of it and faced me completely naked.
“Thank God for tea,” I muttered as I dropped my pants and finally freed myself.
Her eyes widened again like she forgot how big I was.
And my cock grew because the greedy bastard did what cocks do—get cocky.
I leaped for her, digging my hands into her hair, pulling it free from the band that kept me from wrapping its silky tendrils around my fingers. Her mouth opened, accepting me, my tongue, as I slid it by hers, tasted her, sucked on her, and begged the universe to let me stay in her.
I picked her up and dumped her onto the bed then hooked her knees over my shoulders. “I’m desperate for you.” I felt sweat collect on my upper lip. “So believe me when I say I’ll make this good for you later tonight, but right now, I think my heart may actually stop if I can’t get inside you.” I gritted my teeth as I grazed her entrance. “I’m clean.”
“On the”—her eyes rolled back as I inched farther—“Pill.”
“Good.” I thrust forward and saw black spots as she moved with me, clung to me like her body wasn’t ever going to let me go. With each greedy movement I was more and more crazed, her heat, the way she clawed at my back, tugged my hair, sent me over the edge, and when her eyes locked on me and then on us together, my balls drew up so tight I knew I was going to burst before I had time to warn her, to tell her that it wasn’t normally this out of control, that I wan
ted to please her first, but couldn’t imagine waiting another second.
Her walls tightened and then I was losing myself.
I was clawing at her body like a crazed man.
I was.
For the first time in my life.
Out.
Of.
Control.
And I never wanted to go back.
Chapter Thirty-Four
ISLA
Jessie’s lips dragged across my neck over and over again with heated kisses that had me moaning his name before I could even open my eyes. The tea had clearly done a number on him—postsex he nearly passed out. I almost called Goo-Poh again but knew she’d probably spout something else about blessings and pregnancies, plus just how exactly was I going to lead into that particular conversation? Hey, Goo-Poh, sorry to call again but the man I accidentally drugged passed out with his hands cupping my breasts and I’m kind of stuck? Is this normal?
No. Not normal.
Nothing about lying in bed with Jessie Beckett was normal.
I’d fallen asleep soon after with a smile on my face.
Only to be woken up by this.
His mouth.
I smiled wide as his kisses lowered to my stomach, and then I felt his hands on my ass as he spread my legs wide and whispered against the inside of my right thigh, “Morning.”
“Morning,” I croaked back as he used his mouth to show me just how good the morning was about to be. I gripped his head and pulled him away. “Kiss me.”
“Hmm, thought I was . . .” He chuckled against my mouth.
I dug my fingers into his hair as his tongue slid past my lower lip. Jessie kissed like he had a PhD in knowing a woman’s mouth. He kissed like it was a game that he never lost—only winning with that mouth. Tremors pulsed through my body as he flipped onto his back and pulled me on top of him.
I was exposed.
Topless.
And his grin was so smug it was a tie between wanting to kiss him and punch him.
“So . . . the tea wore off?” I asked curiously as he put his hands behind his head and watched me, like I wasn’t naked on top of him with a very large part of his body pressed against me. It was hell not to move against him.
One inch, if I moved just one inch.
“Completely.” He grinned. “Something wrong, Isla?”
Dangerous Exes (Liars, Inc. Book 2) Page 14