Simmy, 2:57 AM: I’m thinking about you too, Jaxson. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. xo
My eyes glossed over the message again, then I lifted my finger to send her a good morning missive.
Me, 6:30 AM: Good morning, sweetheart. I’m dying to see you again. I –
I didn’t get to finish typing.
A new message popped across my screen and it wasn’t from Simone. When I saw a familiar name and number flash across the top, I grimaced.
Emma, 6:30 AM: Ev. Where the hell are u?
My jaw clenched as I read the message a couple of times, and my hand tightened around the phone until it almost compressed.
Emma: the girl who was as close to an ex as a self-proclaimed bachelor could have. One year too long, one fuck too many, one extremely bad decision – that’s how it had happened. The entire thing had been convenient at best, until it had gotten more inconvenient than even a nightmare could generate. I should never have entertained her, but it was something that had just happened and when I wanted to backtrack…
I positioned my fingers over the phone, deleted the message I was sending to Simone and typed a quick response to Emma.
Me, 6:31 AM: I’m out of town. What the fuck do you want?
Emma, 6:31 AM: What do I want?!? Why r u acting like u don’t know?! I want you here, Evan. Why didn’t u tell me u were going out of town?
I stared at the message, trying to think of something to type, but the only things in my head included words that would make a bad situation worse. I didn’t have time for it. I didn’t have time for her.
I gritted my teeth and typed: I’ll be leaving the city in a few days and I’ll see you when I get back. I pressed send and then paused before thinking of something else.
Me, 6:32 AM: Look, if it’s not life or death don’t message me. I’m fucking serious, Emma. There’s only one reason I’m putting up with you, and we both know what it is. Don’t test me.
Instantly, my phone took to ringing. If Emma thought I preferred a live conversation over text messages, she was dead-ass wrong. I didn’t engage her unless I had to. She knew that much. Things had happened and I’d manned up, handled my responsibilities. There was nothing more to us and I’d been honest with her about that. Why the hell was she riding me?
I clicked a side button on my phone and ignored the call. Then, I let the phone drop into my lap and gripped my disheveled hair. This was the kind of shit I didn’t need happening. In a couple of hours, I’d be with Simone and if a call from Emma came through, it had the potential to derail everything.
The things Dinah had rattled off about Evan’s character played in my mind. She’d called him a player and a flirt. I wasn’t any of those things.
Well, not anymore.
I had half a thought to block Emma’s number. There was too much at stake, but if I did that, it would circle back around, some way, somehow – it always did. I’d simply have to manage her, I figured, then I left the balcony and jumped into the shower, hoping the hot water would wash away my agitation.
By the time I pulled up to Simone’s hotel, it was a quarter to the hour.
Perfect timing.
I peered into the rearview mirror and messed with my hair a bit, before throwing the keys to the valet and bouncing into the foyer. The minute I entered the reception area, Simone calling out my name diverted my attention.
And then there was Dinah’s.
“Jaxson!” Dinah threw her hand up in the air and waved me over. I watched her tell Simone to stay where she was, before her heels were clacking in my direction.
Another power suit.
I smiled for both of the women, but the smile I offered Simone was laced with deep yearning. It was so intense; it had my cock pulsing. The hot water had done a fine job of rinsing away my agitation, but the arousal that followed as I imagined Simone Storm pressed up against the shower wall with soap hanging off her brown nipples, had my hands wrapped around my shaft.
Dinah marched over to me and met me halfway, effectively breaking the heady connection. “Jaxson, what the hell is going on?” Her seething tone was unexpected.
My neck jerked back and instantly, a thin layer of sweat slickened my palms. “What are you talking about?”
She hmphed. It was ten o’clock in the morning and already, her sassy was in place. “I hear the two of you have a hot date. This wasn’t part of the plan.” She was whispering, as if Simone wasn’t supposed to know what she was saying. When I realized that the content of the discussion was less threatening that I’d initially thought, I settled a little.
You’re paranoid. Relax.
“Yeah,” I confirmed, glancing over at Simone who was glaring at the two of us. “I dropped her off last night but we both quickly realized that we didn’t want our time together to end. She was okay with a proper date, but it seems as though I need to get your permission too.”
Dinah folded her arms. I could tell from the look on her face, she’d detected my sarcasm. “You don’t think you’re moving too quickly, Jaxson?” she demanded of me. “Or maybe I should be calling you Evan…”
My jaw jerked. “I’m not that guy, Dinah,” I lied.
“But you’re acting just like him,” she shot back at me. “Yes, I want my girl to find a good man, and yes you saved her life, which, theoretically, makes you a prime candidate; but you’re doing one hundred kilometers in a fifty zone. You need to slow the hell down.”
“I don’t have all year,” I snapped back at her, trying to mitigate my frustration. “You, of all people should know how long I have. You manage her calendar.”
Dinah shook her head, as if what I’d say didn’t amount to a hill of beans. “Take it easy, Jaxson, that’s all I’m saying,” she warned. “The last thing I want is for my friend to be hurt by that guy.”
“What guy?”
“You know the guy I’m talking about.”
We glared at one another, but when Simone rose from her seat and made her way towards us, we cleared our throats simultaneously.
Simone was clad in a designer shirtdress that cinched to demonstrate just how trim her waist was. On her feet, the ones I’d held in my hands the night before, were a pair of risqué, velvet stiletto boots, that only ended when they reached the top of her toned thigh.
God. Damn. If I didn’t get to touch her today, I’d lose my entire mind.
Quickly, I turned back to Dinah to get a final word in. “I’m not here to hurt your friend,” I guaranteed her, mouth tight. “I can tell how much she means to you. After everything she’s been through, I get that; but trust me when I tell you, she means that much to me too.”
More, in fact.
Simone’s alluring presence, preceded by the fragrance that had me drooling last night in my car and lingered in my nostrils well into the morning hours, descended upon us.
Dinah took a firm step back.
“What are the two of you talking about over here?” Simone asked, shooting us a suspicious glare. “It looks like you’re colluding.”
At her presence, the tension erased.
“Your manager was managing,” I answered lightly, thrilled beyond comprehension that I was seeing her again, but Simone frowned and cut her eyes in Dinah’s direction.