I know what it’s like to be completely lost to love.
Chapter Eighteen
Kylie
The Baxter Hotel is pretty exquisite. Every time I walk through the door, I always feel something stir inside me. You can see how much work has been done to restore it to this kind of beauty. Now that I’ve met Jude, it's different. I know how much this place means to him, and I'm proud of his accomplishments. My heart fills up a little when he gets that spark in his eyes talking about his hotel.
The young woman at the front desk smiles as I approach. “Welcome to Baxter Hotel. How may I assist you?”
“Hi, I’m here to see Mr. Baxter.”
Her smile slips. Then she pastes it back on. “Is Mr. Baxter expecting you?”
“No. Just let him know Kylie’s here to see him.”
“Mr. Baxter is a very busy man. He doesn’t break his schedule for anyone.”
“I’m sure he will for me.” I try to replicate her fake smile, and it aggravates her.
“Listen,” she says leaning over the counter. “Women like you come in here every day. Mr. Baxter doesn’t pick up strays. Would you please leave before I call security?”
Maybe my skirt is too short, but I wore it to tempt Jude. I don’t think I look trashy enough to be considered some sort of groupie. I pull out my phone and send Jude a text.
I’m at the front desk. Ur watch dog won’t let me in
The receptionist has her arms crossed, and she’s glaring at me so I cross my arms and stare into her eyes until her phone rings.
“Baxter Hotel,” she answers. “Yes, she is, Mr. Baxter. Sure, I’ll send her in right away, sir.” She hangs up the phone and avoids looking at me. “I’ll buzz you in. Go right through those glass doors. His office is at the end of the hallway.”
“I know where it is. Thank you so much.”
She finally looks up at me and whispers, “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Thanks for keeping the other women away from him.” I wink at her before I head toward Jude’s office.
Jude is sitting behind his desk with his hands behind his head when I walk in. “This is a surprise,” he says.
I hold up the basket in my hand. “I thought I might convince you to join me in the park for lunch.” I set the basket down and clear the files on his desk. He smiles and narrows his eyes as I slide onto his desk, giving him a naughty glimpse at my underwear.
“I think your receptionist deserves a raise, because apparently she has to keep a barrage of beautiful women at bay.”
He moves his chair forward and slides his hand up my thigh. He looks at me with those sexy brown eyes and says, “Are your eyes getting greener?”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
His hands already have my body on full alert. His thumbs continue to slowly inch my skirt up.
“Yeah, I definitely think your eyes are colored with jealousy.” He parts my legs and fits himself between. “Why should we go out to eat when everything I want is right here?” His tongue glides up the inside of my thigh.
“Jude?” God, that feels amazing.
He licks the crotch of my panties, and I almost jump off his desk, but he holds me down as his tongue assaults me. He pulls my panties to the side and licks over me so slowly I’m panting for air. My moans are increasing in volume, but I can’t hold them back.
“May I come, Sir?” When he sucks my clit into his mouth, the building tension inside of me almost bursts free.
“Come for me,” he whispers against my engorged clit. His warm breath is like a feather tickling my sensitive flesh. I fall apart on his desk as his tongue slowly glides over my clit. I lean back as my body goes lax from immense pleasure.
The clink of his belt buckle causes tremors in my body. The anticipation the sound builds in me is unbearable. He yanks my leg until my ass is at the edge of his desk. Then he pushes his thick cock into me.
His intense gaze is powerfully magnetic. I force myself to keep watching so I can witness the myriad of emotions passing through his eyes as he rams into me. Passion, animal lust, possessiveness, and something else. Something I’ve become familiar with but I’m too afraid to name it, so I close my eyes and let him take me to a level where thought is not necessary or possible. He fucks me on his desk until we both come, smothering each other’s cries with deep kisses.
********
Jude has a car waiting to take us to the park once we get ourselves together. Unfortunately, Raul is our driver, and his face scrunches up in disgust when he sees me walking toward the car. “Be careful with this one, boss. She’s a schemer.” I narrow my eyes at him and he smiles. “I just wish I could figure out what your game is.”
“Fuck off,” I say before sliding into the car. Thank goodness there’s a divider so I won’t have to see his face all the way to the park.
“Why do you have a driver? You always drive your car into the city.”
“Raul only drives me around the city. Have you ever tried finding parking when you have five minutes to get to a meeting?” That does make sense, but I hate having to deal with Raul.
I lace my fingers with Jude’s and lean my head against his shoulder. “We should do this more often.”
“Do what? Lunch in the park or sex on my desk?”
“Both.”
He laughs and kisses the top of my head. We fall into a comfortable silence for the rest of the ride. I’m taken aback when Raul opens the door and we’re at a park I know all too well.
“Why here?” I ask as Jude sets up the blanket under a huge oak tree.
“It’s quieter. You don’t like it here?”
“It’s fine.” We sit together, and Jude pauses while taking out the sandwiches I made.
“What’s wrong?”
“You see that house over there?” I point to the small white bungalow with a calm river running behind it. “That’s the house I lived in with my mom until she died.”
“Oh…God, I’m sorry. If you want to go—”
“No, it’s fine. I’ve avoided this side of town for so long. I thought I’d break somehow if I came back, but I don’t feel that way. It kind of feels like I’m coming home.” It’s kind of weird that he would pick this spot for us to have our picnic. If I wasn’t the one who suggested the impromptu lunch, I would think he knew about my childhood home.
He passes me a sandwich and leans back against the tree. “What was your mom like?”
“She was amazing. She had long dark hair and stunning green eyes. I contemplated dyeing my hair a few times to see if I’d look like her.”
He reaches out and touches my hair. “I love your hair. Don’t change it.”
I involuntarily lean into his touch, and he smiles at me.
“She was a nurse. She loved to take care of people. The night she died, the whole hospital was in shock. All the nurses were huddled together crying. She was pretty special.”
He looks away, and when he turns back his face is strained. “Are your nightmares about her death?”
I shake my head and sigh. “No. They’re not about her.”
He nods but doesn’t push for further details. He pulls me between his legs with my back to his chest and wraps his arms around my waist.
I lean into him and enjoy feeling loved in the last place I remember feeling that way.
Kylie
“Jude asked me to go to his sister’s wedding.”
Stacia pauses with her coffee halfway to her lips and gives me a knowing look, then shakes her head as she proceeds to take a sip.
“Do you think I should go?”
She looks at me, and I can see she’s making an extra effort to keep her opinion to herself.
“Come on, Stacia. You’re the only person I can talk to about this.”
“Do you really want to know what I think, or do you need me to say what you want to hear?”
“I want your real opinion.”
She looks relieved as she places her cup on the table and
touches the back of my hand. “If this was a normal circumstance, I’d say grab your happiness and forget about everything else, but it’s not. He took you to Sunday dinner with his surrogate family. Now he wants to introduce you to the real deal. You need to come clean.”
“Are you crazy?” How can she think that’s even a possibility? I’m well aware I’m taking a serious risk with Jude, but telling him the truth can only make things worse.
“If you just tell Jude—”
“Tell me what?” His voice jars me, causing coffee to spill on my lap. I push my chair back. Jude grabs a napkin and wipes coffee off my skirt.
He pulls the hem of my skirt up, and I catch his hand before he exposes me to the whole café. “I’m just checking if you got burned.”
“I’m fine. What are you doing here?”
“Jax and I stopped to get some coffee, and I noticed you over here. This must be Stacia.”
“Oh. Yes, this is Stacia.” My nerves are on edge. Jude appeared out of thin air, and I nearly got exposed. Jax steps up to the table and immediately zooms in on Stacia.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s good to finally meet you, Stacia,” Jude says, shaking Stacia’s hand. “This is Jax Bennett. This is Kylie’s roommate, Stacia.”
“Stacia, huh? Can I call you sometime?” Jax’s forwardness throws Stacia, and she stares at him blankly for a few awkward seconds.
“Uh…no. I’m not single.”
I know that’s an outright lie, but I won’t call her on it now. I am tempted to call Jax out for flirting with Stacia when he has Candice. Maybe he’s interested in inviting her to join them, but I’d rather Stacia stay away from what seems to be an already shaky relationship between Jax and Candice.
“We can be friends.” Jax is being very persistent, but Stacia has oddly turned cold to his effort to pick her up.
“You’re not looking at me like you want to be friends,” she says.
Jax smirks at her. “What am I looking at you like?”
“You’re looking at me like you want to…” Stacia’s voice fades, and she turns her face toward me, as if I know what to do to save her.
Jax slips into the booth next to her, crowding her. “Like I want to what?” he asks. He’s daring her, provoking her.
She glares at him, but he doesn’t flinch.
He’s relentless in his pursuit. “Like I want to fuck you like an animal in heat.” His lips curl into a sexy smile. Then he leans in and whispers something in her ear.
Oh. My. God. I can’t believe I’m witnessing this, but I can’t look away.
Jax watches her curiously for her next move, but Jude cuts off his opportunity to make her more uncomfortable. “We have to go, ladies. Enjoy your lunch.” He runs a hand through my hair and leans over to kiss my face. He grazes his lips against my ear, and he whispers, “I missed you last night.” God, why must he be so incredibly sweet and seductive every time I see him? Last night was the first in weeks we’ve spent apart. I reach up and touch his face, run my finger along the raspy hair on his chin. He pulls away and smiles at me before walking off.
“Hope you change your mind about my friendship offer,” Jax says.
“I won’t,” Stacia snaps.
“You will.” He winks at her then follows Jude out of the café.
She pulls out her phone and begins to absently go through it, and that’s when I realize she was nervous and probably very turned-on. The only person to ever make Stacia nervous is Mason, and not in a good way.
“You like him!” I exclaim. Her face turns a shade of pink as she meets my gaze.
She leans over the table and whispers, “You didn’t tell me Jude’s best friend was Thor.”
I hold a hand over my chest as I laugh at her amazed expression.
“Seriously, Kylie, that man is the hottest thing with a dick I’ve ever seen.”
“Well, he’s a twin so there are two of those walking around.”
“Two?”
“Yup, they’re identical except Jay has short hair.”
“I’d love to have two helpings of that.”
“Jax has a girlfriend.” Whatever game Jax is playing I don’t want Stacia getting involved.
“He has a girlfriend?”
“From what I can tell, I think they’re in a Master/slave type of relationship.”
“Oh…” She stares out the window blankly, but I can tell she’s picturing Jax as her master. I’ve done it plenty times with Jude.
“Can you imagine belonging to that man twenty-four/seven?” I ask.
“Any woman who takes that man on will be so caught up in him she won’t even realize he’s taken over her life.” She points toward the window as if he’s still out there. “I can’t handle a man like that.”
“I haven’t met a man you can’t handle.”
“That’s not a regular man. He’s an intimidating example of masculine power. I’m used to wrapping men around my finger. I can deal with a man who needs control in the bedroom, but that man wants total control and I can’t give him that.”
Looks to me like Stacia wants to be that someone, but I hope that’s not the case because I don’t want Jax or anyone hurting her. I continue to drink my coffee as Stacia gets eerily quiet and lost in thought. There’s no doubt who’s consuming them, and this spells out trouble in my head.
Chapter Nineteen
Kylie
I get to Jude’s house late in the evening. I follow him into his room, pull off my clothes, and get into bed with him. Moments later he’s asleep, and I spend a few minutes pondering how far gone I am. Driving out here in the middle of the night doesn’t even seem to be such a hardship anymore. Knowing Jude will be here is enough incentive for me to drive hours, and that’s pretty telling. I fall into an exhausted sleep and probably don’t move an inch until my phone rings in the morning.
I reach over and feel for my phone on the nightstand and answer it with a mumbled, “Hello.”
“Good morning. Kylie Weber, please”
“Umm…speaking.” The voice on the other end of the phone is unfamiliar. I try to clear my sleep-slugged brain enough to get what she is rattling off about.
“Oh, great. I’m sorry to call so early, but my photographer canceled on me last minute and I really need your help. I’ve seen your work and—”
“Wait.” I cut her off because her bubbly rambling is messing with my head. “You want me for a shoot?” I’ve only done a few shoots for a small magazine, and this is my first request outside of that.
“Yes, I know it’s short notice, but I’m desperate. I’m Patricia Manning from Creative Homes magazine. We’re having a special issue featuring my home, and I’d be so grateful if you helped us reach this deadline.”
“Yeah, sure, I can make it.” Holy shit! My heart is racing a mile a minute while she’s speaking, but I try to remain as composed as possible. Patricia Manning is the owner and CEO of Creative Homes, the most popular home and landscape magazine out there. How she’d even be considering me for this photo shoot is beyond me. I lean over the edge of the bed and search in Jude’s side table for a piece of paper and pen. I have to shuffle through a pile of condoms and lube before I find what I’m looking for in the back of the drawer.
I scribble down all the information she gives me, then lean back against the headboard as I try to convince myself that really just happened. I’m going to be credited for a photo shoot at the CEO’s home.
Jude rolls over, wraps his arm around my waist, and lays his head on my belly.
“Who was on the phone?” His voice is so sexy when he just wakes up in the morning.
“Patricia Manning, CEO of Creative Homes magazine.”
He lifts his head up to meet my eyes and smiles. “She wants you to do a photo shoot?”
“Not just any photo shoot. She wants me to come to her home for a special edition, featuring her home and family.”
“Wow, that’s pretty amazing. Congratulations, baby.” He kisses up my rib
s until he’s licking under my breast, causing tremors to run through my body.
I pull back and look at him suspiciously. “You didn’t have anything to do with this, did you?”
“No, I didn’t have anything to do with this. You’re good at what you do. You did this on your own.”
I look at him suspiciously.
He shakes his head. “I promise you I didn’t do this.” He continues raining kisses over my chest until he’s tonguing one of my nipples and skimming his thick finger over my already wet center.
“What’s with all the condoms?” I ask before my head becomes consumed with lust.
His finger pauses and he lets go of the suction hold he has on my nipple. “What?” He gives me a confused look.
“What’s with the mountain of condoms in your drawer?”
“Do we have to talk about this now?” He sighs in an irritated way.
“Why not?” I ask, my voice trembling.
“Because I really want to fuck you and conversations about sex with other women might reduce my chances of getting in your tight pussy.” His finger swirls over my swollen clit. “And you’re so wet and ready to be fucked,” he mumbles, running a finger over my wet flesh.
I moan and push against his hand. “Jude?”
He ignores me as he returns to licking my extremely pebbled nipples.
“Jude?” I push lightly on his shoulder, and he looks at me with irritation. “You’re not still sleeping with other women, are you?”
“What? Why would you think that?” He cups my face between his palms and settles his body over mine. “When would I have time to fuck anyone else? You’re here every night.”
I shrug my shoulders and try to turn away. I’m ashamed I let my insecurities show, but most days I know I don’t deserve him. I’m just taking all I can from him before he realizes how much better he can do and moves on.
“Kylie, look at me.”
I shake my head and refuse to meet his gaze.
“Look. At. Me,” he demands, forcing my eyes to meet his. “You’re the only woman who makes me hard with a single glance. The only woman I want to waking next to. If you don’t want to believe what you feel between us, then believe I wouldn’t betray you in that way.”
Deceitfully Yours Page 11
