Shared & Protected

by J P Books

  “And then maybe we can give it another go?” he asked with a mischievous smile.

  Avery raised her eyebrows. “I’m up for it if you are,” she teased, running a fingertip down his chest, admiring the muscles she hadn’t had a chance to appreciate earlier.

  “I think I can promise you I will be,” he replied, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into a kiss.

  Against her stomach, Avery could already feel his cock twitching again. She grinned. “Well I am a lucky girl, aren’t I?” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting him pick her up, carrying her the rest of the way to the bathroom.

  CHAPTER 4

  Selena was waiting for Avery to arrive for the morning shift with her legs crossed and one foot jiggling impatiently. When Avery finally dragged herself through the front door, she sighed with relief. “Thank God!” said Selena, standing.

  Avery frowned, looking down at her watch. “I’m right on time,” she pouted.

  Selena gave the other woman a weary smile. “Of course you are, darling,” she purred. “But I’ve just had a horrendous shift. You wouldn’t believe some of the requests we’ve had tonight.”

  Avery made a face. “Oh no, Selena. That sucks. Now I feel a bit like a jerk…I had some really good news to tell you.”

  “Oh baby, don’t feel so. Tell me!” Selena leaned over the front desk, resting her chin on her hand. “Did you get laid?” she asked mischievously.

  Avery blinked. “How did you know?”

  “You look all sparkly and relaxed. Nobody looks that good at 7 am unless they’ve just been really properly fucked. You know it’s true, honey.”

  Avery glanced around as if afraid someone in the empty lobby had overheard Selena say “fucked” but, of course, no one had. Her worries calmed, she smiled. “Well, you’re right, as always.”

  Selena grinned. She loved to gossip. “Well? Who was it? Johnny the chef? He’s been after you for months.”

  “What?” Avery asked. “He has not! And no, it wasn’t Johnny.” She leaned in until she and Selena were almost nose to nose. “It was Deacon Wolfe,” she whispered.

  Selena was stunned. “Deacon Wolfe?” she hissed back. “Are you kidding?”

  Avery shook her head. “And it was mind-blowing.”

  Selena raised an eyebrow. “Well, look at you go, Little Miss Goody Two Shoes. I’m impressed. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

  Avery blushed. “Me neither,” she admitted happily. “We just ran into each other in Central Park and he asked me to dinner and…well…oh my God, though, Selena. It was, like, literally the best sex I’ve ever had.”

  Selena smiled tightly. “I’m glad to hear it, honey. Just make sure the word doesn’t get out. I don’t want you getting into trouble right before your big promotion.”

  Avery blushed again. “I might not get it. Nothing’s set in stone.”

  Selena rolled her eyes mentally. Everyone knew Avery was getting the promotion. Their bosses had made some pretty clear insinuations. “Well, all the more reason to be careful then,” she said. “Anyway, sweetheart, I’ve gotta run. A girl needs her beauty sleep. You be good now.”

  The other woman beamed. “Have a great day, Selena. When are we going for drinks?”

  “Soon, baby. Soon. See you later!” Without waiting for Avery to reply, Selena swept up her coat and purse and sashayed out the front doors, inwardly fuming.

  This was so typically Avery. She was such an idiot. She went around thinking she was so perfect and so much better than all the other lowly mortals crawling around New York, pretending to be so humble and above it all when actually she was just as greedy as everyone else.

  Selena seethed as she walked. She couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t believe that Deacon Wolfe, after having seen both of them, would choose to spend the night with Avery over her. Seriously, was the man blind? Avery was all skin and bone. She had nothing on Selena and everyone knew it, including Avery. It just wasn’t fair. Avery did nothing to keep up her looks. Sure, she ran and ate well, but that’s about as basic as you can get. Meanwhile, Selena slaved away with her daily beauty routines – and this was the thanks she got? Deacon Wolfe decided to sleep with someone who looked like a twelve-year-old tomboy? Avery didn’t even paint her nails, for Christ’s sake.

  And then there was the promotion. Selena growled under her breath. Their bosses hadn’t been subtle in their hints about who would be moving up to a manager position in a few weeks, and they hadn’t been talking about Selena, which was totally unfair. Selena had worked at Crosby Street for just as long as Avery had and was an excellent concierge. The guests loved her – especially the men (most of them, at any rate). But her bosses had always preferred Avery to her. It was probably because they were all women, Selena thought bitterly.

  Selena had been willing to let the promotion go without a fight, but now with Deacon Wolfe in the mix, she was furious. It was time to take Avery down a notch or two.After all, God helped those who helped themselves, right?

  Selena knew what she needed. She needed a plan. And to do that, she needed a manicure. Hailing a taxi, she told it to drive until they found the nearest nail salon. Five minutes later, Selena was throwing herself into a padded manicurist’s chair. “Fix me,” she told the blonde at the station. “I’m having a horrendous day.”

  “You wanna talk about it?” said the manicurist, taking Selena’s left hand in both of hers and removing the perfect nail polish that was already there.

  “This bitch at work. I have to take her down. She’s stolen my promotion and now she’s after my man too!” Selena looked up at the ceiling. “I’ll start with the promotion. That won’t be too hard. A little clip of her going out with one of the guests outside of working hours in the right hands will lose her her job, never mind her promotion.”

  “Mmhmm,” said the manicurist, not really listening. Women were always coming in here acting like she was some sort of a cross between a life coach, a shrink, and their mother. She made minimum wage plus tips to paint nails. She didn’t give a shit about their problems. To her, it was all white noise. But she was very good at pretending to listen. That was what brought in the big tips.

  “Exactly. But how to get her away from Deacon?” Selena frowned at the manicurist’s blond bangs.

  “The scum is cheating on her,” the manicurist offered. It was her response to almost any relationship question her clients put to her. That, combined with “Oh, honey, just leave him. He doesn’t deserve you” worked for nearly all occasions.

  Selena snapped the fingers of her free hand. “Oh my God, you’re a literal genius. That’s perfect. I’ll cozy up to her, say I heard it from one of the other girls that he was hitting on them, trying to get her to drinks with him. Or no, even better, I’ll say he was hitting on me. And of course, I turned him down, obviously. Because I’m her friend and I would never do that to her. It’s perfect. She’ll eat it right up, she’s such an idiot.”

  “Sounds great,” said the manicurist, bending over Selena’s hand so that she wouldn’t see her roll her eyes.

  CHAPTER 5

  While Selena concocted her plan, Avery tried to keep the butterflies out of her stomach. Deacon’s bodyguard had gone out a few minutes after she’d arrived – presumably to collect Deacon – and waiting for their return was making her more nervous than she’d thought it would. It was just that it had been such a good night; Deacon had been so kind and loving, so funny and attentive. Despite her reservations (which were large and numerous), Avery knew that she was beginning to fall for him. Fall hard.

  So there she was, standing behind the lobby desk while her stomach did flip flops as she waited for Deacon to come back with his bodyguard. She knew they had to act as if nothing had happened – after all, it was her job on the line – and she was terrified that she’d do something to give herself away. Not that anyone was watching, she knew. But Avery had never been one for breaking the rules and it wa
s making her giddy.

  Fifteen minutes later, when Deacon and his bodyguard finally returned, Avery’s stomach went into free fall. She forced a cheerful – but not too cheerful – smile onto her face and put one hand on the edge of the counter for balance. Deacon looked up at her briefly, flashing her a polite but business appropriate smile before following his bodyguard into the elevator and disappearing. But just that brief smile had been enough to give her flashbacks to last night and the way he’d made her scream. Avery’s knees went soft and she sank into the empty chair beside Janice.

  “You okay, Avery?” Janice asked, looking up from her computer.

  “Yeah, of course,” Avery replied, clearing her throat. “Just tired is all.”

  Janice nodded. “Yeah, you look a bit peaky. Out partying last night?”

  Avery chuckled wryly. “I wish. More like up late finishing my novel,” she replied, sticking out her tongue.

  Janice laughed. “Yeah, that sounds more like it.”

  Avery pouted and tossed a paper clip in Janice’s direction. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  Avery didn’t see Deacon again all day and she was starting to wonder if maybe he’d forgotten about her already. Maybe all his one night stands were that spectacular. Then, fifteen minutes before her shift ended, his room called the front desk. “Concierge speaking, how may I help you, Mr. Wolfe?”

  “Avery?” he asked, and she felt desire run through her just from the way his rough voice pronounced her name.

  “Yes, sir,” she replied, glancing over at Janice.

  “Sorry, I’ve been in meetings all day. I want to see you again. Tomorrow… are you free tomorrow? I have to wine and dine some investors tonight, I’m afraid.”

  Avery bit back a laugh. He’d wanted to see her again tonight! “That’s fine, sir,” she replied, hoping he’d understand that she couldn’t speak freely.

  “Great. Meet me at Doppelganger tomorrow after your shift. We can start with a mojito and go from there. After all, it worked out so well for us last time.” She could hear the grin in his voice and she fought to keep one off her own face.

  “Of course, sir. Excellent,” she replied.

  “I can’t wait to see you again,” he said, growing a little breathless.

  “Me neither,” she replied, allowing herself a little indulgence.

  He laughed. “See you tomorrow.”

  She looked guiltily towards Janice, but Janice was fully occupied with reading the news and hadn’t been listening to her conversation at all. Avery heaved a sigh of relief.

  Now she just had to make it to tomorrow night without exploding.

  ***

  The next day her shift seemed endless. She was working with Mike, her least favorite co-worker, so that only made things go slower. By noon she was glancing at the clock every twenty minutes or so – which did not make time go faster.

  “Dude, why are you so itchy to get out of here?” Mike asked, leaning back in his chair unprofessionally. “You’ve looked at the clock like five times in the last ten minutes. Just chill, man.”

  While he was exaggerating, Avery has put out that her anxiety was obvious enough that even Mike noticed. Mike was not their most observant employee – he was the Columbia grad student nephew of one of their managers and his mother had despaired of ever finding him a job, despite his masters in Renaissance poetry. Avery could understand why Mike’s mother would want him out of her basement.

  “I am ‘chill’,” Avery snapped back. “Now sit up straight and stop using the word ‘dude’. This is a reputable hotel, not a frat house.”

  Mike pouted. “Okay, okay, like, whatever, man. Jeeze. I guess it’s that time of the month, huh?”

  Avery glared daggers at the younger man. “Yeah, a little sexism will really help put me in a better mood. If you have a problem with the female reproductive cycle, Michael, then go crawl back into your mother’s womb because you wouldn’t exist without it!”

  Avery took a deep breath. Okay, maybe she did need to ‘chill’ just a little. “I’m going for a coffee,” she said abruptly and left the stunned Mike at the desk.

  Up on the rooftop, Avery drank her coffee and looked out over the skyline, taking some deep breaths. What are you so worked up about? she asked herself. It’s just Deacon. She rolled her eyes. Yeah, sure, just some bazillionaire hunk. No big deal.

  Well, whoever he was, she reminded herself, he was clearly totally into her, so there was nothing to worry about. The thought calmed her down and she finished her coffee and went back to work in a much better mood.

  After her shift finally ended, she raced home to change. She was not getting caught going out for drinks at some high-end bar in a summer dress again. This time she was going to look the part.

  Though that was easier said than done.

  Avery went through her entire closet trying to find an outfit that she liked. When, finally, all her clothes were on her bed instead of their hangers, she realized she really needed to stop over thinking things. But she couldn’t help how excited and happy she felt. She wanted tonight to be perfect.

  She finally settled on a classic: a tight black dress with vintage T-strap heels and some gold chandelier earrings that brought out the highlights in her eyes. A little mascara here, a little winged eyeliner there, and a dash of her favorite wine red lipstick and she was ready to go.

  Avery smiled at her reflection. God, her legs looked great. She forgot sometimes. Feeling much better about herself, she grabbed her clutch and a light coat just in case and went out to flag down a cab.

  Her apartment was ways away from Doppelganger, which was in a much ritzier area of town. She sighed. That was another thing. She knew this was just a brief affair – that Deacon would be gone out of her life soon enough – and, though she hated to admit it, it was probably for the best that way. They came from such different worlds. He was a hugely rich businessman who had lived in all the biggest cities around the world and she was a hotel concierge from Brooklyn who had only managed to make it as far as upper Manhattan. What did she really have to offer him?

  Stop it, she told herself. You’re a smart, funny, generous, beautiful woman. Any man, no matter how much they’re worth, would be lucky to have you. Plus you have the best legs on the Eastern seaboard. And Deacon certainly doesn’t seem to have any complaints.

  Keeping all that in mind, Avery arrived at Doppelganger feeling pretty damn good.

  Deacon was waiting for her at a table tucked away into a dark corner, with a mojito already on the table for her. “They made this one with ginger and lime – it’s the bartender’s newest experiment. He’s anxious to know what you think,” Deacon told her as he rose from his chair to greet her.

  Avery smiled up at him. “Sounds amazing,” she said.

  Deacon grinned down at her, tenderly brushing her hair off her shoulder with one hand before leaning down to kiss her. “Not as amazing as you look,” he whispered as they parted.

  Avery felt a shiver run down her spine as his breath fluttered across her skin. “Same to you,” she replied.

  He ran his thumb across her cheek. “It’s good to see you. I…” he sighed and gave her a sheepish smile. “To be honest, I haven’t been able to get you off my mind. You don’t think I’m a sap, do you? I mean, I know, I know, this is just casual, but I can’t help but feel like…I dunno. I’ll shut up now.”

  Avery felt herself fill with warmth at the sight of this tall, impressive, confident man growing so shy and embarrassed – and because of her. “Don’t shut up,” she said. “You’re being perfect. This is perfect. I…I really like spending time with you.”

  Deacon beamed at her and moved to hold out her chair. As she sat down, he said, “Well, I guess maybe I’ll have to come to visit New York more often.”

  Avery laughed. “I’d like that.”

  “Have you ever been to Asia?” Deacon asked, settling himself across from her.

  “N
o,” Avery shook her head as she stirred her waiting mojito. “I’ve always wanted to travel, but I went straight from high school to college to Crosby Street and two weeks a year never seems to be enough time to do anywhere justice. The farthest I’ve ever been from New York is Orlando. My parents took me to Disneyworld for my thirteenth birthday.”

  Deacon smiled. “And what did you think of that?”

  Avery gave him a wry smile. “Well, my parents fought the whole time. A week after we got back they started divorce proceedings. So, all in all, it wasn’t exactly the most magical time, I have to admit.”

  “They got divorced because of Disneyworld?” Deacon asked, shocked.

  Avery laughed, shaking her head. “Nah, it was a long time coming. I think they were hoping it would bring them back together, but instead it just exacerbated all their problems. I went on a lot of roller coasters by myself on that trip.”