CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Jovana
“How do you feel about everything we’ve accomplished so far today?” Jade asked Grayson and me while we sat across from her at her conference room table.
The black side hairs of her blunt bob had threatened to fall into her eyes during the whole two hours we’d been here. But even now, as she lifted her arms off the table and leaned back in her seat, the movement didn’t cause a single strand to slide toward her eyes.
Jade Tucker even had full control of her hair.
Not that I should be surprised. What I’d learned since we’d arrived at her office was that she exceeded her reputation in every aspect. If you were having a function in New England with a hefty budget and a desire for the best, Jade was who you hired.
Event planner extraordinaire, with a name that stretched as far as Florida and a reputation for being poignant, creative, and inventive.
Once we’d chosen our date, there was no question about who Grayson and Laura wanted to hire to plan our wedding.
I had just never thought I’d be sitting in Jade’s downtown office, listening to her ideas on the intimate, personal, lavish affair she was going to plan for us.
Of course I’d had fantasies about my wedding day.
But Jade had never fit within that mental budget.
I glanced at Grayson, wanting him to answer first, something I’d been doing since we’d arrived.
I wanted him as involved as me.
I wanted our wedding to be a combination of both of our tastes.
I wanted him to stand at the base of the aisle and to walk into our reception and be proud of what we had designed together.
He glanced at me before he responded, “I’m impressed as hell that on such short notice you’ll be able to book the space we want. I really thought that was going to be nearly impossible.”
A space we’d discussed over dinner the last few nights was a hotel we both loved. The ceremony would take place outside in their gardens, so while we exchanged our vows in the thick, green landscape and gorgeous botanicals, we would be surrounded by the city we were both so tied to. Once we went inside for the reception, we would have full views of its skyline.
Jade tapped her pen on the notebook she’d been writing on. “Nothing is impossible, Grayson.”
The man sitting next to me had expressed his feelings for me.
He’d shown them.
She was right.
“I happen to have the right connections to pull off just about anything.” She smiled as though extremely proud that she was able to make that statement. “My team will be able to pull off your requirements without a problem. Within the next week, I’m going to be sending you some mock-ups of the ceremony and reception designs. They’ll include everything from chairs to charger plates to lighting, foliage, flowers to drapery—you’ll be able to see the entire picture from the moment you spot your groom to the second you leave for the newlywed suite.” She paused. “Once you have the visual, then we can change whatever you don’t like, we can add more, take things away—you get my drift.” She adjusted the arms of the sweater that hung over her shoulders, knotted in the center of her chest. “Given such a tight timeline, we’ll have to make the adjustments fairly fast. I’ll send you new mock-ups, we’ll tweak again, and we’ll continue that process until everyone is happy.” She glanced down at the paper. “You’ll have the next six weeks to finalize everything. Keep that in mind. Because after that date, there won’t be room to make any edits. What exists is what you’ll have to live with.”
I stole another glance at Grayson.
His expression was aloof. It had been the entire meeting.
This was a lot for him, I understood that. It was a lot for me as well. Whenever I’d thought about getting married and my wedding, I had never pictured pulling it off in only a few short months.
Or marrying a man whose name was on a contract I’d signed that kept us together for a year.
That I’d be lying to everyone, including my friends and family, over the premise of our whole relationship.
Regardless, I cared about this man.
I wanted him.
And I loved that he was going to be my husband.
Because there was zero doubt in my mind about how much I loved him.
But even though he was going to spend a fortune on this wedding, and I had several carats of diamonds on my finger, there was something still looming in my mind.
A happily ever after that had the potential of not lasting forever.
After the twelve months were up, Grayson could end us in divorce.
Maybe he would realize I wasn’t enough.
Or maybe he’d think I was too much.
That we just weren’t meant to be.
That love—or my love—wasn’t what he wanted.
Breakups were a possibility in every relationship, but ours was different.
His opinion was different.
His stand on marriage was different.
We didn’t start this on equal ground.
The scale had been tipped and my feelings had weighed me to the ground.
I felt Jade’s stare on me, and just as I glanced toward her, pulling out of my thoughts, trying to escape them, I felt something.
His hand.
It was under the table, on my lap, squeezing my thigh.
I set my fingers on top of his, the warmth of his skin instantly taking hold of me.
Could he hear my thoughts?
Read them?
Did he know I needed this?
Whatever his reasoning was, it meant everything to me.
A smile pulled at my lips as I said, “I don’t see that being a problem. Grayson and I will review the mock-ups and immediately let you know if we have any changes. We won’t be the ones to hold you up.”
Jade nodded. “One last question.” She looked at me as she spoke. “I know you want a white-and-cream color scheme. You’ve described the mood as romantic and intimate, sunset meets sunrise. There’s going to be an emphasis on food and drinks, flowers, and lighting. You want your guests to leave with a lasting impression of love in their minds. But something I ask all my clients at the end of our initial meeting is this: If you could summarize your ideal wedding in one word, what would that word be?”
As I clutched his fingers, he held me back just as tightly.
Heat radiated from our hands.
But when I’d met Grayson, he was cold.
Ice.
A growly, grumpy asshole who did anything and everything to take away my sunshine.
That wasn’t who he was anymore.
I felt that evolution every day.
And I felt it in his hand right now.
“Warmth.” I looked at him. “I want to feel it. I want to see it. I want to smell it in the air.” When I gazed back at Jade, I added, “I want it to be everywhere.”
She wrote something on the paper and then addressed Grayson. “What’s your word?”
Grayson’s eyes were on me, causing me to look at him again, his stare so intense, I could feel it across my entire body. Tingles erupted inside me. And without glancing away from me, he replied, “Passion.” He finally looked at Jade. “I want everyone in that room to know the passion I feel for Jovana.”
“I’ll make that happen.” She set her pen down. “Unless you have any questions or anything else you’d like to discuss, then I think I have enough information to get started.”
“I can’t wait to see what you put together,” I said. “But if we have questions in the meantime, we’ll be in touch.”
We stood from our chairs and met her at the door of the conference room.
While we walked down the hallway toward the exit, she said, “To give you a quick rundown of what’s to come, you’re going to have a full menu tasting that will include desserts and wedding cake flavors, along with a wine sampling. You’ll need to listen to demos from the bands I’m going to recommend. We’ll have meetings with the florist, photographer, and videographer. There’s much more, but those are some of the main points.” She smiled as we neared the doorway. “What I’m trying to say is that it’s going to be a busy, but very exciting, time. How flexible are your schedules?”
“Since I work from home, I can meet whenever, wherever,” I told her. “Grayson’s days are a bit more strict, but we’ll make it happen.”
“Excellent,” Jade replied.
We reached the main door, and she opened it. “Thank you for coming in. It’s been lovely to meet you both. I’m honored you chose me to plan the wedding of your dreams.”
Grayson’s arm slipped around my shoulders, his stare holding mine for several seconds before he said, “We are too.”
We shook her hand, and we walked out through the front, Grayson handing the valet attendant his ticket.
While we waited for the car, I wrapped my arms around him. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how badly did you hate that meeting?”
He laughed and kissed me.
And as though the first embrace weren’t enough, he kissed me again.
“I didn’t hate it. Jade was cool. She knows her shit. She’s going to make sure the wedding is everything we want, and it sounds like she can make it happen even though we’re hardly giving her any time to do it.”
What I really wanted to ask was how badly he was freaking out over it.
But I didn’t have the courage.
Or maybe I just didn’t want to know.
“She’s good. I’ve seen her work. I’ve been following her for a long time. I have a feeling we’re going to be blown away with what she designs.”
His hands lifted to my face, and our eyes locked. “I know what you’re thinking. I can see every question in those beautiful, bright-blue eyes.”
My voice lowered to a whisper as I said, “Grayson ...”
“I’m standing right here, aren’t I, and I haven’t left your side once today. I didn’t lose my shit during the meeting. I didn’t walk out. I didn’t have you go by yourself, or have you pick out all the colors and features and elements—I contributed and gave her my opinion.”
“True.”
He exhaled and I could hear the emotion in his breath. “Listen to me, you can’t change what’s going to happen or how we’re going to feel once we’re wed. Neither of us can. Nor can I tell you that every fucking moment is going to be perfect or what we’re going to look like once we’ve fulfilled our contract. That’s an answer no one can give you. We just have to be present and wait it out and trust that whatever happens, it’s the best thing for the both of us.” He rubbed his nose against mine. “What I can tell you is that I want to be here right now and I’d never let you do any of this shit alone.”
He hadn’t promised me a single thing, but for some reason, what he had given me was enough.
I pulled him in even tighter, hugging him against my body, his mouth pressing against the top of my head.
He broke the silence. “Your plan was to drop me off at home and then take the car to your parents’ new place, right?”
There was still no reason for me to incur the expense of a car, even though it wouldn’t cost anything to park in Grayson’s garage. The last couple of times I’d driven out to see Mom and Dad, I’d just borrowed his.
I hoped that wasn’t about to change for some reason.
I lifted my face off his chest. “I’d like to check on the move and see how it’s going. Maybe bring my parents some lunch. Knowing them, they’re so worked up about people touching their things and making sure no one drops anything that they probably haven’t eaten a thing. That’s okay, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. I was just checking.”
The valet attendant pulled up and Grayson climbed into the driver’s seat. I stood outside the passenger door while he put on his seat belt. “Shouldn’t I drive?” I asked him. “It’ll make dropping you off a little easier ... no?”
He shifted into first gear. “I’ve decided to go with you.” He smiled. “Unless you want to be alone?”
I climbed into the seat and instantly leaned across the center to kiss him. “Who are you?”
He chuckled and pulled into the road as I wrapped the belt around me. “What do you mean?”
“You just sat through a two-hour meeting with a wedding planner and now you’re driving me out to Brockton to help me check on my parents’ move. And your word of choice was passion. It wasn’t eclecticor unique or expensive or even extravagant. It was passion—a word you used to describe us.”
He stopped at the light. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“It’s just not a Grayson thing, so I feel the need to point it out. I can’t help but get all wiggly about it.”
“Wiggly?”
I leaned across the small armrest that separated us. “Yes. Wiggly. It’s the way you make me feel. The tingles that erupted in my chest the second you held my hand during that meeting.” I kissed his ear and over to his cheek, my lips buried in his beard, a sensation and scent I couldn’t get enough of. “You’ve just been full of surprises today.”
I could see his smile from his profile. “If you keep kissing me like that, I’m going to have us make a pit stop at the condo.”
I giggled. “There’s no reason to stop. I can do lots from the front seat.”
“But I’m driving.”
“So?”
He quickly glanced at me.
“Let’s just say, you’ll owe me when you get home.”
He moaned, “My dirty girl,” and his hand shot through the back of my hair, gripping my head. “But I’m already hard, so you better not be teasing me, Jovana.”
“Oh, I’m not.” I rubbed my palm over his dick. “I wouldn’t do that to either of us.” I found his button and popped it through the hole and lowered his zipper. “Because even though this is for you, it’s just as much for me.” Inside his jeans, he was wearing boxer briefs, the large opening in the front making it easy to poke his hard-on through, the tip glistening with pre-cum.
“I’m going to fucking devour your pussy the second we walk through the door.”
I ran my tongue around the small hole, licking off the bead, swallowing the saltiness the second it hit my tongue.
“Fuck yes,” he hissed.
“You have one job.” I glanced up through the windshield and checked the windows on both sides of the car, knowing they were tinted enough that I couldn’t be seen. “To not get us into an accident or this idea of mine is going to go downhill very fast.”
“You have nothing to worry about. I’ll get us there safely. Just don’t stop.” He moaned as I widened my lips around his crown and began to suck. “Goddamn it, you’re good at that.”
I gripped his base, squeezing the thickness, and while my spit ran under my fingers, I used it as a lubricant, spreading it across the bottom half of him, fisting upward until I met my mouth. Keeping my teeth tucked away, I lowered as far as I could go, stroking the skin I couldn’t reach with my lips, concaving my cheeks while I sucked.
Up and down.
“Jovana,” he growled.
He held my hair out of my face until it was time to shift, but he returned the moment his hand left the gearshift. That wasn’t the only movement. He also had to use both feet to drive, so each time he pressed and released the clutch, his hips almost bucked forward, causing his cock to thrust into my mouth.
I loved it.
The taste.
The feel.
The control.
The way he breathed harder every time I went deeper. The way he made that noise—a half moan, half hiss—whenever I rose toward his tip.
The way I could feel his orgasm coming closer by how he was rocking into me, his dick growing even harder. His hand clutching my hair when it came back to my head.
“Fuuuck!”
Every time I dipped, I swirled my tongue around each side, adding more wetness, pressure, friction, and when I tilted back toward the tip, I gave that spot an extra suck.
Like I was urging the cum out.
Like I was begging for it.
“You’re going to make me fucking come.” He was moving with me. His breath so loud and heavy, I could feel it hitting the back of my head. “Is that what you want? For me to fill your fucking mouth with my cum?”
I didn’t respond.
I just went harder.
Lower.
My hand picking up speed, rising to the center and back down, repeating that motion and altering the strength in my grip.
“Oh fuck. That’s it. That’s just how I want it.”
And it was just what he needed, because his hips had stilled, his erection at its absolute hardest, and I could feel him on the verge of exploding. How the tingles were climbing through him, enough that it forced him to halt his movements and just take what I was giving him.
That lasted only a few seconds before he grunted, “Fuck me,” and the first of his orgasm shot into my mouth.
The thickness pooled across my tongue, and it dripped through my lips as I lowered, even more so as he shot a second stream and a third. I held in as much as I could, trying not to cover him with it, swallowing what he was giving me so my mouth wouldn’t fill.
“Jovana, my God.” I didn’t know if we were at a stoplight or he’d pulled over, but his hand was in my hair, guiding me across his length. “That feels so fucking amazing.”
I continued to bob, my speed not letting up, my pressure as hard as it was before, and when I got the sense that he was done, that I’d drained him of every drop, that was when I slowed.
Cum had slipped from my mouth and slid down to his base and I wasn’t going to let that dry, especially since we weren’t going home. So I lapped up all the wetness, taking my time to lick and swallow around the bottom and up his cock, and finished at the tip.
With each second that passed, he gave me an earful—his breathing so erotic, his light moans making me even wetter.
And when I was satisfied with the cleanup, I tucked him back into his boxer briefs, tugged on the zipper, and put his button through the hole.
I was just lifting myself off his lap and wiping both sides of my mouth when he said, “Who the fuck are you?”
I smiled.
He’d used my own words against me.
As he looked at me, I mocked him and said, “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
We were at a red light, about to get on the highway, and he was holding the back of my head, leading me toward his mouth.
“Like I said, you make me wiggly.”
“And sucking my cock like that took care of it?”
“Until we get home and I can ride you.”
“Jovana”—he sighed, shaking his head—“you’re something else.”
I winked. “I know.”
“But more importantly, you’re mine.”
Before I could respond, he was kissing me, owning my mouth in a way that backed up everything he’d just said.