8. Jake
JAKE
We all perk up when the conference room door opens again, ready to welcome the final person so the meeting can proceed.
But when I see who it is, it's like a slap of cold water in the face.
I stare, unable to believe it.
Am I seeing things?
It wouldn’t be the first time.
I can’t tell you how many times I was walking down the street and thought I saw her, only for me to be mistaken and the mirage to clear once I got close.
I’ll tell you that it’s happened an embarrassing number of times. It’s strange. I usually don’t crave people that much. I rarely miss anyone thanks to training my brain to lack object permanence. Out of sight, out of mind has always rung true for me, so I don’t know why it’s not happening with her.
I mean, yeah. We had a wild night. An extremely fun, wild night, and I was addicted to watching her responses to the things we did.
I don’t think she’s as experienced as she led us to believe because of how shy she'd been when I started eating her pussy and how she tried to suppress how hard orgasms were.
She came in my face several times through the night, and I could tell from her stunned expression that she hadn’t been expecting it.
Sure, I love eating pussy, and I'm great at it, if I do say so myself.
But there was just something so unpracticed about her reaction that led me to believe that there’s more to her than meets the eye.
And it turned out I was right, but not the way I wanted it to be.
When James had said to wait, that one more person would be joining us at this four person meeting, I didn’t expect it to be her.
I expected his assistant or any of the marketing people I’ve seen already.
Not her.
If it’s any consolation, she’s pretty shocked to see us, too. Her pretty eyes widen like saucers, and her face pales.
"Have you guys met?” James asks.
“We’re well acquainted." I can’t lie, after what Adam told me, I’m enjoying watching her squirm just a little bit. It's the least I can do after what she did.
I’ve unknowingly slept with James’ girlfriend before, and it sucked then, too. Almost destroyed our friendship entirely, and it took a while to rebuild that trust, which is not entirely back to what it used to be.
It's also not the only time a girl has pretended to be single to get me in bed with them.
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t enjoy being used like that.
None of the women ever told me that they were previously attached to others, and if I’d known, I probably wouldn't have fucked them.
I may not be in a relationship myself, but I value commitments like that, which is why I've never made one.
I didn't expect that from her. She'd seemed so honest the day we met.
The fact that she'd lied and jeopardized my friendship kinda steams me up, so I want to make her suffer a little for it.
“We met at your party,” I say to James, keeping my eyes on the pretty little liar.
“Ah, yes. I forgot she was there. Although you told me you were in the room almost the whole time, Chels.”
“I was." She swallows and runs her hand through her hair. “I just met them in passing?”
In passing? I nearly scoff. Did she say that she met us in passing? Was she bouncing on my cock in passing, too? Was she crying out for more in passing?
“I would say it was a little more than–”
“Jake,” Adam interrupts and clears his throat. “Can we move on with this meeting? We’ve got things to do?”
I raise an eyebrow. Is he still trying to save her ass after what she did?
Meanwhile, next to him, Sam is staring at her strangely.
His gaze is intense, bordering on scary, and he’s not looking away. When she catches his gaze, though, he gentles it.
Traitor.
The bastard doesn’t even care that she lied to us and that she’s dating another man.
He’s just desperate for another taste.
So are you.
Yeah, but at least I have the decency to hide it.
“Nice to see you again,” Adam tells her, and his tone is perfectly even. One would think he sounded normal, but I know him, so I detect the coldness underneath.
“Nice to see you again, too," she murmurs as she sits down at the end of the conference table next to James.
James is looking between all of us as though wondering what’s going on. Hell, the other two might be willing to let this go, but I’m not. I should probably reveal the truth, for James' sake. At least that's what I tell myself.
“James, you never told me your girlfriend was working with you?” I let a wicked smile curl my lips. "I mean, considering that, we could have met her earlier."
Amusement glinted in his eyes.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he says. “She’s my sister, and she only started working here a few days ago.”
The words land like a bomb, detonating the simmering anger.
She’s not his girlfriend
Not his girlfriend, but his sister.
I look at Adam, who looks similarly shocked, Sam, who looks vindicated, and then between the siblings again.
They look nothing alike.
James’ features are hard and angular, whereas hers are soft and cherubic. She’s pale, and he’s swarthy. There is literally no similarity between them.
“Are you sure?” I ask
“Yes.”
“Full-blooded sibling?”
“Yes.”
“You sure your mom didn’t-”
“Yes.” He cuts me off with a hard look. “I’m sure.”
Well. That complicates things in a different way.
Obviously, James is our friend, and probably won’t be entirely open to us pursuing his sister.
Which doesn’t mean I’m not going to do it. It just means I have to proceed with care.
I weigh it in my head, the potential fallout with a longtime friend versus giving up on the woman who gave me one of the best nights of my life.
It’s a close call, but somehow she still edges ahead.
“Okay,” James says. “Back to the topic at hand, we’re going to have to market this merger as far and wide as possible, so that potential clients are aware that we offer full boutique services. Fortunately, Chelsea here is a marketing expert.”
“Expert’s kind of pushing it,” she says, throwing her brother an indulgent look. “But I am good at what I do, and I’ve been doing it for a while.”
“I bet,” I say. She doesn’t have to convince me. She has an air of competence, and I do not doubt that she’s excellent at whatever she puts her mind to.
Her gaze flickers to me, her expression altering before she looks away. Redness spreads across her entire face as she focuses her being on opening her iPad in her hand.
Despite her embarrassment, I’m not entirely buying the shy act.
That boldness that enraptured me that first night has to be in there somewhere, likely hidden behind the bashful appearance. It’s probably thanks to her brother being here that she can’t express her true feelings.
Doesn’t mean I can’t tease it out of her, though.
"I look forward to working with you, and finally getting your name, Chelsea," I say.
“Likewise,” she responds, without looking up. "The first piece we'll be working on is our local outreach. I'm thinking of signboards, posters, and taking a section in the local magazines. I have a few contacts at the daily, and I can get them to write us a few articles for an affordable price."
"Question," I say. “We’ll be working together to come up with the marketing strategy, right?” I think James mentioned something like that before she arrived.
“Yes,” she admits.
“Do you have any ideas of where we can meet? Because we'll have to meet at least once a week, and coming here that often is going to put a cramp in our style."
"We don't have to meet that often in person," she says. "Half the meetings can be over Zoom."
I give her a sultry look. "What if I want to meet in person, though?"
Her face reddens again, and though I expect her to throw it right back at me, she just silently looks away and fumbles with her screen as she stammers. "Where would work for you?"
"Hmm, I don't know. There's a great wine bar near our office."
"A wine bar isn't the place for a business meeting," James says, and I raise my eyebrow at him.
"Who said anything about business?"
He practically scowls at me, and Adam jumps in with, "There's a coffee shop down the street from us."
“Sure,” she says. “Coffee shop is fine.”
“Great,” I grin.
We hammer out the details of that, and when she's done, she heads out to the bathroom, walking so quickly, her ass bounces with every step.
Man, I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her leave.
"Jake."
When I manage to drag my eyes away, I meet James' annoyed gaze.
“We need to talk,” he says. "In private.”
"Sure thing,” I answer, and tell the other two, “I’ll be back.”
“Uh-huh,” Adam says. “I’ll be in the bathroom.”
Sam doesn’t respond, but I assume he’s going to stay in the conference room as I follow James out and toward his office, which is at the other end of the hall. He streams in, and I barely get the door closed before he turns on me. “Cut it out.”
“Cut what out?”
“Whatever the fuck you think is going to happen, it’s not. She’s my sister for crying out, and she’s already going through a hard time. If you mess with her and break her heart, I’m going to kick your ass myself.”
“Going through a hard time, how?”
He glares at me, and I grin.
“Oh, come on. What makes you think I’m the one who’s going to break her heart rather than the other way round?”
He gives me a sardonic look, then shakes his head. “Okay, you know what? I’m just going to take her off the project and be done with it.”
“No,” I say instantly. “You don’t have to do that.”
“It turns out I do, since you can’t seem to keep it in your pants.”
“You’re making me seem like I’m some kind of asshole who forces myself on women, when we both know that's not the case,” I eye him. “Is this about what happened in college?”
“No.” His jaw clenches. “This is about the pattern with you and women. I don’t want my sister to be one of your…”
I raise my eyebrow, my amusement instantly dying. “One of my what?”
“Nothing.”
“No, obviously you were about to say something derogatory about the women that I sleep with. You think they’re all bimbos or something?"
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what you implied. And that’s really shitty for you to think, to degrade them like that. They’re all just people. Some are intelligent, accomplished, and what, because they sleep with me, suddenly they’ve moved down a tier in your eyes.”
“Look, I didn’t say anything about that, and if I implied it, I’m sorry. I’m just protective of my sister.”
I let go of my indignation. "I get that. I’m not going to hurt her.”
He gives me a disbelieving look, and I put my hand on my chest. “Honest to God, I promise I will not hurt her.” But that doesn’t mean I’ll stay away from her either.
James clearly has an inaccurate view of his sister, as most brothers do.
He likely sees her as some innocent, unspoiled dove who has to be kept away from big, bad men like me.
But I know who she is, and saw it that very night.
She’s a woman who craves the same thrill I do, a smart, sensual woman who is fucking amazing in bed.
She’s someone I haven’t been able to forget as easily as I have the rest.
And despite what I said to James, she’s someone I don’t think I can let go.
But I do intend to keep my promise not to hurt her. I plan on being honest with her every step of the way and taking care.
Against popular opinion, I actually haven’t broken all that many hearts. Every single woman I’ve been with knew the score, and they’ve all left me with big smiles on their faces.
I intend for her to be the same.