Chapter 9
Juliet
I almost regretted the words that had slipped out of my mouth, thanks to two shots and a cocktail.
Or maybe it was the fact that I constantly had Chester in the back of my mind since our encounter that morning.
I had never been so bold, practically throwing myself at the guy.
Not a guy. My boss. Though he told me that tonight he didn’t hold that title, and by the way his lips curled up at my words, I had a feeling he liked my boldness.
He was the last person I expected to see tonight, in a place like this in New York City.
Yet, here he was in another well-fitted suit and an easy smile across his lips.
Overdressed, yes, but he looked like he owned the place.
He was the only guy I could think of to pull off a suit that probably cost more than my rent in a club like this, and others seemed to think so too.
Women especially. I could see the way they side-eyed him, inappropriate thoughts infiltrating their cocktail-buzzed minds. But he was standing here with me.
“So, what will you start with?” asked Chester, looking at me as the bartender waited somewhat impatiently on the other side of the bar, drumming his fingers against the bar top and watching this flirty exchange continue between us.
“A vodka soda, please,” I said, avoiding any more suggestive words from escaping my mouth.
“You heard the lady,” said Chester, nodding toward the bartender before turning his back and leaning comfortably against the bar top.
“So, who did you come here with tonight?” he asked, looking around the venue as he sipped his bourbon. I distractedly watched as his throat bobbed while the liquor ran down his throat.
I cleared my own throat, trying to break free from whatever spell he had me under to answer his simple question.
“A few girlfriends,” I said, looking out at the crowd where I could see Sarah’s purple hair swaying to the music toward the front of the stage.
I then looked for Sadie, who was just a little ways down the bar, draped under Jeremiah’s arm and giving me a curious smirk as she eyed Chester.
I could feel my cheeks burn as if I was being caught doing something inappropriate.
“Oh?” asked Chester. “I could have sworn you were with that blond gentleman from the way he was looking at you.”
Was that a hint of jealousy in his voice?
“Ben?” I asked with a laugh.
“If that’s his name,” replied Chester coolly.
I shook my head and laughed again. “I barely just met him. He’s a friend of a friend. Besides, he’s married.”
“Didn’t look like it was stopping him.”
Definitely jealousy.
Something churned in me, knowing that this powerful, handsome man had a sense of possessiveness when it came to me. It was ridiculous. We had just met, but I was turned on by it. I wondered if that was why he had caused that scene with Ben.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous…” I said with a sly smile, just as the bartender slid over my cocktail. I picked it up and took a long sip.
Chester leaned in and a shiver trilled up my spine as my hand tightened around the cool glass in my hand. I held my breath as he whispered, “A guy like that doesn’t deserve your presence. Doesn’t even deserve a glance in your direction.”
He pulled away and took another sip of his bourbon.
I finally let out a breath and watched him from the corner of my eye, his words still dancing in my ears.
He was the hottest man I had ever seen. That was confirmed in the way he ran his hand through his light brown hair, held in place by whatever pomade that complemented his sensuous cologne. I could breathe him in all damn day.
“So, how do you know Will?” I asked, changing the subject as the embers in me began to flicker, trying desperately to put out the flames.
“We met in college. We were roommates in the dorms,” said Chester, looking at his friend who was singing an upbeat acoustic song.
“He’s good,” I said, nodding in the direction of the stage.
“Always has been. He’s just now pursuing it.”
“What took so long?”
“He was working with me.”
“Hmm,” I said, taking a sip of my drink and trying to match the two men as best friends. One in a suit. One with a guitar. What an interesting pair.
“Do you come to his shows a lot?” I asked.
“Not really, no.”
“Not your scene?” I asked with a soft laugh, looking him up and down. That suit really did wonders for him.
“How can you tell?” he asked, raising a playful eyebrow.
“Maybe it’s the fancy suit.” I shrugged.
“This is my ‘casual’ suit,” he said with his fingers in air quotations.
“You wouldn’t know casual if it bit you on the ass,” I quipped, shaking my head.
“Is that so?” He crossed his arms and cocked his head.
“I know all about you, Mr. CEO,” I said, waving my finger up and down at him.
He laughed loudly before knocking back the rest of his drink and looking at me with a challenging look in his eye.
“I don’t think you do, Juliet,” he said, my name sounding like sugar on his tongue. “You thought I was Mike, remember?”
I groaned as I put my hands to my cheeks in embarrassment.
“Well, I read about you in the papers. Briefly. Just to know more about the job,” I threw in quickly, not wanting him to think I was looking him up.
“And?”
“You’re a ‘hatchet man’ as they like to call you. You have built an extensive empire by plucking up companies one by one. You’re a billionaire.” I looked him up and down. “So yeah, you don’t know casual.”
He looked at me for a moment, staying quiet. I wondered if had crossed some invisible line, but then he leaned in with a smile that made his eyes darken in a dance.
“I do know about casual sex,” he said in a hoarse whisper, his eyes now hot coals as they fell to my lips. He pulled away and turned his attention back to the show, leaving me with my mouth open and watching him go, wishing he was still inches from my face.
Now who was being bold?
I swallowed hard, suddenly parched. I took another sip of my drink and tried to focus on the show, and not the sound of the word “sex” on Chester’s lips.
It was like he had unlocked some secret door full of my inhibitions, and my imagination was threatening to go wild with everything I wished he would do to me.
As I nodded my head to the music, from the corner of my eye, I saw Sadie waving at me from a couple of seats down. I turned to see what she wanted, and her eyes darted from me to Chester, her brows high in question.
“Who is that?” she mouthed.
I simply shook my head, not sure of the answer I should give her.
My new boss.
The CEO at my new job.
The hottest man alive.
She crossed her arms in annoyance, realizing she wasn’t going to get an answer from me in that moment.
“I’ll tell you later,” I mouthed, only to appease her.
This seemed to satisfy her because she grinned at me.
“Get some,” she mouthed, before running her tongue over her lips suggestively and rolling her eyes to the back of her head.
She was definitely tipsy. I stifled a laugh and put my hand up to make her stop.
I could feel my face burning as I turned my back to her and saw Chester looking from her to me.
My face turned an even brighter shade of red.
“Your friend…she seems nice.” He chuckled.
“Oh, that’s Sadie,” I said nervously. He had totally seen all of that. “Want to dance?” I asked, grabbing his arm and giving him a tug, desperate to get away from the embarrassing display.
Chester looked surprised, but followed me to the dance floor where the crowd was moving to an upbeat song.
We bobbed our heads to the music as Will’s voice flooded our ears.
He was really rather good. I could definitely see his stuff being played on the radio.
He closed out one song, and started into another.
One much more mellow and slow. Chester looked relieved at the change of pace and turned toward me.
“Now, we can really dance,” he said, placing his hand on my hip and pulling me toward him.
I wrapped my hands up around his neck as he moved his hands to my lower back.
My body felt like it was melting into his.
It was the closest we had been all night.
I could feel his tight muscles through the crisp lines of his suit. He was solid. Strong. Sexy.
I laid my head against his chest, breathing in sandalwood and bourbon. His thumbs stroked my lower back in slow circles. He began to hum the song, his chest vibrating against my cheek. It felt like we were the only two people in this crowded club.
I wondered how the morning from hell could have landed me here, dancing to a love song with a practical stranger.
But he wasn’t a stranger. Apart from, yes, being my boss, there was a part of me that felt comfortable with him.
So comfortable that I said emboldened, suggestive words and was now wrapped in his arms after knowing him for not even twenty-four hours.
This would be messy. Complicated. Wrong.
So many red flags kept waving at me desperately, but I ignored every single one because I was intoxicated by this man.
If we only had tonight, I would be okay with that.
I would have to be okay with that. He was my CEO.
I was his accountant. But tonight, we didn’t bear those titles. He said so himself.
He suddenly stopped humming the song and I dared to look up at him, knowing where it might lead with us being this close.
His deep brown eyes were already on mine before they fell to my lips in silent ask.
I stood on my toes and pulled him down to me until our lips met.
It felt like the air in my lungs had been strewn out of me as our mouths began to move together in rhythm to the song.
When the song ended soon after, I pulled away to catch my breath and to take a second to think.
Am I really doing this?
I looked up at him with so many questions, and his eyes searched my face with his own questions.
Throwing caution to the wind I pulled him in again, desperate to taste him.
My tongue roved across his lips, begging to be let in.
When his mouth parted, I tasted bourbon on his tongue as it moved against mine like smoke curling around evening air.
I whimpered slightly as our kiss became deeper, his hands exploring my back. My sides. My hair.
As if on cue, the music picked up, its tempo faster.
Our bodies moved with it, swaying and clinging to each other.
My hands fell from Chester’s neck to his back, my fingers pressing into the muscles of his broad shoulders and down further.
They found their way under his jacket, desperate to get through the layers to feel more of him. I needed so much more.
I pulled away from our intense kiss and sucked in a breath. I looked up at him, his face flushed and his eyes dark.
“I need some air,” I said breathlessly.
He nodded and took me by the hand, leading me through the crowd to a side door of the venue.
On our way out, I spotted Sarah watching us exit the building with a curious smile on her lips.
I smiled back at her before slipping out the side door after Chester and into the cool night air.
We were the only ones out on the small patio, with everyone inside for the show.
Knowing we were alone lit something within me.
Chester leaned up against the red brick of the building, eyeing me like we might spontaneously combust if we touched again.
I took the risk and with two quick strides toward him, I launched myself at him.
Our tongues lashed against each other more desperate than before, hungry for more.
I reached up and ran my fingers through his hair, tangling in it as I pulled him in, needing him closer.
His hands roved up my sides, stopping where his thumbs could idly draw circles dangerously close to my breasts.
I unclenched one hand from his hair, sliding it slowly down his neck and past his chest. I lingered on his hard stomach before moving further down.
My fingers lightly brushed against the front of his pants, and I let out a faint gasp into his mouth at the firmness of his cock.
Something warm pooled inside me, knowing he lusted for me as much as I did for him.
I firmly pressed my palm against his erection and stroked it upward, causing a low groan to escape his throat.
I pulled away from our kiss and whispered against his lips, “I wish we were somewhere alone right now.”
He looked down at me and around at the empty patio, raising a brow to suggest we were alone out here. I shook my head and bit my lip. I wasn’t that bold.
“Come home with me,” he said, pulling my lip from my teeth with his thumb.
I nodded, wanting nothing more.