Jessie Slaymaker's Rules of Engagement (The Jessie Slaymaker Series Book 2)

by Iles, Jo

  ‘Achilles,’ Tom replied, his eyes never leaving Mr Achilles as he unashamedly admired the cut of his jib. You know him?’ Tom asked, his eyes widening.

  ‘Sure do,’ Jessie smiled as she downed the rest of her champagne. ‘Come on, I’ll introduce you,’ she added brightly, slipping off her stool—which was no small feat considering the height of her shoes and the tightness of her frock. She landed and paused for half a second, ensuring she had her balance, before she grabbed Tom in a firm grip and strutted over to Achilles like she owned the place.

  ‘Jessie, stop. I don’t want to talk to him. I’m too shy. He’s probably not even gay. What will I say?’ Tom whispered angrily to her back as she tugged him across the room.

  ‘It’s for your own good,’ she snapped back at him. This would serve Tom right for meddling when it came to her and Jack. He was going to get a bit of his own medicine and be forced to talk to Achilles whether he liked it or not.

  ‘Trey!’ Jessie schmoozed as she reached Achilles and lifted up her sunglasses.

  ‘Jessie?’ the mountain of man asked hesitantly.

  ‘You remember me,’ Jessie beamed at him warmly.

  ‘Of course I remember you,’ Trey replied, scooping her up in a familiar hug. ‘I decided to extend my stay here in Hong Kong and I hoped we would run into each other again,’ he added genuinely.

  ‘Great costume,’ Jessie said as her gaze fell to some honey-glazed and hyper-defined arm muscles. ‘Trey, this is my friend Tom, from England,’ she said, shaking her head slightly as she remembered why she’d made her brazen dash across the bar. The guy was seriously buff. ‘Tom, this is Trey.’ Achilles and James Bond shook hands, each of them sizing up the other with what could only be classed as unadulterated looks of lust in their eyes.

  Chapter 30

  From his spying position at the bar, Jack surveyed his new empire, clocking all the usual superheroes that rocked up to these kinds of fancy dress parties. He wasn’t going to fight it, but he couldn’t explain for the life of him why the Hong Kong crowd loved a costume party. He’d lost count of the number of Batmen and Spider-Men he’d seen. The men were woefully unimaginative at these kind of things, although to be honest, the women weren’t much better. There were several mandatory sexy nurses knocking around, fluttering their false eyelashes at him, and at least two PVC-clad women had come as Catwoman.

  Jack had almost lost hope that the one woman who he did want to flutter her eyelashes at him wasn’t going to come. Then a familiar figure with curves in all the right places walked slowly through the entrance. At least he was pretty sure it was Jessie hiding behind those huge sunglasses. Either that or Victoria Beckham had decided to grace his little bar opening with her presence. What Jack hadn’t expected to see was Jessie clinging onto Tom, her supposedly ex-boyfriend’s arm. Of course, he hadn’t expected her to come out solo, maybe with some work colleagues, but he never thought in a million years she’d show up with Tom. As Jack sat there slack-jawed, he wondered what the hell Tom was doing in town. Had he come to be a shoulder for Jessie to cry on? Had they managed to patch things up? They did go way back after all, Jack silently concluded as he swallowed back a lump of frantic panic.

  Jack continued to watch Jessie and Tom from afar, trying to figure out if there was more between them than friendship. What with Jessie playing a sulking Mrs Beckham to a tee, he couldn’t tell for sure. She didn’t look overly happy and enthused to be here, that much he could tell.

  A little voice in the back of Jack’s mind wondered if Jessie had deliberately brought Tom with her to hurt him. He’d never put her down as vindictive, but all of a sudden he felt unsure.

  Five minutes later, Jack watched Jessie gracefully dismount from her stool and stride over, bold as brass, to a Brad Pitt lookalike, embracing him like they were old friends.

  ‘Jesus,’ Jack muttered under his breath, shaking his head. That’s that guy off the plane, he realised, unable to stop a multitude of bad thoughts from entering his mind concerning Jessie and her fidelity towards him. Just how many men did she have in her thrall exactly?

  Jack had seen enough. First he’d watched Jessie, his Jessie, come into his bar with her ex-boyfriend. Now she’d practically thrown herself into the Aussie muscle’s arms. What the hell was she playing at? Jack felt a surge of jealously course through his veins, and he knew he had to stop this now. Whatever game she was playing with his heart, it was over.

  Jack silently approached Jessie from behind, balling his hands into fists. The mood he was in, he could have quite easily taken a swing at both of the men she was talking animatedly to.

  ‘We need to talk,’ Jack said gruffly into Jessie’s ear, grasping her firmly above the elbow. He felt her tense under his touch.

  ‘If you’ll excuse me for just a moment, gentlemen,’ Jessie said pleasantly to her all-male company before allowing Jack to lead her across the room.

  Jack clocked an odd look from Tom as he towed Jessie away. It was a combination of hello and warning. Tom didn’t seem at all surprised to see him though, which told Jack that Tom knew exactly whose bar he’d strolled into that evening.

  Jack made a beeline for his office, down a couple of side steps off to one side. Once inside, pliant Jessie disappeared in the blink of an eye, replaced by someone who was clearly very annoyed.

  ‘Yes? Can I help you?’ she snapped at him, shoving him off her and rubbing her arm where he’d been gripping her.

  ‘Actually, you can. You can explain to me why the fuck you’ve come to my bar opening with your ex-boyfriend in tow and have subsequently been throwing yourself at that bloke from the plane.’

  ‘Why? Jealous?’ she asked, clearly challenging him.

  ‘Yeah. I am,’ he answered, taking a step towards her. He realised his mounting jealously at seeing Jessie in the company of other men was only compounded by the fact that she looked the way she did. She looked amazing.

  He reached over and whipped off her sunglasses quickly before she could stop him. To his delight, he saw the fire of anger flare in her eyes, and he knew in that instant that they were far from finished. He took another step towards her, placing a strong arm behind her back and pulling her to him. Jack paused as he drank in the obvious delight in her eyes before he crashed his mouth into hers. She resisted at first, placing her hands on his chest in an attempt to push him away, but after a few seconds it was as if a switch in her flipped, and her mouth and body began to respond hungrily as she pressed herself hard against him.

  ‘God, you’re amazing,’ Jack breathed heavily into her neck, his wandering hands trying to figure a way to gain access into her form-fitted dress. Seemingly growing impatient, Jessie turned her back on him abruptly.

  ‘Zip,’ she said huskily as she lifted her hair out of the way. Jack did as he was told and carefully unzipped her. Something told him she wouldn’t have taken too kindly to him damaging this dress. He slipped it off her shoulders and Jessie took over, shimmying it down the rest of her body. She bent over, showing off her rounded behind for him to see, and slowly picked up the dress, carefully placing it over the back of a chair. Then, painfully slowly as far as Jack was concerned, she turned to face him. Jack’s breath caught as he admired her body. Physically, Jessie was everything he loved in a woman. She had slim shoulders and a narrow waist. But it was her other attributes that had Jack aching to touch her again. He loved the swell of her full breasts, which led into her flat stomach, which in turn led to that secret place which was hidden by her lace panties.

  Jessie cocked an impatient eyebrow at him as he stood there spellbound, ogling her. When he still didn’t move, Jessie gestured towards his clothes and then cleared a space on his desk and leaned against it. Jack suddenly spurred into action, quickly relieving himself of his jacket and slipping out of his shoes and jeans. He walked slowly towards her as he began to unbutton his shirt, never taking his eyes off her for one moment. As he reached her, she slid her hands under his shirt, against his skin, and raked her finge
rnails across the tense muscles of his neck and shoulders. Jessie pulled him to her, and there was something reassuring in her eyes and body language that screamed to Jack that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

  They kissed again. More tenderly now, and their hands caressed each other, now that there were fewer clothes obstructing things.

  ‘Still too many clothes,’ Jack said gruffly as their kiss began to deepen, both of them hungry for more. He unclasped her bra and freed her breasts, then helped her out of her knickers. ‘You can leave the shoes on, though,’ he added, looking at her higher-than-usual heels.

  ‘You now,’ she said breathlessly, to which he quickly obliged, throwing off his shirt and removing his boxers. Leaning back against his desk again, she tugged him gently towards her by his hardness and rubbed him along her wetness. They both released simultaneous small moans of satisfaction at their heightened sensitivity, and Jessie continued to pump him and explore her folds with him. Jack was more than happy for her to take the lead when she was giving him such pleasure. But as she started to bend down, he placed a finger under her chin, pulling her back up.

  ‘I won’t last if you put me in your mouth,’ he said, although there was nothing he would have liked more. ‘Let me taste you,’ he added, kissing her passionately and pushing her back onto his desk.

  He supported her back with one hand and pushed her legs apart with the other. He continued to kiss her and probe her with his fingers until he couldn’t resist her any longer. Dropping to his knees, he pushed her further onto the desk and delved deep into her with his tongue and fingers, revelling in her soft moans. She was so wet. So utterly inviting. He could have stayed down there for hours as she trembled and climaxed on him over and over.

  When he thought she’d had enough, he slowly stood up and kissed her again.

  ‘I’m on the pill,’ she whispered to him as she eased him into her and rhythmically began to move on him. He was momentarily surprised, as she hadn’t told him previously she had changed her contraception, but he believed her. Jessie wasn’t the kind of person to try and entrap him. Jack soon forgot about the wariness that had been trained into him after years of living in Asia, and simply allowed himself to enjoy the sensations of being inside her. When he’d worn a condom, she’d always felt good but without one, she felt beautiful.

  As Jack reached his own climax, he suddenly became aware that, although he would love to come inside her, the rest of Jessie’s evening might not be very comfortable for her. Jack forced himself to pull out and grabbed a handful of tissues from his desk. Seeming to understand, Jessie quickly dropped to her knees and finally got what she wanted. She put him in her mouth, and seconds later he came, just as he’d predicted he would if she did that. She swallowed quickly, then took a tissue from his hand and delicately dabbed at her mouth, all the while shooting him the most seductive look he’d ever seen.

  ‘That was amazing,’ he said, pulled her back up onto the desk and cradling her in his arms.

  ‘So, who did you come as? I believe this is a fancy dress party,’ Jessie asked cheekily.

  ‘Tonight, I’ve come as Jack Davenport. He’s been AWOL these past few weeks and I thought he should make his first official appearance in Hong Kong. Am I a good likeness?’

  ‘Not bad,’ she laughed. ‘I like your bar,’ she added more seriously.

  ‘You do?’ Jack replied, his eyes lighting up.

  ‘It’s really cool, Jack. I think you’ve done really well here,’ she said honestly, tracing her fingertips along his collarbone.

  ‘Thanks, Jessie. I may not have said it, but your opinion means a huge amount to me. I’m sorry we had such a big row, over nothing. I’ve missed you so much, and I’ll do anything to get back in your good graces,’ he said earnestly, meaning every word.

  ‘It wasn’t exactly nothing, Jack,’ Jessie said, raising her eyebrows with a look of caution in her eyes.

  ‘Okay,’ Jack conceded, as he placed a finger to her lips. ‘I know it wasn’t nothing, but it should have been nothing. Your reservations about moving in together were real, and I should have respected you. I was silly and childish. I’m sorry.’

  ‘So you’re really okay with us living separately to begin with? Just while we’re adjusting to things,’ she asked. Her cheekiness was all gone—she was now completely serious.

  ‘I’m okay,’ Jack said stiffly. He wanted to be with her all the time, but if that’s what she needed then he could do that. For a few weeks at least, he told himself. Given time, he was confident he’d find a way to convince her otherwise.

  ‘Fair enough. Apology accepted on that count,’ she said, inclining her head. ‘But what about Sonia? Will you speak to her?’ She spoke quietly and didn’t meet his gaze. She suddenly seemed wholly focused on his chest.

  Jack paused before nodding slowly in response. He was aware that if he didn’t sort this thing out once and for all, this could be the dealbreaker and they’d be back to square one.

  ‘You will?’ Jessie asked, in a combination of surprise and relief. A smile lightened her face instantaneously and he could almost see a weight being lifted off her shoulders.

  ‘I will. If that’s what you want,’ Jack replied, although he still wasn’t sure this was the best course of action. Yet he was determined to have Jessie back, and if this was what she really wanted, then he was prepared to open that can of worms.

  ‘I will stand by you, no matter what happens,’ Jessie said earnestly, looking him in the eyes. Hearing those words and seeing that look in Jessie’s eye, Jack actually felt relieved. He realised if he had Jessie, he didn’t need to bury his head in the sand anymore. If she was with him, then it didn’t matter what Sonia Shum threw at them. They could, and they would, survive. Together.

  ‘How can I make the past fortnight up to you?’ Jack asked, stroking the side of her face.

  ‘Hmm, let me think about it,’ Jessie replied, lifting her lashes flirtatiously. ‘I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something.’

  ‘Whatever it is, you can consider it done,’ Jack responded with a broad smile.

  Chapter 31

  Sometime later a slightly wobbly Jessie exited the manager’s office. She could have blamed her wobbly status on her shoes, but that would have been only half the truth. She was exceedingly happy she’d let Tom persuade her to come out. It was like all her Christmases had come at once. Things were back on track with Jack. Check. Communicating better with Jack. Check. And oh yeah—had sex on a desk. Check. Things were definitely looking up.

  Jessie decided a quick pit stop to the bathroom was the order of the evening. She wanted to make sure she didn’t have just-been-ravished-in-the-manager’s-office written too obviously all over her. She spied the loo across the bar. The only snag was she’d have to walk right past Tom and Trey to get to it. They were deep in conversation, but she doubted she could get past Tom without being noticed. But still, it was worth a try. She could just pretend she hadn’t noticed the pair of them standing there. Yeah, right, Jessie thought to herself. Who was she kidding? The world and his wife had noticed the tasty English gent in a tux and the Brad Pitt look-alike propping up the bar.

  Jessie scurried past them as best she could in her blasted shoes, trying to look inconspicuous. She nearly made it, but at the last second she was yanked back and spun around. Feeling slightly dizzy, she found herself looking up into Tom’s eyes and knew she’d been caught.

  ‘And just where have you been, young lady?’ Tom asked in a knowing tone. ‘Or perhaps the more apt question would be, what have you two been up to?’ he rephrased. Jessie felt a presence appear at her back. She didn’t have to look behind her to know it was Jack. She could just feel him.

  ‘Like you don’t know,’ Jessie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at her oldest friend. Sensing he was on the periphery of their conversation, she noticed that Trey seemed to disappear, which was a considerable feat considering his considerable size.

  ‘Nice to see you, J
ack,’ Tom said, the two men shaking hands.

  ‘You too, Tom,’ Jack replied, although Jessie could tell he didn’t completely mean it.

  ‘Honestly, I leave you two alone for all of five minutes and it all goes Fifty Shades, judging by the looks on your faces and the sweat on your brows. I only hope the pair of you actually managed to do some talking as well as some making out,’ Tom said, clearly enjoying himself.

  Jessie felt the heat of embarrassment rise in her cheeks. Thank goodness they were in a darkish place. ‘If you’ll just excuse me for a moment,’ she said, and began to shuffle towards the bathroom.

  ‘That’s what you said last time,’ Tom called jokily after her.

  ‘Why don’t you two make small talk? Get to know each other a bit better,’ Jessie called back, smiling at the two most important men in her life. She knew full well that without her prodding they were likely to just stand there staring at each other.

  Once safely ensconced in the bathroom, Jessie felt she could finally breathe. She was happy to escape the embarrassment that came with Tom knowing what she and Jack had been up to, even if it was just for a few moments. It was just plain weird Tom knowing what sexual mischief she’d been up to. It wasn’t so long ago that they’d been sleeping together. Sleeping being the operative word. They’d never really managed to make the physical mechanics work between them. Jessie still remembered their fumbled attempts with an embarrassed shudder, and wished that was a road they had never travelled down. Jessie also felt relieved to have extricated herself from the flagrant testosterone levels and accompanying tension that always seemed to be around whenever Tom and Jack were in close proximity. It was something that they were both going to have to overcome at some point. At least she hoped they would, for her sake.

  Studying herself in the mirror, Jessie went to work unsmudging her makeup and freshening up. At least her makeup was salvageable—there wasn’t a whole lot she could do with the bed hair she was sporting. When she was satisfied she looked as good as she was going to get, she pushed her shoulders back and went back to the party. She hoped Jack and Tom were playing together nicely and hadn’t ripped each other’s throats out yet.