Wild Eyes
Danielle Stewart
Contents
Synopsis
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Books in the Barrington Billionaire World
Books by Danielle Stewart
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Synopsis
Mathew Kalling knows better than to get involved with a party girl. You can’t be charged with running an oil empire and still think a wild woman is a safe bet. But once he’s had a taste, he just can’t seem to stay away.
Try to sweep Jessica Thorne off her feet and she’ll head for the hills. Nothing sends her running faster than grand gestures and fairy-tale promises. But when her back is against the wall will she finally take the risk and let love whisk her away?
Prologue
“Not exactly as nice as our flight in,” Mathew groaned as he lifted Jessica’s bag into the overhead compartment of the commercial flight. He was exhausted and a red-eye from Boston to Texas was not exactly what he’d hoped this night might turn into. But that was becoming a trend. Mathew Kalling was a planner, a player of chess when the rest of the world seemed to be muddling through a game of tic-tac-toe. Unfortunately, the cosmos hadn’t gotten the message and continued to throw curve balls straight at his head. Rather than launching a company in Boston with James West, his longtime business partner, he somehow found himself in Texas picking up the pieces at West Oil. And tonight, rather than hopping the company jet back to Texas and asking Jessica, his date to the charity event, back to his place, he was sitting on this plane, trying to stuff his carry-on under the seat in front of him.
But that’s what you do when your friend suddenly proposes to his new love and they run off to elope. There’s still a company to run in Texas, and you can’t exactly play rock, paper, scissors for who gets dibs on the jet.
There was a ray of hope for this night however. Jessica pressed against him slightly as they crammed onto the busy plane, and the scent of her perfume filled his nose as visions of her naked body filled his head. She was in no way typical, not at all what he’d call his type, but since the moment they’d first met weeks ago, she’d been on his mind. Thrust together, the two best friends of the eloping love birds just kept popping up together, and as busy as his life was right now he had to admit he didn’t mind setting eyes on her perfectly toned ass every chance he got.
The problem was, dirty fantasies don’t make for productive days. Mathew knew Jessica would continue to take up valuable space in his head unless he acted soon. Earlier that evening, by the time the charity event had ended, he’d decided the only way to refocus and stop thinking of the curve of her hips in the slinky black dress was to take her into his arms, embrace the growing lust, and have his fill of her. Jessica would be worth the work it would take to get her back to his place tonight. She was a strong-willed woman with convictions, but he could also feel the flow of desire between them. It was certainly mutual. He’d just need to convince her that a hot, intense adventure back at his place would be just what they both needed. How better to do that than a long flight, crammed together with glasses of wine flowing?
“I think I can survive in first class. I mean the private jet would have been nice, but I understand why Libby and James had dibs on it. If you run away to elope with a billionaire, you expect to be traveling in style.” Jessica had changed out of her formal gown and was now in an oversized off-the-shoulder T-shirt and ripped jeans tucked into some black worn-out boots. Mathew couldn’t decide which look suited her better. She had some chameleon characteristics, morphing into whatever the moment called for. But this grungy casual look seemed to be her most authentic.
“Spontaneity can end in some of the most exhilarating experiences.” He watched her face, looking for a flutter of her eyelashes or a deep intake of breath that sent her perfect and perky breasts heaving. But she had a good poker face. Turning her head away, busying her hands with something, she spoke with intention.
“You know a lot about that?” she asked, waiting a few beats before smiling coyly at him.
“Life’s too short to miss out on something that feels good.” He let his gaze brush over her body as he drank her in. Their chemistry . . . this heat had been growing with each of their encounters, and like any good experiment, there was about to be a bang.
“You underestimate my ability to peg people,” she said with an airy laugh that dulled the moment. “You are not spontaneous. You’re a numbers guy, a safe-bet person.”
“I am,” Mathew admitted, but the poorly veiled look of disappointment on her face made his excitement grow. “But only in business. In my personal life, I never say no to a thrilling opportunity.” That wasn’t entirely true but Mathew could easily decipher the map that would lead the two of them together to his bed, and he intended to blaze the trail.
The captain’s announcement interrupted them, and a flight attendant took their coats to be stored. The annoying bustle reminded Mathew to tame his desire because, unless they were about to join the mile-high club, it would be another six hours before he could sink his teeth into Jessica.
“They looked happy,” Mathew said matter-of-factly as though he were reporting the weather rather than remarking on his best friend running away to get married. It still hadn’t sunk in.
With far more enthusiasm Jessica replied, “Libby looked absolutely over the moon. I’ve known her most of my life, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen her so happy.”
“Good.” The shock of James running off to elope should have been consuming his mind. But now, as the sweet perfume on Jessica’s wrist wafted through the air, if asked about James West, Mathew might simply reply: Who?
That was dangerous. He’d seen plenty of men throw away promising careers by letting lust and passion overtake their thoughts and better judgment. He was more convinced than ever it was time to get Jessica Thorne on top of his body and off his mind.
It wasn’t his fault she’d permeated him so deeply. She was stunningly beautiful with dark eyes and coal black hair. Her dainty fingers wore too many rings, and her wrists looked bogged down by the dozens of bangle bracelets. He imagined the time she spent picking out the pieces and bet she was the kind of woman who had a story for each one.
As he tried to pin down exactly what it was that attracted him to her, he couldn’t. He’d known plenty of beautiful women in his day and fucked enough of them to know each had their own seductive qualities. But Jessica was more than just a wide-eyed smiling girl, licking her lips and hoping to get the rich guy to take notice of her. There were layers, a depth that kept his mind swirling to understand her, even when he tried to convince himself the only thing he wanted to understand was her favorite position.
Knowing Jessica these last few weeks was like trying a new dish, savoring something that sent your tas
te buds sailing but being unable to figure out the secret ingredient.
She opened her mouth and began to speak through a smile but stopped abruptly as a gravelly voice across the aisle rose up. “If you need a seatbelt extender you shouldn’t be allowed in first class. She should go back where all the other cattle are.”
A tall wiry man with a pock-marked face slurred into his phone. The woman who’d been sitting next to him stepped into the restroom in first class, and he was taking the opportunity to bash her to whoever was on the other end of the line. “I know, it’s like who wants to squeeze in next to someone that huge?”
Both Jessica and Mathew made quick eye contact and then froze as the bathroom door opened and the woman stood, pale-faced and chin quivering, listening in shameful horror.
“It’s so gross. You should see what she’s wearing too. It’s like a muumuu, for God’s sake.” The man’s laugh was high-pitched and as ugly to listen to as his face was to look at.
Mathew wouldn’t let something like that stand. It wasn’t because the beautiful woman next to him deserved to see some chivalrous reaction. It was because that asshole was overdue for some manners, and he was sure as hell about to get a hard lesson once Mathew got involved. As he opened his mouth to speak, Jessica shot out of her chair.
“Get off the phone,” she shouted, pointing a delicate finger in the man’s face. She’d already crossed the aisle and was standing in front of him.
“Why?” he asked, looking her over with an arrogant stare. “We’re not taking off yet.”
“Get up,” she said, pulling the phone forcefully from his hand and hanging it up. “Stand up.” Mathew watched in shock as her tiny frame stiffened and her little ring-covered hands balled into fists.
“Who the hell are you?” the man asked, yanking his phone back angrily.
Mathew watched the scene unfold in stunned silence for a moment. But the silence didn’t last long as Jessica’s roaring voice continued. Of course he should get up and intervene. There was no question. Well, there was one question: What the hell was Jessica’s plan?
“Stand the hell up before I grab you by what I can only imagine is a baby-carrot-sized dick and make you stand.”
“Are you a crackpot?” the man asked, twisting his face up and instinctively covering his groin as he looked around for some help.
“You are a rude, self-centered bully with nothing better to do than to insult someone. You don’t deserve to sit next to her. Get up.”
“You can’t kick me off this flight.” The words began as a statement but waivered into an uncertain question.
“No, I can’t,” Jessica agreed, looking momentarily disappointed. “But I can make you switch seats with me.” She pointed at the seat next to Mathew and stared down at the man.
“Get the fuck out of my face. I’m not moving because you feel bad for some cow who can’t fit in her own seat.” The man had doubled down, but his firm words didn’t match the look of fear dancing at the corners of his eyes.
Mathew stood now, having no clue where Jessica would take this situation if the man continued to refuse her demands. The woman stayed tucked in the doorway of the bathroom looking mortified but listening intently.
“This is your last chance,” Jessica hissed. “Get up and move to that seat, or I will move you. I don’t care if I have to claw out your eyes or bite off your ear, I will get you to move. Don’t try me.”
“You are a crazy bitch,” the man said, using his free hand to cover one of his ears.
“Get up,” Mathew announced in a deep and determined voice. “Get up and move to the window seat over there.” He pointed at the seat he’d just gotten out of.
“Or what?” the man asked in a nervous snicker, still having one hand over his crotch and the other over one ear. “You’re going to kick my ass?”
“No,” Mathew said coolly. “Even worse, I won’t stop her from doing it.”
Maybe the comment lent some credibility to Jessica’s ability to actually maim this man. The last little piece of arrogance slid away from the jerk’s face as he stood, and Jessica cleared the way for him to change seats. When he flopped himself down onto the window seat, the man continued to mutter nasty things, now about all of them.
“Shut it,” Mathew demanded as he took the seat next to him and slammed the armrest down like a barricade not to be crossed. Jessica gestured for the woman to come out of the bathroom and then patted the seat by her in a calm and friendly way, as though she hadn’t just threatened to bite a man’s ear off. As though what she’d just done was perfectly normal in every way.
“Is everything all right, Mr. Kalling?” the flight attendant asked as she made her way toward them, a worried look painted across her thin-lipped face.
“It’s fine now,” he said, though his face still looked anything but. “Get me a gin and tonic though.”
“Yeah me too,” the wiry man said, throwing one finger up like he was ordering in a restaurant.
“No,” Mathew said flatly. “He won’t be drinking anything else this flight. Don’t bring him anything. Not even a bag of peanuts.”
“Yes, Mr. Kalling,” the flight attendant said with a worried smile.
“You can’t do that,” the man protested.
“You don’t even know who I am; how do you know what I can do? Now get your arm off my armrest, stare out the damn window, and don’t say another word the rest of this flight.”
Mathew glanced across the aisle at Jessica and her new friend. They were smiling easy smiles as Jessica talked animatedly about something and occasionally touched the woman’s shoulder. If he thought this flight was going to give him time to sort out and compartmentalize his feelings for Jessica, he was wrong. It had done just the opposite. The light haze of mystery shrouding her had become a unique thick fog. And all he could think as he replayed her actions over and over again in his head was: What the hell was that?
The only thing more awkward than a plane ride sitting next to a guy who’d just been demolished by Jessica, was the car ride home. The service had picked them up at the airport with the intention of dropping her off first. There had been a part of him, before the scene on the plane, that thought it would be pretty easy to convince her she’d rather come back to his place. But now he wasn’t so sure getting involved with Jessica would be in any way simple.
“What an asshole that guy was, huh?” she asked as she powered up her phone and scanned her messages.
“He was,” Mathew said with hardly any conviction. He felt the breeze from her head snapping around quickly in his direction.
“What? You think I should have just sat in my own seat and let that guy treat Mary-Lou like that? That’s her name you know. She’s a person, a human being.” Like a toy that had been wound and then placed back down, Jessica flailed her arms animatedly.
“Whoa,” Mathew said, tossing his hands up and figuratively pumping the brakes on this runaway conversation. “That’s not what I’m saying. The guy deserved to be shut down. I just don’t agree with your methods.”
“I didn’t see you doing anything,” she snapped accusingly.
His pride sent a flare to his brain, and his instinct to defend himself against the blow took over. By this time of night he’d expected they might be tantalizingly touching each other in the back of the car in anticipation of the hot sex they’d have all through his apartment. Instead he wanted to go tit for tat in an argument about tact and self-control. Significantly less sexy by all standards.
“You were on your feet and threatening his life before I could even blink. Trust me, I’d have handled the situation without making a scene like that. Do you really think that woman appreciated all the attention?”
“Her name was Mary-Lou,” Jessica said as though he were making her point. “What would you have done? Read him statistics about the impact of bullying? Come on,” she huffed loudly and tossed herself back against the plush leather of the car seat.
“There are many ways to take do
wn a guy like that. I’ve been doing it my whole life. It’s not always about brute force; sometimes it is, and I don’t hesitate, but I use my head first. You can scare a man half to death if you know what to say to him. I’d have had him escorted off the plane. I’d let him know exactly what a lowlife dirtbag he was. After getting all his information I’d have put some fear in him that would linger a hell of a lot longer than those empty threats you were shouting.”
“That’s where you’ve misjudged me. The threats were far from empty. I meant every word.” Her coal-black eyes blazed as though they’d been struck with a match and lit.
“The difference is, if I would have needed to demolish that guy, he would have been carted out of there by ambulance. What could you even do?”
“You don’t ever want to find out,” she said in a cool whisper as she brought a hand down on his shoulder, nails digging into his skin.
“I don’t know what bothers me more. The fact that you can turn your crazy act on so quickly or that it’s not an act at all.” The nails in his shoulder were not painful, but the bulge in his pants was growing more uncomfortable by the second. This twisted argument was turning him on.
“Drop me off here,” Jessica called through the partition of the car. “I’m getting out now.”
“Here we go again, waving the crazy flag,” Mathew said, assuming Jessica was bluffing. They were still miles from her apartment, and it was dark.
But as she opened the car door the overhead light flicked on, and the driver slammed on the brakes.
“Seriously?” Mathew asked, exasperated. “You’re going to walk home?”
“I’m a grown-ass woman,” she retorted with a wild smile. “My daddy taught me a long time ago how to get myself home if I’m ever out with an insufferable jerk.”
The door slammed in his face, and through the tinted glass he watched her walk away.
“What should I do?” the driver asked, sounding panicked.
“Just stay close by her until we know she’s gotten another ride or something.”
Wild Eyes (The Barrington Billionaires Book 2) Page 1
