Episode 22
Episode 22
Elevator Jack
SUMMER
Waiting was the worst. Anticipation sizzled like live electricity across the surface of my skin while I paced the small signing room. The room was pretty bare. Only four walls, one exit, a bar top table with the contract on it and a pretty chandelier hanging from the center. There was some nice crown molding but absolutely nothing else to look at. Not a single thing to hold my attention until my husband-to-be arrived.
I sighed, dug through my small purse, and pulled out my phone. There were already a handful of texts waiting for me. The first three were from my mother. Not at all surprising since she was heavily invested in the idea of me entering The Marriage Auction. She wouldn’t let it go until I agreed to do it. I scanned her messages and chuckled at her obvious eagerness.
From:Mom
Did you win a husband?
Ignore that last message. Of course you got a man. My girl is stunning, smart, and a good human.
Sunny, it’s been forever. Are you okay? I’m sure you’re okay. I’m worrying too much. Send me photo proof you’re alive.
I snort-laughed as I went to the camera app and snapped a selfie, then responded to her last message with it. Next, I read my dad’s text.
From: Dad
Your mom’s worried. I told her you’re a grown woman who can take care of herself, but you know how she is. Let us know how everything is going. We’re on pins and needles over here.
I rolled my eyes and read my sister’s note next.
From: Autumn
Mom’s going nuts. She’s reaching out to her spirit guides and our ancestors to keep an eye on you. I already had a vision of you sucking face with a hottie. Has that happened yet?
Immediately I started responding, my fingers flying over the keys. When my sister had a detailed vision, it usually was a snapshot of the future. Her visions have never been wrong.
Really? Did you get a good look at him? Is he the tall, dark, handsome man with an accent you saw yesterday?
I waited impatiently, staring intently as the three little dots popped up while my sister responded.
From: Autumn
You bet your ass!
I fist pumped the air and squealed, “Whoo hoo” as I started to shimmy and dance, careful not to fall and break my ankle in my high heels. “I’m about to get freaky with a tall, dark, and handsome stranger.” I wiggled my fingers and swayed my hips as I continued to celebrate.
“Nice moves. Maybe you can teach them to me one day,” an elegant, accented , voice said from behind me.
I spun around to find Jack, the hot guy from the elevator fiasco standing near the doorway, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, looking ridiculously handsome. He was in a beautifully tailored suit. Though what caught my breath was not how he looked, but the sinful smirk plastered across his face. The kind of smile that indicates they know something important that you don’t.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, a frown marring my face.
He pushed off the wall and stalked forward, his large frame full of powerful grace, like an alpha lion approaching his pride.
“Let me introduce myself more fully. I’m Jack Larsen.” He put his hand out for me to shake.
I placed my trembling one in his. When our palms touched, a magnet-like swirling vortex drew me a step closer.
His soft hand curled around mine and his rich, addicting scent, of bergamot, pepper and walnut invaded my nose, seeping into my lungs like a warm, comforting hug. I wanted more. Wanted to breathe him in so deep I could taste those flavors on my tongue, gorge on it until I’d had my fill.
“Hello, Jack Larsen,” I finally responded. “Giving me your full name doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
“To get freaky with you?” He grinned, using the exact words I’d said after reading my sister’s message. Then it dawned on me—the only reason he would be standing right here, is because he’s my bidder.
I yanked my hand out of his hold and put it up to cover my mouth as it dropped open. “Nooooooo!” I whispered in pure disbelief. My thoughts ran a million miles an hour.
How could this be? There’s just no way. Man, he’s good-looking.
“Yes,” he smiled wider, one of his perfect eyebrows cocked as if daring me to deny the truth.
“You!” I pointed at him and then at myself without saying another word.
“Well, I do believe I’m tall, dark-haired, and I have been known to turn a few heads,” he said, then chuckled.
“This is unbelievable,” I gasped. “You’re…YOU! How in the world could this be happening? You’re, the— the elevator guy!”
He chuckled. “I’m also bidder number five, your fiancé .”
I dropped my purse and phone as both my hands rose to my burning cheeks. “This is so fucking wild! My family is never going to believe this. I’m not sure I believe it!” I scoffed, staring dumbly at his gorgeous, arrogant face.
He put his hands into his pockets and rocked back and forth from heel to toe, a boyish smile across his face. “I will agree this is an unusual circumstance… Rebecca .” He drew out my cat’s name, reminding me that I’d given him a fake name after he’d talked smack about me smelling like weed when we met.
“Yeah, about that…” I bit into my bottom lip and looked down, suddenly feeling a little ashamed of not being honest. He did take care of me during that small crisis. Everything was fine, and we were always safe, but it didn’t feel that way at the time. And he’d been rock solid. Held me close, made sure I didn’t go into a full mental spiral, or worse, pass out. Jack even teased me about my backup panties which ultimately took my mind off the very scary realization that we were stuck in an unreliable elevator car.
Jack reached out his hand and lifted my chin gently with a curled knuckle. “You know, I tried to call you to make sure you were okay. Only to find I’d called—”
“Eureka’s pizza.” My shoulders dropped in defeat before I mumbled, “I worked there when I was a teenager. They have really amazing pies. I’ll take you there sometime.”
His brown eyes seemed to melt as he traced one of my cheekbones with his thumb. “I’d like that very much,” he whispered, his gaze filled with something more than concern. Something I wasn’t ready to put a name to or trust, as my entire world was just flipped on its axis.
Still, I couldn’t help the shiver that ran down my back at his touch, or the way his minty breath fanned across my face. I licked my lips and shifted from foot to foot as a wave of nervous energy overcame me.
Would he kiss me? Right here? Right now?
Did I want him to kiss me?
Too many questions, too little time. Before I knew it, he’d dropped his hand and went over to the contract and signed his name across the bidder’s line.
“I think that’s the end of that part. Where to next?” He stated as if it were just another day in the life of a rich guy. You know, wake up, coffee, shower, breakfast, lunch, meetings, bid on a bride, spend eight million dollars, sign a three-year contract, maybe a quickie wedding, and back at the hotel for a good night’s sleep.
“What do you mean, where to? I have never done this before, and you bought me , buddy! Not the other way around. Technically it’s your show. As the bride-to-be, I’m supposed to go wherever you say.” I crossed my arms, more as a self-hug than anything else. I still couldn’t believe Elevator Jack and my fiancé were now one and the same.
“ Touché .” He rubbed at his scruffy chin and ran his thumb along his bottom lip.
Ugh. That move was aces. Straight up eye-candy to a sex-starved woman like myself. And then my brain immediately switched to thinking about sex. My future husband was absolutely bangable. Top tier hot. His shoulders were broad, his frame solid, and he had an air of pretentiousness that made me want to dirty him up a bit.
“I imagine you’ll want to go home, introduce me to your family,” he suggested.
“You want to meet my family? Already?” I pressed my lips together and tried desperately to hold back my laughter but it came out in a big gush of air. I laughed so hard at his innocence. My family was freakin’ awesome. The problem was, they were totally the opposite of what the average person would consider “normal.”
Jack grinned. “What’s so funny?”
“I…I…I’m just imagining you meeting my wacky parents, my psychic sister, and turning right around and heading back to Madam Alana to ask for a refund.” I replied, through gasping bouts of air.
“Your sister’s a psychic?” His eyebrows rose up toward his hairline either in curiosity or incredulity. I wasn’t sure which.
“Yeppers. And my mother is a real life, practicing pagan witch.” I added with zero voice inflection, so he’d know I was being serious. The worst thing he could do right now was scoff at what I’d shared. If he was going to be one of those people who discriminated against others for their beliefs and lifestyle choices, we could stop everything right there. I hadn’t signed my name across the dotted line yet. And I wouldn’t marry a man who couldn’t accept my family exactly as it is.
“What does your father do?” Jack asked, his expression neutral.
I frowned, expecting him to ask me a hundred questions about the very unusual facts I’d just shared about my sister and mother. “He’s a…a botanist. Handles all the science behind our products.”
“And you? At the auction, Madam Alana said you were already wealthy and didn’t need the money.”
“But you’re paying up, my friend.” I side-eyed him. “I’m earning that eight million by becoming your wifey.”
That made him chuckle. “Wifey, I like it. Suits you.” His eyes heated as he reached out and pushed a dangling lock of hair behind my ear.
I simply stared at him. Jack Larsen was beautiful. And he smelled good enough to eat.
His hand fell from my neck to my bare shoulder. “Tell me, wifey, what is it you do for a living? What fills you with passion, gets your heart pumping?”
“Right now? You’re doing a mighty fine job of getting my heart pumping,” I breathlessly responded.
“I’m glad to hear I affect you as much as you affect me. You’re a uniquely beautiful woman, Summer. Looking at you is like staring at the sun. If I look too long, I may find myself blinded by your beauty.”
I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. “Um, uh, I’m a horticulturist. I make plants grow.” I said robotically. Hating and loving in equal measure the sheer pull this man seemed to have over me.
His thumb caressed the ball of my shoulder. “Plants. How curious. And you have a company that sells these plants you grow?”
I nodded, my entire focus on that small slide of his skin over mine, wishing it was directed somewhere else. I squeezed my legs together as arousal wove through me, a throbbing ache settling between my thighs. Without reason, I stepped closer, placing both of my hands onto his chest. His hand curled around my shoulder and tightened. His other arm wrapped around my waist, holding me close. I could feel the hard press of a very impressive erection digging into my abdomen. So he was as affected as I was.
I lifted my face and smiled as I ran my hands up his chest and around his neck, my fingers weaving into the shorter layers of his hair.
Just as I lifted up onto my toes and he dipped his head down, our lips an inch from one another…
“Oh my! My timing is impeccable this evening,” came Jade’s voice from the doorway.
Jack and I turned our heads but didn’t let go of one another.
“Um, hi, Jade. Just getting to know my fiancé,” my voice cracked.
She laughed. The first time I’d heard the serious woman lose her cool composure. “There must be something in the air tonight.”
“Oh yeah,” I let my arms fall down Jack’s chest, making sure to cop a quick feel of his muscular chest before I winked and shifted to the side.
Jack, surprisingly, kept an arm looped around my waist, keeping me close. It was as though he didn’t want to let me get too far away. Swoon.
Jade briskly walked to the table and scanned the contract. “Summer, you haven’t signed. This final contract will commit you both to three years of marital bliss from the time you get married. All ceremonies are to take place within thirty days of signing this document. After two weeks of marriage, you must have consummated the marriage.”
“I understand the agreement,” Jack answered with confidence, absolutely no hesitation in his tone.
“Are you having second thoughts, Summer?” Jade asked, then narrowed her gaze at Jack, likely assuming he might have done something to make me hesitate.
I hustled over to the table. “Not at all. I just wanted to make sure that when I met my future husband, that he understood a few things about my family. My family and I are a package deal.”
Jade pursed her lips, waiting for me to continue.
Jack came up behind me and peeked at the contract over my shoulder. “She’s waiting for you to sign, or decline.”
My eyes widened. “Oh! Sorry.” I turned around. “Sooooooo you’re good with what I shared about my mom and my sister? I don’t want anything to be weird when you meet them.”
“ Solskinn , of course things are going to be weird. I’m meeting your family for the first time, and I’ve just purchased you in a marriage auction. I’m sure they’re going to be more concerned about me being in your life, and what that means for the next three years, than how I perceive them.”
I snickered and shook my head. “Oh Jack, you have so many surprises ahead. Hand me that pen, will ya Jade?”
Jade passed me the pen, and I signed my name across the candidate line.
“Thank you. Congratulations. Please do send the details about your wedding. Madam Alana and I would love to attend.”
“We shall do that once we’ve made plans,” Jack replied in a stern, professional voice.
I rolled my eyes and waved as Jade left the room. The moment the door closed I spun around and faced my fiancé.
“Now where were we!” I squealed with excitement as I flung myself toward him.
He caught me mid-air with an oomph .
“Jesus!” He laughed, and I felt the base of his joy reverberate in my chest.
I tunneled my fingers into his hair and brought my face super close to his. So close I could almost feel our noses touching. “I think we were right about here,” I whispered edging closer, giving him time to pull away if he wanted.
One of his hands plunged into the back of my hair and tipped my head to the side as his lips pressed to mine.
Time passed as we kissed, our lips brushing, tongues tangling sweetly, and our sighs intermingling. We held onto one another so tightly, I could no longer determine who was who. Our souls collided in that kiss, and they never wanted to let go of one another.
It was fire. It was passion. It was everything all at once.
The best kiss of my entire life.
Eventually, Jack shifted away, but my soul clung to his. Hesitant to let go. My mother would call it a soul bond. An intense, weighted, all-encompassing neediness I’d never experienced with anyone else. The same bond she had with my father. She claimed it was how she knew he was the one. Because her soul decided for her.
Jack cupped my cheek with his large hand. “Where to next?”
“A bed? The wall? Floor? I’m not really picky,” I answered, twirling a finger around a longer lock of his hair at the crown of his head.
“I meant where’s home?” He grinned wolfishly.
“Oh, California,” I mumbled, my entire focus on the two of us getting somewhere we could take that kiss to the next level.
“Excellent. My jet is waiting. Come, wifey, let’s meet the parents.”