“You’re biased.”
“And you’re delusional,” I reply as I hand her my wallet to tip the bell boy when he leaves. It always amazes me that she doesn’t see how beautiful she really is. Never have I been with a woman who is so down-to-earth and not just hung up on her looks.
“Be back in a minute.”
“If it’s longer than a minute you’re getting punished.”
“In that case, I’ll see you in two.”
“Minx,” I reply as she walks off laughing.
I sigh with contentment at what a lucky bastard I really am.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Stacey
I get back to the hotel after my meeting with Chance, and I make my way back up to mine and Jake’s room. I feel deflated as the concierge presses the relevant floor button for me.
The meeting did not go as I had hoped.
It seems that Chance Chambers is actually a bit of a prick. Hot shot Hollywood director he may be, but gentleman he certainly isn’t.
From the minute that I sat down, all he did was leer at me. It quickly became apparent that Chance is a man that gets what he wants. Unfortunately for him though, I am not someone who is willing to sit by and let him take the lead on things. He wanted to completely change the storyline of my book as, and I quote, “It isn’t quite sexy enough.” How I didn’t pick up my glass of water and throw it at him, I really don’t know.
Chloe was of course hooked on his every word, but I am sure that having her name linked to this is earning her a pretty penny, so of course she wants to do everything he said.
I rub my temples as I feel an impending headache coming on. All I want to do is climb into a hot bath and wash the meeting off of me.
The lift opens when it reaches my floor and I thank the concierge. He nods politely as I exit the lift and make my way to my room door. I use the key card to open it and I walk in, shutting the door behind me.
As I walk into the lounge area, I see that the table has been set for two, complete with candles and a massive bunch of roses in a vase set to one side. My heart melts as my husband comes walking into the room, dressed in his grey suit, which is of course my favourite.
“Hey, babe,” he says as he comes over to me and pulls me into a hug. I take a deep breath as I inhale his scent. He smells divine and I feel some of the tension leaving my body. I mould myself against him as I try to put the events of the day out of my head. “How did your meeting go?”
“Ugh.” Jake releases me and puts his hands on my shoulders, pushing me away from him slightly.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, his brow furrowed.
“It was a disaster from start to finish.”
“Want to tell me about it over dinner?”
“Sure.”
Jake
Stacey tells me all about her meeting with Chance over our meal. The more she tells me, the more pissed off I become. This Chance guy sounds like a complete asshole.
“I don’t know what to do, Jake. I understand that this is a massive opportunity, but I don’t think I can work with someone like Chance,” she says with a sigh.
“If it doesn’t feel right, then maybe you should go with your gut instinct.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Or maybe it will seem a bit better in the morning, once you have had some time to sleep on it.”
“Hmm.” She seems to go off in her own little world for a moment, so I re-fill her wine glass and wait until she is ready to talk again. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I just want to sink into a hot bath and not think about the book for a while.”
“I can help you with that.”
“Oh, I know you can,” she says, some of the sparkle filtering back into her eyes.
I put my beer on the table and stand up. “I’ll go and run the bath.”
She smiles at me and it takes all of my restraint not to tear her clothes off of her and take her straight to bed. I leave the room before I do exactly that and make my way to the bathroom. I run the bath and put plenty of bubbles in, as I know Stacey likes to be surrounded by bloody bubbles when she’s relaxing.
I hear her come to the doorway as I finish running the bath and she is already naked. My dick springs to attention on sight. Fucking beautiful. She sashays her way to the bath tub, making sure to brush against me as she does.
“Are you going to join me?” she asks as she sinks down into the bath tub. In answer to her question, I start to strip my clothes off. She eyes my body appreciatively as I uncover it piece by piece. Her eyes are transfixed as I take off my trousers and boxers, allowing my erection to spring free.
I get into the bath tub and sit opposite her. There is plenty of room as the tub is ridiculously big. Stacey’s eyes meet mine and all I can see in hers is heat. Heat for me, and heat for us.
Our sex life is off the fucking charts and I don’t think there will ever be a day when I don’t want to devour her.
I feel her foot slide up the inside of my leg as she slowly moves it towards my cock. I lie my head back and close my eyes as she rubs her foot against the inside of my thigh. As I enjoy the sensations that she is inflicting upon me, she quickly removes her foot and straddles me.
I open my eyes as she lowers herself down on me, slowly. Her eyelids look heavy as she starts to ride me up and down. I place my hands on her hips and explore her nipples with my tongue. As I suck and nip at her, she starts to ride me faster.
I move one of my hands from her hip and place my thumb on her clit. This elicits a loud cry of pleasure from her and I start to move my thumb in circles. I am so close to release, but I make myself wait for her. I speed up the movement of my thumb and I know that when I hear her whisper the words, “Oh God,” that she is close to climax.
She arches her back and I suck her nipple a bit harder, wanting her to experience as many sensations as possible.
“I’m there, Jake, I’m coming.” With these few words, I let go of my release at the same time as she does. We climax together and ride out our pleasure until we are both spent.
Stacey collapses on top of me and I hold her whilst we get our panting under control.
“God, I needed that,” she says as she moves off of me and sits back at the opposite end of the bath tub.
“Glad to be of service,” I say with a wink.
“I don’t ever want to lose what we have, Jake,” she replies, taking the conversation to a more serious level. I frown at her as I wonder where this line of thinking is coming from.
“What makes you say that?”
“I just… I don’t want us to become one of those couples who ever stop trying, you know?”
“There is nothing in this world that would stop me trying with you, Stacey.”
“I hope not,” she says as she lowers her eyes to stare at the water.
“Hey,” I say as move towards her. “Look at me.” She does, and her eyes are clouded with unshed tears.
Where the hell is this reaction coming from?
“I will never give up on you. You are stuck with me, babe,” I say, trying to make light of the seriousness. She tries to force a smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “What’s brought all of this on?”
“I don’t know. I just love you so much, I couldn’t bear the thought of anything breaking us.”
“Nothing will. You have my word.” She must know that by now we can get through anything. This turn of conversation is making me feel a little uneasy and I don’t want anything to ruin our time here together.
“Come on,” I say as I get out of the bath and wrap a towel around my waist. “Let’s go and watch a crap film and make out like a couple of horny teenagers.”
She laughs and chucks some bubbles my way. “You’re a real cheese at times, Waters.”
“Hey, I can’t be charming all the time.” I hold a towel out for Stacey to step into as she gets out of the bath.
“Even when you’re being cheesy you do it with charm.”
“I
must be doing something right seeing as you married me.” She wraps the towel around herself and then kisses me on the cheek.
“Yes I did. Don’t ever change.”
“I don’t intend to.”
“Good. Now let’s go pick out that crappy film that you mentioned.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Stacey
“I’ve had Chance Chambers on the phone, Stacey. Why haven’t you bitten his arm off yet about the film offer?” Chloe asks in an accusing manner.
“I don’t want to do it, Chloe.” I have thought about nothing else since I woke up this morning and I have come to the conclusion that Chance is not the right person to turn my book into a film.
“Why ever not?” She sounds horrified.
“It just doesn’t feel right.”
“Doesn’t feel right? Are you crazy?” Her voice has gone up an octave, making me pull the phone away from my ear slightly.
“It’s my book, Chloe, and I’m not just going to give the film rights to Chance because he is the first person that has shown an interest.”
“He’s the only person that has shown an interest.” Chloe sounds exasperated, but I am not backing down on this one.
“Look, I came here, I met with him, and I don’t like him. I don’t like what he wants to do with the story, and I don’t want to work with him. End of discussion as far as I am concerned.”
“But––”
“I have already booked a flight home for later today. Just tell Chance that I don’t have time to concentrate on a film at the moment.”
“I can’t tell him that.”
“Okay then, tell him that I think he is a prick.”
“Stacey!” she scolds me like I’m being a naughty child.
“It’s not going to happen, Chloe. I’ll see you back in the UK.” With that I hang the phone up and turn it off. I know she will try and call me back, but I don’t have the energy to argue with her.
I feel so tired.
I just want to go home.
“You all packed?” Jake asks me as he walks back into the bedroom. I put my phone in my handbag and am so grateful that he managed to book us flights back home in a couple of hours.
“Yep.”
“Was that Chloe on the phone?”
“Yep.”
“I take it she wasn’t too happy?”
“Nope.”
“Are you going to be more forth coming with your answers, or am I being treated to one word answers all day?” he says, teasingly.
“Let’s just say that she isn’t too happy with my decision. And let’s also say that, at this moment in time, I couldn’t give a toss.”
“Fair enough,” Jake says with a chuckle. “You ready to get out of here?”
“Hell yes. I can’t wait to get back home.”
“Are you sure that you don’t want to stay and explore the city for a few days?”
“No.” For some reason, I don’t have any interest in staying here right now. “I will be back here in a couple of weeks. I can explore then if I want to.” I pick up my handbag and am about to pick up my suitcase when Jake stops me.
“I’ll get that.”
“Jake, it’s on wheels for God’s sake. I can pull a damn suitcase along.”
“I know you can, but I’m here and I’m doing it. Is that a problem, Mrs Waters?”
“Ass.”
“Yours will be mine later,” he says, repeating words that he has spoken to me before. I feel a shiver make its way down my back at his answer. It brings up feelings in me from our earlier moments together.
“We’ll see about that…”
“Yeah?” he asks sounding intrigued. I smirk at him.
“We have a flight to catch,” I reply, completely changing the subject.
“Tease,” I hear him mutter behind me as I walk out of the bedroom and head for the door to our room.
“You love it.” I hear him chuckle as I head out into the hallway.
“Yes I fucking do.”
Jake
I’m a little bit worried and confused. Stacey is acting slightly off, and I can’t put my finger on why. She didn’t want to do the film and that’s fine, but she has been all over the place the last few days. I just thought that it was nerves from coming out here and meeting a film producer, but there’s something else going on.
I know her, and I know that something isn’t right.
She was so excited about coming to America, but now she can’t wait to get back home. I offered for us to stay on for a few days and treat it as a mini holiday, but she wasn’t interested.
Maybe all this book stuff is getting too much for her?
Maybe she just genuinely misses being at home?
Maybe she has had enough of being around me?
Shut the fuck up, Waters.
This isn’t about you.
I shake my head as I rid myself of the thought that she wouldn’t want me here. She would have said so if she didn’t. She smiles at me as I follow her into our waiting car and it immediately makes me dispel any doubt in my mind that I may have had about coming here.
I’m not the problem. I would know about it if I was.
No, there is something else going on in that mind of hers.
She settles back for the car journey to the airport and rests her head on my shoulder. I place a kiss on the top of her head and take her hand in mine. I hear her sigh and I rest my head on top of hers.
I can only hope that she will talk to me when we get back home.
Chapter Thirty
Stacey
We have been home now for the last hour, and I can honestly say that I am so glad that I am back here. I may have only been gone for a few days, and Jake may have come with me and booked us a gorgeous place to stay in, but I don’t want to be anywhere else.
I am unpacking mine and Jake’s things when Jake comes into the bedroom, his mobile phone in hand.
“Everything okay?” I ask him.
“I don’t know. I just had a call from the office and it seems that my help is needed. Do you mind if I go and check out what’s going on?”
“Of course not. Why would I mind?”
“No reason,” he replies with a forced smile.
“Hmm, I’m not buying it, Waters,” I say as I walk towards him. He sighs and holds my gaze as I come to a stop in front of him.
“It’s just… You don’t seem like you have been yourself over the last few days.”
“You’re right,” I reply, shocking the hell out of him. I don’t think that he expected me to agree with him. “I haven’t been feeling like myself.”
“And the reason for that is?”
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly with a shrug of my shoulders. “I can’t explain it, but I suppose I feel kind of restless, you know? Almost as if there is something bugging me, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“Okay,” Jake says slowly.
“I know that doesn’t make much sense. Maybe I’m just tired, and the fact that the meeting with Chance didn’t go as well as I had hoped might have something to do with it?”
Jake pulls me against him and wraps his arms around me.
“You’re not restless of me, are you?” he asks tentatively.
I pull back from him and fixate my eyes on his whilst placing my hands on my hips.
“Jake Waters, that has got to be one of the most ridiculous questions that you have ever asked me.” Jake has the decency to look a little sheepish at this point. “If I was restless of you then you would damn well know about it.” I don’t intend my words to sound so harsh, but my emotions are all over the place. Jake holds his hands up, almost as if he is surrendering.
“Okay, forget I asked,” he says with a slight grin on his face.
“I will. Now, get going before you manage to ask me another daft question.” He salutes at me and then disappears from the room.
“I will be as quick as I can,” he shouts as he walks along the hallway, and
I huff as I turn my attention back to the task of un-packing.
Jake
I don’t like lying to Stacey about where I am going, but I didn’t want to worry her by saying that I was paying Charles a visit.
I have just been informed by my solicitor, Tony, that Charles is sat in some back-street bar, by himself. Tony also informed me that this back-street bar isn’t somewhere that I am likely to be seen by anyone important, so my ‘chance’ encounter of running into Charles should go unseen.
I know that Stacey would go mad if she was to find out that I was doing this, but I need to see him. I need to say a few things to him, and I need him to know that if he ever tries to mess with Stacey again, then I will make his life miserable. Well, more miserable than it is already.
Tony managed to find out a few things about Charles Montpellior that, so far, Charles has managed to keep hidden from everyone. I am planning on using this information as my bargaining chip in exchange for Charles leaving Stacey the hell alone.
I pull up outside the bar and turn the car off. I exit and put my phone in my pocket. The bar looks awful from the outside. It is so run down that you would think that it was shut.
I make my way to the door and push it open. As I walk in the smell of musty cigarettes hits my nose and I fight the urge not to screw it up in distaste. My feet almost stick to the rug on the floor as I let my eyes roam around until I find Charles. It doesn’t take me long to spot him, seeing as there are only two other people in here.
Charles is sat on a stool at the bar, his head hanging down and a pint of lager in his hand. I make my way over and stand next to him, ordering a drink from the old guy behind the bar. I opt for a beer that comes in a bottle as I wouldn’t trust drinking out of any of the glasses in here.
Charles turns to look at me as the old guy hands me my beer. I pass over a five pound note and tell him to keep the change. The old guy doesn’t even smile or say thank you. He just takes the money and makes his way to the other end of the bar and starts to watch a small television that is situated on the wall.
The Complete Perfect Series Page 76
