In Too Deep_BWWM Romance

by Erica A. Davis

  Chapter 3

  “Help me decide what to wear tonight,” Jamie said, holding up several dresses.

  “No. None of those are right,” Callie said heading over to Jamie’s closet.

  Callie took forever to decide what to wear which was silly because she looked fantastic in anything she wore. A few hours later, Jamie and Callie headed to Gala, a new trendy nightclub for dancing and drinks.

  Callie had heard about the place and insisted they go.

  Callie looked exquisite as usual in a white banded dress that hugged every curve perfectly. Jamie wore a fitted emerald crop top and a black mini, that Callie had paired up. Jamie wouldn’t have thought they looked good together but Callie had an eye for that kind of thing. She hadn’t worn anything like it since she started with Steven, he didn’t like her dressing provocatively, but tonight she wanted to have fun.

  Jamie called a car service and noticed that Callie was nervous the entire ride.

  “What’s going on with you?” Jamie asked.

  “Nothing,” Callie said blushing.

  Nothing turned out to be the handsome Kale who was waiting for them when they arrived. Jamie grinned. Her friend was obviously smitten.

  “Kale,” Callie exclaimed, “I’m so glad you came,” she gushed.

  “Of course I came. I couldn’t wait to see you again. Jamie, thank you for inviting me,” he said

  Jamie resisted the urge to arch her eyebrow. Callie didn’t tell her that he would be coming. She knew why too. Jamie would have never come if she knew she was going to be a third wheel.

  Instead, she smiled at Kale and stuck her tongue out at Callie when he turned his back to her. Kale walked them to the door. The pair turned heads when they arrived at Gala and received some protests from some other patrons when Callie and Jamie went to the front of the line. Callie gave the bouncer Jamie’s name and he immediately allowed them entry. They made their way to the balcony, Callie dancing along to the music on the way up the stairs. Jamie, Callie and Kale found a table and the bottle service girl appeared almost as if summoned by magic. Jamie was about to hand the waitress her credit card to open a tab but Callie stopped her.

  “I took care of our drinks. I’ll tell you later,” Callie explained in a low whisper.

  Jamie shrugged. Callie certainly was acting strange but she knew better than to question her antics. She knew Callie would explain later. Gala had a guest DJ who had lately been garnering some buzz. The place was crowded with mostly twenty somethings and Jamie wasn’t sure if she was enjoying herself or not. She barely recognized any of the songs the DJ was spinning. While Callie and Kale danced Jamie sat at the table just nodding her head to the music, uncharacteristic of her.

  “Having a good time?” Callie asked after a while. Jamie made a face.

  “Here,” Callie said handing Jamie a drink. “Have fun Jam! No sad faces tonight,” she commanded.

  Jamie pushed thoughts of Steven from her mind and finished the drink in a few sips, signaling the waitress to bring another. A couple of drinks later and Jamie started loosening up. She was a great dancer and she began getting appreciative looks from some of the men nearby. One in particular caught her eye. He was, in one word, sexy. Standing at around six two with a muscular frame he was clearly one of the best looking men Jamie had seen in a while. His t-shirt was formfitting, enhancing his physique with jeans that showed off his strong powerful legs. He had a scruffy beard that added to his sex appeal rather than distract from it. His lips were full and pink, kissable lips. Jamie licked her own subconsciously. His dirty blonde long hair was tied in a messy bun atop of his head. He was not Jamie’s usual category but his strong jawline, baby blue eyes, and perfect bushy eyebrows and slightly crooked nose, he was delicious there was no denying it, he could be her type.

  Jamie found herself staring. He laughed at something his friend said revealing a set of perfect white teeth and an amazing smile. She flushed when he looked up and caught her looking at him. Unlike most of the other men he didn’t seem that interested and that in itself was intriguing. Jamie wasn’t conceited but she knew she looked amazing tonight so when she smiled at him she had expected a warmer reception. Instead he merely gave a perfunctory nod, looked bored and turned back to his friend. Jamie was not used to being rejected so she found herself dancing seductively, looking out the corner of her eye to see if he was noticing.

  At around one Jamie was over it, this stranger had annoyed her by his indifference. She knew she was being silly, maybe she was just emotional and just needed the confidence boost. It wasn’t like she wasn’t getting attention from anyone else. The only positive was that he didn’t seem to be giving any other woman attention either. Callie was in full infatuated mode, slow dancing with Kale even though the song was a fast one. She didn’t want to force her to leave so instead she excused herself to go to the bathroom. Callie gave her a thumbs up Jamie shook her head laughing.

  She stared at herself in the mirror. Did she still have it? Was that wrinkles near her eyes? Why were they even here?

  At thirty, Jamie felt like these kind of places were not her style anymore. Damn it. She wasn’t supposed to be dealing with this. Steven should be proposing and she should be planning her wedding, not running away across the country. Damn him. Why did he do this to them? And who did that guy think he was anyway? Sure he was gorgeous but Jamie had dated handsome men her whole life. So why was she dancing like an idiot trying to get his attention? She was Jamie Redding Wright! She didn’t do these desperate acts. She shook her head. She was really losing it. She reapplied her lip-gloss and walked out of the bathroom and right into someone standing in the hallway.

  “Sorry,” she said automatically.

  As she looked up she noticed it was him. The sexy stranger. She flushed with embarrassment and a little bit of aggravation.

  “Excuse me,” she said trying to walk past him but he grabbed her arm.

  Jamie turned towards him. He was grinning at her.

  “So that whole show and you’re just going to walk away?” he asked.

  “What?” Jamie asked flushing again.

  “Upstairs. The dancing. That was for me wasn’t it?” he asked with a grin.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jamie said evenly.

  “Really? The seductive dancing. The stares. That’s why I followed you down here,” he stated.

  “I…I don’t,” Jamie stammered.

  “I did notice you, if you were wondering. You’re beautiful, but I guess you hear that all the time,” he said flashing his smile.

  He leaned in close until Jamie felt her back touch the wall. She swallowed. She had never felt so flustered. He grabbed her chin and brought his lips to hers. At first, she pushed against him, shocked but as he deepened the kiss, Jamie found herself kissing him back. His ran his hands along her arms and Jamie felt tiny goosebumps form where he had touched her. When they broke apart Jamie was breathless.

  “That’s what I thought,” he said slyly.

  This angered Jamie. Who did he think he was? Just kissing her like that.

  “How dare you? Who the hell do you think you are?” she asked.

  He stuck his hand out.

  “I’m Ben,” he said still smiling.

  “I wasn’t asking your name,” Jamie said ignoring his outstretched hand.

  He laughed. He has a great laugh Jamie thought annoyed.

  “And you are?” he asked.

  Jamie pouted. Her lips still ached from where he had kissed her passionately. She touched them absentmindedly.

  “You have the most luscious lips,” he said seductively.

  “You didn’t seem so interested before,” she stated without thinking.

  “Ah. So it was all for me,” he said smiling that smile again.

  Jamie gave him what she hoped was a mean glare.

  “Don’t flatter yourself. I was just dancing,” Jamie glowered.

  “Would you like to dance with me?” he asked.
<
br />   “My friends are waiting for me,” she said annoyed.

  “At least tell me your name,” he said.

  “Listen, Ben was it?” she started, but Ben was already kissing her again. He did something to her senses and she couldn’t think. He flashed her a devilish grin and pulled her back into the bathroom. He checked to make sure that no one else was in there and then closed the door.

  ‘What are you doing?” Jamie asked both terrified and excited.

  Ben picked Jamie up and sat her on the counter. He stood between her legs and began kissing her again. She needed this, she told herself, but this was crazy. She shouldn’t let this happen but oh it was happening, she sighed as Ben pulled her shirt over her head and unhooked her bra. Jamie moaned as he rubbed his thumbs over her nipple as they grew hard under his touch.

  “You are so beautiful,” he said kissing each breast gently. Jamie leaned her head back and closed her eyes. He teased her breasts until Jamie bit her lip to keep from crying out. Suddenly there was loud knocking.

  “Jamie? Jamie are you in there?” Callie called out.

  Jamie motioned for Ben to go hide in one of the stalls while she hastily put on her shirt.

  “Just a minute,” Jamie called out.

  “Jamie is everything okay?” Callie said sounding worried now.

  Jamie hastily stuffed her bra in her purse.

  “Jamie? Is that your name?” Ben asked.

  Jamie shushed him and opened the door.

  “Hi,” she said breathlessly.

  “You were gone for so long. Is everything alright?”

  “Yeah. Let’s go.”

  Jamie walked out of the bathroom flustered. They made their way back to the balcony and Jamie scanned the crowd looking for Ben. He was nowhere to be found. Callie wanted to leave shortly after that, her and Kale were starving so Jamie reluctantly left the club.

  Jamie couldn’t sleep. She was thinking about Ben. Ben’s lips crushed against her own had made her tingle all over. His boldness had turned her on, if she was being honest with herself. She ran her hand along her stomach feeling herself getting aroused. She closed her eyes and imagined it was his hands touching her. Her fingers found their way to the waistband of her panties and she touched herself. She started by rubbing herself until she felt herself growing wet with want. Then her fingers explored deeper until she was deep inside of her pussy wishing he was here touching her just like this. She increased the speed and then inserted another finger, struggling to keep her moans quiet. Suddenly and without warning Jamie climaxed. She whispered Ben’s name. She took a few moments to compose herself and then felt embarrassed that she had imagined Ben while she touched herself. She didn’t even know him but then she smiled. It had been a fantastic kiss.

  Over the next few days Jamie thought about Ben. She wanted to go back to Gala and she asked Callie if she wanted to go that Saturday. Callie didn’t like the scene and didn’t want to go back. When she questioned Jamie about thinking she didn’t like it either, Jamie made up some excuse about not knowing where else to go. The real reason she hated to admit, even privately to herself, was because she was hoping to see him again. She would never tell Callie though, it embarrassed her too much.

  So they went to a different club, Jamie had kept her eyes opened just in case. She didn’t see him at any club all weekend. She gave up hope. After all, L.A. was a big city. She didn’t even know if he lived here. She considered Googling him but she didn’t have a last name, combing through all the Bens and Benjamins from California on Facebook was out of the question and besides, that seemed desperate to her. So she chalked it up to an amazing night and decided the next guy she was interested in wouldn’t get away so easily.

  *****

  While she was enjoying her break from work she didn’t want her father to think she didn’t take her job seriously. She was determined to make partner, so she went into the office that Wednesday to introduce herself. After all, she had been in L.A. for almost three weeks and hadn’t made an appearance yet. She was sure that the news had reached her father, and worse her manipulative half-brother.

  When she arrived, Jamie found that her father had arranged for her to have a nice corner office and the receptionist showed her to it. She spent the morning getting her office situated but the truth was there was nothing much for her to do. The company was a well-oiled machine. She had met with various heads of departments and she was already tired by mid-morning. She was sitting at her desk, her chair turned around admiring the view, wondering if she should leave early, when there was a knock at her door.

  “Miss Redding?” a husky voice asked.

  Jamie swung her chair around and came face to face with a handsome man carrying a bunch of files and impeccably dressed in a gray pinstriped suit. Her eyes took him in appreciatively. He was tall and slender but well-built with incredible brown eyes. His hair was dark brown and cut relatively short. His clean shaven face highlighted his strong jaw, dimples and straight nose. His eyebrows were a bit unruly but that added to his appeal. He looked strong, the epitome of masculinity and Jamie took notice.

  He seemed vaguely familiar to her but she couldn’t quite place him. Jamie suppressed a giggle when she realized that maybe it was because he reminded her of Prince Eric from her favorite Disney movie, The Little Mermaid. She realized that she was staring, and had not responded when he arched one of his thick eyebrows in her direction questioningly.

  “Yes. May I help you?” she asked finally, hoping that he didn’t notice her blushing.

  “Hello. How are you?” he said extending a hand. He had large powerful hands Jamie noticed. “I’m Philip Steele.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Jamie replied.

  “I’m the head lawyer in charge of the Wright Square project,” he said as way of explanation.

  “Yes, they told me you had some documents for me to sign,” Jamie replied. “But I have no idea why,” she added softly under her breath.

  “Your father made you a partner on the project,” Philip stated simply.

  “He did?” Jamie questioned surprisingly.

  “He said that you may be here for a while and that you would be in charge of all major decisions while you were here,” Philip Steele stated.

  Jamie smiled, the affection for her father growing. It was a small but significant step. He was finally trusting her. It was the silver lining to why she was here. She quickly scanned a few documents and added her signature where indicated.

  “Okay, that seems to be everything. Unless you wanted to go over the revised plans for buildings two through six,” Philip said looking over her shoulder.

  His physical presence made Jamie flush. What the hell was wrong with her? Sure he was handsome, and damn did he smell incredible, but her hormones were all over the place. It was like she was in heat. Was every good looking man going to affect her this way until she finally had sex? She hoped not.

  “No, if my father trusts your judgment so do I,” she said simply.

  “Thank you Miss Redding,” he said nodding at her.

  “Jamie. Please call me Jamie. We will be working closely together for the next few months after all,” she said.

  “Okay Jamie. Then please call me Phil,” he said with a smile that defined his dimples even more.

  “Phil,” she echoed.

  He was leaving her office when he suddenly turned back to her.

  “Um, actually wait.”

  “Was there something else?” she asked.

  “We should go over the revisions. But it’s almost one. I was wondering if you had lunch yet?” he asked.

  His eyes appraised her in a way that suddenly made her feel vulnerable.

  “Yes that sounds good. Lunch would be great,” she said finally.

  “Wonderful. I’ll meet you back here in a few minutes,” Phil replied.

  “I have to make a phone call. How about I meet you in the lobby in ten minutes?” Jamie suggested.

  “Perfect,” he replied with a sm
ile.

  “Callie?”

  “Hey Jam. When are you coming back? I’m bored,” Callie pouted.

  “Someone asked me to lunch. I said yes,” Jamie said in a rush.

  “Oh nice. A male someone?” Callie teased.

  “Yes. I don’t know if it is business or if he was asking me out to lunch though,” Jamie confided.

  “Jam have you seen your face? It was definitely a lunch date.”

  “But Steven….”

  “Jamie stop it. In case you forgot, you’re single. Go and have fun. I was hoping you met someone at the club but this guy is probably more your speed anyway.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you later and let you know how it went,” Jamie said.

  She reapplied her lipstick, added a coat of mascara and headed to the lobby. Jamie was a nervous wreck as she waited for him to show up. What was she thinking? She wasn’t ready for this or the flirting. She should make up an excuse. But then he stepped off the elevator. The man was incredibly sexy. When he approached Jamie did a quick ring finger scan. No ring and no tan line on the ring finger. Perfect.

  Phil decided to drive and he took Jamie to a small Cuban café not far from the office. The restaurant was charming with wrought iron tables and chairs along the tiny courtyard outside and candle lit tables on the inside. Soft music drifted out to the patio where they stood. The weather was perfect and so they decided to sit outside. The tables were smaller than she first thought. If Jamie stretched her leg out she was sure that it would brush Phil’s. She was very aware of him sitting mere inches from her.

  “So what’s good here?” she asked casually.

  “Everything. I usually just grab one of their sandwiches but I might take a longer lunch since I’m out with my boss,” he said laughing heartily.

  “Everything looks so good,” Jamie said perusing the menu.

  “I think I’ll have the shrimp in creole sauce. But try the Havana chicken with rice and black beans. It’s my favorite,” he suggested.

  “Okay,” Jamie said beaming.

  The waitress brought a basket of crispy plantain chips with a delicious spicy garlic sauce. She asked if they were ready and they placed their order, including a few nonalcoholic mojitos. The food came quickly and smelled delicious. Phil held out a shrimp for Jamie to try and she shyly took a bite.