Without hesitation, she selected his contact from her recent calls list and pressed the phone to her ear, waiting anxiously as it rang.
Chapter 83
Hal
Hal winced at the sound of the ringer of his phone, and he groaned as he flipped over in bed to see who it was that was calling him. His head pounded in his ears, and if this was Adam calling about their morning workout, he was just going to have to cancel it.
Hal picked up his phone from the nightstand, turned the screen to face him, and felt a jolt of excitement when he saw Jesse’s name in the caller ID. He abruptly sat up in bed as he answered, barely suppressing a bout of nausea as the room spun around him.
“Hello?” he spoke gruffly into the phone, a little embarrassed at the roughness of his voice.
“Hi,” Jesse spoke, and Hal felt a feeling of calm and serenity as he heard her voice. “Sorry to call you so early.”
“Oh no, you’re fine.” Hal shook his head and cleared his throat. “What’s up? How did the interview go?”
Hal heard Jesse sigh on the other end of the line.
“It’s a lot to explain,” she said, her voice sounding tense. “And I know it’s sooner than I had planned, but I was wondering if maybe I could come over. I mean, if not, I totally understand …”
“What? No!” Hal immediately protested, feeling a momentary panic at the thought that he wouldn’t get to see her. “Of course you can come over. Do you need me to send Adam to come pick you up?”
“No, no,” Hal heard her hasty response on the other end. “I’ll just take a cab.”
“Okay,” Hal said reluctantly. “I’ll send Adam down to the street so he can bring you up, alright?”
“Alright,” Jesse said, and Hal was sure that he heard relief in her voice. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay,” Hal said gently. “I’ll see you soon.”
With that, Jesse hung up, and Hal was left staring blankly at his phone for a moment.
Hal set the phone back on the nightstand and suddenly realized just how much of a wreck he was. He had drunk late into the night, and even when he had stopped drinking, he couldn’t sleep. The half empty bottle of Scotch and his tumbler were still on his nightstand, and he hurried to take them back into the kitchen.
Hal quickly put away the bottle of Scotch and hurried to the sink to wash and dry the tumbler so he could put it away. In his haste to do so, though, and in his still partially drunk state, he accidentally knocked it against the hard countertop, and it broke in his hand. He instinctively tightened his grip on the broken glass as if to keep it from falling, and he let out a loud curse as a sharp pain lashed across his palm.
Hal immediately flipped on the water of the sink, letting it wash away any remnants of the glass that may have been there. The cut wasn’t deep, but it sure was bleeding.
With a growl, Hal gathered up a fistful of paper towels and gripped it so that they would absorb the blood. With his uninjured hand, he gathered up the shards of glass and tossed them into the garbage.
Hal lingered in the kitchen for a moment, and after a while, he drew back the paper towel, wincing a little as it peeled off of his wound. It wasn’t bad, but it still needed bandaging.
As Hal made his way back to his room, he vaguely realized that he smelled of booze and sweat and needed to shower and clean up. He made it to his bathroom and stripped out of his clothes, careful to avoid getting blood on them. He awkwardly turned on the faucet with his left hand and got in the shower, not bothering to adjust the temperature.
Hal proceeded to wash himself hastily with his good hand, wincing when soap accidentally got into his wound. When he finished in the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist as best he could and proceeded to tend to his hand. He poured some iodine over it, hissed at the sting, and then put an antibacterial gel over the wound.
He dug into his first aid kit and withdrew an absorbent pad that would be sure to catch the blood from his hand. Then, he secured the pad with gauze and a strip of tape. It was a rough bandage, but it would have to do for the time being.
With his hand taken care of and his body clean, Hal gingerly brushed his teeth, trying his best to scrub away the smell of Scotch and morning breath.
When he was finished, he ran his left hand through his wet hair to tame it and then hurried into his room to find some clothes. He opted for a black T-shirt and a pair of chino shorts and then examined himself in the mirror. He was certainly not up to his own standards of appearance, but there was only so much he could do with the time he’d been allotted.
In fact, it seemed that he had managed his time perfectly. No sooner had he walked out into the living room than the elevator doors slid open, and Jesse stepped into the front hallway.
Hal smiled, and he felt his soul lighten a little just from the sight of her.
“Hey Jess,” he greeted her and then frowned a little as he saw the strained look on her face. “What’s the …”
Hal was abruptly cut off as Jesse advanced on him, wordlessly pulling his face down to hers and devouring him in a heated kiss. Hal felt her hand move to cup between his legs, and he felt a bolt of hot desire as she roughly gripped his member and it began to respond.
“I need you,” Jesse whispered, and Hal locked his eyes onto her frenzied blue ones.
All Hal could think to do was nod and immediately make for his bedroom.
Chapter 84
Jesse
Jesse barely managed to contain herself as Hal hastily led her into his bedroom. She wasted no time in roughly pushing Hal back onto the bed and then undoing the button of his shorts. She jerked them down his thighs to gather around his knees, and her eyes locked onto his cock as it sprang free of them. Jesse’s mouth watered, and she eagerly took him between her lips, dipping her head and taking him fully into her.
She heard Hal groan as she worked at him, and her body delighted in the sound, a shudder rolling through every limb and wetness pooling between her thighs. She did not get to stay there long, though, before Hal gathered her up under her arms and dragged her up his body.
Hal’s hands easily found the hem of her dress, and he yanked it up over her hips. She saw his eyes lock onto her panties, and she gasped as he took hold of them and tore them off of her as if they were made of spider webs. His hands then gripped her hips, and she released a sharp cry as he pierced her with his erection, his thickness stretching her in just the right way.
Jesse groaned and gasped as Hal held her hips tightly, thrusting up into her with fervor. Jesse braced her hands on his chest and fought against his grip so that she could ride him at her own pace, which at the time was a demanding one.
Hal groaned beneath her, and he shifted his grip on her hips to instead caress her breasts through the material of her bra and her dress. Jesse released a long moan at the sensation, feeling whole and complete as he buried himself inside of her and manipulated her swollen flesh.
Jesse’s eyes drifted closed, and she released a soft cry as Hal suddenly flipped Jesse over onto her back and pinned her down to the bed. He gripped her ankles and stretched them up over her head to give himself a better angle.
Hal set up a furious pace pumping in and out of her, and Jesse slipped a hand between their bodies and circled her clit.
Jesse let out a sob as she came hard around Hal’s cock, and she murmured incoherently as Hal continued to pound into her, and she shuddered at the sound of the grunts he was releasing.
Finally, he too found his release, and Jesse whimpered at the intimate sensation of his seed filling her up. She heard Hal release a long sigh, and after a moment, he gently lowered himself on top of her, rolling to the side and gathering her up to his chest.
They stayed that way for a long moment, content to hold each other close in the aftermath of their impromptu lovemaking.
“I missed you,” Jesse heard Hal murmur, and she smiled a little.
Her smile quickly faded, though, as she remembered why she had come over h
ere in such a frenzy in the first place. She knew that she would have to tell him the details of what had happened between him and Elaine, but she had to admit that she was worried about how he would react.
“How was your meeting?” Hal spoke again, and Jesse felt a twinge of anxiety in her stomach.
“It was fine,” Jesse said and then felt guilty for the incorrect abbreviation.
“Fine?” Hal responded, his voice rough and a little scratchy. “What does that mean? I was a little surprised that you called so early. What happened?”
Jesse suddenly found herself too nervous to really answer the question, and she looked around for anything that would provide her some distraction. In the process of doing so, Jesse was alarmed to see that Hal had a bandage wrapped around his hand and that it was even a little soaked through with blood.
“Oh, my God,” Jesse murmured and gingerly took up his hand in hers. She had no idea how she had missed it before, and she felt more than a little guilty that it had somehow escaped her notice.
“What happened?” she asked, looking up at his face in alarm. It was then that she noticed it wasn’t just his hands that were in bad shape.
Hal’s eyes seemed sunken deep into his face, and there were dark bags under them. His face was not shaven clean as it usually was.
“Nothing,” Hal responded, stiffening a little. “I cut my hand on a glass I was trying to wash. Don’t worry, I already cleaned it and put some antibacterial on it.”
As Hal spoke, his breath washed over Jesse’s face and past the layer of mint that surely came from his toothpaste, she detected the stench of alcohol. Jesse frowned at him, suddenly very worried. More than that, she felt guilty that in her haze of lust she hadn’t noticed it before.
“Have you been drinking?” Jesse asked him, though she already knew the answer.
Hal released a sigh, and he ran his uninjured hand over his face.
“Yes,” he answered. “I just … I had a lot on my mind. And I couldn’t even fall asleep either.”
Jesse frowned, and she gently laid his hand in her lap, gently stroking his face. He smiled and turned his face to press a kiss into her palm.
“Don’t worry about me,” Hal said, waving a hand in dismissal, an easy smile on his face. “I feel much better now that you’re here.”
Jesse couldn’t help feeling a little flattered at the admission. Still, she knew that Hal needed to recover from his hangover and that he was in no position to do it himself.
“You must feel awful,” Jesse said softly, looking over Hal’s body. He shrugged and grinned, though his eyes dropped considerably, and he yawned widely.
“Sorry,” Hal said with a chuckle.
“Don’t apologize,” Jesse said softly and ran her fingernails through his hair, pleased at the way his eyes drifted shut. “Here, let me go get you some painkillers and water.”
Jesse made to get up out of the bed, but Hal placed his injured hand on her thigh to halt her. Jesse was surprised at the tightness of his grip, and she knew it must be hurting him. She made to loosen his grip and looked up into his tired eyes, surprised at the hint of anxiety she saw gleaming there.
“Don’t go,” he said, and his tired, rough voice was clearly tense. “Just stay here with me.”
Jesse considered it for a moment, but her resolve hardened when she realized how much his head must be hurting, not to mention his hand.
“I’ll be right back, I promise,” Jesse assured him. “Where do you keep your medicine? The bathroom.”
Jesse could see Hal’s jaw tighten, but he nodded.
“Are there glasses in there,” she asked him gently, hoping to coax out at least a few responses from him.
“There is a tumbler,” Hal offered. Jesse nodded. It would certainly do the job.
“I’ll be right back,” Jesse repeated and finally managed to remove his hand from her thigh, being careful not to irritate his injury.
Jesse hurried into the bathroom and opened up the large cabinet that was situated over the toilet. She soon found a bottle of painkillers and opened it up, putting a few of the pills in her hand. She found the tumbler and turned on the water, filling it up with as much water as it would hold.
With the pills and the water in hand, Jesse returned to the bedside. Hal sat up in the bed, and Jesse handed him first the pills, which he quickly tossed into his mouth, and then the water, which he soon polished off. He set the tumbler on his nightstand and then turned to Jesse, looking over at her expectantly.
“You need to eat something,” Jesse said, and Hal frowned. “It will make you feel better.”
Hal grumbled.
“You stay here,” Jesse said. “I’ll just go make you some toast or something, okay? I’ll bring it right back here.”
Jesse didn’t allow Hal any time to protest, and she headed into the kitchen.
As she rushed over there, Jesse’s mind spun, and she wondered why on earth he had decided to drink so much last night. She couldn’t help feeling a little guilty. She was sure that if she had been there with him, he wouldn’t have done anything like that.
Jesse felt darkness in the pit of her stomach. She felt foolish for putting stock into anything that Elaine ever said, but she was reminded of what she had said about her suspicions about Hal’s past and the possibility that he was suffering from mental illness. Jesse was taken back to the first time they had eaten lunch together and the story he had told her about his past.
She wondered if he had left anything out, and if so, what exactly those details might be.
Chapter 85
Hal
Hal tried to do as Jesse had asked him and just stay in bed. But even with the knowledge that she was only a few rooms away, he couldn’t stand the distance between them.
With a soft groan, he rolled off the side of the bed, pulling his shorts back up and buttoning them at his waist. Silently, he made his way down the hall and toward the kitchen. True to her word, Jesse was waiting at the toaster while a couple of slices of bread were browning, her back turned to him.
Hal smirked to himself as he silently crossed the room, sneaking up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist.
Jesse gasped and jumped in his arms, and Hal chuckled at having surprised her.
“You scared me,” Jesse said, some amusement in her voice, but also a lot of tension.
“Sorry,” Hal said a little sarcastically.
“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” Jesse said. “I’m sure you feel awful.”
Hal shrugged. He had dealt with far, far worse.
The toast popped out of the toaster, and Hal had to admit that he was hungrier than he had let on at first, as his mouth began to water at the scent of the food.
Jesse slipped out of his arms to rummage through his cabinets, and she eventually found a plate, which she put the toast on.
“Do you want anything on it?” Jesse asked him.
“I’d better not,” Hal said, briefly acknowledging the instability of his stomach. Jesse set down the plate on the counter and folded her arms, watching him expectantly.
Hal rolled his eyes and laughed a little at the look on her face. It reminded him of a mother who had told her child he couldn’t leave the table until he had finished his food. So, like an obedient child, Hal took up one of the slices of toast and took a bite out of it.
It didn’t take him long to finish up the small meal, and Hal was relieved that his stomach didn’t seem to be reacting negatively to the plain foods. He made to put the plate in the sink, but Jesse took it from him.
“You’ll ruin your bandages,” she said by way of an explanation. “It looks like they’ll need to be changed soon anyway.”
“They’ll be fine.” Hal dismissed her worries with a smile, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter, watching as Jesse washed, dried, and put away the dish. When she was done, she looked over at him and gave him a worried glance.
“Let me look at your hand,” Jesse said, looking down at the
bandages.
Hal groaned.
“It’s fine,” he insisted. “Come on, let’s go back to bed.”
Jesse seemed hesitant.
“I don’t want it to get infected …” Jesse trailed off and reached out as if to take his hand.
Hal gently took hold of her wrist in his good hand and looked her in the eye.
“Jess,” he said softly. “My hand is fine. I already cleaned it up. It won’t get infected.”
Jesse looked up at him, and a scowl was still worked across her face.
“I’m tired,” he explained further. “I couldn’t sleep last night. All I want to do is go back to bed, curl up with you, and take a nap.”
Jesse’s face transformed into an expression of pity. Hal didn’t necessarily want her pity, but he knew that he could work with it in order to get what he wanted in this situation.
“After that,” he went on. “You can look at my hand, fix me food, whatever you want. Okay?”
Jesse seemed reluctant, but he saw her expression relax, and she eventually nodded.
“Okay,” she said, and Hal released a small sigh of relief. He placed his good hand in the small of her back and led her out of the kitchen back toward the bedroom.
Hal was becoming increasingly aware of just how very tired he really was. Even as they walked, he could barely keep his eyes open. And now that Jesse was here with him, he knew that he would be calm enough to sleep, knowing that she was with him and not somewhere else doing who knew what.
They made it back into his bedroom, and Hal did not hesitate to lay down on one side of the bed, gathering up his blankets to cover him, and then holding them up to allow Jesse to crawl in. He looked up at her, though, and she seemed hesitant still.
“Jess,” Hal said, looking up at her. “Please come lie down.”
“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” Jesse asked, seeming anxious. “More water or something else to eat…”
“No,” Hal cut her off gently. “I just need you right now. Please, come lie down.”
Bedroom Rodeo: A Billionaire Romance Page 70
