Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
Jace smiled at me. “Thank you, sweetheart. I haven’t snapped at you yet, so you have no evidence that I’d be mean without lunch. That could just be something the last assistant said to justify running away from Martin’s phone calls.”
“Her name was Felicia, and she called last week and asked if you could write a reference for a new job—which I’m typing up for you today, by the way—and she specifically asked how the afternoons were going.
She said when you don’t eat you turn into Grumpy Monkey.
You know, the one from the book Kaylee likes?
” I smiled, before noticing Kayden’s sad face.
“I’m sorry,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I like listening to you both talk about her.”
Jace gave him an empathetic smile and pulled the takeout bag closer. “I will eat now so you don’t have to worry. How was your flu shot?”
“Uneventful,” I said with a shrug, glaring at Kayden and willing him to be quiet. He raised one eyebrow at me but kept his mouth shut.
“So, you cried again?” Jace asked, popping open the takeout container. The smell of nachos filled the room, and my stomach grumbled.
“Just a little bit. Kayden handled me just fine,” I said.
“Are you eating any of this with me?” Jace gestured to the nachos. “It looks like you ordered for two.”
“I did, but I’m fine,” I said. “Martin ruined our lunch plans.”
“Sit, Olivia,” Kayden said. “I doubt these designs are any more confidential than half the meetings you attend with Jace. Eat something while we go through them.”
Jace nodded, licking his fingers. He pushed the nachos across the desk toward the empty chair. “Please, sweetheart.”
My heart did a backflip at these two men looking at me like they wanted to take care of me.
“Fine, I’m starving.” I sat down and started pulling apart the chips stuck together by pulled pork and melted cheese while Kayden opened files on his laptop next me. “Are you going to call me sweetheart now?” I asked, shoving a chip in my mouth.
“I’ve been wanting to call you that for years,” Jace said “Do you hate it?”
I shrugged and turned to Kayden. “What does he call you?”
“Baby. And Kayd. He’s the first person to call me Kayd since my mom passed.”
“Really?” Jace asked. “I didn’t realize that. I don’t have to.”
“No, I like it,” he said, smiling at Jace. He turned back to me. “Sweetheart is nice.”
“Yeah, I suppose,” I said. “I wouldn’t have minded beautiful or gorgeous, but sweetheart’s fine.”
Jace laughed. “When you decide what you want to be called, let me know. Until then, I’m calling you sweetheart.”
I pushed the nachos closer to Kayden and swallowed another big bite of sour cream and pork. “You want some?”
“Yes, please, they smell amazing, and I skipped lunch,” he said, digging in right away.
“Give me your laptop,” Jace said, waving his fingers at Kayden.
He passed it across the desk and Jace hooked it up to his dual monitors, turning them both toward us so we could all see.
“Eat and talk because that sweet woman next to you is going to turn into a drill sergeant if we run over our scheduled meeting time.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and Kayden laughed as he started walking us through the detailed designs he’d worked up over the weekend.
This was the first time I was seeing more than just the computerized image of the exterior.
His digital renderings of the interior space were fantastic.
I knew he was brilliant, but seeing every detail of the room down to the outlets and the floor material was phenomenal.
He’d designed separate detoxing rooms made with easily washable and changeable materials, with nicer carpeted rooms for residents to move to after the detox.
The amenities and range of therapeutic techniques that these two had come up with were the creative brainchild of two people who knew the ins and outs of addiction.
It was like they’d created the place they wish their parents would have visited.
I watched them talk shop for a while, lost in their vision for creating a space conducive to healing, until the nachos were gone.
Then I left them to finish their meeting while I worked on the reference letter for Felicia.
I made sure to note her skill in dealing with challenging executives—something I was sure she possessed since she’d lasted longer than a week with Martin.
When Jace and Kayden had about ten minutes left I made my way to the door to warn them but stopped myself from knocking as I heard the distinct sounds of skin slapping against skin.
“Fuck, babe. That’s so good,” Kayden moaned.
“Harder,” Jace groaned. “Stroke me, baby. I’m dying.”
Am I really allowed to listen to this?
“Like this?” Kayden purred and the sound went straight to my clit. Oh, I like his sex voice. My pussy tingled, and I froze in shock, vividly picturing what was happening on the other side of that door. I should’ve walked away, but I was transfixed and dripping wet. My core throbbed.
Overhearing them when they were a couple and Jace and I were still pretending not to have feelings for each other was one thing.
This time, I felt a stab of jealously at being left out, which was ridiculous because even if Jace and I moved forward with a relationship, this would be the deal right?
He and Kayden would have alone time and he and I would have alone time? We wouldn’t all be together, would we?
I wasn’t jealous of Jace being with Kayden. I couldn’t be, if anything was going to change between us. But Kayden and I had something too, and weren’t we inextricably linked because of our mutual love of Jace? Another loud groan pulled me from my spiraling thoughts.
“Fucking hell. I’m going to come on this desk,” Jace said.
“Good. That’s the goal.”
“I’m going to make you pay for this,” Jace said, groaning in what sounded like release.
I want to be in there with them. Both of them.
The desire to touch myself was overwhelming and I let one hand graze my breasts.
My nipples were hard and sensitive, and I pinched one, sending a blast of desire through me.
My body was on fire as I imagined Jace bent over his desk with Kayden slamming into him and jerking him off at the same time.
I’d imagined Jace in the throes of pleasure many times over the years.
I’d also recalled my night with Kayden a number of times.
But I’d never once considered how it might feel to be with two men in the bedroom at the same time and for those two men to be as into each other as they were into me. The image made my clit throb again.
I have to get out of here.
“Ahh,” Kayden yelled, presumably coming himself.
“Shit,” I cursed, scurrying back to my desk. I smoothed my skirt and forced myself to move my fingers on the keyboard, typing a response to an email that I’d never send because I had no idea what I was writing. My clit was so swollen, the material of my underwear was nearly painful against it.
Just when I was thinking I might be able to quickly rub one out, Jace’s office door opened and Kayden stepped through. Jace was right behind him, already smirking at me.
“You look a little warm, Liv. Should I turn down the heat?” he asked, scratching his beard.
“You’re a smug pain in the ass,” I said.
“You know, unquenched arousal can turn you into a Grumpy Monkey. Tell me, did you like what you heard?” Jace teased.
“Wow, Olivia,” Kayden said, shaking his head. “He said you might listen, but I expected you to at least hide it better.”
“What do you mean?”
Jace put his hands on my shoulders and lowered his mouth to my ear. “Your cheeks are flushed with arousal, sweetheart, and I saw your feet at the door.”
The nickname sent another buzz through me.
I turned to face him, stealing my features. I refused to admit how affected I was. “Do you need me to get you some paper towels to clean your desk?” I asked. “Because that is not in my job description.”
“I made him lick it up,” Jace said, tipping his head toward Kayden.
My eyes widened and the heat in my cheeks spread to my chest. My entire body was an inferno.
Kayden took a step toward me. “Olivia, if we’re making you uncomfortable, we’ll stop.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. I was only uncomfortable because I wanted to climb them both like a tree right now and I didn’t realize things were heading in that direction for me.
“I’m not uncomfortable with the flirting. I’m uncomfortable because he’s right that I’m so aroused I might burst,” I said. “Jace and I agreed not to hold anything back anymore. I don’t want you to either.”
“Okay,” Kayden said with a smirk. “He was exaggerating about the method of clean up. But we did handle it.”
“Wonderful. Now, we’re not doing anything about my problem at this moment, so what do you need?” I asked.
“Can you schedule me with Jace in two weeks and then the board a few days later?” Kayden asked.
“The board?” I looked at Jace.
“Yes, Martin made such a fuss about the budget increases that I agreed to show the board the detailed designs so they could better understand our reasoning for the additional costs.” He smiled and clenched his teeth. “Which are all more than justified, by the way.”
“I believe you. That place looks amazing, Kayden,” I said. “The detox rooms are brilliant. Is that typical?”
“Thank you,” he said with a proud smile.
“Some places have separate areas. I detoxed in the same room I was assigned to for my full stay because I was in state-run facility that didn’t have a lot of amenities, and I remember the negative associations of the detox being present the entire time I was there.
If someone can detox in a separate space, then their long-term space is more focused on recovery and not remembering the trauma of the detox itself.
It’s an incredibly unpleasant experience no matter what substance you use. ”