by J. C. Reed
Page 3
Jett’s arm wrapped around my shoulders, and he pulled me to his chest. Too late did I realize why. My pulse pounded hard and my stomach turned as the helicopter hit a downdraft, and then the pilot descended. I closed my eyes, sending a short prayer to any higher power out there. Jett laughed, but the sound barely registered with me. My back was slick with sweat and my legs felt so weak I thought I might faint on the spot. And then the helicopter hit the ground with a soft thud, and the pilot switched off the engine.
I opened my eyes warily, not quite trusting the sudden silence. Jett was staring at me with an irritating grin on his lips. I glared at him and grabbed his outstretched hand as he helped me up.
“Don’t say a word,” I whispered.
“I wasn’t going to. ” He laughed, which was worse than words.
My limbs continued to shake, and I felt oddly lightheaded as he helped me out of the helicopter. With a sigh of relief, I stepped foot onto solid ground, thankful that it was over. We were still alive, and for that I was tempted to kiss the ground beneath my feet. The pilot said his goodbye and took off, leaving Jett and me alone.
“You did great. ” Jett grabbed his bag from the floor and hung it around his shoulder. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ll live so I guess—” I shrugged. Maybe it was the happiness at the prospect of having made it out alive that urged me to tell the truth, or maybe it was the adrenaline coursing through my veins, but for some reason I felt at the top of the world. “To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. ”
Jett cocked a brow. “You’d do it again?”
I snorted.
Hell, no.
Reading my mortified expression, he let out a deep rumble that resembled a laugh. “I know you, and you’re changed, baby. Do it again, and you’ll never want to step foot out of this thing. ”
I bit my lip, fighting hard to come up with a kickass comeback. But Jett was right. Something in me had changed. I was proud of myself. And while I’d be scared to get into a helicopter again, deep down I knew I’d do it.
Who would have thought that I, the most responsible person I knew, had a danger-seeking bone in my body? I had to take a picture, because Sylvie would never believe it otherwise.
“It’s not that different from a plane, right?” Jett said, grilling me, winding me up, waiting to drop the “I told you so” bomb. I ignored the amused look on his face and shrugged again.
“I’d say you can’t compare them. When we hit the turbulence, I felt like I was the one holding up the chopper by the armrest. ” I scanned the area of the heliport. “By the way, where are we?”
“In the Hamptons. ”
“Ah. ” What the heck where we doing there? I opened my mouth to ask when Jett held up his hand to silence me.
“Come on, Miss Stewart. I have big plans for us. ” Touching the small of my back, Jett guided me across the platform to a door and down the stairs until we reached the lower level and a reception area, where a man in his thirties was waiting.
“Sir. Ma’am. ” He held out his hand as he saw us approaching.
Jett shook it and whispered to me, “He’s our driver. ”
“Where’s he taking us?”
Jett winked. “You’ll see. ”
I grumbled but didn’t comment as I followed him to our waiting limousine.
Chapter 3
TEN MINUTES LATER, the driver let us out in front of a huge Renaissance property with Greek-style columns and a stone pavement leading to an arched front door. The kind of mansion that screamed high society and celebrities, luxury and buying stuff no one needs. The kind of mansion that can only be found portrayed in magazines alongside a multi-million-dollar price tag. While I had seen it all before during my visit to the Lucazzone estate, this was different. Even though I loved the estate in Italy, with its magnificent backyard and the vastness of its rooms, it paled in comparison to the cream-colored building in front of us.
“Wow,” I whispered. “Magnificent. ”
“It belongs to one of our clients. ” Jett held out his hand and I placed my palm in his, our fingers connecting. “May I invite you in?”
“Sure. ” I stifled the giggle forming at the back of my throat at hearing his Southern accent so pronounced. It was strange, because usually he tried his best to hide it.
He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and dangled it in front of my face. “It’s ours for the night. ”
Ah, the night. I swallowed hard at the sudden blast of heat running through my body.
“Does he know?” I didn’t know what made me ask such a question.
“You mean ‘she’? No, she doesn’t know. It’s been empty for months because the price she’s asking is ridiculously high and no one wants to buy it. I told her, but she won’t listen. ” He trailed off for a moment, as though annoyed that someone would not listen to his expert opinion. He was an expert when it came to prime real estate, so the owner was probably an idiot. “Anyway,” Jett continued, “why don’t we take a tour around this place?”
I squeezed his hand to stop him before he unlocked the door. “Jett, we can’t stay in a property that we’re supposed to sell. It’s not right. ”
His intent gaze fixed on me, and for a moment I thought I caught a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Why not? We’re here to get a feel for it so we can come up with the right sales pitch. How else are we supposed to flock it off if we don’t know what we’re talking about?”
I couldn’t argue with that.
Jett unlocked the door and entered to switch off the silent alarm. I didn’t move from the spot until he peered out again with a quizzical look. “Are you coming?”
I shook my head. “I don’t feel comfortable with this. What if she finds out?”
“She lives in Florida and asked me to personally take care of it. ” He winked. “Which I’m doing—literally. ”
“What if the neighbors see us?”
He pulled me inside and closed the door behind me. It closed with a loud bang. I regarded him, shocked by his boldness. Jett dropped the bag and turned to face me.
“Who says we can’t?” His eyes had that dangerous look I had first glimpsed the day we had sex on the beach. The one that always promised a sizzling time. The one that didn’t take “no” for an answer. “First of all, we’re her realtors, Brooke, and it’s in her contract that we enter the house in her absence at our convenience. And second, what are you afraid of?” He raised my chin, and his lips came so close I could feel his sexy breath as his voice dropped to a whisper. “After I win, I get to choose where and how I take you. What if I want it here? Will you deny me?”
His finger curled around the buttons of my business jacket as he opened them one by one. One button and then another until my thin blouse was exposed. “What if I told you that the only reason I brought you here is to have sex in the pool, on the beach, in the backyard, or on the pool table?”
“Thanks for your honesty. But it doesn’t matter, Jett, because you haven’t won yet. ” It took all my willpower to push his hand from under my blouse.
“Having you twenty-four hours just for myself sounds too tempting to let you win. You know that, right?”
“People who reach too far are the ones who fall from the greatest height. ” My smile matched his cocky grin, when all I wanted was to get this over and done with so we could have sex, anywhere, everywhere.
“Brilliant people like me never fail. ”
Seriously, his ego was so inflated it was beyond me how he could possibly squeeze it through the door. I rolled my eyes at his arrogance and walked past him, taking the place in. We were standing in an opulent foyer with candelabras and a marble floor. In the middle was a staircase leading to the upper story. Behind it was an open door, through which I glimpsed the living room. Or what I assumed was the living room, because it was huge—probably as large as an entire apartment floor in Brooklyn, with arched bay windows and a firepla
ce dominating the entire right wall. Jett showed me the upper floor with its five oversized bedrooms and bathrooms, and yet another lounge. Then we returned downstairs to inspect the landscaped backyard, the outdoor BBQ area, the in-house cinema, the 850-foot fitness area, the open-plan kitchen, and another leisure room. I had never seen so much opulence.
“This place is amazing. Why does she want to sell it?” I said, back in the living room. We were sitting on the cream-colored leather couch facing the fireplace, drinking a glass of non-alcoholic red wine. The glass doors covered the entire wall, through which we could see the landscaped yard with its perfectly sculpted shrubs and blooming magnolias. It was so serene, the world outside forgotten. A tiny paradise just for us. Only it wasn’t our paradise, and the poor owner didn’t know we were intruding. I put the glass on the table and sat up straight, my back not touching the soft leather.
Jett shrugged. “People change their opinion all the time. What they want isn’t always what they need. And the moment they get what they want, it loses its spark. ” Jett shrugged again. “She bought the place when she was dating some musician, instantly assuming they would live here forever. When things didn’t work out and she met someone else, she moved to Florida and forgot about the charm of this place. ”
“Are you saying she never lived here?”
He nodded. “She complained about the lack of space. ”
I almost choked on my breath. Lack of space?
Holy cow. Our entire neighborhood could live in here and barely see each other. I didn’t want to be inquisitive, but my curiosity got the upper hand. I honestly needed to put a face to this place.
“Who is she? Is it someone I know?”
“Maybe. It depends. Do you know Kim Dessen?”
“Kim Dessen?” My jaw dropped. “Wow. You have her as a client?”
She wasn’t just one of the biggest singer-songwriters in the word; she was a celebrity famous for going through guys like some people go through their underwear. Scratch that. She had more guys than people had underwear. A pang of jealousy hit me as I realized that someone as successful, well-known and beautiful as Kim knew Jett. Kim was stunning, and so was Jett. Two beautiful people born into wealth—there had to be some sort of attraction because they both weren’t blind.
“So, you know her personally? Like, met her?” I tried to hide the tremor in my voice by forcing cheeriness into it, but I only ended up making it worse.
“A couple of times. It’s her fourth property I’m selling. ” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. My heart dropped at the way he seemed to find the hardwood floor more interesting than me. He met with her at least four times. A lot could happen during four meetings. Like having drinks and ending up in a hotel room, their perfect bodies entangled in sweat-soaked sheets.
Uncomfortable silence ensued between us, during which I picked up a sparkling Swarovski crystal centerpiece from the coffee table and turned it to watch the sunlight catching in the delicate red roses. My gaze kept skidding back to Jett as my hands glided over the smooth glass. So fragile. So easily shattered. Just like my heart. One tumble was all it’d take. Such as finding out he had slept with her. Even if it happened before we met, I had no idea how to deal with it. Women like Kim Dessen with Playboy model looks got what they wanted. I never knew how much I loved Jett until I realized the thought of him with someone else was enough to break my heart.
