The Lovers: Cards of Love Series

by Cole, Fiona

  "Thank you," I said, smiling at his praise. "Those are just rough mock-ups that will get the conversation going about the direction we want to go in."

  "I love this one with the wood and I-beams."

  "Yes, I really enjoyed that one too. It reminded me of a very successful bar in New Orleans that I'd visited last year. You can find some of their statistics on the next page. Jake also calculated the success rate of a bar like that in Cincinnati with his voodoo math algorithms."

  His laugh was full and sounded like he used his whole body to express his delight. "He was always good at understanding that kind of stuff."

  "Yeah. I keep forgetting you used to know each other in college." I had been too busy to remember to ask Jake about it, but his reaction at the bar didn't scream him wanting to share the details. So, maybe I was taking advantage of the situation by asking Jackson. A girl had to do what a girl had to do. "What caused you guys to stop talking?"

  He gave a humorless chuckle that had goose bumps rising on my arms. "Life just kind of got in the way. Then soon after, life just got really busy for me, and all relationships fell to the side."

  "Well, I'm sure not all relationships," I said slyly. I wasn't sure what pushed me to talk so freely with a business client. There was just something about him. Something that felt natural between us.

  "Once I started at Voyeur, I didn't have a need to find any other relationships. I was fucking a few nights a week, why waste my time with anyone else."

  "Sounds like a hell of a deal. If not a little bit lonely."

  "It's not so bad. I have coworkers and my brother. Work takes up all the rest of my time."

  "I guess I'm lucky that I get to work with my fiancé, otherwise I'd never see him. And he's lucky for me, otherwise he'd never eat anything but take-out."

  "Ah, yes. All the local restaurants that deliver and I have a very close relationship. I'm not much of a cook."

  "I love cooking. I always cooked for my dad when I was younger."

  "Jake is a lucky man. I can't tell you the last time I had a home-cooked meal."

  My heart pinched at the idea of Jackson all alone eating nothing but fast food and take-out.

  Why not?

  The question beat at me. Why not offer him to come over so I could cook for him? The man sounded like he could use more friendships and I was a great friend if I said so myself.

  And while he's over, he and Jake could reconnect as friends and then we'd all have a threesome.

  I shook my head of that silly idea and was about to offer him an invite when I heard keys unlocking the door.

  Jake walked in with a warm smile and another blank box I recognized from our favorite sex store. He shrugged out of his jacket, mouthing who is it?

  "I'm on the phone with Jackson." Then to Jackson, I explained, "Sorry, Jake's home."

  "I'll let you go, and we can set up a time to discuss your ideas more. Tell Jake I said hey."

  At the same time, Jake gestured for the phone and said, "Let me talk to him."

  "Hang on, Jackson. Jake wants to talk to you." Jake reached for the phone, but I pulled back before he could grab it. "Before you go, why don't you come over for dinner sometime? I make a good home-cooked meal and we'd love to have you."

  Jake's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and silence greeted me on the other side of the line.

  "Please," I added on, trying to coax him to agree. "I won't give you to Jake unless you agree to come over."

  Jackson laughed before finally agreeing. "Okay. You win. I guess I can let you feed me."

  "Yes." I threw my hands up in victory and Jake shook his head at my antics before gesturing for the phone. "Okay, here's Jake."

  "Hey, man. Can we meet up this week to talk? Daniel said you have the numbers I need to run some more analyses."

  "I have business this week, but I'll be done by Friday afternoon." I heard Jackson through the phone.

  "How about Friday evening then?" Jake suggested, stepping away from me. "Okay, I'll text you the address of where we can meet. I'll see you then. Bye."

  He hung up the phone and turned to me with an exasperated look. "Dinner, Carina?"

  "What?" I shrugged innocently. "We were talking, and he just seems lonely and eats out all the time. I wanted to make him a dinner to be nice. I like cooking anyway."

  He kept staring, his brows furrowed as he studied me dubiously.

  "What?"

  "No ulterior motive?"

  "Nope." My lips popped on the p as I reached for the box he'd brought in. "Besides, we have whatever you've got here." I bobbed my eyebrows and began walking backward toward the bedroom.

  His smirk heated my body, and I fought to not rip the box open right then and there. How could he not hope for something to happen when the idea alone set us both on fire?

  "But if something were to happen, then maybe it's fate. Who am I to argue fate?"

  He shook his head. "You're incorrigible."

  I gave him my best over-the-top smile. "You mean perfectly adorable?"

  "You're perfectly in trouble when I get you in that room."

  "Oooh, I like the sound of that."

  And he spent the rest of the night unintentionally convincing me that having Jackson in the bed with us was exactly what we needed.

  I just hoped fate thought the same thing.

  10

  Jackson

  "Do you remember when Robbins streaked down sorority row?" Jake asked, laughing at the memory.

  I shook my head, laughing right along with him, remembering all the dumb shit we did in the name of never turning down a dare. "He tried so hard to keep up with you."

  Jake leaned back and breathed on his nails before buffing them on his shirt. "No one could though."

  "Remember when Luke claimed he was going to win that night at the frat party?"

  "Which one?"

  "The one where I dared you both to stand on the table and perform a striptease."

  Jake threw his head back and let out a loud bark of laughter, drawing the eyes of some of the other people in the pub back to our corner table. Not that I blamed them for staring. Multiple times through the meeting I'd had to force myself to stop staring at Jake, stop from taking in and cataloging each of his gestures. The meeting had started a few hours ago, but once business was over, we stayed for drinks and catching up.

  "He backed down when he couldn't take his pants off because he wasn't wearing underwear. I told him he needed to get buck naked to win and he jumped down off the table before I even finished my sentence."

  "Yet you continued." I laughed, remembering Jake's over the top dance moves.

  "Had to win." He shrugged. "And I would have if someone hadn't stopped me."

  "I saved you. If all those girls would have seen your dick, they would have mobbed you."

  "You say it like it would have been a bad thing."

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head at his antics but switched the topic away from Jake's dick. "You keep in touch with anyone from our group?"

  "Nah. Not really. Other than on social media." He took a drink before asking, "What about you?"

  "No. Senior year was a little crazy for me." A humorless laugh slipped from my lips at that understatement. "I was just trying to make it out on the other side of graduation. Extra time for friends kind of fell to the wayside."

  "Yeah," Jake said, looking down into his beer bottle before looking back at me. "Sorry about your parents."

  "Sorry about your dad," I returned.

  He sat back in his chair, one side of his mouth cocked up in a smile. "Don't we make a hell of a pair."

  I tapped my bottle to his and finished off the rest of the beer.

  "So, why Voyeur?" Jake asked.

  I ran my thumb across the scratches in the wood table, taking a moment to think over my words. Thinking back to when I started at Voyeur felt like a whole lifetime ago. I had to remember why it seemed like such a godsend to me at the time. I had to remember the extreme
shock I'd been in from my life taking a drastic turn, the desperation that had surrounded me.

  "When my parents died, I was hit with the truth that my dad's company had been going under for a while, and he had a mountain of debt we never knew existed." Jake's eyebrows shot up at that. The accident was common knowledge, but his business ventures were not. "His and Mom's life insurance policy covered that debt, but then Andrew and I were left with nothing. I sold the house to help pay for Andrew's medical bills, but he still needed so much care." Looking up, I met Jake's understanding blue eyes. "I ended up working at a dive bar where Daniel's partner approached me and offered me the job."

  "How did that conversation go?" Jake asked, laughing. "We'd love for you to come work at our sex club."

  I laughed at his deep, schmoozy voice. "It wasn't far off. He definitely used a little more finesse in explaining it though. I'd been desperate at the time, and I can't deny that I liked the attention once I started."

  "I bet. You always were an attention whore."

  "Says the man who I had to tackle off a tabletop so he wouldn't strip naked for a crowded party."

  A moment stretched between us, both of us smiling and letting the memories tie us together. I wondered if he noticed the way my eyes followed the motion of his tongue licking across his bottom lip. I wondered if he realized that I noticed him looking at mine. My heart thumped in my chest. Jake had always been like that in college. Nothing overt. No outward sign that screamed I'm curious about men. But it was little things like the way he watched me, the lingering looks, and sometimes flirty comments that fed the butterflies that often swarmed in my stomach when I was around him.

  I wasn't sure he did it intentionally, or that he was even aware of it. But those moments strung me along just enough to feed my hope. So, when he'd launched himself at me that night without any dare to provoke his actions, I'd jumped at the chance. I hadn't stopped to consider questions or doubts. I'd gone full force with the excitement that had been on simmer for years. Even five years later, I didn't know if I could say I regretted giving in, falling to my knees and sucking him off. I regretted it when I remembered how I felt the next morning when he was gone. I regretted it when he showed up the next week with a girl on his arm and refused to meet my eyes ever again.

  But I could never regret it when I remembered the way his tongue tasted on mine. The way his fingers had dug into my hair and pushed his cock deep in my throat. The way he moaned my name as I swallowed his cum. The way he'd kissed me afterward and helped me jack off. I'd never regret the way he'd let me wrap my arms around him in the night.

  I could never regret that.

  He cleared his throat and looked away, breaking the moment.

  "I think it's great you're getting to run Voy. It sounds like you've worked hard for this opportunity."

  "I have. I've been smart with the money I've earned and invested. So, now I have the luxury of surviving on one job, rather than three," I joked. "It all worked out in the end."

  "From what Carina has shown me, it's going to look really nice."

  "Have you seen inside?"

  He shook his head. "Just pictures. I was sick the day everyone went to view it."

  "I have the keys if you want to check it out," I suggested, excited at the chance to show off the space that would soon be my baby.

  "Now?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

  "Yeah. C'mon, it'll be fun."

  He looked at his watch but shrugged. "All right. Let's go."

  I found a spot about a block down and we walked the rest of the way.

  "We plan on clearing all the junk out over there and paving it for a parking lot." I gestured toward the overgrown gravel lot peeking out from behind the building.

  Jake looked up at the brick building. "This is going to look nice once it's all done. Good bones."

  "Yeah, it's what won Daniel over. That and the rooftop space."

  I unlocked the deadbolt, the door creaking when I pushed it open. The empty space slowly illuminated with each set of lights I flicked on.

  "It's not much now." Looking around at the barren space, I took in the exposed brick walls, concrete floors, and stacks of tools and boxes shoved off in the corners. "Once we get the design approved, I know it's going to be something amazing."

  "This is bigger than I thought from the outside."

  "Yeah, it's the tall ceilings and it goes back pretty far. Bar is going to go along that wall." I pointed along the left. "I love the idea Carina had about working in the exposed I-beams behind the bar."

  "Yeah, she and I talked about that."

  Jake stood in the middle of the open area and turned in a circle before facing me with a smile.

  I couldn't help but smile back. Having him here—having him see my success—filled me with pride and a joy I hadn't felt in a while. "We've already started on the kitchen," I said, nodding my head toward the back. "Want to see?"

  "Hell, yeah."

  Pushing open the swinging door, I reached along the wall to flick on the lights. The fluorescent bulbs shined against the stainless appliances and countertops already installed.

  "Dang. Are you going to open a Michelin-styled restaurant back here?"

  "Nah. Daniel tends to do top of the line in his life, so he went all out."

  "Carina would kill for this kind of kitchen," Jake said, sliding his hands along the red knobs on the gas stove.

  "How long have you guys been together?" As far as I know, Jake had never been in a serious relationship during the two years I knew him. He was into having fun and experiencing college life. He always said his dad would expect him to settle down soon after and told him to get wild while he could. Even so, Jake had always said he didn't see himself picking one woman anytime in the next ten years. Yet, there he was.

  "I guess almost two years?"

  "Umm, I'm no relationship expert, but shouldn't you sound more sure?" I asked with a laugh.

  He scratched at his cheek and let out his own laugh.

  "I've known Carina all my life in one way or another. Our fathers owned the company and joked about an arranged marriage."

  "Wow, that's archaic."

  "Yeah, it started as a joke, but I think as we grew up, especially when we grew close working together, they had hoped more would come of it. Dad always said it would be a great business relationship and create perfect babies to take over Wellington and Russo."

  "Interesting." I didn't know what else to say, it all sounded very middle ages to me. Were Jake and Carina happy with each other or pushed together by some idea concocted by their parents? I hated the idea of Jake—or Carina—being in a loveless relationship because of family pressures.

  "Even when we got close it was always more of a friendship." He shrugged. "Then it was more. Unintentionally, I guess."

  "Do you love her?" I didn't know who was more surprised by the question, me or him. Why the fuck would I ask that? Why did I want to know? Just to torture myself?

  He raised an eyebrow and hesitated with his answer. I wasn't sure which way I wanted him to answer.

  He took a deep breath. "Yeah, I do. She became my best friend and was there for me through a lot of rough times after my father died."

  I had to turn away and lean my palms against the cold metal, swallowing hard past the lump rising in my throat. I hated the fact that he was in love with someone else. I hated that that love crushed any fantasy I may have conjured from the way he looked at me. I hated hearing him talk about her as his best friend. I'd once filled the role of his best friend and it hurt to know I'd been replaced. I hated so much about what he’d said, and I didn’t know what bothered me more.

  "But since we never really sat down and had a talk about the change in our relationship, I don't really have a specific timeframe."

  "That makes sense," I choked out before turning to face him. I jerked back a bit when I found him standing right behind me, his blue eyes taking me in, assessing whatever was written all over my face. Fuck, I forgot how
intense his stares could be. I forgot how much I'd always wanted to get lost in them, open myself up and let him see every part of me.

  "What about you?" he asked softly. "Any relationships?"

  I shook my head. "No. Not really a whole lot of time. And Voyeur wasn't exactly a job that allowed me to promise any fidelity to someone."

  He nodded slowly, just staring, his eyes prodding me, but I didn't know what he wanted. The hum of the fluorescent lights became the loudest noise in the room, other than the thudding of my heart and the blood pounding through my veins.

  I let it all show. Let him dig through me and find what he wanted. My attraction, my desire, my willingness to give myself to him if only he'd let me know what he wanted. It was one thing to fantasize about all the things we knew would never come true. But it's another to have hope planted in actions.

  It became hard to push aside the fantasies when he looked at me like that. Like he was curious about me. Like I made his chest just as tight as he was making mine. How did I handle that? How was I supposed to ignore those things that could tip my fantasies into reality? I wanted to scream because any other guy who'd given me those signals, I'd have lunged at them, taken what they were offering.

  But I didn't know what Jake really wanted. I didn't know what would happen if I tossed caution to the wind and answered the questions that his heated looks kept asking me.

  It turned out that I didn't have to decide because, in the next instant, Jake's hands were gripping my cheeks and yanking me toward him. His lips crashed in to mine, and I held on to him to steady myself from the momentum and from the shock of feeling his firm, full lips pressed to mine.

  Oh fuck. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck.

  I closed my eyes and gripped his hips, loving the way my thumbs felt against the notch of muscle on either side of his abdomen. I became lost and transfixed under the shock of having Jake's lips against mine.

  Then his hands moved to dig his fingers in my hair, his head turned to better fit our mouths together, and his tongue pressed against the seam of my lips, wanting entrance. As soon as his tongue touched mine, I immediately thawed, ready to take action. I wasn't the type of man who followed the leader. I took charge.