CHAPTER NINE
Grayson
“Why the hell would you live all the way out here?” I asked Jovana as she climbed into the front seat of my car.
“All the way out here” was Somerville, a suburb fifteen minutes outside Boston that I never bothered going to. If I was going to leave the city, it was to go to one of its edges, like Cambridge, right near Harvard, and that was to grab some food I’d fallen in love with while in college.
It sure as hell wouldn’t be to see a woman—whether I hooked or fished her.
Jovana was becoming the exception to everything.
Damn it.
“Wow, that’s how you’re going to greet me?” She wrapped the seat belt around her. “No, ‘Hi, Jovana, you look nice tonight.’ Or, ‘Oh man, you smell terrific.’ Or, ‘I’ve missed you these last few days, it’s nice to see you.’”
The thing was, she looked exceptional in the tight red dress that hugged her amazing curves, and seeing her prance across the sidewalk on the way to my car in those sky-high heels had made every part of me ache.
That was the reason I’d dug on her the second she opened the door.
To get my mind in a place of annoyance rather than pleasure.
But I wouldn’t tell her that.
I wouldn’t say anything that would trigger a conversation that had even the smallest chance of turning emotional.
The last thing that needed to happen between us was some type of connection.
I shook my head. “Again, why the hell would you live out here?”
“Why?” She laughed as she settled in the seat, placing her small purse on her lap. “Because it’s semi-affordable, that’s why.”
I looked at the rows of apartment buildings. The convenience store on each corner, a nail salon, a Thai restaurant—all places she probably frequented, but in the city, the sidewalk between them would be packed, the road full of traffic.
Here, things were much quieter.
And there was no view.
Aside from her.
“You know,” she continued, “most people don’t make as much money as you. I mean, I sure don’t.” I watched her glance across the dashboard. “They don’t drive fancy cars like this. They work two jobs because they have to, like me, and they still have to decide which bills they’re going to pay since oftentimes they can’t afford to pay all of them in the same month.”
She knew nothing about me.
I wasn’t surprised.
My childhood wasn’t listed on my Wikipedia page.
For some reason, due to a feeling that came out of nowhere, I said, “Believe it or not, Jovana, I haven’t always been rich.”
“Have you forgotten the days when you weren’t?”
“Hardly.”
“Tell me about them. What did they look like? How did you live?”
I shifted into drive and pulled into the road that was far too lonely, gripping the steering wheel like the goddamn thing was about to fall off.
“Grayson . . .”
“What?”
“I’m going to marry you in two months. Don’t you think it’s important that I know these kinds of things about you?”
As I approached the red light, I gave her a look that told her I didn’t appreciate the way she was digging.
Shit, I understood we needed to learn about each other to keep up appearances, but I didn’t want to muddy the water. I didn’t want her to grow feelings.
I definitely didn’t want her to get too close.
But I also hated that she had a point.
That in just a couple of months, this stunning woman was going to be my wife.
That if her family or friends asked her questions about me—inquiries that would inevitably come up as she attempted to convince them we were the real deal—she would have to know the answers so our relationship came across as genuine.
“I don’t mean to pry,” she said. “Despite having a public job, I’m a very private person, so I understand how hard it is to reveal certain sides of yourself. But in doing that, it’s just going to give me more of you, and regardless of how much you don’t want that, it’s necessary.” Her voice was soft.
Far too fucking soft.
“How did you grow up, Grayson?”
I waited until the light turned green before I said, “I come from a single dad.” As I released the words, I was glad I wasn’t looking at her. It was easier to stare at the one car ahead. “He did everything he could to provide, and he did his best, but there weren’t extras. Our vacations involved going three towns over for one of my basketball games.” I took a breath. “I didn’t have Daddy’s credit card, like most of the kids I went to college with, so I worked while getting my undergraduate, and when I graduated with my MBA from Harvard, I had a fucking mound of debt. We were just launching the app and things were tight as hell for a while until we could afford to take money out of the business and pay ourselves. And when we did, it was almost nothing.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Her tone was now just above a whisper.
When I glanced at her, she was smiling.
I didn’t return the expression.
“You’re obviously making a boatload now, so when did that happen?”
I slowed at the stop sign. “It took a boatload to design the app, and we borrowed that money from Holden’s and Easton’s parents along with a few other private investors, so we had to pay them back. As we expanded, we had to rent office space, pay salaries. Advertise. Hire a social media team. By the two-year mark, we were able to pull a decent-size salary, and it just grew from there.”
“What you guys have done, it’s amazing.”
“We worked our asses off. There were nights, more than I’d like to count, that I slept at my desk. But now ...” I shook my head as my voice trailed off, thinking of the conversations I’d had with my best friends about the Celebrity Alert that had gone out about me and the media shitstorm that had followed. “Now things are falling apart a little and, fuck, I need to get the control back.”
“You will.”
I eyed her after I checked both directions and shifted to first. “Because of you?”
She nodded. “You’re underestimating my abilities, Grayson. You think I’m just some gal who delivered drinks to your table and had enough pull to make your vodka doubles and enough memory to remember your Coke. I’m much more than that.”
“To be honest, I don’t know who the fuck you are.”
“Do you want to know?”
“No.” I ground my teeth together and shifted into second gear. Knowing would fill in the blanks, and I was afraid I’d like those answers far too much. “But I’m sure you’re going to tell me. Just do me a favor, all right? Skip the boring parts. I don’t need to know that you won a spelling bee in fifth grade and were the president of the knitting society and that you blew the RA of your dorm.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
I glanced at her again.
Fuck, I liked when she looked mad.
The way her lips jutted out and her eyes got all fiery. How heat moved into her cheeks and turned them red.
How her skin was just slightly clammy from the tension, a sign that told me if I reached down and touched her pussy it would be wet.
She could deny it all she wanted, but the banter turned her on.
“I’m not an asshole, Jovana; I just don’t take any bullshit. I have zero patience. For this, for you—for anything. This isn’t what I want, so it’s making me even wickeder than normal. You know this. Therefore there’s no reason for you to act surprised.”
“Oh, I’m not surprised. I’m just letting you know, you’re a fucking asshole.”
I smiled. Shit, it felt good. “Feel better now?”
“I won’t feel better until the divorce papers are signed.”
“Baby, that makes two of us.”
As my reply hit her, I watched the top of her chest. Instead of rising and falling, there was no movement.
“Someone likes being called baby.”
“Dick,” she shot back.
I chuckled, waiting for more, but she was silent for a few moments, fidgeting in her seat, her legs uncrossing and recrossing before she said, “I got straight As in high school and was hoping to get an academic scholarship but didn’t, so I graduated college with more debt than I can even stomach. I’m completely obsessed with music—I don’t listen to a specific genre, I just love it all. The lyrics affect me emotionally, and the beats inspire me in the most creative ways. Lastly, since I know you’re on the verge of snoring, I’m an only child, and with that comes a heavy burden. All I want to do is earn enough that I can get my parents out of the horrible, run-down apartment they’re in, a place they’ve lived in for far too long, and be able to make their lives a little easier because, God knows, they’ve done nothing but struggle.”
I understood her reasoning.
More than I even wanted to admit.
“That’s certainly motivation,” I told her.
“My parents deserve everything and more, and I want to be able to give it to them.”
“What’s the other reason?” When I didn’t get an immediate answer, I looked at her. “What? Are you realizing that talking about yourself isn’t as easy as you thought?” I huffed out some air and gazed through the windshield.
“It’s not tough at all, Grayson. I just don’t know how vulnerable I want to be with you.”
“Fair.”
More silence ticked until I heard, “The kids in my high school were mean. I’m talking downright cruel. I didn’t have stylish clothes. I couldn’t afford highlights in my hair. I wasn’t one of the cool ones—far from it. I was picked on relentlessly and made fun of, and even though I had the brains and was smarter than all of them, no one thought I would amount to anything.”
“What does that have to do with your success?”
“Everything.” She faced me. “Do you know how satisfying it is to look in my Stories and see that girls from my class are viewing them? That when they get together and gossip, they’re talking about the brand deals I’ve scored and the reach I have now, and my followers that are growing on the daily? I’m proving them wrong, and it feels fabulous.”
“Why do you care what they think?”
“Why?” She let out a long exhale. “Because I’m sensitive. Because my heart aches when I think about the things they said and did to me, and it feels good to be able to show them exactly who I am now.”
“The only person you have to prove anything to is yourself. What they think, what they say, what they did to you—that shit is insignificant.”
“I get what you’re saying. I really do. I just want the ones who dismissed me as unworthy to see me for who I really am.”
“You’re worthy, Jovana. Trust me. I see it in everything that you do, so I promise you they see it too. Whether they admit how powerful and incredible you are—that’s a different story.”
My comment left my lips before I had a chance to really think about it.
To process the impact of that compliment.
Silence ticked before she said, “That’s the best thing you’ve said to me since we’ve met, thank you,” in the softest voice.
I pulled up in front of the restaurant, leaving the car running for the valet attendant. “I wonder what those bitches are going to say when they find out you’re marrying me.”
“I’m sure they’ll smile extra hard when I announce our breakup.” She rolled her eyes and got out of the car before the valet attendant even had a chance to open her door.
I slid out as well and joined her on the sidewalk, my hand immediately going to her lower back as I walked her into the restaurant.
Laura hadn’t encouraged physical contact. She’d said nothing about it, in fact. I just thought it would be a nice touch if there happened to be any eyes on us.
Once I put my hand there, her back straightened, and the muscles beneath my fingers tightened.
But that wasn’t the only thing that happened.
I was shocked at how comfortable the placement felt.
At how badly I wanted to pull her against me and lock our mouths together.
I would give anything to know what she tasted like at this moment.
She turned her face toward my chest, and I hoped she was going to close the distance between us, but instead, she quietly said, “I’m warning you now, if you’re not nice to me over dinner, you can forget that first kiss that’s supposed to go down tonight.”
It would defeat the purpose if she gave me one now. The kiss needed to be inside the restaurant, in front of the servers and dining patrons. Still, I was disappointed it didn’t happen, which shocked my system again.
Since I came here regularly for sushi, most of the staff knew who I was and greeted me by name, and I hoped that rumors would start when they shared that they saw me with a chick.
A hot one, at that.
And that my hands and mouth were all over her—something I never did in public, so they were definitely going to take note.
I walked her into the hotel, the restaurant located along the left side of the small, intimate lobby, and whispered, “I know you’re not threatening me.”
“That’s not a threat. It’s a promise. I’m doing this for you and Hooked, remember?”
“I’m paying off your student loans and for your parents’ new apartment, remember?”
She gazed up at me and smirked. “This is going to be the longest year of my life.”
“And mine.” I drove my teeth into my bottom lip, glaring at her beautiful face, and opened the door to the restaurant.
As soon as the hostess spotted me, she said, “Mr. Tanner, good evening. I see you have a reservation for two.” She eyed up Jovana. “Let me bring you to your table.”
The hostess, a student at Boston University, had been working here for the last six months. In that time, she’d done everything in her power to fuck me.
This was the best sushi restaurant in Boston, so I didn’t want to make things awkward as hell when I came in once a week to eat alone at the bar. In addition, the chef and I were great friends.
So, there were actually times when I knew enough to keep my dick in my pants. This was one of those rare occasions.
“Yes, for two,” I repeated, emphasizing the number while I stood at Jovana’s side, gazing down her profile. I strengthened my grip on her back before I stepped behind her. The new position had her hair grazing the top of my chest, her locks giving off the lavender scent.
Even in a room full of food, I could still smell her.
And that smell increased the longing.
Fuck me.
“Follow me,” the hostess replied.
There were two dining rooms, both small. I hoped she chose the larger, which would give us an audience of five or six more tables, and the potential of having all those extra eyes on us. Fortunately, when she turned to her right, I realized that was exactly where she was bringing us, and the table was in the center.
Perfectly placed. The hostess even earned herself a smile.
“Enjoy,” she said, returning the grin while she placed a menu in front of me.
Once we were alone, I asked Jovana, “Have you eaten here before?”
She folded her hands on top of her menu. “I think the real question is, How long has it been since you’ve slept with the hostess?” Her eyes narrowed while she waited for a response.
My lips pulled wide. “Why? Are you jealous?”
“Not even close. I just couldn’t tell what she wanted to do more—eat you or kill me.”
I laughed, her description ironically very accurate. “I’ve never touched her.” When I could tell she didn’t believe me, I added, “I promise.”
She sat on that reply for a few seconds. “No, I haven’t eaten here. I’ve heard about this place, of course, but it’s not in my why-do-you-live-in-Somerville budget.”
“Smart-ass.”
“Look at these prices.” She was looking at her menu. “They’re absolutely wild. Who would spend this for a spicy tuna roll?”
She’d never been spoiled.
She’d never tasted this quality of food.
I was going to show her the difference between this spicy tuna and all the others she’d had.
“Give me your menu,” I demanded.
“Because you want me to stop looking at the prices?”
There was something so innocent about her, so refreshing.
“Yes, I want you to stop looking at them. When you’re with me, price doesn’t matter.”
“But it’ll always matter, Grayson.” Her voice was soft, a side that didn’t come with sass. She used this tone when she wanted me to see her core. “Even if I become a millionaire one day—”
“Are you forgetting how much the contract was for?”
She cleared her throat. “What I mean is, regardless of how much money I have now or when I build my business to the highest peak, I’ll still count every penny. And I assure you, I would never spend that many dollars on eight tiny pieces of fish.”
I held out my hand. “Give me your menu, Jovana.” She did as she was told. “The other reason you don’t need it is because we’re dining omakase-style tonight.”
“I have no idea what that means.”
“Then sit back and enjoy yourself. Shit is about to get real fun.”
“Grayson,” the waiter said as he appeared at our table, the gentleman’s face one I recognized as he’d waited on me multiple times. “It’s great to see you back.”
I shook his hand and thanked him.
“And I see you have a guest. Welcome,” the waiter said to Jovana. “What can I get you both to drink? A bottle of your usual, perhaps?”
I nodded.
“And Pellegrino, I assume?”
“Please,” I replied.
“I’ll be back with both.”
The second he was gone, a smile warmed Jovana’s face. “They know your name. What you drink. Probably what you eat. I’m assuming that’s why you brought me here? So these kind folks can spread the word that you have a woman in your life?”
“That, yes.” I paused, my brows raising. “That is why we’re sitting at this table together. Why I’m going to kiss you in about twenty seconds. And why we’re getting married.” I kept my voice as low as possible, the music playing throughout the dining room making it difficult for anyone to hear me anyway. “But I also brought you here because it’s the best. That’s what you deserve and that’s what I wanted you to taste tonight.”
I wasn’t sure where that desire came from, but it existed and it was how I felt.
“Really?” She turned her head a little to the side, a heat entering her cheeks. “Sounds like an odd thing to want to give someone you resent and barely know.”
That fucking smile.
I wanted to lick it off her face.
“Let’s say I want to make things as comfortably cordial as possible.”
“Cordial isn’t kissing.”
I set my napkin on my lap, clearing everything in the path of my wineglass, which was taking far too long to fill. “I suppose it can be if there’s no feeling behind it. Just lips touching lips.”
“Is that so?”
I leaned onto the table, moving closer to her. “I make up my own definitions, Jovana. People in power can do that.”
“Ha!” She licked across her bottom lip, reminding me that we were on equal ground, despite how much I fucking hated that. “Don’t forget my power, baby.” She winked and my dick clenched. “I’ve got much more than you’re giving me credit for.” She glanced to her right and then left before locking our stares. “Let me remind you of something. We have an entire year together, and you’re not stupid enough to jeopardize your reputation again, which means one whole year of celibacy. That’s going to be quite the mindfuck—or, should I say, lack-of-physical fuck—for someone who likes to hook up all the time. That’s what I call power.”
I liked where this was going.
I liked it far too much.
“Are you saying you’re going to give me your pussy?”
This time, she actually laughed. “Quite the opposite. I’m saying I’m going to make you wait an entire year to have sex. Once the divorce papers are signed, you can sleep with all of Boston. Until then, you’re going to be a sad and very horny panda, I’m afraid.”
“Is that so?” There was something about using her own words and seeing the way they affected her that turned me on. “You’re going to go an entire year, most of it living in my home, without even thinking about my dick? Is that what you’re trying to convince me of?”
Shit, this was becoming more fun by the second.
Because every sentence caused her cheeks to redden even more, her eyes to glare, her expression to intensify. She was trying to hide how she was feeling, but I knew.
Goddamn it, I could see it all over her.
“Before you attempt to do that, which you won’t succeed at, let me paint a little picture for you. Every morning when you wake up in the guest room at my place, you’re going to dream about sneaking into my bedroom, sliding your wet pussy over my cock. Riding me until you fucking scream.” I halted, letting that really sink in. “And at night, when you’re lying in the darkness, you’re going to think about my tongue and how it felt when I licked you. You’re going to be so needy and worked up from those fantasies that your hand is going to reach for your clit and you’re going to stroke it the same way I licked you, swiping it up and down until you come. I may not be able to have sex for a year, but you’re in the same boat, sweetheart. Just think of how easily you’ll come after twelve months of not being touched. Fuck, it’ll take nothing more than just blowing on your clit before you’re shuddering.”
“You’re evil.”
I leaned back in my seat, proud of what I’d just accomplished. “Power comes in all forms, baby. You may have yours, but don’t forget the strength of mine.” I chuckled. “How could you? I believe when you experienced it, it was the hardest you’d ever come. Am I right?” I read her eyes before I said, “I thought so.”
“We’ll see.”
There it was—more fucking goading.
Oh, we’ll see, all right.
I got up from my chair and stepped over to hers, leaning down until my mouth was just above her ear.
The closeness caused her posture to become erect and her to hold her breath, her chest no longer rising or falling.
Her scent wasn’t the only thing that made my cock throb—the feel of her did too.
The way my lips were so near her flesh was nothing but a tease.
“Are you going to tell me that if I reached under your dress and slipped my fingers inside your panties, your pussy wouldn’t be wet?” My whispered words caused goose bumps to rise across her. “That if I did, you wouldn’t beg me to finger-fuck you?” I moved the hair off her neck and positioned my mouth along the side of it, halfway between her collarbone and ear.
“I wouldn’t—”
“Whatever you do, don’t lie to me. I can smell the sweetness of your pussy in the air, and I can see the goose bumps on your skin, which tells me just how wet and turned on you are.” I brushed my lips over her skin. “But I want to hear it from you, Jovana. So tell me, just how wet are you right now?”
I knew I was playing with fire.
I knew I shouldn’t be using my words to arouse her, that I shouldn’t be standing this close, that I shouldn’t be touching her, like I was going to lift her out of her chair and wrap her in my arms, but I couldn’t help it.
There was something about Jovana Winters that made me want to do this.
That made me want to take her into the restroom and lock the door and fuck her against the wall. That made me want to then drive her to my place and strip her in the elevator and carry her inside my penthouse, where I’d sink into her tightness the moment we got inside, guaranteeing we’d both come again.
And again.
But I also knew that the eyes in this room were on me. I could feel them, and that was only going to help me and make this situation even more rewarding.
Jovana turned her head, causing our lips to align. She glanced at my mouth before my eyes. “You’re not going to win this round. I assure you.”
“You assure me, huh? But I’ve already won.” I smiled. “One year is a long time to go without fucking. If you can handle the physical aspects without getting emotionally attached, I see no reason to keep our hands off each other. So, let me throw something out there for you to ponder. I know I’d love to ravish you, to make you feel incredible; I just don’t want you to fall for me. If you can promise me that, then we have ourselves a deal.” I closed the distance between us and breathed her in as my lips smashed against hers, my hand clamped on her neck, making sure she didn’t pull away.
She didn’t even attempt to.
Fuck, she tasted just the way I remembered.
Sweet.
Delicious.
Perfection.
I circled my tongue around hers, taking one final lap, and gradually pulled away.
Her eyes were slow to open, her skin the most flushed it had been all night.
I didn’t want her to know how much I enjoyed this. How I would jerk off to this kiss when I was finally home and far away from her.
Those thoughts were staying vaulted.
Instead, I’d remind her of why we were here. The sterile technicalities of this arrangement.
I licked her off my lips as I pulled away and said, “First assignment—check. Now, let’s eat so I can drop you off at home.”