Chapter 34
CARI
I open my eyes in the creeping dawn as memories of last night come flooding back.
My cheeks turn crimson. Heat sears my skin.
I did that.
We did that.
I want to close my eyes and have my daydream linger just a little longer. I just don’t know how Jett will react once he faces what we did. Maybe it would be easier if I left now, and we could pretend it never happened.
I turn to my side, wincing because I'm sore below. My eyelids fly wide open in shock when I see Jett watching me. He’s also lying on his side, with a strong, muscly bicep curled under his pillow. I dread to think how long he’s been watching me sleep.
He chuckles, watching my reaction. “Morning, shortcake.”
I love that he calls me that. “Good morning.” I hold the sheet to me, and as I pull it, it leaves him exposed.
To my shock, the man is hard. Again.
“Are you taking something for that?” I ask, still in awe at the size of him. I’m shocked at how he is constantly hard.
“This is what you do to me.”
I love that I have that kind of power over him, but it’s a new day, and things are awkward. I don't know where we go from here.
“I should go.” I make to stand up, plastering the sheet to me, leaving him deliciously and temptingly naked.
“Why?” He grabs a hold of the sheet, preventing my escape.
“Because … we can’t wake up together.” I’m surprised that he doesn’t understand this.
“Why not?”
“Brooke. Sometimes she wakes up early and crawls into my bed.”
“She comes into your bed?” His brows lift.
“Yes, she does.”
“I’ll wake you before that happens. Stay,” he murmurs, his voice a low invitation. “Spend the rest of the night with me.”
I want to. He looks so calm, so undone, almost dazed. He’s relaxed in a way I rarely see, as though every defense is down. Not a trace of billionaire armor on him. “Won’t it be strange?”
“Why would it be?”
“Given everything we’ve done.”
He scoots over to my side of the bed and his hands move to my waist, fingertips pressing lightly as he tugs me closer. “I want to do more of it.”
Oh. Electricity dances along my back. I love that he wants more of it. So do I. I have dreamt about this. So why am I in such a rush to escape?
Because of who he is. His reputation. He’ll break my heart.
“Come back to bed.” He pats the empty space next to him, and I dutifully climb back in, and turn toward him as we both settle against the headboard. He gently smooths a strand of hair from my face. “I want to talk. There's so much I have yet to discover about you.”
I know the feeling. After years of pining for this man, we've reached the stage I could only dream about. I can’t believe that this is real. I already know a lot about him, but there's a lot more that he hides. I want to unearth him, dig deeper, reach his core.
“I want to talk, too, Jett.” It’s been a week since we landed here and time has flown. Looking back now, we’ve done so much, but three weeks was never going to be enough. I could happily have forever with Jett and Brooke. At least, that's how I feel now with last night still fresh in my head and heart.
“I want to know how you are. I want to know how you're feeling, how you’re dealing with things … after your mom. I want to know what else I can do for you.”
“Do?”
“To make your life easier.”
“I'm leaving soon, Jett.”
“Don't keep reminding me.”
He looks away, obviously not wanting to talk about that.
“I have good days and bad.”
He takes my hand in his. “I worry about you. I wanted you here because I thought it might help. It hasn’t been long since she passed.”
He wanted me here? “You said you didn't want me here. That I was the last person you needed to be here.”
“For good reason. I knew having you here would make things difficult, but it would also be a break for you, a chance to escape New York and the sad memories.
“It’s been … difficult . I miss my mom every day. Wish I could’ve done more.”
“You did more than most would,” he says quietly.
“Thanks to you.” He gave me so much time off, for all her medical appointments, her chemo sessions, and time to work from home when I needed to take care of her. Now that I look back on it all, I wonder if there was more to it than him just being a supportive boss.
My heart tugs painfully. “She was my best friend. A single mom, young and wild-hearted. It’s cruel that her life was cut short—not just for me, but for the future she could’ve had.”
“I hear you, Cari.” He lifts my hand and kisses it gently. “I’m so sorry that happened, to you and to your mom. The world is full of scheming, power-hungry bastards, and it seems that good people often get taken way before their time.”
We sit quietly, reflecting. I imagine he’s thinking of the loss of his wife. He looks away, and I see something deep in his expression. “I worry about Brooke. She’s forgotten her mom now. But she was just two years old when Sophia passed.”
He’s opening up to me and I feel so privileged. This is the second time he’s mentioned his wife. “I’m so sorry, Jett.”
His face twists in pain. “It was horrible. She had a brain aneurysm, and it was all so quick. She was in a coma for a week and then she was gone.”
“I heard.”
“You heard?”
I pull a face. “I heard that it was sudden, but I didn’t know what it was. We assistants talk.”
“You gossip.” He sounds half-amused, half-annoyed.
“You and your brothers are a captivating bunch.” I hold my breath, wondering if he’ll talk about his mom. That’s one thing the assistants don’t know much about. There’s hardly anything about it online—I’ve looked. Paul Knight has the power to buy the media, and gets to dictate what gets printed and what doesn’t.
He gives a rueful smile. “Are we?” How does he not know this? “Brooke’s been without a mother for so long. I should do more. Be a better father.” His train of thought has veered someplace else.
I scoot closer to him. “You already are, Jett, especially on this trip. She adores you.”
“This vacation is not what our normal life is like. I work way too much, spend too much time away from her. Leave her with nannies.”
“You’ll have to find a new one when we’re back,” I remind him gently.
Something shifts in his expression, a trace of tension. “Another PA. Fuck.” He turns to me and trails a finger along my lips, his tone softer. “I don’t want to think about that. I want to focus on the time we have left, with my daughter and …” His gaze lingers, a confession hanging unspoken. I watch him carefully, wondering what he’s going to say, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Your PA,” I finish the sentence for him.
“You’re more than that to me.” His thumb traces over my lower lip. “You’re so good with her. You help out a lot, even when it’s not something you’ve been told to do. I rely on you more than I should.”
“You’ve only just realized?”
“I rely on you because I know I can.” His voice drops to a murmur. “When it comes to my daughter, only the best will do.”
My breath catches.
“You always go over and above what’s expected of you, fixing her elephant, standing up to people like Abigail.”
“That’s not going over and above what’s expected of me. That’s just being human.”
“That makes me a fucking robot.”
I giggle. “A robot who likes to fuck.”
“Very much so.” He cups my breast, but I move his hand away.
“Let’s just focus on talking for now,” I say. I like that he appreciates and acknowledges what I do. “I just want Brooke to be happy. I want the best for her.”
Something shines in his eyes. It’s hard to label what it is. Admiration? But it feels like more than that. More profound. “And that’s why …” He pauses. “That’s why she lights up around you.” I get the feeling that he didn’t say what he meant to say.
Just thinking about Brooke pulls a smile from me. “I adore her—have since the day I first met her.” I think back to the sweet two-year-old with wide eyes and a shy smile. ? In the years I’ve worked for him, Jett’s had about six girlfriends, but none ever got close to Brooke. Somehow, I did.
“You’re so good with her,” he says, almost wistfully.
“This is the longest time I’ve spent with her. It just feels right .”
He watches me closely, regret flickering in his eyes. “I wish we’d just arrived. I wish we were still in the first few days of our vacation.”
“We still have time.” But it pains me to think how quickly it’s flying past. “You also need to work, Jett. You came here for business.”
“You sound like my father.” His expression turns somber.
“Sorry.” I lean in and kiss him. “What are you stressing about now?” I stifle a yawn because I haven't slept much.
“Just ... I don’t know how to handle the questions.”
“Questions?”
“About us.”
I blink, trying to make sense of his words. Us? Since when is there an us ? My mind spins, heart racing at the way he speaks like this isn’t just a one-night thing. Part of me wants to remind him that there is no us, but something stops me.
“We should do something special. I want to make the most of our time here.”
My heart skips. “This is already special.”
“And where will it lead?” He cups my face as I frown, his touch soft, eyes intense.
I try to gauge where he's at, but he’s talking as if this could go somewhere. “I thought we were just—you know, getting each other out of our systems,” I say, trying to keep my tone casual.
A grin spreads across his face, wicked and knowing. In one swift move, he rolls me back onto the bed, his body pressing against mine, eyes alight with mischief. “Not a chance, Ms. Summers.”
His eyes glint with mischief. I bite my lip, knowing exactly what’s coming next. He flips me back onto the bed and places his body above mine. I am going to be so sore in the morning. Reaching for a foil packet, his gaze locks on mine as he opens it, rolling it on. “I’m going to need way more than one night to get you out of my system.”
These words send a shock of dismay through me. Deep down, I know the truth. There’s no future for us. Not beyond this place, not beyond this moment.
“Daddy!”
I hear Brooke's voice and her footsteps outside the bedroom.
“Hide!” Jett cries. I jump out of bed in a panic, and rush over to collect my clothes but I don’t have time to get them.
“In there.” He opens the door to his bathroom. I dive in just as he grabs the sheet from me, leaving me naked. He throws himself onto the bed and I close the door quickly.
“Daddy!” Brooke sounds panicked. “Cari's not here. She left!”
I suppress a giggle as I look around for towels. I dare not open the drawers, so I take the one tiny hand towel I see and wrap it around myself. It just about covers me.
“She's not?”
“She's not, Daddy. Did she go back home?”
“No, angel! She would never leave us.”
“Where is she then?”
“She might have gone for a run, on the beach.”
“Oh.” How easy children are to convince.
“How about you go and brush your teeth, sprout, and I’ll do the same. Then we can have breakfast together.”
“Okay.”
I hear her footsteps fade away, and in the next moment Jett appears, holding the sheet to him.
He locks the door, and drops the sheet.
I gasp as my eyes settle on his hardness.
"Can't let this go to waste." He moves towards me and rips my towel away.
"But ... Brooke ..." I protest.
He places his hands under my thighs and lifts me easily. My legs wrap around his hips and I instinctly drop a kiss on his neck.
"I need to be inside you," he rasps, his voice thick with need.
"But we don't have enough--oh!"
He sets me down on the dark quartz counter next to the sink.
A vein throbs in the center of his brow.
"I need to fuck you," he says, his dark eyes meeting mine. Is he asking for permission? Because I have no objection to anything, but ... Brooke.
But his attention is riveted on my body, and he tweaks my pebbled nipple, making me sigh.
"Jett, we don't have--"
I stop when he pushes my feet up, to lie flat on the counter.
"Jett ..." I'm so exposed and open for him right now, in a way I wasn't in bed, under the light of the lamp. Blood rushes south, below my belly. "I want to do so much with you," he murmurs, a low satisfied sound falling from his lips as his fingers slide over my silky folds.
Then he kisses me, his cock pressing against me, teasing and tempting. I sigh, sucking his tongue, drowning in pleasure. When he slides inside me, guttural sounds come from deep in my throat. This feels so good, I wish we could be like this forever.
He pulls back and looks at where we've joined, slowly moving in and out, watching, mesmerized. I watch too, holding my breath, as he fucks me slowly.
"Oh, God." I swallow, feeling light headed. He fills me completely then holds, teasing my clit mercilessly, until I shudder and come, riding out the wave as I fall apart under his gaze.
As I start to slump against him, he lifts me up in his arms and places me against the wall, where he sinks into me, right to the hilt, and drives into me relentlessly.