23. Julie
23
“ I love Ford.”
“Shut up, Jason.” My glare is lethal before I turn back toward the girl behind the desk. “I’m sorry, there must be a mistake. There should be two separate rooms. We need separate rooms.”
Emphasis on need . Jason has been eying me like a lion staring at a steak the entire drive to Santa Barbara, and there’s no taking it slow if we have to share a room. My resolve is hanging by a thread after two hours in the car.
Damn, Ford.
I liked the boy, but now he’s blacklisted until the foreseeable future.
What idiot puts him in charge of booking hotel rooms anyway? Don’t we have people for that? Doesn’t Ford?!
The girl behind the desk offers me a friendly smile, then glances at Jason, before she arches an eyebrow at me, as if she’s saying lucky bitch. “I’m sorry, ma’am. You’re booked for a suite, and I don’t have any more singles available.”
My mouth flies open again, but it’s jammed close when Jason swipes the keycard from the desk. “The suite is fine, thank you very much.”
His dazzling smile makes her blush, which raises the temperature of my blood.
“Jason!” I hiss.
He winks, a crooked grin slipping on his features that has those butterflies rattling the cage again. Dammit.
“Come on, Mutt.” Jason lifts both our bags from the floor, his four-legged stray quick to follow. Traitorous dog.
“Please.” I lock eyes with the girl one more time, but she shakes her head before I can beg her some more.
“The hotel is completely booked. I’m sorry.”
Stomping, I trail behind the man who’s looking way too good in white shorts and a mossy-green linen button-down. His muscles flex as the bags hang beside his body, his toned back tensing against the fabric.
I’ve seen him without a shirt more times than I can count, but the memory of how his skin feels beneath my palms is still fresh from last night’s dream, where I woke up soaking wet and horny, and this is not fucking helping.
Mutt trots behind him without a leash, and I frown. “You two seem to be getting along. I thought you didn’t like dogs.”
The little dog was happy to see me when Jason picked me up, but the way his ears prick up whenever Jason speaks tells me I’m not his favorite anymore.
“I don’t.” Jason glances at the furball below his ankles. “But he’s alright.”
Blue eyes collide with my browns, and a playful smirk has my thighs clenching. “Jealous?”
I ignore his comment. “Are you keeping him?”
“No.”
“Why not? He likes you. You like him. You have more than enough space for him.”
“When I share my space with someone, it’s going to be a human. Someone with long blonde hair and whiskey brown eyes who gets on my nerves all the fucking time. Not a dog.”
I gulp, almost tripping over my own feet while he just keeps ambling forward as if he didn’t just say that.
“I already found him a new owner.”
“You did?”
He hums.
“Who?”
“You’ll see.” He shoots me another wink, this one putting my heart in fifth gear before he holds the keycard against the door.
When we walk through the room, my heart falls through the floor.
I’m fucked.
Big glass doors are completely slid open, leading to the wide terrace, a small breeze running through the entire room. Pink flowers separate us from the ocean. A California King bed sits to the left wall of the spacious room, though it still feels too small when I look at the man in front of me.
Mutt jumps on the pink velvety couch, which is fucking gorgeous, of the sitting area across the bed, resting his head on the pillows with a big yawn.
The room has the exact romantic feel that’s gonna bring this tension to an explosion I’m not ready for.
“There has to be another option,” I whine.
The bags are dropped with a loud thud, and before I can react, Jason is in my space.
“Why? Are you scared of what you’ll do when I get you alone?”
My heart slams against my ribcage, the vibration of the movement creating a throbbing sensation between my legs. His lips are parted, and unwillingly so do mine, desperate to feel his heat searing through them.
“No.” I’m terrified.
“You should be,” he threatens, then slides his palm to the small of my back and tugs me deeper against his body.
His hard shaft is eagerly pushing through the soft fabric of his choice, leaving no room for doubt about all the things he wants to do to me.
“Because I’m not holding back tonight, baby.”
There’s so much promise in each word. My nipples turn into stones, heat spreading along each inch of my body. I want him.
Fuck, I want him so goddamn bad. But if I cross that line, there’s no more protecting my heart. I’m all in, just like I was last time, and I’m scared as hell to lose him.
“Jason,” I whisper against his lips, and he brushes them against mine in reply. “I don’t wanna fuck this up again.”
His free hand digs into my hair, and I expect him to crash his mouth against mine, but instead he grazes my lips.
The heat feverish, his touch tender and filled with patience, even though the bulge pushing against my core contradicts it in every way. I settle into him, my muscles relaxing.
“Then let's make sure we won’t.” He searches my eyes, his mouth so close to mine distracting as fuck before I nod.
“We need to get ready,” I say, reminding him of the NVS cocktail party we’re acquired to attend.
“I don’t want to.”
“It’s my job.” My body is acting like a magnet, ready to slam against his.
“Quit your job.”
I playfully shove him back, needing the space. “No.”
His eyes narrow, and my heart throbs up to my throat, thinking he’s gonna leap for me any second now. I can’t handle this.
I know this bomb waiting to explode is inevitable. I long for it as much as I fear it. But when it does, I want to relish it. I want to have nowhere to go. Nowhere but in his arms for hours.
I quickly step beside him, and a groan escapes his lips when I put at least three yards between us. “Do me a favor?”
“What?” He looks as frustrated as I feel, though I still catch the tiniest smile in the corner of his pursed lips.
“Get dressed and get out.” He arches an eyebrow at my request. “I need a minute, Jason. Alone . Please. My entire company is gonna be at this event, and I need to get myself together.”
Suspicion clouds his eyes as he holds my gaze. He’s seeing right through me; I fucking know that. But what else can I do to prevent him from fucking me sideways for the next couple of hours?
It’s not a lie. They are gonna present Ford’s first campaign for NVS and I’m expected to be there. Can’t show up with messy hair and just fucked flush cheeks.
His features soften, though a piercing finger is aimed my way. “You’re lucky we have an event to get to, because otherwise I’d already have your legs spread on that bed and my tongue having dinner.”
Holy shit.
He opens his suitcase and pulls out a clothing bag, then heads for the bathroom while pinning me down with a horny glare.
“After today? You can’t run from me anymore.”
After today? I’m not sure I still want to.
The anticipation is killing me.
If you can get killed by being really really, really fucking horny.
Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to put on this white skintight dress that stops mid-thigh, because one more hot glare from Jason, and I swear, people will start seeing my arousal drip down my leg.
I’m on my second glass of champagne and the buzz in my brain tells me a third would either be a great idea or a terrible one. I bring the glass to my lips and let the bubbles tingle on my tongue before I excuse myself to the marketing manager who keeps raging on about how great the campaign turned out and how he knew it was a great idea.
Maybe if some other guy didn’t have ninety-nine percent of my attention, I’d have the sense to put a feather up his ass, but the set of blue eyes that follow my every move have stolen my ability to be witty.
I glance over my shoulder.
Jacob is talking to my boss at the other side of the venue, and I wait for him to leave his focus somewhere else, anywhere else but me, before I slip out of his vision.
I step outside, balancing on my soft pink six-inch heels, then let the salty air fill my lungs when I reach the edge of the patio. Only a few people are scattered around the terrace, most of them occupied with their phones or looking like they needed some fresh air like me.
The night is dark, but the light of the full moon cascades down the modest waves, the sound calming and soothing as I close my eyes.
Warm wind breezes along my cheek, and shivers down my arms, but it doesn’t cool my arousal. I chuckle, biting my giddiness away.
“Something you wanna share with the class, pretty lady?”
I snap my neck toward the voice, putting on a straight face when my gaze collides with a cocky grin. Which is a fucking challenge because the permanent mischief on his features is fucking contagious.
“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” I face the ocean again while he grabs his heart beside me.
“Who? Me?” Ford huffs.
“One bedroom, Ford?”
“It’s a luxury suite.”
“With one bed!”
He shakes his head, and I can sense his amusement coming my way in waves.
“You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?” I whisper, shooting him a death glare. “You totally set me up. Who the fuck did you blackmail to be in charge of the hotel rooms anyway?”
“Michelle from office management wanted a signed jersey from Olinsky.”
I quirk an eyebrow.
“One of my teammates,” he explains, then narrows his eyes. “Have you ever watched any of my games?”
I shake my head. “Only the ones where you play against Jensen.”
“I’m offended.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re offended? I’m offended! I thought we were friends.”
He sets his back against the railing, staring back into the venue with a smirk. “We are. Which is why I did you a favor and bunked you with Spencer. You know, speed things along. By the way he’s been eying you all night, he’s not complaining.”
Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.
“Did you plan this together?”
I wouldn’t put it past him. Ford is always a cheeky bastard, and I’m sure Jason can be persuaded.
I turn, mimicking Ford’s stance, and as if the devil knows we’re talking about him, he appears in the doorway. My heart stutters as I gulp.
The light behind him darkens his features, a tumbler glistening in his hand, and a wolfish grin that’s about to make me come undone shines right onto me.
Shit.
“Nah,” Ford says, his amusement audible. “I owed him a couple of favors, so I did this all by myself.”
My lungs shrink under Jason’s narrowing eyes, then they damn-near collapse when his body moves forward. The night suddenly feels ominous, terrifying me, but at the same time, I’m drawn to him. I want him.
With my pulse pounding in my throat, I grip the railing on my side with clammy hands as he moves closer.
“Ford?” Jason groans, never leaving his gaze from mine.
“Yeah?”
“Leave.”
“Yes, daddy.” He leans into my side, then whispers, “You’re fucked, girl. Enjoy .”
Ford blurts out a lot of bullshit from morning to evening, but this time, I agree with him. Jason steps into my space, his fresh cologne overwhelming me.
I lick my lips while he cages me in, his nose shamelessly diving into my hair. A warm breath caresses my skin, before I detect his lips flush to my ear, and pebbles trail up and down my arms.
I close my eyes, melting against his body.
“You have five minutes to get back to our room, and wait for me to take off that dress.”
I’m nervous. I’m excited. I’m terrified that if I cross this line, there’s no way back—there will always be another shoe to drop. But none of it outweighs the magnetic pull I feel toward him. None of it outweighs how much I want him.
I lean back, finding the moonlight dancing in his eyes before the corner of my mouth lifts just a little bit, and I cock my eyebrow. “Or what?”
The lopsided grin that slips on his face is filled with promise and heat, and my stomach threatens to flutter away.
“Or I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here, giving everyone you work with something to talk about.”