Chapter 23
JESSE
Icould get used to this, lying in bed with Jacqueline. The sex had blown my mind, but the afterglow wasn’t half bad either.
We were both still naked, tangled in her sheets, each with a cup of coffee on the nightstand.
Soft, early morning light was filtering in through her windows, still a little gray after last night’s rain, but with the sound of her laughter in my ears first thing in the morning, I wasn’t about to complain even if there was another storm rolling in.
“You did not ask an A-list actor to take a picture of you with some snowboarder,” she said, swatting my shoulder from where she was leaning on her pillows. Those golden eyes were sparkling and relaxed, one of her legs draped over my thighs. “I don’t buy that for a second.”
“It was a really good snowboarder and it was right after the X-Games,” I replied with a shrug, bringing a hand up to my chest to cross my heart. “The guy is a legend. Who cares about an actor when you’ve got an athlete like that at the same party?”
She chuckled, her head shaking slightly and the expression on her face soft all of a sudden. “You really are something else. Do you know that?”
“I’ve been told. People usually just don’t mean it in a good way.” I smiled, leaning over to brush some of her tousled hair behind her ear. “Who knew it could be so much fun getting naked with someone you’ve become friends with?”
She laughed. “I think most people know that.”
I widened my eyes dramatically. “Are you sure? That doesn’t seem right.”
“Well, it wouldn’t, Mr. If It Moves, I’ll Shag It.”
“That’s not true.” I dragged my fingertips along her jaw, then lower down. “The only person I’m interested in shagging right now is you, and you’re not moving at all.”
“I could be.”
“Damn right.” I grabbed her hips and tugged her down, then kissed her until she looped an arm around my neck to pull me closer.
I didn’t know how long this particular phase would last, but now that I’d shattered the boundaries of our fake relationship, I was insatiable.
Hell, just last night, seeing her in that dress had nearly driven me crazy.
Seeing her in it and knowing I’d never get to take it off with my teeth?
Torture. Pure, undiluted fucking torture.
I felt her smile against my lips, and I groaned and kissed her harder, rolling closer until my chest was fused to hers. One of my hands skated up and into her hair, the other gliding down to her hip.
“You cannot actually be serious about this,” she murmured between kisses, her voice already husky again. “We haven’t even finished our first cups of coffee yet and we went to get them straight after the last round.”
“Who needs caffeine when I could be having you?”
I meant it, too. Jacqueline had become like an addiction to me. The way she tasted. The sounds she made. How she responded to absolutely everything. I couldn’t get enough of any of it.
Licking a line around one of her nipples, I tugged the sheet she’d been using to cover her chest all the way down and cupped the other breast in my hand.
I’d realized very quickly that she wasn’t one of those delicate flowers in bed, and when I pinched her nipple, the shudder that ran through her confirmed it all over again.
Holy fuck. This woman is perfect.
She moaned when I sucked the other nipple into my mouth, her breathing already growing choppy. My body lit up like someone had thrown a stick of dynamite at me. Instantly, I was rock hard all over again, practically mewling when I ran my hand from her breast to her pussy.
“Already so wet for me,” I murmured without lifting my mouth away from hers. “What do you want, baby? Tell me.”
She stilled underneath me, only her hips rocking ever so slightly, like she couldn’t keep them from doing it. “You, Jesse. Just you.”
That hadn’t really been the question, but while she was definitely loud, she wasn’t particularly verbal. It’s okay, though. We’ll get there.
Something—or potentially past experiences with someone—seemed to be making her hold back. “Whatever you want, you can always tell me, Jacqueline. It doesn’t matter what it is, you can have it. I’ll never judge you for it either.”
She muttered something incomprehensible, her lips parted as her hips kept rocking, grinding herself against my hand. Her eyes were shut, a furrow already forming on her brow. Shit, she’s gorgeous like this. So fucking sexy.
I tensed when I felt one of her arms moving, wondering for just a second if she was going to push me away, but instead, she wrapped a hand around my shaft and I nearly lost it right there. Without a word, she started stroking me, matching the pace I was setting on her.
Deciding that meant this was what she wanted right now, I kissed her again, my hand moving in time with hers. “God, Jacque. You’re so good at this. At everything, actually.”
Both of her eyes suddenly opened, her movements not stopping even as I saw genuine surprise registering on her features. “Really?”
“Yeah. Really.” I swallowed hard, already praying to the gods of stamina to give me at least another minute, but I was already getting close. Too close to reassure her right now.
She picked up her pace and I groaned, my heart hammering in my ears as I mirrored her. Her breathing changed, suddenly shallow and fast, and my muscles tensed. Her free hand flew to my shoulder, her body starting to tremble under mine.
At the pinch of her nails digging into my skin, I felt the base of my spine ignite. “Shit, Jacque. Fuck.”
She let out a long moan in response, her hips bucking just a few more times before she was screaming my name. I let go the second she did, unable to hold back when I could feel her, smell her, and see her features contort when her lips stilled under mine.
In the aftermath, we both collapsed back, but her head landed on my shoulder and my arm closed around her possessively. I was still catching my breath when my phone rang on the nightstand.
Jacqueline didn’t move, warm and curled up against me, her breathing remaining as even as it’d begun getting just a minute ago. Worst timing ever.
I dragged a hand over my face, but I carefully untangled myself from her before whoever was so desperate to talk to me woke her up. She made a soft sound and shifted but kept dozing as I grabbed my phone and silenced the ringer.
One glance at my screen let me know that I was going to have to actually take this. Alex.
I slid out of bed and walked naked to her living room, answering once I was probably safely out of earshot but keeping my voice down just in case. “Yeah? What is it and can it wait until later?”
There was a pause on the other end before he sighed. “Yeah, it probably could’ve. Sorry. I didn’t realize it was still so early. Cameron’s been up for at least an hour. Maybe more.”
I exhaled slowly, some of my irritation with him immediately melting away. “Well, if it’s Cameron’s fault, I’ll forgive you. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to say thank you.”
I stopped walking so fast, anyone watching might’ve thought I’d forgotten how to do it mid-stride. “Excuse me?”
“I said thank you,” Alex repeated slowly, like it physically pained him to have to say those words. “For being the distraction we needed to keep public pressure off Zach. You really stepped up and it’s working.”
“It is?”
I knew the press had had a field day with us in Hawaii, but I’d been too distracted to keep up with what they were saying.
Plus, I hadn’t really wanted to look at pictures of her because I’d been trying to forget how attracted I was to her, not reminded of the face I’d been struggling to keep out of my dirty dreams.
“Yes, it is,” Alex said. “Everyone is very interested in your relationship right now. Fake or not, it’s keeping their focus.”
“Why would you think it’s fake?” I asked innocently. “Jacqueline is—”
“Not your on and off girlfriend of the last few years,” he finished for me. “Regardless of what you said at the dinner, I have been paying enough attention to you for enough years to know that story isn’t true.”
I sighed but glanced back at the bedroom without meaning to. The bedroom where my fake girlfriend was currently asleep after yet another round of spectacular orgasms. Yeah. About that. I’m not so sure it’s fake anymore, but hey.
“I’m just happy to be of service,” I said lightly, pacing slowly across the room. “As long as they’re buying it, the truth doesn’t matter so much, right?”
Alex hummed his agreement. “This was the right move. Just keep it up, okay? Whatever story you’re eventually going to sell when you speak to them, get it straight with her. The truth might not matter so much to you, but it will to them if you slip up.”
“Yep. Sure. Don’t worry, bro. I got it.”
It wasn’t like I could say, Actually, Alex. Funny story, but I might be in deep, irreversible trouble here because it’s not fake anymore and also I might be an idiot.
Yeah. No. That wouldn’t work.
We talked for a while longer, but I kept quiet about the fact that faking it wasn’t going so well. I also kept quiet about the fact that somewhere along the way, this had stopped feeling like a controlled arrangement and had started feeling like something I didn’t have a single clue how to handle.
Honestly, I wished I could talk to him about it. He was my big brother and he was happily married, but if Alex knew what was going on in my head right now, he’d shut me down immediately. I couldn’t bear the thought of that.
“Keep it clean,” he said finally, after updating me on the arrangements for the gala and a few other things we needed to get done next week. “I mean it, Jesse. We can’t have any unexpected surprises or scandals on this one. Zach needs it to be flawless.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about,” I lied. “I told you, I’ve got this.”
“Just make sure you do, okay? Anyway, I have to run, but thanks again, Jesse. Seriously.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Give Cameron a kiss for me.”
Alex chuckled and agreed, then hung up. I turned back toward the bedroom, my steps slower than they had been when I’d raced out. She was still asleep when I got there, her dark hair a mess behind her and her breathing soft.
I leaned against the doorframe, watching her for a moment, this woman who’d upended my life without even knowing it. This really wasn’t fake. Not for me. Not anymore. But that meant that a side of me I rarely let out to play was suddenly banging at its cage, demanding to be let out.
After considering it for only a second, I dragged a hand through my hair and lifted the phone back to my ear, hitting redial. Alex picked up on the second ring.
“Did you forget something?” he asked.
I backed into the hallway and kept my voice quiet. There was every possibility that I was going to regret this when it came out, but that was the problem with having a reckless streak. I didn’t often let knowledge of potential future problems stop me.
“Yeah,” I said. “Actually, I did. Do you happen know what hotel the guests of last night’s fundraiser are staying in?”