CHAPTER SEVEN
Jack
It had been a few days since the soup incident. And Cayenne. This fascination with Daisy wasn’t any closer to passing than it had been then. If anything, it was growing stronger. And I knew I had to do something about it.
I wished I had just asked her out when I had the chance. When we were standing in front of her… mansion. I had so much to find out about this girl. And I could’ve done it on a date if I’d just asked.
I ran a hand through my hair, not caring if it stood on end. I smashed a baseball cap on it. That would take care of it.
The alarm on my watch went off. It was almost nine. I grabbed my binoculars out of one of my desk drawers and hurried over to the window.
That’s how Tallon found me.
He never bothered knocking until he’d already entered a room.
Then he said ‘knock knock’ as if that was okay to do instead.
It was fucking annoying, but he was the best at his job, so I put up with it.
That and the fact that we’d been best friends for decades.
I could barely remember a time before Tallon was in my life.
“What the hell are you doing?” he asked.
“Clearly I’m looking for the elusive scarlet warbler, Tallon.”
He laughed. I didn’t. “I can’t really tell if you’re fucking with me or not…”
I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t. I’d missed seeing her leave work yesterday. I couldn’t miss seeing her get there this morning.
“I’m fucking with you,” I said in a low voice as I stared out the window, moving the binoculars in the direction she always came from.
Tallon walked over to the window. “So,” he said slowly, repeating himself, “what the hell are you doing?”
I still didn’t turn. Because there she was. She was running late as usual. She rode that bike of hers like a bat out of hell.
She looked beautiful. She always did. She took off her helmet and her hair tumbled over her shoulders, flowing mid-way down her back. Her shorts were so short they barely covered her ass. God. That ass. Those legs. I’d give just about anything to be between them.
She went into Dinardo’s, and I finally turned around.
Tallon was staring at me, a worried expression on his face.
“What?”
“Nothing, nothing,” he said, giving me a look that said it was definitely something. “It’s just—are you spying on the tomato soup girl?”
“Her name is Daisy.”
“Jesus. You are.” Tallon paced around my office for a minute. “This is weird, Jack. You’ve never been like this before.”
I sighed. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“What are you going to do? You can’t just spy on her indefinitely. And don’t think I haven’t seen you staring creepily at her from your office door when she delivers your food. I hope she hasn’t seen you.”
I frowned. “Do you think she has?”
“Man, I don’t know.” He stared at me. “What about Cayenne? Are you going to join? That would get her out of your head, right?”
I shook my head. “Crazy as this sounds—no to both.” I went on to tell him about my experiences and how, if anything, it’d made my obsession with Daisy even more forefront in my mind.
When I was done he whistled, long and low. “Damn. If you’re not going to join, can I?”
I gave him a look. “I thought you’d help me…”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Okay, so if you don’t think joining a sex club will help you forget this girl, why don’t you just fucking ask her out?”
Therein lay the problem. “You know why.”
“Because you don’t know how?” He shook his head. “That’s ridiculous. You just go up to her and ask her to dinner. She’s going to say yes. You’re a famous billionaire. And you’re not disgustingly ugly. I mean, I’m way better looking, but…”
“Fuck off,” I laughed. We always joked about who was more handsome, more built, better with women…
the list could go on forever. “We both know I’m better looking.
” My eyes met his, and the smile fell from my face.
“But I’m being serious. I can’t get this girl out of my head. I’ve never felt like this before.”
Tallon frowned and sat down, his leg bouncing with nervous energy. “I have a plan.”
I leaned back in my chair. “I’m all ears.”
“You treat this like any of your other dates. The only difference is that you ask her out instead of the other way around. Or instead of some publicist calling your sister to set you up with some hot, famous chick.”
“Treat her like my other dates?” The idea didn’t sit well with me. I wanted to be with Daisy. Like in a relationship. And that’s not how my dates ended.
“Yes. You pick her up, take her to a nice dinner, fuck around in the limo, end up at the condo, fuck her for a couple of hours, call her a car, give her a gift, kiss her cheek, and wave goodbye from the elevator.” He sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose.
“She’ll be out of your system, and you can go back to normal. Problem solved.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, thinking. “You really think that will work?”
“Hundred percent, man. I know you, Jack. You’re not a settle down kind of guy. You can’t do one woman for the rest of your life, no matter how hot she is.”
I looked out the window. Maybe he was right.
What if I was blowing this up and making it into a big deal for nothing?
What if Daisy would turn into just another girl after I fucked her?
God. What if I’d treated it like a grand romance to last a lifetime and lost interest immediately? That would be extremely shitty of me.
I didn’t want to treat her like that.
“That might work,” I said already planning out the date with her and how the night would go in my head.
“It will. You just have to stick to the plan. Treat her exactly like you do your other dates.”
***
“Jack,” Grandma’s voice came over the intercom. “Lunch is here.”
I shot out of my chair and was heading out of my office before she was done with the sentence. I had to see her. Daisy.
I ran a hand through my hair nervously, forgetting I was wearing a backwards baseball cap. It fell on the floor, and I stooped to pick it up. When I looked back up, there she was. She was standing at Grandma’s desk, talking and laughing with her.
I felt my chest tighten and constrict. I could barely breathe.
God, she was so beautiful. She tossed her long, dark hair over her shoulder.
Her green eyes sparkled with good humor.
My eyes scanned over her. Fuck. Her body was the stuff dreams were made of.
Wet ones. Her tits were large and round without being too big for her body.
Her ass was round and firm. Her waist tapered in and flared out the perfect amount for her hips. She was perfectly proportioned.
I’d love to hold those hips as I thrust inside her, fucking her hard from behind. I closed my eyes and groaned. The thought was so all-consuming, it made me weak in the knees. I wanted her. Badly.
But the thought of asking her out made my hands shake. I hadn’t had to be the one doing the asking in… well, ever. I didn’t even know exactly what to do—how to go about it. But Tallon was right. I had to man up and get it done. Then I could fuck Daisy out of my system and go back to normal.
I watched as she threw back her head and laughed at something. My God. Her laugh was beautiful. Like bells or wind chimes mixed with sunshine and happiness.
Oh lord. Maybe I could go back to normal. Maybe.
“Jack,” Grandma said sharply, and my eyes flew open. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Oh, sorry. Um, nothing.” I realized she, Tallon, and Daisy were all staring at me. I narrowed my eyes. Why was Tallon out here? He was a handsome fucker. I didn’t need him and Daisy falling for each other.
I stalked over and grabbed the bag off the desk. “Thanks,” I mumbled, unable to say anything more when I locked eyes with her. I was mesmerized by her. I didn’t realize I’d just been standing there staring at her until Tallon broke into my thoughts.
“Go eat it, Jack. It’s going to get cold, and we all know how you hate cold soup.”
Daisy glanced at the clock on Grandma’s desk. “Oh, I have to go. Nice to see y’all. See ya, Mr. L.”
It took me a minute to realize she was talking to me. “Oh. Call me Jack,” I barked out gruffly, and she stepped back, wincing a little. I wanted to punch myself in the face.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“No,” I said, too loudly. I cleared my throat. “No, I didn’t mean it that way. I just…” I fumbled in my pants for my wallet. I tried to hide that it was a nylon velcro CaveSphere one instead of being made out of nice leather, but it was impossible.
I saw her bite a lip to hide her smile, and I almost lost it again. I wanted to reach out, jerk her against me, and crush those plump lips against mine. I wanted to bite them, taste them, plunder them. Like a fucking pirate.
I shook myself out of my fog of lust and dug in my wallet. I pulled out a couple of hundred dollars. “Here.” I thrust them at her.
She frowned. “Oh. Um… that’s way too much… Jack.” I could tell she felt weird saying my name, but my God. It did things to me to hear my name on her lips.
“It’s not enough,” I whispered under my breath, but I could tell she heard me.
“Oh…Okay,” she said. “Well, I’ll, um, see y’all tomorrow.” She gave a little wave before turning and walking towards the elevators to leave.
My eyes homed in on her perfect ass as she walked away from me.
Suddenly, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to do it. I had to ask her out. I strode across the executive suite, following her to the elevators.
“Oh, hey, Jack. Did I forget something?” She looked up at me with wide eyes, surprised to see me as she’d turned around in the elevator.
I held the door open, not letting the doors close. “Go out with me.”
Her eyebrows almost disappeared in her hairline. “What?”
“On Saturday night. Go on a date with me.”
“Uh… you want to go out with me?”
Oh God. She was going to say no. She was going to reject me and then I’d never be able to look her in the face again. I’d have to move. I’d re-locate the headquarters of Lancaster Games to Canada. People were supposed to be nicer there, anyway.
“Sure,” she finally said.
I blinked. I’d been so sure she was going to say no. “Yeah?”
She nodded, smiling at me.
“Great, that’s… fantastic. I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“Okay.”
The elevator made an alarm noise causing both of us to jump. “I guess I have to let go now,” I said stepping back and letting the doors close.
She waved at me.
“See you Saturday,” I said as the doors closed, taking her away from me.
I didn’t look away until the elevator doors had closed and she was gone. Then I sighed, released the bag of food from my hand to move it to my other hand. I’d been gripping it so hard, my hand hurt.
And I realized Tallon and Grandma were staring at me.
“Jack? Do you have something you’d like to tell us?” Tallon asked, a knowing grin on his handsome face.
“Nah,” I rubbed the back of my neck and turned to go eat my lunch in peace. But I caught the pleased look on Grandma’s face before I left. She knew I had a thing for Daisy, and she approved.
That made me happy, even though I had no clue how to handle this situation.