“Yes, Juliet, ten months ago I left you in a hotel room, I admit it. I had to leave. I needed to take care of some business, but when I came back you were already gone.”
“How convenient, this time I’ll give you the opportunity of watching me leave. Good-bye J.T.” She brushed past him preparing to leave, but he grabbed her arm as she passed. He handed her a business card. “In case you change your mind, day or night.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” she warned before opening the door and slamming it behind her.
J.T. smiled, realizing that he was enjoying this little distraction. The thrill of the chase had long since diminished over the years. He wasn’t used to being the pursuer. Things always came easy for him, maybe too easy. Women threw themselves at him on a daily basis, and that had long ago become tedious. This curious turn of events had stimulated a long dormant fantasy of his as the challenge of pursuing Juliet had begun.
Chapter Seven
J.T. looked over at the sofa where he had tossed his suit jacket two hours earlier. It was still lying there exactly where he’d dropped it. Frustrated, he loosened his tie and rubbed his hands over his face then looked at the clock. It was after two o’clock in the morning, much later than he’d thought. The time had slipped by quickly and he was sitting exactly where he’d been hours earlier. He’d been working on a program for two hours and hadn’t gotten any closer to solving it.
Working on software had always been his escape. He could lose himself in it and not look up until the program was completely de-bugged. But, for the last few hours he’d been going around in circles.
The distraction of seeing Juliet again had affected him more than he realized. As soon as he got to the hotel he knew that there was no way he’d be able to sleep so he decided to stay up and get some work done. Unfortunately, he’d just wasted two hours unable to focus.
He looked at the clock again. It wasn’t any later than it had been just a few minutes ago. He looked at the laptop monitor and shook his head miserably. His finger hovered over the delete key for the sixth time that evening. With less deliberation than it took to create the program, he pushed the delete button. Two hours wasted.
J.T. stood up, walked over to the window and looked out across the city. It was the same view he’d seen for the past seven years. He’d been on the road too long, but that’s what he’d chosen to do. Although both his mother and father insisted that he cut back on his travel, he refused, arguing that the only way to stay on top in the software business was to be ahead of the game.
It wasn’t until recently that his lifestyle became less appealing. He knew exactly when the feeling hit him, ten months ago when he began searching for Juliet. J.T. rested his palms on the window sill and leaned down. A familiar melancholy feeling washed over him as he looked fifteen stories down into the night. Cars lined the streets and the traffic wound into an endless line of red and white lights along the side streets. It was two o’clock in the morning and the city was just as busy as it was at noon.
He turned and looked around. The luxury hotel suite had every modern amenity and convenience imaginable, but still it seemed empty. The living room, dining area, sitting room and bedroom were all lavishly furnished. He walked back to the desk which was positioned in the corner of the living room and sat down.
He sighed in frustration as he punched a few keys and connected with his office computer. Ordered and perfectly detailed as always, every minute of every day was planned for optimal efficiency. He scanned through his schedule. He had several meetings planned in the morning including a marketing meeting with his father. He made several notations for the meeting then closed the laptop for the night.
He reached up and turned off the desk lamp, grabbed his jacket and walked into the bedroom. The light from the bedside table lamp was on but the room was still dark. He hung his jacket up in the closet and pulled the tie from around his neck. As he began unbuttoning his shirt, he stopped midway.
Going back into the living room, he turned on the desk lamp and opened his laptop. The computer instantly blinked to life. He entered a few codes then waited. He hadn’t used this program for years, not since he realized exactly what it could do. When the screen changed he entered another series of codes and waited. He smiled amazed that he even remembered the sequences.
By the time he’d finished working, the screen listed in perfect order every known detail of Juliet Bridge’s life including her salary, taxes, medical and bank records. Nodding at his success, he connected to the laptop’s phone system while scanning down the six page report searching for the one piece of information he needed. Finally finding it, he highlighted the numbers and pushed a button on the keyboard. The system automatically dialed Juliet’s unlisted home phone number.
A chill went through him when after the fourth ring the answering machine clicked on. He decided not to leave a message then disconnected remembering the last words they spoke as he gave her his business card with the Ritz Carlton room and phone numbers.
A part of him expected her to contact him, hoped she’d contact him. But she didn’t. He turned off the desk lamp and walked over to the window again. He stood there and just stared out into the night. The same night that had brought them together.
The lights of Washington D.C. reflected in his eyes. But in reality, it looked like any other city as far as he was concerned. The only difference was that somewhere out there Juliet was sleeping peacefully.
Juliet entered the Ritz Carlton Hotel and went directly to the bank of elevators. She had no idea what she was doing there. After the fundraiser she drove home, parked and walked around, her standard routine. After a performance she usually walked to relax her muscles and release pent up energy. But tonight, not even her nightly walk helped. The elevator reached the lobby and she stepped on and pushed the button for the fifteenth floor. J.T. Evans was still on her mind. All she kept thinking about was their night in New York. The night they’d spent together on the fifteenth floor.
She looked at the business card in her hand and turned it over several times as she impatiently waited for the elevator to stop on the fifteenth floor. She looked up and watched the numbers as they slowly assented, seven…eight… nine. Then, at the tenth floor she panicked, what was she doing? She pushed the lobby button but the elevator continued to go up. When it reached the fifteenth floor and the doors slid open she just stood there her heart pounding in her chest.
Just as the elevator doors began to close she hurried and passed through. More adrenaline pumped through her at that moment than when she stepped out on stage as a solo dancer for the first time. There, standing in the hallway, she waited until she made up her mind. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the card again, suite 1514 then to the room number listings and directions. She turned the corner and walked straight down an empty corridor, she turned again. Three doors down, she arrived at her destination.
Juliet stepped up to the double doors raised her hand to knock then hesitated again. She looked at her watch, it was late but she knew he’d be up. After all, he was expecting her. Then without a second thought she knocked and waited.
Juliet’s heart pounded. What was she doing? What if he was asleep? What if he had company? What if?
She heard the lock withdraw.
J.T. answered the door seconds later. When it opened she didn’t speak, she just brushed past him and walked right in. He smiled. He loved this woman’s audaciousness.
The room was still dark with the only light coming from the bedroom’s side table lamp, the full moon outside and city lights through the window. He watched as she took a second to gather her bearings then moved to the open drapes.
“I know it’s late… but…” she began.
“I’m glad you came,” he said as he watched the slow easy sway of her hips that instantly brought images of their New York night to mind. Her sexy hourglass figure sent a shiver of desire ragging through him.
He smiled delighted that she hadn’t changed clothes. He wanted the pleas
ure of peeling the red dress from her body all evening. Tight on her hips, the dress danced on her thighs, dusting her bare legs with a gentle swishing sound from the fabric with each step she took. She wore high heels that matched the fire-engine red dress. And the shawl, which was once casually tossed over one shoulder all evening, was now wrapped securely over her chest, around her neck then over her shoulder.
He followed her to the large living room window and stood behind her smiling in delight. “Can I offer you something?” He asked too dazed to specify.
“No thank you,” she said as the stood in silence watching the night sky sparkle with twinkling stars.
He nodded. “You look beautiful, as usual.” He moved closer speaking to her reflection in the clear glass.
“We can skip the small talk, don’t you think.” She altered her focus answering his reflection, their eyes connected and held as they did earlier in her dressing room mirror.
“Whatever you say,” he readily agreed.
She turned to him and looked into his eyes. The memory of New York caused her stomach to stir. Nervously she bit at her lower lip and walked away from him. She circled the living room then stopped in front of the bedroom doorway. “You said that a friend invited you tonight.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Is she here?” Juliet asked noticing the dimmed bedroom lamp and the bed turned down.
“No, she’s at home.”
Juliet nodded slowly. “Sorry I didn’t have the opportunity to meet her earlier.”
“You will, in time if you haven’t already.” He smiled knowingly.
She nodded again, slightly puzzled by his admission. But, he had confirmed what she had suspected. It was a woman who had invited him to the ballet this evening and that was all she needed to know. “Are you going back to New York?”
“No.”
She took a deep breath and continued to hold her ground. “Why not,” she asked.
“Because I’ve decided Washington suits me better.”
“I thought you lived in New York.”
“I did, among other places, Paris, Los Angeles, Hong Kong.”
“What about New York?”
“It’s still there.”
Juliet turned away. This wasn’t going as she expected. “Yes, I suppose it is.” Her voice softened. “Why did you come here?”
“Work.”
“Ah, yes, computers, I remember. You program computers, right.”
“Something like that.”
“So your company transferred you here to D.C.”
“You could say that.”
She nodded and continued to walk around. “Is that the only reason why you’re here?”
He moved positioning himself in her path. “If you’re asking if I knew that you lived here, I didn’t.” She nodded. “If you’re asking if I knew you’d be dancing tonight, I did. I wanted to see you again.”
“Why?” she asked. J.T. smiled tilting a single corner of his mouth upwards as his brow arched. The provocative expression had answered her question. “We need to talk,” she said.
He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “We will,” he assured her then before she could say another word he gripped the back of her head and leaned down to kiss her, but she turned at the last second.
“Are you trying to seduce me?”
“Oh yeah, definitely,” he said.
“Just so you know - I don’t usually go to men’s hotel suites in the middle of the night.” He nibbled her earlobe and nuzzled her neck. “Indiscretions make us who we are,” she said.
“You don’t seem like a woman who lacks inhibitions.”
“You’d be surprised. But then again, you don’t know me very well.”
He stopped kissing her and looked into her eyes. The seriousness of the moment gripped him with the truth. “I’d like to.”
“Spoken like a true bachelor.”
“I get the feeling you don’t you trust me?”
“Should I?”
“Of course not.”
Juliet smiled and laughed taken off guard by his honest admission. “Are you going to tell me what you want?”
He dipped his head to her cheek and inhaled deeply. The exotic scent filled his senses, he remembered her perfume well. It was an exotic mix, one he had never smelled since. “You.”
Juliet’s heart began pounding wildly. This was definitely not going as she’d planned. The whole idea was to walk in here and demand that he leave and go back to New York. But her hands didn’t care as they reached up to him of their own volition. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him to her quickly dissolving the space between their bodies.
They kissed. Juliet’s body quivered with anticipation as she felt his hands encircle her body drawing her even closer. The kiss peaked in intensity as desire surged and passion overwhelmed them. A tangle of hands and arms touched and teased leaving little question as to where the moment would lead as her shawl fell to the floor.
Intoxicated by the taste of him, Juliet moaned as his mouth sank into the curve of her neck. He nibbled, licked and kissed a path down and across her shoulder. Then suddenly he pulled back and stroked the side of her face. “Stay with me tonight,” he said.
Juliet smiled coyly. “We’ll see.” She reached up spreading her fingers wide across his half unbuttoned shirt. “You don’t need this, do you?” She began unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. When she finished the shirt hung open exposing the satiny feel of his cinnamon toast chest.
She ran her hands up his well-defined muscles over his broad shoulders releasing the shirt to fall freely to the carpet joining her shawl. The solidness of his body felt like pure heaven. Juliet smiled in private delight. She’d forgotten just how good this felt, the intoxicating power of passion. It had been too long for her. But now he was here and he wasn’t a dream. This was real and she intended to take her fill of his body.
Her hands drifted to the band of his pants. She slowly pulled at the clasp then unzipped the front. J.T. reached down and still her hands. Then, in one easy swoop, he captured her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. She tucked her body and melted against him, feeling the pounding of their hearts beating as one and the excitement of the moment intensify.
Wrapped in each other’s arms they kissed, heaven beckoned and they felt passion swell inside of them as the power of the emotions they felt were revealed. Desire pulled them and they went willingly. The passion of their kisses increased as every muscle in his hard body tensed and secured her even tighter.
When the kiss finally ended, J.T. savored the pleasure of her neck and shoulders’ sending sparks of pleasure through her body. Juliet closed her eyes and sighed as the torturous pleasure she felt filled her heart and her body soared spinning into a haze of desire.
J.T.’s overwhelming compulsion for her grew beyond anything he’d every expected. For the first time in months he had the woman of his fantasies in his arms and he intended to take full advantage of this moment. The onslaught and ravishing of her body drove him beyond reason. His single solitary thought was to fill her body and bring her to the same earth-shattering climax he knew would surely come for him.
As he approached the bed and relaxed his hold, sending her slowly drifting down his body to the side of the bed. She felt the hardness of his need through the thin layer of her dress. A thrill surged through her knowing the power she possessed.
She sat up, he stood then he lowered himself before her kneeling at her altar as a knight kneels before his queen. She reached out to him touching the smooth muscles of his chest and feeling the solid firmness of his body. The feel of her hands roaming over his body excited her. Yet she wanted more.
His mouth sought and found her lips as his body eased forward and parted her legs. His tongue firm and rigid entered her mouth and danced the delight of their union. Tasting the pure nectar of her mouth, he uttered low even groans from his throat. Drowning in ecstasy, he closed his eyes and drifted off on the sweet sens
ation of their desire.
As the intensity of the kiss deepened Juliet wrapped her arms around him raking her nails across his back while sinking deeper and deeper into the throes of passion. She held onto him with all her might. The dizzying feel of falling gripped her again. Her heart burst with emotion just as it had done before. The same feelings had returned with the intensity of a sledgehammer. Off balance, she was falling again.
The light of reason dawned as if a crack in the shadows of desire. “What am I doing here?” she mumbled weakly, dazed by his kisses on her body.
“I think you know,” he muttered nuzzling his face against her neck and down between her breasts as his hands held and stroked her thighs under the red dress.
“I came to talk to you,” she said, arching her back and giving him free access to his destination.
“Um-hum,” he moaned against her neck and he pulled the thin spaghetti straps from her shoulders. He reached around and pulled the zipper of her dress downward freeing her breasts and sending a spark coursing through him. A sound of pleasure mixed with the ache of desire echoed around them as a quiet moment of shared destiny enveloped them. Then, in fierce anticipation they tore at each other’s clothes, removing the last barriers to their physical attraction.
Juliet lay back on the bed and J.T. sat on the side. He opened the top drawer of the night stand and pulled out one of the packets that Trey had tossed him earlier. He smiled thankfully. He opened the packet and protected them. When he turned to her the sweet passion in her eyes eased into desire.
In a moment of clarity, he relaxed and slowed the rhythm. He needed to savor this moment and make it last. He leaned in to her. The velvety kiss was slow, sweet and sexy, fueling the need to cool the fury of their passion.
He kissed her lips then purposely traveled downward laying a trail of passion across her shoulders to her chest. He took her nipples into his mouth and savored her sweet taste. Small and delicate, but just the right amount, her breasts centered his passion as his hands roamed her body.
Irresistible You Page 9
