Chapter 15
JENNA
A week into our secret dating, Reed is taking me back to his place in California for the weekend. He told his parents he had a few things to do, and I told mine I was visiting a college girlfriend.
And we’ve yet to consummate this relationship. No overnighters were possible with us both staying at our parents’ homes, so he decided it was time I see how he really lives. Now we’re flying on a private jet he chartered.
Reed has taken me out somewhere special every night this past week. We talked on the phone once we got back to our respective homes until we fell asleep. He’s the best man I’ve ever met.
Sweet, caring, and completely awesome!
Our hands are clasped and rest on his leg as we fly through the sky. Clouds move past the window at incredible speeds, and I’m starting to see that Reed Manning is a bit better-off than anyone is aware of.
His head lies against the leather headrest and he turns to look at me. “I let a bit of information out to my parents over dinner last night.”
Giving him my full attention, I turn to him. “What did you say?”
“I told them I had seen you in town and you looked fantastic. Better than I had ever seen you look before.”
“And what did they say?” I bite my lip with worry.
He smiles and moves his hand over my cheek. “Dad said you always looked nice, and Mom asked me how you were doing.”
“That’s nice.” I stop biting my lip, as it sounds like they don’t hate me.
Well, not yet, anyway!
“I also said I was thinking about bringing you over for dinner one night next week.”
I tense up. “And?”
“And Mom lit up like a Christmas tree and asked what night I thought I might do that. She said that she was going to make her lasagna you always loved so much. She started making a list of what all she needed and asked if I thought you still liked her.”
My heart races. “I still love her! Are you serious?”
He nods. “So step one is in process and you will be enjoying one of your favorite meals with me at my parents’ house on Tuesday. So write that down on your calendar.”
Dinner at the Mannings’, and this time I’m Reed’s guest. Crazy!
“So nothing was said about it being weird then?” I ask.
“Not one word about it being weird.” His hand tightens on mine.
“Then I’ll tell my parents the same thing on Monday and see how they take it. You did say we’re coming back on Monday morning, right?”
“I did. Unless you decide to stay with me forever in Bel-Air.” His smile is contagious, and I find myself smiling too.
“Isn’t Bel-Air kind of famous for its many mansions, Reed?”
He nods and lays his head back. “Kind of.”
I lay my head back and go back to gazing out the window. The way our hands are positioned feels so natural. It’s so easy being with him, like we’re two peas from the same pod.
I like what he likes and vice versa. We don’t disagree on a thing so far. And tonight we will be testing the waters of a more physical relationship and see how that goes.
Mind-blowing, I bet!
Since we’ve only been together in his car, which is not a place where we can get very physical, we’ve done little more than kissing and touching each other in an appropriate fashion.
And I am dying to see how he touches me when we can get inappropriate with one another!
I suppose since we’ve known each other so long, the week has seemed like a very long time. Like we’ve been dating for a year or something like that.
We’re very comfortable with each other, a thing I wasn’t with Rod most times.
It’s effortless, the conversation, the way we can sit without saying a word and watch a sunset. It’s all so easy, and I find myself very sad I didn’t break up with Rod that New Year’s Eve night when he was all over those women and made me hurt that one.
I shake my head to rid myself of the bad memories and try to think about being grateful this man saw fit to give me a shot after all he’s seen me do and put up with.
The pilot tells us we’re about to land and I tense up. The take-off was easy, but I’ve never been on a plane before so the landing has me kind of worried.
That is when most plane crashes happen!
I think so, anyway.
He must feel my hand go rigid as he says, “Don’t worry. I’ve flown a lot and there’s nothing to worry about. The Los Angeles traffic is more of a thing to fear than this jet landing.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” I close my eyes as I feel the plane start to go down.
“Hey.” His voice comes from right next to my ear.
I turn my face and his lips catch mine and he kisses me. His kiss always takes me away. My hands move on their own to run around his neck, and my mouth opens inviting him inside.
His hand moves up my neck and gathers my hair in a bunch as his tongue runs over mine. And then he moves his mouth off mine and I open my eyes to find him looking at me.
“We’ve landed.”
I turn and look out the window and laugh. “So we have. Well, you were right. That wasn’t bad at all!”
“Thanks,” he says sarcastically. “I thought that kiss was more than not bad.”
He unbuckles my seatbelt and stands up, pulling me up with him. I run my arms around him. “That kiss was not what I was describing. That kiss and every kiss you give me is utterly indescribable. As are you.”
His blue eyes sparkle. Then he pulls me in for another kiss and my knees go weak as I lean into him.
My body just goes limp when we’re standing and kiss. It’s insane, and I’m so ready to find out what my body does when we’re in a bed and lying down to kiss.
Bet it’s going to be something intense!
When he ends the kiss, he turns to leave the jet, holding me tight around my waist. As we go down the stairs I see a black limousine pulling up near us and Reed takes me toward it.
“A limo on the runway?” I ask in surprise.
“This is technically called the tarmac, not the runway. And yes, I called ahead and had a service pick us up. I don’t usually take cabs.”
The driver hurries to the back passenger door. “Hello, Mr. Manning. Good to see you back. It’s been a long couple of weeks since you left us.”
“I’m only home for the weekend, then I have to go back to Arizona.” Reed looks at me. “And, Pete, I’d like you to meet Jenna Foster. I do believe if I have my way, she’ll be a person you see around me often.”
He gives me a nod. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Foster.”
I nod back. “You too, Pete.”
Reed lets me slide into the dark backseat of the gorgeous car, then he slides in next to me. I must look like a real hick as I look all around the car. “So ritzy.”
His eyebrows go way up. “Are you impressed?”
I nod and smile as he takes my hand. “Very. A jet, a limo. I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
His lips touch my cheek. “Neither can I.”
My insides go hot as I think he means he can’t wait to see what happens when we’re alone at his house with nothing and no one to stop us from really getting to know each other.
In the back of the dark limo, I find his hand moving over my stomach as he runs it around me and pulls me onto his lap, facing him. I straddle his legs as he pulls me around and put my arms around his neck. He looks at me with the most intense look I’ve seen from him.
Then one side of his mouth goes up in a half smile. “I may not let you out of bed the whole two days.”
A shiver runs through me at the thought. “Really?”
He nods and moves one hand up the side of my face. His thumb runs over my cheek and he stops smiling at me and looks serious. “Jenna, I want you to know something. Before I take you to bed I want you to know I really respect what you’ve done with your life.”
“And I respect what you’ve done with yours,
Reed.”
His thumb moves over my cheek again, sending a heat through me. “I also want you to know this week with you has been the best time I’ve ever had. Hands down the best time.”
“For me too. I mean that.”
I watch his Adam’s apple move as he swallows hard. Then he says, “Jenna, I love you.”
Emotion floods me as I hear the words come from a man’s mouth about me. Never have I heard them before.
I always thought I could go a lifetime without hearing them. I thought I would be fine with that. But now I know what happens when you hear a man tell you that he loves you and you can see that love in his eyes; it’s beyond imagination.
“Reed,” I say, but his thumb moves over my lips.
“You don’t have to say it, Jenna.”
I pull his hand off my face and hold it. “So even if I mean it, you don’t want to hear it?”
“I want to hear it only if you really mean it.” His eyes are dark and a bit stormy.
“I do love you, Reed. I wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t. I don’t have sex with men I don’t love.”
“I know that.” He runs his hand over my shoulder. “You are an angel.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I start seeing the giant homes I’ve only ever seen pictures of or on television. My attention is taken as we pass one after another.
“Is this your neighborhood, Reed?”
He stops looking at me and looks out the window. “It is.”
“Wow, nice!”
The limo slows and the driver pulls into a gated drive. Reed moves me off his lap. “You ready to see how I live, Jenna?”
I nod. “Um, a gated community? Very nice, Reed.”
He laughs a little as the driver punches in a code and then the large black iron gates open up and we go through them.
Lush shrubs and gorgeous trees line the road. I look out the window to see what the homes look like in here. We pass a large fountain. “Nice. I suppose you guys pay a pretty penny for living here, huh?”
“It’s not cheap,” he says.
We go slightly left around a bend in the road and out of my window I see a large, what I would call a mansion, up ahead. “Who lives in that? Where are the normal houses? Further back?”
“There are no more houses here. This is it.”
I turn back to look at him. “Shut up, Reed!”
“Okay,” he says with a smile, and we pull to a stop in front of the enormous thing.
The door opens, and the driver is there again. “Welcome home, sir.”
“Good to be back,” Reed says as he gets out and reaches back to take my hand.
I look up at the mansion that has three stories. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever seen as far as homes are concerned. “Reed, our whole town could fit inside these walls.”
“Probably,” he says.
The front door opens and out steps an older woman wearing all white, like some fancy chef’s outfit. “Mr. Manning, how was the flight?”
He takes me up to the woman with her brown hair in a ponytail. Her brown eyes roam over me as Reed pulls my hand up to his lips and kisses it, then says, “This is her, Maddi.”
The woman, who has to be in her forties, makes a slight bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Foster. I’m Mr. Manning’s personal chef and head of staff here. If you find yourself needing a thing you just tell me and I will make it happen. Also, if you have any favorite foods you just let me know and I will make sure we keep those on hand for you.”
“Uh, um, thank you. And it’s nice to meet you too.” I kind of stumble as Reed pulls me along with him up the stairs.
He quickly lets my hand go and runs his arm around me. “It’s a little different than Jerome, isn’t it?”
“Reed Manning, you’ve been keeping some very big secrets, haven’t you?” We go inside and the room is beyond anything I’ve seen except in museums. “This is crazy!”
“This is the entry room. You like?” he asks as he moves me along, and I can’t really feel my feet. I feel as if I’m gliding along at his side and in a different universe.
“I love!”
The next room is filled with leather furniture and the smell is amazing. Dark leather is offset by light tan walls and the giant chandelier overhead makes things sparkle in the large room.
“This is the main living area of the house.” He keeps going, following the Maddi woman.
Then we go into the kitchen. “Oh my God, Reed!” I look at the three ovens in the wall. My eyes move on to one giant stovetop with I can’t count how many burners and grill thingies.
“Now, this kitchen belongs to Maddi. It’s her domain, if you know what I mean. If you feel like cooking something get with her first, because she is a tyrant about this room.” Reed ends with a laugh.
Maddi turns back to look at me. “He’s being a bit dramatic. I don’t allow him in the kitchen as he messes things up. But you are always welcome in my kitchen, Miss Foster.”
“Thank you.” I look around. “But this is so far out of my league, I do believe I will leave it in your hands, Maddi. And, please, call me Jenna.”
Her brows lift some. “Jenna it is.” She looks at Reed. “I like her. You were right about her having a beautiful aura.”
His arm tightens around my waist as he gives me a squeeze. “She is an angel.”
I blush and look away as I place my hand on his chest. “Oh, Reed!”
“Oh, Jenna,” he says, then kisses my cheek. “Maddi, I’m going to show her the rest of the place. Well, not all of it, as that would take too much time. Did you get what I asked for?”
She nods. “It’s all in the first refrigerator, and the wine is in there too. So whenever you get hungry, it’s ready for you. I let the rest of the staff know they’re off and they’ve all left. If you don’t need anything else, I’ll be out of your hair now. But call if you want anything.”
“Will do, thank you, Maddi,” Reed says, then moves us out of the kitchen and through a monster of a dining room.
“Reed, this may seem rude, but I don’t care.” I stop and look at him. “How the hell rich are you?”
“Very,” he says with a smile.
“Reed!”
“Okay. I don’t happen to have the exact number in my bank accounts or investment accounts, but I am classified as a billionaire.” His mouth closes and mine hangs open.
“How could you have hidden this from everyone?”
He looks kind of sheepish. “You know my family, Jenna. I felt like I had to. Mom and Dad know, since they came here for Christmas last year. But no one else knows anything more than I’m doing all right out here in California.”
“I can’t believe Sue was able to keep her mouth shut about this. And you had all week to tell me. Why didn’t you?”
He takes my hand and pulls me along with him as we go through another large room with several computers and desks. “This is my home office. I have a building downtown where the real work happens. And I didn’t want to tell you about how much money I had because I wanted to see if you liked me or loved me, rather, for me and not my money.”
“Sneaky, but I get it.”
He rounds a corner and we go up a flight of stairs. And then he stops at the first door on the right. “Okay, this is the master wing.”
The word he uses has my head jerking and my heart pounding.
Master?
Chapter 16
REED
A fearful expression covers Jenna’s face. “Reed, what do you mean by that?”
“Mean by what?”
“The master wing?” Her eyes dart around as if she’s looking for something.
“It’s the term people use for the area of a home typically used by the owners. You know, the man and wife. Why do you look like that?” I pull her close to me and hold her.
She lets out a sigh. “I’m just a little nervous, I guess. That was really dumb of me. I know that. Sorry.”
“Are you afraid to be wit
h me, Jenna?” I ask, as I know it’s been a couple of years for her and the only other times she’s had sex were with my asshole of a brother. I can imagine how those times went.
She looks up at me and her expression goes soft. “Not at all. It’s just that every once in a while certain things trigger bad reactions in me. With time, that will stop. I’m sure it will. Now let me see your bedroom, Reed.”
What did that asshole do to her?
I shove everything back and focus on her and how I have to show her love doesn’t have to mean she loses control of herself.
After pushing the door open, I pick her up and carry her inside. “This is it.”
“Oh my God, Reed! That bed is ginormous! It’s gorgeous.”
I put her down on the bed and she lays back and runs her arms out. I laugh. “It’s soft too.”
Her blonde hair is fanned out over the chocolate-colored bedspread and she looks even better in my bed.
“It is so soft. I don’t know how you get out of it.”
I kick off my shoes, then pull her black heels off and lie next to her. “I think that now that I have you in it, getting out of it will prove to be much harder.”
Her eyes sparkle as she looks at me and runs her hand over my cheek. “Reed, this is amazing.”
“You are,” I whisper and rest my hand on her stomach.
How long I have wanted to see this woman looking at me as we lie down together sits in the forefront of my mind. And the scene is better than I even dreamt it would be.
Her tongue runs over her pink lips and the top of her coral colored shirt is gaping open. Her pink lace bra peeks out and I move my hand to the top button and open it.
I hold her eyes with mine as I unbutton her shirt and then my eyes move as I watch it fall to the sides, revealing her covered breasts. They rise and fall with each breath she takes.
Then the thought runs through my head that we’ve never talked about birth control. I lean up and rest my head on my hand as I look down at her and run my fingertips over her stomach. “Jenna, do I need to use a condom?”
“That’s up to you, Reed. I’m on the Pill and have had several check-ups. Even though I know Rod was with other women, thank the Lord, I am disease free. But I do understand if you want to use one.”
“I’d rather not, if you don’t mind.” I look at her and she nods.
His Sweet Torment: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 34
