“It’s not a line, it’s actually the truth. What’s a beautiful woman like you doing at the bar all by herself?”
“Obviously, because I want to be alone.” She told him pointedly, turning back to her drink and wishing he would go away.
“My name is Terrence,” he waited, hoping that she would tell him her name. “May I buy you a drink?” he continued when she did not answer.
“No thank you, I am already drinking.” She turned back to him. “Look, I am sure you are a nice guy and all that, but I am not interested. I just want to enjoy my drink and be left alone.”
“So are you a lesbian or what?” he asked with a sneer. The nice guy had disappeared with just a few words.
“No, she just wants you to get the hell away from her!” a soft menacing voice said behind them. The man jumped off the stool and scurried away.
“I don’t need you to protect me,” she told him, stiffly refusing to turn and look at him. He took the stool the man had just deserted. “Don’t you?” he asked her mildly. “A gin and tonic please, Roger,” he told the bartender.
“Yes Mr. McIntyre, sir.”
“Are you following me?” she finally turned to look at him and wished she hadn’t. He was wearing a gray sweater and denims and his hair was falling on his forehead, He looked and smelled like health and sex all rolled into one.
“No, this just happens to be the latest acquisition of McIntyre and Company.” He told her grimly. “I am definitely not following you.”
“I wished I had known before, I would have gone someplace else.” Jewel responded coolly, meaning it.
“When did you change from the sweet beautiful girl I know, to this hard bitter woman I don’t recognize?” his question was asked quietly but his tone was bewildered.
“I learned from the best,” she sent him a cool sidelong glance leaving him in no doubt as to where she had learned her lesson. He captured her eyes with his and Jewel felt as if she was drowning in their depths. She tore her eyes away from his and looked towards her friends and realized that the men had taken their leaves and they were giving her their full attention.
“I see you have your bodyguards as usual,” he commented cynically looking in their direction. Even in high school when they had found out about her and Jordan, they had been against the relationship, telling her he was too ‘white,’ and worse, he was too rich and nothing good will come of it. They had been so right.
“Please, excuse me,” she made as if to slide off the stool but he reached out and took her arm, stopping her.
“Dance with me.” He said suddenly.
“What?” she looked at him startled.
“One dance,” he said urgently.
“No,” she told him firmly.
“Afraid I might stir up feelings inside that had been dormant for a while?” he taunted her, with a grim smile that did not quite reach his eyes.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” she told him coolly. “Those feelings are long dead.” She used her eyes to look at him from head to the expensive leather boots he was wearing. “I moved on years ago.” With that she wrenched her arm away from him and forced herself to walk towards her friends slowly; deliberately swaying her hips for his benefit.
“Quite a performance,” Jaclyn said with a grin. “Savannah and I were about to come over but we saw you dealt with it all on your own.”
“Let’s go,” she said bleakly, shrugging into her black leather fall jacket and heading for the door.
*****
She had just taken off her boots and was just about to go to the bathroom when she heard a knock on the door. “I told you girls to try and sleep it off-“ she stopped in mid sentence as she looked into the peephole and realized that it was Jordan. She rested her head against the door and contemplated whether or not she should let him in.
“I know you are in there Jewel and I am not leaving until I talk to you.”
She sighed and opened the door, barring him from coming in. “What is it Jordan?” she asked him wearily. Now that she had taken off her boots she had to tilt her head to look up at him.
“We left things unfinished all those years ago, and I am wondering what you feel like now that you are older. Who is screwing you now Jewel?” his tone was silky and she smelled the liquor on his breath.
“Are you drunk?”
“With two glasses of gin and tonic?” he scoffed. “Of course not. Who is he?”
“That’s none of your business,” She started to close the door in his face and he braced it back and came inside. “I spent so many years trying to forget your delectable little body and how you feel under me and the taste of your lips. I went to bed with women of all type just to erase you from my mind, but the image remained. I am back in town and I zero in on you, when I can have any woman I want. What have you done to me?” the last part was said in a pitiable whisper, and to her horror she realized that she wanted him to kiss her! He saw what she was trying to hide and with a deep groan he pulled her into his arms. Jewel fought it and she even put up a token resistance but as soon as his lips met hers she knew she had lost the battle! She opened her mouth underneath his and he crushed her to him, deepening the kiss, his tongue delving inside her mouth as his arms tightened around her waist. He half lifted her up against him and braced her back against the closed door, kissing her hungrily. Jewel clenched her fists into his sweater and kissed him back with all the desperation she was experiencing. The first time he had kissed her had been after a game against a rival team. He had been the quarter back and he had come away from the rest of the guys. They had slipped around the side of the building and he had lifted her up against him and devoured her lips, leaving her weak and wanting more. This was like that time, only more intense, and if she did not stop him she was going to beg him to take her. She tore her mouth away from him and forced the desire racing through her body to stop. “I have had better. Your time in Europe has taught you a thing or two, so thank you for demonstrating that. Now, would you please leave?” she held the door open for him and forced herself to meet his eyes. What she saw there made her want to flee, but she held her ground.
“Liar,” he jeered softly and without another word, he left. Jewel closed and locked the door behind him, her hands shaking badly. She did not know what she was going to do if he did not stay away from her!
Chapter 3
“Darling, you are not eating. Is something the matter?” Caroline asked him in concern. They were sitting in the dining room having their weekly dinner. She had asked the chef to prepare his special Peking duck and wild rice and strawberry truffles for dessert.
“It doesn’t add up,” he reasoned mostly to himself, toying with the baked potato on his plate. “Aside from the inclusion of computers and a reading corner the shop looks the same and her apartment is tiny with furniture that looks like she had had them for years. Why didn’t she use the money to expand, or buy herself a fancy apartment or a fancy car? She drives an old Corolla.”
The only thing his mother heard was that he had been to her apartment! What was he doing there? “You went to her place?” she had lost her appetite and she felt as if she was going to pass out! What if he found out? What if he asked her?
“Honey, she probably invested it someplace.” She said desperately. She was trying to get him off track. “You know her. Was she the type to spend money on clothes and all that?”
He shook his head and his brow cleared. “You are right, she was not into that.”
“There you go!” Caroline almost sagged with relief. “That explains everything.”
“It does,” he said quietly, pushing away the plate with the food barely touched and making as if he was ready to leave the table.
“You haven’t eaten anything.” Caroline protested, trying to stop him from leaving. She barely got to see him because he spent most of his time at the office. When he did come home, he did not use the main entrance but went around the side to go into his suite.
“I am not hun
gry, and please tell Stefan that his cooking is superb as usual.” He said with a little smile.
“You loved her very much, didn’t you?” she asked him as he pushed his chair backwards.
He went still and his green eyes looked at her. “I think I still do.” He said with a small smile. “I keep trying to find reasons why I should not and reminding myself about what she did, but it is not working. I am running out of ways to stop thinking of her.”
Caroline felt her heart twist inside her! What had she done? Because of her bias she had messed up two peoples’ lives and there was no way of fixing it.
“I am sorry darling,” she said softly, he would never know how much, she thought sadly.
“So am I mother.” With that he left the table and went to his suite, leaving her looking after him with tears in her eyes.
*****
“I wish you would come with us.” Savannah said plaintively. They were at her house after work having a glass of wine before they went on a double date with the guys they had met that night at the club.
“And do what?” Jewel asked dryly. “Sit there watching you make moon eyes at Tyler and Blake?” It had been a week since Jordan had pushed his way inside her apartment and kissed her and she had not seen him since. She told herself she was glad, but she was still remembering his mouth on hers. She had not told her friends because she knew exactly what they would say. This was her friend's second date and they were going to dinner at the fancy restaurant uptown.
“We could ask Tyler or Blake to hook you up with one of their friends from the office.” Both men were corporate lawyers and things seemed to be going well.
“No thank you,” Jewel said firmly. “I have things to do like sort out some shipments for the bookstore, and I have not cleaned the apartment in weeks.”
“So you will be spending a Saturday night cleaning the apartment?” Jaclyn asked in disgust.
“And doing paperwork,” Jewel reminded her with a grin.
“When did you become a retiree?” Savannah asked.
“I am just doing stuff I cannot afford to have others do for me. What’s wrong with that?” Jewel protested.
“Everything.” Jaclyn said throwing up her hands in the air dramatically. They had decided to stop by to see if they could get her to change her mind and come with them. She had on a slinky black dress that left her arms and back bare, and extremely high red heels. Savannah was wearing red leather pants and a clinging purple blouse. They both looked beautiful and well groomed and ready for a night on the town. “You are young and beautiful and you are wasting away in your apartment.”
Jewel laughed! She could not help it. “You make it sound like I am suffering from a terminal illness.”
“You might as well be,” Jaclyn grumbled. “Okay Sav, it’s time to hit the road; our dates will be waiting.”
“Have fun you two,” Jewel told them and meant it.
“We will and definitely, I am planning to test drive Blake’s penis tonight.” Savannah said with a grin. “From the bulge in his pants I would say he has potential.”
“You are impossible,” Jewel said shaking her head.
“I am holding on to mine for a little while longer.” Jaclyn said loftily.
“Oh please!” Savannah said with a wave of her hand. “I need to get laid!”
Jewel saw them to the door and closed and locked it behind them. She had told them the truth and besides, she wanted to be alone. She tackled the laundry and while that was going on she cleaned out her closet. It was coming to winter and she needed to get her summer and fall clothes in a container to make room for her winter clothes.
She had just taken a shower and pulled on an old T-shirt over her damp skin when she heard the knock on the door. Her heart skidded inside her chest and she knew without looking through the peephole that it was Jordan. She could not let him in, if she did she was going to give in to her feelings.
The knocking continued and with a frustrated sound she went to look at the peephole. It was him, and his hair was disheveled as if he had run his fingers through it countless times.
She pulled the door open but stood there, blocking his path. His eyes were bloodshot as if he had not gotten any sleep for days, and he had a day’s growth of hair on his strong jaw. “What is it, Jordan?”
“I drove around in the neighborhood and told myself that I should go home.” He told her with a harsh laugh, bracing his hands on the door frame as if to steady himself. “I am not sleeping and I am not eating. Guess what I am doing?”
“I have no idea,” she told him coolly, stifling the instinct to close her arms around him.
“Of course you don’t,” he said briefly. “I want to come inside Jews,” he resorted to using her nickname and she felt herself weaken.
“No,” she said trying to be firm. “I have things to do,”
“So do I,” he pushed his way past her and stood in the center of the small living room.
Jewel closed and locked the door resignedly. She folded her arms across her chest and just remembered she was not wearing any bra.
“What is it about you?” he asked her softly, coming to stand in front of her. She forced herself to remain where she was. “I thought I was over you and I could come back here and see you without being affected. I spent the time in Europe thinking that I was cured and it took me getting back here to find out that I am far from being over you. What is this hold you have over me?” his hand lifted and cupped her cheek. Jewel felt the trembling starting and even if she wanted to move, she couldn't, she was rooted to the spot. “You are in my blood and under my skin, Lord help me,” the last part was said like a broken prayer, a cry for help as he brought his head down and captured her mouth with his!
Even when they were teenagers their feelings for each other had often spiraled out of control. One touch and they would be fighting not to lunge at each other. Their love had become a powder keg and they had had to physically stay away from each other in order to maintain some sort of control. It had become more intense, if that was possible, and Jordan felt as if he wanted to eat her alive, to devour her whole. He picked her up and carried her towards the well worn sofa. He knelt before her, tearing his mouth away from hers, his turbulent green eyes sweeping her face. He pulled the shirt over her head and stared at her full and unfettered breasts with their dusky brown nipples, and with a tortured groan he took one inside his mouth, sucking on it in pure desperation. Jewel sobbed out loudly. As his hand went between her legs, she opened them for him. His mouth left her nipples and went down to her flat stomach until he reached her pubic area, where he licked her through the sheer material of her white lace panties. He had introduced her to the joy of oral sex the second time they had made love. They had been in a secluded part of the wooded area behind his house and he had gone down on his knees and started tonguing her. She had resisted at first, but when his tongue touched her, she had exploded and cried out his name desperately. It was the same thing now; as he pulled her panties down she was impatient for his mouth to take her.
“Shh,” he told her hoarsely as she started to make little whimpering sounds. He brought his head down, his tongue went inside her and she cried out, her hands clenched into fists. He lifted her legs high above his head and used his tongue to thrust inside her, his teeth grazing her mound. She was almost delirious with need! He tortured her with his tongue, only stopping when he discovered she was on the verge of having an orgasm. He stood up and undressed hastily and stood there looking down at her with his penis in his hand. He was big! The first time she had seen it she had shied away thinking that he was going to hurt her very much but he had spoken softly to her, telling her that he would never hurt her. The thought entered her head to tell him to use protection, but the words could not come out of her mouth! He knelt before her and took her hand, placing it on his rigid penis. “Put it inside you,” he told her tightly. She eased it inside her and he grasped her underneath her arms and brought her down on him. She was tight
! His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. She had not been with anyone in a long time. “You lied,” he gritted as he moved up inside her. “You almost destroyed me with your lie.” He told her brokenly, holding her close and moving inside her. She closed around him and his thrust became urgent, gripping her body against his. She moved with him and clung to him, burying her face into his shoulder as he thrust up and into her. Jewel dug her nails into his shoulders and lifted her head to look at him. His hair was on his forehead and his green eyes were dark and turbulent with passion. He took her mouth with his as he felt the pressure building up inside his testicles. They came together and he captured her cries, his body convulsing against hers, his heart hammering inside his chest. He had tried to find this with someone else, anyone else, and it had not even come close. He wanted it back!
Jewel drifted firmly back to earth. She felt humiliation and anger wash over her. He had come over and she had not hesitated to drop her panties for him like before! This man and his family had caused her so much misery that for years she could not recover. She had gone through a miscarriage and lost their child and he had been half way around the world. His mother had told her that he did not want to hear anything from her as he was seeing someone else, he was practically engaged. He was still inside her and she tried to move but he held on to her. “No,” he told her huskily. “I want you to stay.”
“Tough!” it was very hard to make her voice sound cold when she was still sitting on his semi hard penis, but oh she tried! “I want you to leave right now.”
“And if I don’t?” His voice had gone soft and inflexible and Jewel almost grind her teeth in frustration.
“Okay fine! Yes, I am still attracted to you. How could I not be? You are very experienced and a very attractive man, not to mention very wealthy. What woman would not want to go to bed with you ?” she asked him scathingly.
He let her go and she got off him hastily, praying that he would not reach for her again. She desperately searched for her shirt and pulled it on, not bothering to look for her underwear.
Hold Me Close: BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 6) Page 17
