by Vi Keeland
He stepped out of the closet pulling up the zipper on a pair of dark gray slacks.
“What? How did Sienna talk to Chloe?” I was thoroughly confused.
“I gave Chloe Sienna’s number and she called her.”
“But how did you get Sienna’s number?” I didn’t even think he knew Sienna’s last name.
He pulled on a light blue dress shirt as he spoke. “I told you we were going to talk about Internet security, Syd. Any lunatic could find out anything he wanted about the two of you with a few keystrokes.”
“I guess he did.” I was exasperated. We were going to talk about Internet security? How about we talk about boundaries and stalking?
My comment didn’t seem to faze Jack in the slightest; he continued to get ready without missing a beat. “Get dressed, babe, we’re going to be late.”
“Late for what?” I seemed to always be a step behind him in our conversations.
“Dinner. We have reservations at 8:30 at Coco LaMer.”
Coco LaMer was the it place of the year. I had passed by it a few times on my way to work and once I saw two of the girls from Sex in the City going in for dinner. I heard the reservation wait was two months long, although I never bothered to verify that information because that type of restaurant wasn’t in my budget. I didn’t bother to ask how Jack got reservations. The man clearly got whatever he wanted.
I took my turn in Jack’s walk-in closet and dressed in the outfit that I had chosen to keep. It was a gold-colored strapless dress. The top was made of a delicate lace that wrapped around me like strips of gauze, winding in different directions. The waist was high and had a large bow on the right side. The bottom was a shredded mess of sparkly gold strips that completely clashed with the delicate top. It looked like a walking piece of art and fit me perfectly. I paired it with the shoes Chloe had picked, five inch stiletto sandals that wrapped around my ankles. I had long lean legs, but the short skirt and high heels made my legs look crazy long.
I knew I looked good and I was glad that I had decided to leave my hair down. I walked out of the closet as Jack was clasping his watch on and his reaction was all that I had hoped for and more.
“Fuck, Syd. You look beautiful. Sexy as hell.”
I twirled to show him the full outfit and smiled at him. “Thank you, the outfit is beautiful. Chloe has incredible taste.”
He walked to stand in front of me and took both my hands. “You are going to get me killed, with my temper and the looks you are going to get.” Jack was dead serious and I loved every word.
I rolled my eyes, telling him he was exaggerating, and planted a kiss on his mouth.
Of course, the maitre d’ at Coco LeMer knew Jack by name. While it was nice to get service as soon as we walked in, the thought of Jack bringing some of his 1,000 other women to the restaurant dulled my spirits. Jack was already getting good at picking up on things that bothered me and whispered, “I’ve only ever brought business associates here,” as we walked to the table. I thought it was sweet that he noticed the little things.
Sienna jumped up as we arrived at our table. “Surprise!”
I hugged her as if I hadn’t seen her in years. I was happy to see her, but confused. “What are you doing here?”
Sienna looked at Jack and smiled. “I threatened to kill him if he hurt you and he invited me to dinner.”
Yep, that sounded about right for Sienna. I hadn’t filled her in on all that had happened since Jack came back a few days ago. The last time I saw her I had been a mess, crying over him. So much had happened and it felt like months had passed in the last week.
“I’m sorry, Sienna, I should have called you.” I took her hand.
“I’m the one who owes Sienna the apology, Syd. I was a complete asshole to you and Sienna was just being a good friend. I wouldn’t have wanted her to react any other way when I called.”
Sienna smiled at me. “We need to celebrate, Syd. How about tequila for a change?” We both cracked up.
The food was incredible and Sienna and I were happy to let Jack order for us. A few men stopped by the table during dinner to say hello to Jack and he introduced us each time, calling me his girlfriend. I loved hearing him call me his.
Sienna told me about some potential gigs that she was working on for us and we told Jack stories of the worst gigs we had ever done. The bat mitzvah where I’d had the flu and threw up behind the stage in a bucket in between songs—only for the little boy who was the guest of honor to trip over a few minutes later and be forced to wear a vomit-covered suit the rest of the night. The rave in an abandoned warehouse in Boston that got out of control when a biker that was hitting on me didn’t know when to quit, causing a full blown war between two biker gangs to erupt. I don’t think Sienna noticed Jack’s jaw tighten as she told the story about the biker guy, but I didn’t miss it.
Jack didn’t tell many stories about his past, but I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t want to share or because Sienna and I monopolized the conversation most of the evening. Either way, the three of us laughed most of the night and I was surprised that three hours had flown by. Sienna and I excused ourselves and went to the ladies room to freshen up. I gave her the seven minute catch up on all that had happened. “Well, if I didn’t see you guys together tonight, I would probably have been concerned when you got around to telling me you were reunited. But, shit, Syd, that man is in love with you.”
In love with me, was she crazy? “That’s the tequila talking, Sienna. He is not in love with me. In lust, maybe. But we haven’t known each other long enough to be in love.”
Sienna took my face into her hands. “Sweetie, time has nothing to do with it. You wasted seven years with that asshole. That’s a whole lot of time. Did you ever feel for Michael what you feel for Jack?”
I thought about the question but didn’t respond. She smiled broadly. “Right, time doesn’t mean shit.”
When we got back to the table, Jack was talking with a silver-haired man with a young face and neither of them looked happy. I could see the tension on Jack’s face that hadn’t been there ten minutes earlier. “All okay?” I stood next to Jack and put my hand on his shoulder. Young Silver looked at my hand on Jack’s shoulder and then did an obvious slow, leering gaze up and down my body. I watched the whole thing and the look made my stomach turn. Unfortunately, Jack didn’t miss it either. Jack stood and got in Young Silver’s face, and spoke quietly, but I still heard every word.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. And get your fucking eyes off of her before I make it so you can’t fucking see.”
Young Silver snickered, but didn’t look my way again before scurrying back to where he came from.
Sienna and I sat, but the mood had changed. “Are you okay, babe?” I asked, tentatively.
“Yep. Sorry about that. Why don’t we get out of here.”
Mateo was waiting when we walked outside. I was glad that Jack insisted on dropping Sienna at her building since it was late. Jack was polite, but quiet, and I could tell that whatever had been discussed between him and Young Silver was still bothering him. But I decided not to push him on the subject and instead held his hand and sat quietly the rest of the way back to the hotel.
Monday afternoon I finally went home. I was surprised to hear Michael’s voice on my answering machine. His voice was low and full of remorse. He blabbered on about wanting to find out how I was doing and something about finding my grandmother’s necklace. I pressed delete and didn’t bother to call him back. I didn’t want to be bitter about all those years I had spent with Michael, but the way it ended had left me feeling that I had lived with a man that I never really knew, a man I really didn’t like.
As I got ready for work, I found myself thinking of Jack and what he was doing. He had said that he was going to work after dropping me at my apartment, but what did going to work entail for a man that was in his business? I had come home from Jack’s on a high, feeling good about our new relationship, an
d less than two hours later I was questioning his intentions after just one message from Michael. It had taken me seven years to take off the blinders and see who Michael really was. I was afraid of making the same mistake again.
Chapter Seventeen
The next week flew by and Jack and I were almost inseparable. I spent most of my time at his apartment when I wasn’t working. After our first week together, he had insisted that Mateo would pick me up after work, and I knew that arguing a cab was just as safe was a losing battle. Each night Mateo was waiting outside when I walked out and he whisked me directly to Jack’s hotel. We had started to settle into a routine where Jack would get up early to exercise and I would find him working in his home office when I crawled out of bed about 11. He always seemed to finish up whatever he was working on when I came into his office, and I wasn’t sure if it was sweet or he didn’t want me to look at what he was doing.
I was excited when Jack invited me to a business dinner. There was such a big part of him that I didn’t know and I thought that perhaps seeing him at work would quell that little nagging feeling in the back of my head that kept me always searching for signs of a different man than who I was hopelessly starting to fall for.
I dressed for the dinner in a simple cream pencil skirt, rose colored silk blouse, and nude sling backs. I decided to pull my normally loose falling blonde hair back into a slick ponytail for a more demure look. I must have achieved the look I was going for, because when Jack saw me he told me he had the urge to fuck me hard in between the stacks at the library.
Dinner turned out to be with an older gentleman who brought a woman that I initially thought was his daughter, but who turned out to be his wife. The restaurant was packed with businessmen and a few women, most of whom eyed Jack as he passed. I didn’t blame them; Jack was a sight in his navy sports jacket with light tan pants and simple striped tie. Aside from being devastatingly handsome, Jack carried himself with such confidence it exuded masculinity from him that made women swoon.
Jack and I maintained a physical connection throughout the meal. We either held hands, or he leaned his leg against mine or rested his arm around the back of my chair. It made me wonder if he was aware of the women that looked his way and it was his unspoken way of comforting me, or if he had caught the guy at the table closest to us looking my way, as I had earlier. Either way, I thought it was sweet and his touch on me just seemed so natural.
It turned out that our dinner guest owned a small chain of hotels in Illinois and Jack had been researching the properties as potential purchases. The Heston hotel chain had two properties in Chicago, but none in the outer cities, which apparently were good investments as the population was growing in the smaller, outlying cities.
Jack discussed what his engineers had found, and while I thought it was all very interesting, I was mildly disappointed that the business dinner was hotel related. I was curious about the other side of Jack’s business and I had secretly hoped that the lunch would give me insight into that part of Jack’s life.
After dinner we headed back to Jack’s penthouse. Traffic was gnarled for a few blocks, and by the time we arrived I only had twenty minutes to change or I would be late for work.
Jack and I changed together in his closet, where I had left my outfit for the night.
“Thank you for coming to dinner with me. I hope you weren’t bored too much?”
“No, it was nice, I was glad to come.” I thought for a minute. He had given me an opening and I needed to take it if I was ever going to satisfy my curiosity on the other side of his life. “Although I have to admit, I was a little disappointed it was hotel business. You never mention your other business.” I emphasized the word other, as if he wouldn’t have known what business I was talking about without my doing so.
Jack stood silent for a minute and then came up behind me as I was letting down my hair. “You want to know more about my other business?”
I felt my face flush and was I glad that he was behind me. I don’t know why it embarrassed me to admit that I wanted to know more, but I did. “Yes, I do. You didn’t even want to tell me about that side of your life, so I think it has me curious.”
Jack’s arms wrapped around my waist and his face nuzzled in my hair. “Okay then, I’ll bring you to my office with me one day if that will make you feel better.”
I felt a flood of relief from a place I didn’t even know was stressed. I turned to face him. “You will?”
Jack kissed me, a sweet, tender kiss on the lips before answering. “Whatever you want is yours, babe.”
I smiled and kissed him chastely with excitement.
“Two conditions, babe.”
Damn it, I knew that had been too easy. I looked up at him expectedly, waiting for the other shoe to fall.
“One: you remember it is a business for me and not part of my personal life.”
“Okay. I can do that. What’s the other condition?”
“You put your hair back in that ponytail and put on that naughty librarian outfit again when you get home tonight.”
My insides melted a little bit, and it had nothing to do with him wanting me to play naughty librarian with him. Jack had called me coming to his penthouse, “coming home”. It was exactly what it was starting to feel like, although it was the man and not the place that made it feel like home.
I reached up on my tippy toes and gave him a long, sultry kiss that said I want to fuck you. I sucked in his tongue and nibbled on his lip, but broke the kiss before I was unable to stop.
Jack leaned his forehead against mine. “Fuck, Syd.” He pressed his obvious erection into me. “The librarian is going to get a spanking tonight for leaving me like this.”
I knew it wasn’t nice to do, but I loved leaving him wanting more of me. I felt empowered by the effect I had on Jack, who seemed so unaffected by everything else in his life.
An hour into our performance, I spotted Lyle come into the club. He waited until the end of our first set and then huddled us together whispering as if he were about to let us in on classified government secrets. “There have been some reports of a rat being in the club today. We are closing down two hours early for the exterminators to treat the entire floor.” I immediately started scanning the room to look for the creature and suddenly had the urge to get back up on the raised stage. Lyle went on that the patrons would be offered free drinks to move to the lobby bar at closing, but that we were free to go early and would be paid for the full night.
Although the thought of a rat in the same room as me made my head spin, the early evening was a welcome surprise, and I decided to take a cab over to Jack’s to surprise him. But when I went out front to hail a cab, I found Mateo waiting for me. I walked to the car and, as usual, he jumped out to open my door. “Good evening, Ms. St. Claire.”
“Hi Mateo. How did you know I was getting out early?”
Mateo seemed confused by the question. “Jack called to tell me to pick you up at 10.”
I climbed in the car and sat thinking. How did Jack know that I was getting out early? I knew he owned the hotel, but did they really bother him with every little thing that went on in the hotel? It seemed odd for a man who owned a chain of hotels to be aware of a club closing a few hours early.
The doors opened to the penthouse and I found Jack standing in the kitchen pouring two glasses of wine. He handed me a glass in exchange for a kiss and I kicked off my shoes as I spoke. “How did Mateo know that I was getting off early tonight?”
Jack looked at me with a sheepish, but devilish grin. “You left with some unfinished business.” He sipped from his glass, his eyes watching me intently as he drank.
It took me a second to connect the dots, but then I gaped at him with my mouth hanging open. “Are you saying what I think you are saying?”
“I don’t know. What do you think I’m saying?” He smirked, actually smirked, at me!
“You had them close down the club just to get me home two hours early to have sex with
you?”
Jack clanked his wine glass down on the counter and took mine from my hand as I was about to take a sip. “You have no fucking idea what lengths I would go to have sex with you.” Then he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder caveman style and carried me to the bedroom.
Chapter Eighteen
Almost a week went by before Jack asked me if wanted to come to his other office. I was starting to think that he had forgotten, and a strange part of me almost hoped that he had. I wanted to pretend that the other part of him didn’t exist. I was blissfully happy with my Jack, the hot hotelier that I had become inseparable from. The thought of seeing another side to him, one that had the potential to change who he was to me, was physically painful to me.
I was surprised when we pulled up at a nondescript building that I had passed many times but never actually noticed. I’m not sure what I had expected, but flashing neon signs with a large XXX would have fit what my wild imagination had envisioned better.
The lobby was typical office-building-gray and there was a central desk with a security guard who greeted Jack by name when we entered. I still hadn’t said a word as we entered the elevator and Jack pushed the button for the third floor.
“Is just your office on the third floor or do you share space with other companies?” I was forcing myself to make small talk to keep my heart from pounding out of my chest.
“I own the building. Cole Productions occupies the entire space.”
Cole Productions, it sounds so businesslike; definitely better than Jerkoff Jack’s I suppose. And his business occupies the entire building? If there were no other companies in the building then I would have expected there to be half naked girls making out in the hallway or something.
