He got ready for bed, grabbed a pillow from his bed and returned to the living room, where Jessie was spreading a blanket out on the couch for him. He sat down and placed the pillow at one end.
“What was up with Sarah tonight?” Jack asked, suddenly remembering how wasted his sister had gotten. It wasn’t like her to drink so much.
Jessie noticed Jack’s eyes following the hem of her dress as it rose up her thighs when she sat down beside him. Her heart did a little jump. “I’m not sure. She was fine while we were doing our hair and getting ready and then she seemed to get into a weird mood.”
“Huh.” Jack shrugged.
He tore his eyes away from her silky thighs as his cock rose in his pajama pants. He shifted a little, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, hoping she wouldn’t notice the tent forming in his lap.
“How come she dislikes Sean so much? She told me she can’t stand him and seemed annoyed that he was here,” Jessie asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, they were really good friends in high school. Actually they dated senior year but I doubt she’d be carrying a grudge since then.”
Good. Talking about his sister was definitely a hard-on deflator. Impossible to maintain an erection and think about Sarah at the same time.
“Why would she carry a grudge? Why did they break up?” Jessie asked, her curiosity piqued.
Jack shrugged again. “I don’t know. Weird, but I can’t remember. I don’t think she said much about it at the time. Just that it wasn’t working out. I mean what the hell, we were just kids.”
“She doesn’t talk to you about her relationships?”
Jessie had been under the impression that Jack and Sarah were really close and talked about almost everything.
“Yeah. She does. You know I’m not one to give advice but I listen to her when she wants to talk.”
“Did you like Randy?” Jessie asked.
“Not really. I mean, he was okay, but I thought she could do better.”
Jessie laughed. “No one is good enough for your sister?”
Jack laughed with her. “Something like that, I guess. It just didn’t seem like he was that nice to her. He didn’t treat her badly, but it never seemed like he was paying much attention to her.”
“Yeah, she told me a bit about him. How did Sean treat her when they dated? I can’t imagine him as someone’s boyfriend. He seems so… cold.”
“He wasn’t always like that. When we were kids he was different. I don’t remember him ever being anything but nice to her.”
“Maybe Sarah felt weird talking to you about Sean because he’s your friend.”
Jessie could relate to that. As close as she and Sarah had gotten, she didn’t talk to her about feelings for Jack the way she talked to Zoey and Savannah.
Sarah had made enough comments and asked enough questions to make it obvious that she had picked up on Jessie’s feelings for her brother, but Jessie had never really come clean. Only once had it come up directly. Sarah had told her that she still had hope for her brother and would love to see her and Jack together. She had asked Jessie not to give up on him too soon.
“Yeah, maybe,” Jack replied.
“Oh, well. I guess I’m going to go to bed,” Jessie said.
“Goodnight, princess.”
“Goodnight, Jack. Happy new year.”
Chapter Thirteen
JACK SLID THE SHOT GLASS across the bar.
Jessie picked it up and swallowed the liquid.
“No date on Valentine’s Day, Jessie?” Sean asked.
He was sitting on the other side of her, broodily nursing a vodka tonic.
Jessie shook her head.
“No. Thanks for bringing it up,” she joked.
Jack smirked on her other side and did a shot, his eyes raking over her and then scanning the room restlessly.
“Sorry.” Sean laughed bitterly.
“It’s okay.”
Jessie didn’t bother asking where Sean’s fiancé was. Sean almost never talked about her. She was currently at Harvard working on her MBA and Sean only saw her occasionally. It was common knowledge that Sean was only marrying her to make his family happy, and that he banged whoever he wanted to on the side.
“Hey,” Jessie heard Jack greet someone.
She turned on her barstool. The girl talking to Jack was wearing a sexy long sleeve dress that hugged every one of her amazing curves. Jessie saw Jack’s gaze settle on the bare skin of her thighs, on display between the hem of her short dress and the tops of her thigh high boots. She could see the heat in his eyes as he licked his lips. She felt the familiar feeling of jealousy knife through her as Jack gave the dark-haired beauty his full attention.
“Haven’t seen you in a while, Jack. How’ve you been?” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek while resting her hand on his leg.
“Good,” Jack replied.
Jessie noticed his hand lightly skim the girl’s side as she leaned in for a brief hug.
“Who’s your friend?” The girl asked Jack as she looked at Jessie.
Jack tore his eyes away from her long enough to give Jessie a quick glance.
“This is my friend Jessie. Jessie, meet Kristy,” Jack said casually, as Kristy moved closer to him, standing in between his legs and just about sitting on his lap. He certainly wasn’t objecting and Jessie noticed his hand resting on her thigh now. Jealousy squeezed her chest tightly but she kept her expression nonchalant.
“Hi, Jessie. Nice to meet you.” Kristy shook hands with her.
Jessie faked a smile. “Hi. Nice to meet you, too.”
“Jack and I are old friends. Isn’t that right, Jack?” Kristy purred, her husky laugh low as she leaned in and whispered something in his ear that made him smile.
“I’ll be right back. Going to the ladies room.” Jessie slipped off quickly.
In the bathroom she checked her hair and reapplied lip gloss, looking at herself critically in the mirror. Her own dress and knee high boots seemed prudish now, though she had thought the outfit looked cute when Jack picked her up earlier in the evening.
When she got back to the bar, Kristy turned her eyes to her, checking her out in an obviously sexual way.
“You’re really cute,” Kristy said.
“Thanks,” Jessie replied, uncomfortably glancing at Jack, who looked amused.
“What do you say we take Jack home together and give him a night he’ll never forget?” Kristy asked, a sly smile spreading over her face.
Jack watched Jessie without saying anything. The small smile playing on his lips told her that he was enjoying watching her squirm.
“Thanks, but that’s not really my thing. No offense.”
“None taken.” She turned her attention to Jack. “Are you sleeping with her?” Kristy whispered, only her whisper was loud enough for Jessie to hear.
“No,” Jack replied. “Just friends.”
“Come home with me. I can give you a night you won’t forget all by myself,” Kristy tempted.
Jack hesitated. He had brought Jessie out tonight and hadn’t had any intentions of trying to hook up with anyone. Of course, he hadn’t known he would run into Kristy. Now he was remembering her riding his cock the last time he had fucked her and feeling tempted.
He could ask Sean to give Jessie a ride home, but Sean had been moody as hell lately. Something was definitely going on with him. Jack had asked him what was up but Sean had told him everything was fine. Clearly he hadn’t felt like talking, so Jack had let it go.
“Can’t tonight.” Jack resisted the growing erection in his pants. “Why don’t you text me tomorrow? Maybe we can get together some other time.”
“Okay,” Kristy pouted. “But I’m going to hold you to it.”
Jack and Jessie played darts for another hour or so, and then decided to leave. They left Sean still brooding at his barstool.
Jessie was quiet on the way home.
“You okay?” Jack asked, breaking the silenc
e.
“Sure.”
“You never said what happened with Dane. I assume that’s over?” Jack asked, his voice light.
Jessie nodded. “Yeah. It just didn’t work out. He was nice, but…”
“But?” Jack prompted.
“I don’t know. We just didn’t… we didn’t click, you know? He’s kind of… I don’t know. Too serious for me. You know how funny I am… he never laughed at any of my jokes. Plus he was kind of picky about stuff. Like he wouldn’t eat carbs. Which is weird, right? Guys shouldn’t be that finicky about stuff like that. It’s not very… I don’t know… manly.”
Jack laughed. “Right. You want a caveman.”
Jessie laughed with him. “Not exactly a caveman. But I don’t like guys who act… so feminine.”
Jack briefly wondered again if she had slept with the guy. He didn’t ask, since it was obviously none of his business. Again he reminded himself that if she wanted him to know she would tell him. Even so, an uncomfortable feeling of jealousy shot through him.
He pulled up in front of her house and parked his Jeep.
“Thanks for the ride.” Jessie leaned over and kissed his cheek.
Jack tensed when her hand pressed against his thigh briefly.
“No problem.” His voice was rough but his lips felt soft on her cheek as he kissed her back.
“Vegas tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at eleven.”
They had a case waiting for them in Las Vegas. A missing person.
“Okay. Night, Jack.”
“’Night, Jessie.”
Chapter Fourteen
“THANKS.” JACK SMILED SLIGHTLY AS the hot as hell waitress set his whiskey down in front of him. He handed her a tip and she smiled and ran her hand across his shoulder.
“Thank you, sweetie.” She sashayed off to wait on another customer.
Jack watched her walk away, his eyes all over that sweet ass barely covered in a short skirt.
Jesus Christ, this place was crawling with hot women.
He was waiting for Jessie to come out on stage. If this case hadn’t been so fucking serious he might have taken more amusement in the anticipation of watching Jessie undercover as a topless dancer. But based on their leads so far, the missing girl they were looking for, Sasha, could be in real danger.
They had met yesterday afternoon with Suran De Silva, the owner of Blow, one of the hottest strip clubs in Vegas. His best dancer and mistress, Sasha, had gone missing three weeks ago.
The police didn’t seem to be working very hard to find her. She had no family, or at least none that claimed her, and with no family pushing for answers, the police seemed to put her case on the back burner.
She was just a topless dancer, after all. That seemed to be their attitude, at least.
“It’s not just the sex,” Suran had confided, handing over a picture that made Jack’s eyes widen.
Fuck. What a hottie. Couldn’t blame the guy for not being able to resist hitting it.
“I love her. But I’m married. My wife can never find out about it. She’ll take me for everything I’ve got.”
Suran thought it was possible that one of the other girls might know something. Some of the girls hated Sasha. They were jealous. She was the best dancer at the club and made the most money.
They also thought she was given preferential treatment since she was blowing the boss. He admitted that there might be some truth to that.
They had agreed that Jessie would go undercover as a dancer and see if she could find out anything, while Jack searched Sasha’s cell phone and credit card records as well as her car and apartment and followed up on any leads he found there.
Jessie hadn’t let Jack come inside with her during her staged audition. She had said it would make her too nervous for him to watch.
She had told him that it had gone “fine” when he asked, but she wouldn’t give him any details.
Tonight would be her first night posing as a stripper.
He was honestly a little nervous for her. He knew her and he wasn’t sure she could pull this off. She was gorgeous with a great body but she wasn’t the stripper type. She was smart, fun, and a total sweetheart, but she didn’t exactly radiate raw sexuality.
The music changed and the dancer exited the stage. Jack’s eyes flew open wide and he choked a little on his drink as Jessie took her first steps on the stage.
There was a burst of applause from the audience indicating that they were pleased with what they saw, as the DJ introduced her as the club’s newest dancer, “Ashley”.
His eyes swept over her from head to toe, surprised by how confident she appeared. His pulse quickened and he caught his breath. He couldn’t believe how fucking hot she looked. The long blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes he was very familiar with, though she didn’t typically wear that much makeup.
The hot as fuck stripper gear, including an electric blue halter top that exposed the top half of her perky breasts, a matching skirt that didn’t nearly cover half of her unbelievably amazing ass and six-inch stripper heels were not something he would have ever imagined he would see her wearing.
She looked out at the audience, her expression slightly teasing while maintaining a certain aloofness that was sexy as hell. She appeared completely at ease as she gripped the pole and slowly twirled around it, tilting her head a bit so her hair fell softly to one side. She placed her free hand on her hip and slowly ran it down the silky-looking skin of her thigh and then back up again, lingering at the bottom of her skirt.
Jack was pretty sure he’d never be able to listen to Closer by Nine Inch Nails again without getting an erection. Not after watching Jessie strut on stage to the sound of it pounding through the club’s sound system.
He felt his cock stiffen as she turned her back to the audience and bent over slowly, her perfect ass on display for all to see. He was practically obsessed with that ass. He had fantasized so many times about bending her over and…
Her skirt lifted, revealing the thong that she wore underneath. His eyes zeroed in on the tiny strip of material covering between her legs and he swallowed hard. Fuck, he wanted to know what that pussy was like.
She straightened back up, dancing around the pole provocatively. She slowly removed her skirt and tossed it behind her, leaving her standing on the stage in her thong and top.
Jack had never seen her like this, acting so horny and sexual, teasing the fuck out of every guy in the place. He watched her pull herself onto the pole and spin around it, her legs splayed as she spun upside down, her long hair whipping around.
He wondered how in the fuck she had learned to do that.
After a few minutes she got off the pole and leaned her back against it, grinding her hips in time to the music as she played with her halter top, which was tied in the front. She slowly teased the audience, smiling seductively as she pulled slowly on the material to loosen it.
Jack held his breath, mesmerized by the show she was putting on. He’d watched hundreds of strippers, but this was Jessie, not some random chick.
She turned, her back to the audience as she slowly untied the front of her top. She spread her arms as she opened it, exposing her breasts away from the audience and slipped it back slowly over her shoulders, letting it fall to the stage floor. She turned her head and looked back at the crowd, expertly teasing them, letting the anticipation build, before finally turning around in a slow twirl.
It was as if she’d been doing this all her life.
Jack couldn’t tear his eyes away from her incredible breasts as she continued to move to the music. He had rubbed his hands over those breasts on several occasions during the hot, fast and frantic make-out sessions that they had shared. He knew what they felt like in his hands. He’d actually had those pretty little nipples in his mouth a few times. But he’d never seen her like this. He shifted in his seat, his cock throbbing uncomfortably.
Money was collecting on the floor of the stage as a line of men came up to tip her. One custom
er approached with a thick stack of cash. He motioned to her and while still moving slow and sexy, she leaned forward to hear what he had to say. She smiled and nodded, but it wasn’t her usual smile. Not genuine.
She turned around and the man standing in front of her leaned forward so his face was only inches from her body. Jack felt himself tense up. He didn’t like how close the guy was to her, but there wasn’t anything he could do.
What he wanted to was to go over there and knock that mother fucker’s teeth out, but that wouldn’t help their case. And he knew Jessie well enough by now to know he better not interfere. She hated when he was too overprotective of her.
Jessie bent over all the way, her hands on the floor in front of her. She went gracefully to her hands and knees, as if someone was getting ready to fuck her from behind. Her back arched as she rolled her hips, moving as if she was fucking… and doing it well.
Jack took a shaky breath.
The customer she was dancing for was leering at her, and a crowd had gathered in front of the stage. Money was flying, and guys were calling out, “Yeah, baby, shake that ass!” and, “Damn girl, work that pussy.”
Jack had spent a good amount of time in strip clubs, but he had never behaved the way these guys were. He had hooked up with enough strippers to know that most of them hated when guys acted like that.
Jack also knew Jessie well enough to know how grossed out she probably was by these guys. But she was playing her role perfectly, looking sexy and horny, like she’d give anything to have a big, hard cock rammed into her right now. He knew she was only playing her role, but still Jack couldn’t help but imagine taking her from behind himself when he saw her that way.
On the other hand, he really wanted to go rip her off the stage, cover her body and take her out of there. He was getting more than pissed off watching these guys look at her like she was some whore open for business.
She turned around so she was facing the crowd and she leaned back on her elbows, spreading her legs wide open. She rocked and rotated her hips, simulating sex as the guy with the thick wad of money made it rain.
Burned Page 13
