He burst into laughter. “Um, no,” he replied. “And if I was, I wouldn’t tell you. Not yet anyway.”
True.
I continued guessing. “You’re married.”
He held up his barren ring finger and wiggled it at me.
Okay, so he wasn’t going to kill me, and he wasn’t married. Maybe he would tell me he was on meds for some kind of psychiatric disorder, the way Red probably was. I searched his eyes, the way he was searching mine. No sign of crazy that I could detect.
“What is it?” I requested, impatient.
His jaw tensed as determination consumed his expression. “Your character, Evan Hanson,” he began.
“What about him?”
“I’m – ” He was about to complete his thought, but my cell phone blaring deep in my purse cut him off. It was the custom ring I’d attributed to Dinah and even though I wanted to hear what he had to say, I figured ignoring my friend and manager’s call wouldn’t sit well with her, especially after everything that had happened.
“One second,” I begged, offering him an apologetic look. “Hey,” I said into the phone. “Yeah, I’m at the hotel.” A pause. “Yes, he’s here. He’s dropping me off, like you asked him to. What? No!”
When I looked at Jaxson, he was smiling at me, but it had a disappointed quality to it. I tried to hurry the call.
“You’re almost done? Okay good,” I said in a rush. “I’ll see you when you get here. Okay, bye.” I clicked the phone off and gave Jaxson my full attention, but I could tell that whatever he’d been about to say, he’d changed his mind.
His jaw was tight, and regret sat on his face. “Go ahead and relax,” he resorted to saying. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You were about to say something,” I tried to coax him.
“It can wait,” was his response. “It’s late and you need to rest.”
I frowned like a two-year-old. “Are you sure?” I loved talking about my characters and storylines. I could do it all day and not get tired, but Jaxson declined.
“I’m sure,” he confirmed. “We have tomorrow. Besides, if I sit here with you any longer, I’ll want to touch you again, and I don’t want you thinking I’m the kind of guy who rescues women and them fucks them in the back seat of a car.”
Damn. A backseat fuck with him might actually be just what the doctor ordered – in addition to the pain meds. When he pulled up behind me in the hospital, the strength and length of his dick had been hard to ignore, pressing into my back.
I took my bottom lip between my teeth. Yeah, it was time to go.
Jaxson leaned forward and took my hand. “Let’s make a day of tomorrow,” he suggested. “I’ll pick you up early and we can do breakfast, hang out for lunch and then do dinner at Blue Note.”
“You don’t have anything to do tomorrow?” I questioned him, shocked that he’d erase his entire to-do list to spend time with me.
He chuckled and leaned forward to press a chaste kiss onto my lips, which instantly quivered, demanding more. “The only thing I have to do is be with you,” he whispered, running his thumb over my jaw and then he sat back again.
“Hmph,” I hummed. “In that case, it’s on.”
His eyes shined.
We exchanged numbers and made arrangements to meet the following day at ten o’clock. He promised breakfast, sightseeing and the time of my life. Hell, if things went the way tonight was about to, I had no doubt in my mind that he’d deliver.
I removed myself from his presence and exited the car. When I reached the hotel entrance and turned to look, he was still sitting there, peering at me with adoring eyes; and when he pressed his fingers to his lips, I had half a mind to trot back to the car and finish what we’d started.
But I was doing the right thing. Jaxson was gonna’ get it, but it couldn’t be on the first night.
I forced myself into the depths of the hotel and headed for the elevator, but when I glimpsed the woman with the stark red hair, I jerked around. “Hey Red,” I called out, shocked by her presence, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she hurried past the entrance and disappeared.
Chapter Six
Jaxson
The sun couldn’t rise fast enough, and when it did, it found me sitting on the balcony of the hotel suite I’d rented for the weekend. I sat there, staring over the high rises and into the parks, which were starting to titter with activity. People ran the strip and dogs darted up and down the lawns without a care in the world, but even the calming scene couldn’t extinguish the remaining power of Simone’s presence.
I massaged my cock, which had been rod-stiff all night.
Why the hell had I touched her? I should have known that a kiss wouldn’t be enough to satiate the burning desire that had been consuming me for two years. Her skin on my fingertips had blurred my senses. The way her lips and breasts felt, like luxury pillows against my skin... If she’d given me a few more seconds, I’d have tasted them before ripping those leather pants off her round ass and plunging my face between her thighs.
The feeling of being so close and so far away had my nerves on edge. How the hell was I supposed to do this? I’d been on the verge of doing it, but then her phone rang. At first, I’d been irritated, but then I considered that maybe it was for the best. I hadn’t thought this plan completely through. Yes, it had been months of plotting, but I’d underestimated the ways in which I’d respond the minute I got a feel of her body. I’d underestimated the amount of time I’d be able to hold out before the craving would take over. The plan hadn’t been to touch her last night. The plan hadn’t been to kiss her. The plan had been to show up and see her, with the hope that she would recognize me and figure everything out on her own; but all of those plans had gone flying out the window the minute I had her next to me.
Fuck.
I drew in a breath of early morning air, hoping to rejuvenate a little. I’d barely gotten a wink of sleep, thanks to the texting session I’d initiated with Simone at some ungodly hour. After watching her disappear into the hotel, I raced through the streets, body ablaze with the flame of unreleased sexual energy.
I ran my thumb over the edge of my cell phone then awakened it, just so I could look at the hours-old messages again. Just seeing her name on my phone screen had my cock rousing.
Me, 2:30 AM: Simmy, are you awake?
Simmy, 2:45 AM: Yeah.
Me, 2:45 AM: Thinking about you. Can’t stop.
Simmy, 2:57 AM: I’m thinking about you too, Jaxson. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. xo
My chest had almost detonated. She hadn’t typed anything after that and I figured she’d fallen asleep, but I didn’t need her to say anything else. Despite the rocky start, everything was going according to plan. When she allowed me to kiss her, the universe came close to ending, and for a brief moment, time stood still. Simone was responding the way I wanted her to. She was still unaware of my identity, but that would come in time. I didn’t want to rush her. To rush would be to potentially sabotage our future; but I was on the clock and I didn’t have a lot of time to play with.