“Maybe we should cut this hike short,” he said against her lips. “There’s a bed with our names on it.”
“There’s an idea I can get behind.”
But before they could move, an ominous crack rent the air.
“I don’t suppose you checked the weather today?” she asked, looking at the darkening sky.
“I have an assistant for things like that.”
She stuck out her tongue. “Your assistant had better things to do than weather check your park getaway.”
“I have a feeling we will regret that fact in a few minutes.”
The sun disappeared behind grey rain clouds. She could see the other people in the park packing up their bags or running for their cars.
It’ll be ten minutes to get back to the office and Jackson’s town car.
She chewed her lip, knowing where they could be faster than that.
“Come on,” he said, holding her hand and tugging her back the way they’d come.
“Actually,” she said. “I think I have a better idea.”
He glanced at the sky. “Whatever gets us inside quicker.”
Decision made, she nodded. “Come with me.”
Not releasing his hand, she pulled him into a jog as they headed across the park rather than out of it. They’d just hit the city street on the other side when the clouds opened up.
“Run faster,” he ordered as a torrential downpour came down on their heads.
“This way.” She led him down two more blocks before her building appeared at the end of the third. Fishing her keys out of her purse, she slammed them against the sensor panel when their reached her entrance. The toggle on her keys beeped, letting them into the front hall.
They stood dripping in the lobby. She pulled a strand of wet hair from her eyes before checking Jackson.
The suave, debonair man she’d come to know looked more like a drowned rat than a billionaire.
A giggle escaped her before she slapped a hand over her mouth.
“You don’t look much better.”
That earned another giggle and his smiled returned.
“Come on,” she said, pointing toward the elevator.
“Where exactly are we?”
“My place. It was closer than the office from the park.”
His brows rose. “Have I ever been here before?”
She fiddled with her keys. “No.”
Turning on her heel, she headed for the elevator. Jackson was silent as they rode up to her floor and made their way to her apartment.
It’s silly to be nervous. We just needed somewhere dry to wait out the storm. There’s nothing more to this than that.
Except she’d never thought Jackson would ever come here. In all the years they’d worked together, he’d never shown any interested in seeing where she lived her life when she wasn’t with him.
All that is about to change.
Unlocking the door, she invited him in.
“I’ll get some towels,” she said, dropping her keys in a bowl near the door. Kicking off her heels, she headed into the bathroom for her guest towels.
When she came back out he was no longer in her tiny entrance hall but had walked into the open-concept living space. Her kitchen flowed into her living room with its one couch facing the TV. Her bedroom lay beyond the living room wall and her balcony showed the storm that was pummeling the city.
“We could call your car to pick us up,” she offered, holding out a towel to him.
“Or,” he said, wiping the drips off his face, “we could just ride it out.”
“Here?” She glanced around her home. “It’s not exactly the same caliber as what you’re used to.”
“I’m turning over a new leaf.”
Her heart leaped in her chest. “Okay,” she said, feeling oddly shy.
She might be comfortable navigating his world, but this was different. They were playing in her reality now. One that didn’t include evenings filled with champagne and caviar or designer suits. They’d be lucky if she had anything in her fridge for dinner.
Heading for the kitchen, she began opening cupboards to see if they had anything that could be turned into a meal.
“Frozen pizza,” Jackson offered, opening her fridge.
“You would eat a frozen pizza?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
She’d bet money the old him had never deigned to eat anything flash frozen but that wasn’t the Jackson standing before her now.
I like this version better.
The man she hadn’t even known existed.
A man who won’t exist in the future.
Pushing the dark thought away, she nodded. “How about you take a shower and I’ll throw your clothes in the dryer and put the pizza in the oven?”
“That sounds domestic,” he said.
“I just thought you’d get cold, that’s all—”
His lip stole the rest of her words. “I’m teasing. Everything is great. Just like you.”
Her heart skipped a beat.
Brushing back her wet hair, she ushered him toward the bathroom. “Go, go. I’ll see if I have anything you can wear while your clothes dry.”
“You gonna help me undress this time, too?”
Her cheeks flamed. “Dinner,” she said. “I should make dinner.”
He tossed her a grin over his shoulder as he walked away. Within minutes she heard the shower running.
What is wrong with me? I see him naked every night.
But this was different.
She turned on the oven and tossed the frozen pizza in, not waiting for it to pre-heat. Task accomplished, she ran to her bedroom to do a frenzied pick-up of the clothes scattered over every surface of the room. Throwing them in the closet, she fluffed the bedspread, then went to see what she could find for him to wear. A past boyfriend had left sweatpants she’d left balled in the back of her closet. Rescuing them, she went to the bathroom door and knocked.
“Come in,” he called.
She opened the door, sticking her head around it into the room. “I’ve got a pair of sweatpants you can try,” she said.
He pulled the shower curtain enough for her to see suds dripping down his bare chest.
“Thanks. Leave them by the sink?”
She came into the steam fogged room and left the pants where instructed.
“Excellent,” he said, watching her. “Just one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“I think there’s something wrong with the shower.”
Frowning, she walked over to the tub. “What’s the problem?”
“I’m the only one in it.”
Throwing back the shower curtain, spray hit her body, surprising her long enough for him to pick her up and pull her into the tub with him.
“Seriously?” she demanded as he jerked the curtain shut. “I think you just flooded my bathroom.”
“I’ll make it up to you.”
“I’m fully dressed.”
“Everything was wet anyways. Aren’t you warmer now?”
Damned man has a point, she thought as she stood under the shower spray.
“You’re going to regret this when the hot water runs out,” she warned.
“Guess we shouldn’t waste any time then.”
His fingers flew down the buttons of her dress shirt before he peeled the sodden material from her body.
“You’re lucky I didn’t wear a skirt today,” she said, unclasping the zip of her pants. “Taking panty hose off right now would require a level of shower yoga I’ve yet to master.”
She wiggled out of the clinging materials and kicked them into the corner of the tub.
“Much better,” he said, his eyes zeroed in on the white bra she wore that had turned translucent under the water. “Let’s get caught in storms more often.”
She rolled her eyes. “How is it possible that the first time you come to my apartment, we’re naked in the shower within minutes of walking through the door?�
��
“Not even amnesia can take away my impressive seduction skills,” he teased.
“Also known as trickery.”
“Yes, that, too.” His gaze ran down her body. “Besides, you’re not quite naked yet. I must be slipping.”
“I know how to fix that problem.”
“Me, too.” He reached around her with one hand and deftly unhooked her bra.
She stripped it off, figuring it left nothing to the imagination anyways. Her white panties were quick to follow.
Jackson’s grin was decidedly wolfish. “Want me to wash your back?” he asked, squeezing her pink loofah.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Might be more fun to get dirty than clean.”
“That’s my girl.” Dropping the loofah, he pulled her into his arms.
She went eagerly, rotating their bodies until her back hit the shower wall so that the spray could cover them both.
“The age-old shower question,” he said, running his hands down her wet body. “Stay warm, or have sex?”
“Let’s try to do both.”
“We might be pushing those shower skills of yours.”
“Practice makes perfect.”
“I wholeheartedly agree.” He bent to catch a drip running off one nipple before taking the hardened nub into his mouth.
She bit back a groan. “We have a pizza in the oven.”
“Fast version. Got it.” He slid his hand between her thighs, stroking her until she bit her lip.
“Two can play that game,” she said as she reached down to find him already hard as iron. She wrapped her fingers around his long length, caressed him until his breathing was as irregular as her own.
“We’re playing fast and loose with the water pressure,” she warned while she could still think straight.
“Sweetheart, if you want me, all you have to do is ask.”
He hiked one of her thighs over his hip as she cast out a hand to steady herself on in the slippery tub.
“You’re going to fall and get a double dose of amnesia,” she said.
“Totally worth it,” he replied, rubbing the head of his cock against her.
They’d tossed away their condom box in the first few days when they’d run through the pack. After that, they’d opted to trust her IUD and right now, she was damn glad nothing stood between her and the mind-numbing orgasm just moments away.
He slid into her with a groan, burying his head against her neck.
Lori tried to concentrate on keeping her balance, but it quickly became a fool’s mission. All she could think about was the pleasure building in her body as he drove into her.
Shampoo bottles fell to the bottom of the tub around them. Water splashed in their faces. But she didn’t give a damn. Tightening her inner muscles, she clenched down on him when he withdrew, causing another groan to leave him.
I can’t get enough of him.
No matter how many times they slept together or how many positions, she always wanted more.
Greedy, greedy.
But totally worth it.
Pressure built within her. She bit her lip, rocking against him faster until all she could hear was their panting breaths as they raced towards their climax. Gripping her hips, he drove into her like nothing else had ever mattered as much as this moment.
When her orgasm exploded within her, she cried out his name, wrapping her arms around him.
Fireworks went off in her head as pleasure flooded her body. Jackson thrust into her a few more times before shouting her name in a far more guttural voice than she’d used.
They clung together under the hot shower spray as their bodies rode out the aftermath.
“Wow,” she said when she could.
“First time we’ve tried that.”
“I’m a fan.”
He laughed. “Glad to be of service.”
She unwrapped her leg from around his hip and stood gingerly. Her knees felt like jelly.
“For the record, this wasn’t what I expected when I brought you here.”
“No complaints from me.”
“I’m sure.”
Fishing the loofah and a bottle of soap from the piles around their feet she laughed. “Let’s get cleaned up before the water turns icy and our pizza burns to a crisp.”
“There’s a plan I can get behind,” he said, taking the loofah from her to run over her body.
She closed her eyes, relaxing into his touch as he washed her.
And wished for more times just like this one.
Chapter Eighteen
Jackson flexed his wrist as he stared at the computer screen in his home office. It didn’t hurt anywhere near as much as it had after the accident.
If only he could say the same about his head.
The headaches were getting worse, but on the other hand, he’d had more and more flashes of memory lately.
Some were jumbled messes of thoughts and vague feelings, but others were clear. The day he’d stood in the hospital and learned his mother was dead. The first business deal he’d fumbled. His high-school sweetheart.
They were all back, but nothing that really mattered.
He’d had no flashes about his brother except the very first one. Nothing about his current business colleagues. But more concerning…
Nothing about Lori.
She was the one person he wanted to remember, and his mind was denying him at all turns.
There’s more to this story.
He was certain of it. Everyone kept telling him Lori was just a colleague, but deep inside pulsed a vague, fleeting memory that refuted all their claims.
He didn’t believe she was the shadow she’d said she was. He knew how crazy he was for her now. Was it possible his other half had ignored that temptation?
How can I want her this much? How can I lo—
He cut the thought off. He had no business thinking about the future when he, himself, might not exist in it.
He rubbed his forehead.
It was a depressing thought to wonder if his state of existence was about to be wiped out. Sure, he’d go back to the person he was always meant to be, but what if the man he was right now was someone else? What if he was better this way?
Lori obviously seemed to think so.
She’d been willing to quit on the man he’d been before. That person would have lost her forever. The man he was now had managed not only to woo her into staying, he’d gotten her into bed, as well.
She’s everything I’ve ever wanted.
Even if his wanting could only be counted in weeks.
Would he wake up one morning and not care about her? The idea was inconceivable. But the most frustrating thing about all of this was that what happened next wasn’t his choice. He was temporary. A stand-in for the real Jackson everyone seemed to be waiting for.
Except Lori. She likes you as you are now.
She was the only one to see him as he was, memory loss and all.
His real self was a freaking moron.
He sighed, leaning back in his desk chair. It was Sunday night. All too soon he’d be in the most important meeting of his life. Of his company’s life.
Come back, memory. I need you now.
Whatever else lay in his past, he needed the business acumen his former self had once held. He couldn’t replace a Harvard business education in the space of a few weeks. He couldn’t pretend to know the ins and outs of every section of his company without the man he’d once been coming forward.
It’s been long enough. You need to come back now.
But Dr. Warren had told him amnesia cases were hard to predict. Some patients regained their memories in days or months, others years, if at all.
I need them. I need to know who I was.
He had to be the man everyone expected.
A knock on the door dragged him out of his dark thoughts.
“Yes?” he called, knowing only Lori could be at his door.
She poked her head into the study, her bl
onde locks falling over her shoulder as she leaned to the side.
“Busy?” she asked.
“Never for you,” he replied, closing his laptop with a snap.
“There’s someone here for you.”
He paused, halfway out of his chair. “Will?”
“No.”
Crossing the distance between them, he opened the door wider to allow her to straighten.
“I would have warned you if I could,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“Who’s here?” he asked, ice flowing through his veins.
“Your brother.”
Blackness edged his vision. The pounding in his head became a crescendo, spiraling around him, threatening to suck him under.
No doubt seeing his reaction, Lori’s eyes widened. Quickly, she entered the room and shut the door firmly behind her.
“Hey,” she said, wrapped her arms around his neck. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“I can’t see him.”
“Why?”
No words rose to his tongue. He stood there in her embrace and couldn’t say anything.
Coward. How can you want her to want you when you’re this weak?
But she didn’t ridicule him or berate him. Instead something infinitely gentle rose in her gaze.
“I know,” she whispered to him. “I know it’s hard to see him. I wouldn’t ask you to if there was any way around it. So, talk to me. How can I help you?”
He shuddered. From day one, all she’d wanted to do was help. Sure, she’d been part of what had landed him in this mess, but he’d never blamed her for it. An accident was an accident. And if she’d tried to quit before it’d happened, then clearly it had been him in the wrong for all her denial. Yet despite that fact, she’d stayed. She’d helped him as no one else would ever have been able to do. She’d protected him in a way no one had every cared to try.
I owe her everything.
Yet he had so little to repay her with.
You can give her the truth.
It was small enough as it was.
He swallowed, trying to form the words he needed. “I can’t see him.”
“Tell me why.”
He shook his head. “He’s my brother.”
“Yes.”
A rusty laugh left him. “That’s why. He’s my brother.”
Understanding lit in her eyes. “He matters,” she said. “You’re afraid to see someone important. Someone who held a place of love and respect in your past.”
Giving Up the Boss Page 16
