Chapter 65 Jonah
JONAH
One Month Later
The grasslands of Kenya’s Maasai Mara stretched before us, as our Land Cruiser bumped along the dusty trail.
I reached for Lexi’s hand across the seat, my fingers intertwining with hers as we watched a pride of lions lounging beneath an acacia tree in the distance.
Earlier that afternoon, Evie had pressed her face against the window in wonder during our family safari, her small hands clutching the binoculars I’d bought her at the lodge.
Five months ago, I never could have imagined sitting here with them, thousands of miles from New York, watching animals migrate across the savanna.
After we’d returned to drop Evie off with Anne for her afternoon nap, Lexi had surprised me by suggesting we take another quick ride out, just the two of us.
“I want to see the sunset without worrying about little ears,” she’d said with that mischievous smile that always got me in trouble.
Anne had waved us off with her usual efficiency, already settling Evie down with a book and promising her we’d be back before dinner.
Now here we were again, just Lexi and me in the back of the Land Cruiser, watching the golden light paint the savanna in shades I’d never seen in Manhattan.
The weight of CEO responsibilities, board meetings, and my father’s expectations felt like another lifetime.
Now, I had a different set of problems at the moment.
At the moment, my only concern was the trail being far too rough and dusty for my liking here.
I didn’t want Lexi coughing or having to experience a bumpy ride when she deserved peace, silence and stillness.
But judging by the smile on her face, she was more than happy while she held my hand in hers, watching a mother wildebeest and her calf bend their heads to take a sip from the lake.
The sun was low in the sky, and the temperatures were cooler now than they had been during the day.
I was just admiring the silence we had here, when two big buses with tourists came to a rumbling halt meters away from us.
I frowned at the dust that picked up, scowling at the bus drivers who drove like this was Germany’s freaking autobahn and not a mud road.
“That right there is the reason why I don’t come out to these places,” I grumbled when I saw a horde of people walking toward us.
“I think it looks beautiful.” Lexi laughed while I shook my head.
“I hate it.”
She laughed again. “That look on your face is precisely why I came out here.” She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of me scowling. “Perfect. Now we’re going to use this for your new job announcement photo.”
I’d taken a month off and used that time to spend quality time with Lexi and regroup with my partners Desmond, Sean, and Alex to brainstorm ideas for my future.
There was a young tech start-up company that I was looking to buy, one that specialized in reducing plastic waste, and I loved their mission.
Leaving our world worse off than I’d found it was a thought that haunted me, and both Lexi and Evie had been all for it.
I would do anything to make them happy, to make up for all those years of struggle that Lexi’s mom and Dylan had put them through.
“You’re scowling again,” Lexi informed me while trailing kisses down my neck.
“You’re scandalizing the nearest twenty-year-old,” I warned her when someone looked over their shoulder at us.
“She can watch,” Lexi informed me, biting my lower lip.
“You should’ve warned me,” I said, shifting her so she could get better access. “I never knew you were up for exploring new kinks.”
Her eyes twinkled dangerously. “If it was up to you, which one would you have me explore?”
“Given how I’ve never managed to tie you up completely, I think some handcuffs would be my thing,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “Handcuffs? That’s so lame,” she muttered.
She laughed and reluctantly slid off my lap and onto the seat next to me. “We’re done,” she said, tapping my thigh.
“Good luck convincing the big guy of that,” I grumbled while Lexi snickered.
“Consider this payback for when you didn’t let me finish last night,” she said, waggling a finger at me.
“Evie had woken up,” I protested, pulling her flush to my side.
“In the next room,” Lexi countered. “Our door was locked. Evie could have waited a few—oh.”
She stopped speaking when I pulled her to me, crushing her lips with mine. Within a minute, she relaxed against the kiss, and I picked up speed, my fingers going to the back of her head, tipping it up to an angle so I could kiss her more deeply. She melted against me.
“Anyway, I have something to tell you,” I began.
“Are you breaking up with me?” she asked casually, twirling a strand of her hair. “Because if so, I saw a really handsome man at the resort earlier today…”
I put my hand over her mouth to stop her from speaking. “When?” I demanded. “When were you checking out other men?” I asked in surprise. “I was with you all day.”
“Well, there was that one time when you stepped out to the restroom.” She laughed and snapped another photo. “I take it back. This is the one that will go on your new job announcement. You look like a sad pup.”
I looked at the picture she showed me and had to agree that I had a bit of a pout.
Damn. She’d call it ruining my “tough-as-nails persona,” and honestly? I never wanted her to stop.
We got back to our resort room with no scandalous outcomes from our evening sojourn.
We shared a quiet dinner with Evie on the resort’s terrace, watching the sun paint the sky in brilliant hues of pink and orange. After Evie had yawned through her dessert, Anne had taken her to the adjoining room, reading her a bedtime story while Lexi and I walked back to our room.
“I spoke with Brian and Stacey earlier today,” Lexi told me as she lay down on the bed.
I raised my eyebrows as I moved in next to her. Lexi reached for my hair, which was thick and growing out a little, going on three weeks without a trim, because she had told me she wanted me to look more human than robotic. She ran her hands through my hair gently a few times.
“They said they could see the happiness on me,” she told me. “Now that we’re no longer keeping our relationship a secret from the world.”
“Well, of course,” I drawled out, settling down next to her as I began stroking her arms lazily, the back of my fingers brushing against her skin. “And I make a pretty amazing boy-friend.”
“Oh, they know I’m dealing with a jerk of the highest degree,” she informed me with a straight face. “But that he makes up for it by constantly giving me mind-blowing orgasms, making last-minute getaway plans, and torturing me with daily coffee choices that have no business being asked.”
My lips twisted as I tried to curb my smile. “So I’m irritating and irresistible. Nice combination, I might add. But how did they respond to that?”
“Stacey wanted to know where she could find more of such jerks, and Brian told me he can never look at coffee the same way again.”
I laughed. “Well, I would have them know that I’m seeing the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. If they ever asked me about it.”
I slid my hand under her blouse, my hands sliding around her hips.
“Stacey was initially worried for me,” she said with more seriousness. “In the weeks after we told her about us, she kept warning me about getting too involved with you.”
I raised my eyebrows as I undid the buttons of her yellow blouse, slowly, while she kept her gaze on me. “Why?”
“She and Rafael had been all about the secrecy, and apparently, that should’ve been her warning sign. But the fact that we were open about our love for each other and meeting people as a couple made her feel better about us.”
Her blouse fell open, revealing that she was braless.
My hands ached to cup her swollen breasts, and she lifted her arms as I pulled her blouse off her shoulders.
In a few minutes, she’d gotten her shorts and underwear off as well, while I bent down to trail kisses from her shoulders down to the dip in her cleavage.
“There’s no way I would keep you away from my side when I face the world,” I admitted, pausing to look up at her. “I want to show you off to everyone and let them know what an amazing woman I found. You’re the most important thing in my world, Lexi, and I want you to never forget that.”
My lips crushed hers, and her arms wrapped around my back as I kissed her to sweet oblivion, when my phone rang.
It was my dad.
I pulled back reluctantly, glancing at the screen before declining the call and setting the phone aside.
After my bitter and honest words with him last time, he seemed to have repented. I got messages from him occasionally, congratulating me on events. Like on a new company we’d invested in. He’d been following the news to see what I was doing.
I wasn’t going to speak to him yet.
Someday, maybe.
His most recent message had been one where he wanted to set up a brunch meeting with me.
I wasn’t ready for that, but I couldn’t help but think about it when I saw his name on my phone.
He’d actually asked if he could meet me for brunch two months from now, ‘without any agenda. Just to catch up with his son’.
And he’d been the one to initiate it and attempt to set it up.
I turned back to Lexi, who was watching me with a smile.
“All good?” she asked as I crawled back into the warm bed beside her. She was soft, and her skin was like silk as I pulled her to me, her breasts touching my chest as her fingers trailed lazily up and down my arms.
“My dad wants to see me,” I said, touching her all over, my fingers going down her back to her naked butt and cupping her curves. “For no reason at all,” I added, kissing her forehead.
“How strange. I always have an agenda when I want to meet you,” she responded, undressing me.
“It’s just my body, eh?” I grunted, when she’d gotten me naked as well, and her fingers wrapped around my dick. I groaned, forgetting everything else when she moved down and her moist lips wrapped around it.
Soon, she climbed on top of me, straddling my hips, and I felt how wet she was as I sank deep into her.
Her lips parted, her head falling back as she moved up and down a few times.
I sat up and pulled her closer, and our lips touched.
We kissed while she rolled her hips on top of me, my hands roaming freely over her back.
This was the first overseas vacation we’d taken together and there wasn’t a business associate in sight. It felt strange not to think of an upcoming meeting but of endless hours upon hours with Lexi. Topless Lexi, Lexi wearing my shirt, and Lexi in the shower. I didn’t ever tire of it.
“You can want me for my body,” I said, referencing our earlier conversation, as she collapsed against me, spent and limp. “As long as I get to call you mine.”
Her hand found mine, and her fingers wove between mine. “Always.”
With Lexi beside me and memories of Evie’s excitement about the animals she had spotted during our safari, I finally understood what peace felt like.