Chapter 17

Jason

Anna made me nervous. It wasn’t a lie or something I was just telling her. I genuinely was a ball of nerves as I waited for her to come to the lobby so we could go to dinner. I’d had an amazing time with her. Making love with her, it was perfection, but I couldn’t help worrying that she wasn’t alright, and that was why she had run off to her room.

The armchair I was sitting in smelled of syrup, and I could only assume someone had spilled their breakfast some morning. As I was preoccupied looking around the arm of the seat to see where all the syrup was, Anna appeared in front of me.

My eyes stared at her glitzy black heels and then moved up slowly as I took in the delicious legs that I’d been kissing only a few hours before. The black dress she had on was loose and draped perfectly over her breasts. It skimmed her body but didn’t show off much of her figure. Instead, I had to use my imagination and memory.

“Dang girl,” I said as I stood up and gave her a quick kiss. “You look gooood.”

“Thank you,” she said with a reassuring smile as she held onto my arm.

We walked out to the car, and I let her in and then hurried around to the other side. I was practically jumping with excitement that I got to take this beautiful woman out for the night. At first, this thing between us had been such a game. She was teasing me for the fun of it, and I really hadn’t considered ever giving into her tease. But things had changed so much. Next to me was a woman that I really got along with—a strong, independent woman who I was having a blast getting to know. It surprised the hell out of me.

“I found a nice place for us to go to dinner,” I announce proudly as we drove back into the city. “They don’t serve sandwiches.”

Anna chuckled at my joke, and I couldn’t stop looking at her. I nearly wrecked the car as I spent one second too long staring at her instead of looking at the road.

“Eyes on the road big boy,” she said as she uncrossed her legs and then crossed them again just to tease me.

“Stop doing that then,” I said firmly.

“Oh, but you still have to watch the road.”

I couldn’t help it. I looked over at her and then quickly back to the road. It took a lot of willpower to keep my hands on the wheel as I drove us to the restaurant and pulled into a parking spot before I leaned over and kissed her.

“Did I tell you how amazing you look?” I asked.

“Yes, I think you mentioned something along those lines,” she said as she pulled me back in for another kiss. “Are we going to stay in the car all night or are we going to eat?”

“Eat. Definitely. I’m starving.”

“Me too,” Anna said and pushed me away playfully as she started to get out of the car.

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said and hurried around to help her out of the car. “Let me help you.”

I really didn’t know what had come over me with Anna, but I always wanted to open the car doors for her and hold her hand. I couldn’t remember ever doing that for my ex-wife, maybe on the rare occasion. But I was drawn to try and impress Anna. It was odd and new to me and exciting.

“What kind of food do they have here?” Anna asked as she leaned in and held onto my bicep.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Hmm, I’ll let this one go, but I’m not really a big fan of surprises,” she scoffed.

“Maybe you just haven’t had the right kind of surprises?”

“That is entirely possible.” She laughed.

Being out to dinner with Anna was more comfortable than ever as we laughed and joked throughout the meal. It was what I had imagined dating again would be like. Unlike when men hit on girls in clubs with cheesy pick-up lines and no real interest in who they were, I asked about Anna and wanted to get to know her. We spent the evening asking each other much deeper questions than we had delved into before, and by the time the restaurant was closing, I was in utter shock that we had been there for so long.

“What? It’s ten o’clock?” Anna asked as she pulled out her phone to check.

“Yep, time flies when you’re having fun.”

“Man, that is for sure. I need to get to bed. I’m exhausted. Should we head back?”

“Yes,” I said as I thought about what a fun night we would have in bed together.

We took our time driving back and even made out a little on the elevator up to our floor. I held Anna’s hand as we walked toward our rooms and was just about to open the door to my room when she pulled her key out to go to her room.

“Thanks for a great dinner,” Anna said as she pulled me in so we could kiss.

“Should I come in so we can say goodnight?” I asked.

“I’m actually tired, I’ll see you in the morning,” she said as she opened the door and stood in the doorway so I couldn’t come in with her.

“Okay, sleep well,” I whispered as I softly kissed her again. “We have a full week of kicking butt to do.”

“I’ve got a good feeling. I think we are going to get the deals we need.”

“Me too. Goodnight.”

Reluctantly, I returned to my room and stayed there. I’d had a sweet taste of Anna, though, and all night long my cock raged with the memory of her and the desire to have her again. It was probably a good thing that she’d shut me down for another round; I really didn’t think I could have held back like I did the first time.

By morning, I was ready for work again. We had a new company to meet with in Springfield, and we had to go into it fresh and ready to make another deal. Every division needed a new home. It wouldn’t work without that happening.

As we climbed back into the car, Anna was wearing another kick-ass suit, and I had on my same boring one. We’d eaten breakfast and had a great night of sleep so we were ready to take on the next company.

“Do you feel comfortable taking the lead again?” I asked.

“Let me look over the specifics, and I’ll give it a go.”

Anna analyzed everything she needed to, and by the time we walked into the next business, she was sharp and ready to take them on. The company was more traditional, and I could have taken the lead, but Anna did a great job, and within the hour we had the deal nailed down and a 30-day contract for us to make our decision.

Instead of staying in Springfield, we called the next company on our list and made an appointment to see them later that afternoon. We arrived in Peoria around three o’clock and went straight to our second meeting of the day.

The company loved Anna. They were thrilled that she was on board, and I had to admit that it was her direct, yet kind personality that seemed to win them over. By five o’clock, we had three of our deals nailed down and only a few more places to visit that week.

“I think we could get the others done tomorrow. What do you say?” I asked Anna.

“I’m game. I’d rather just get it all done so we can meet with Kevin and decide how to explain this all to my father. We really have to think things through so we can be sure he doesn’t get really defensive about it.”

“Yes, I agree. This is going to be all about the timing. Maybe you can put together a nice presentation with some visuals that will help with the explanation?” I asked as we parked in the hotel that we were staying at for the night.

Anna and I grabbed our rolling luggage and went into the front of the building so we could get checked in. She was busy on her phone as I talked with the clerk.

“Jason Hartley, I called earlier to reserve two rooms.”

“Oh, we only need one,” Anna said without looking up from her phone.

I could see a small grin on her face, and the clerk raised his eyebrow in excitement for me. I waited for a minute to see if Anna was teasing me, but she was engrossed in her phone and didn’t seem to be paying attention at all.

“I guess we just need one room.”

The clerk finished what he had to do, and I signed the receipt before walking toward the elevator. Anna looked up from her phone for a minute and then quickly came to where I was waiting for her.

“One room?” I asked with a cheesy grin on my face.

“What?” she said as she rolled her eyes at me. “Did you really want two?”

“Um, no. I like the idea very much.”

Anna went back to her phone and was feverishly texting people as we got in and then out of the elevator. I walked slowly in front of her, waiting for her to put the phone away, but she just couldn’t.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, just drama with my friend Summer. Her parents are threatening to cut her off financially.

“How old is she?”

“Twenty-three, but she really isn’t ready to try life on her own. She can barely figure out life now, and they are taking care of her. I mean I understand they don’t want her to live off them forever, but cold turkey seems a little rough.”

“Yeah, we all have to grow up sometime, though.”

“I’m going to say goodbye, give me just a minute,” Anna said as she continued texting a long text while I grabbed our bags and moved us into the room.

I lay on the bed for at least twenty minutes while Anna and her friend continued their short goodbye. I was so exhausted, I could hardly keep my eyes open and finally decided just to close them while I waited for Anna to finish her conversation with her friend.

***

“Jason,” I heard Anna whispering as she lay halfway on top of me. “Jason, do you want to take a shower first, or can I?”

“What? What time is it? Don’t you want to take a shower in the morning?” I asked as I opened my eyes. They seemed heavier than I was prepared for as I looked around the dark room. It took me a minute to reorient myself before I realized that Anna and I were both under the covers, and she had changed into a T-shirt and pajama pants.

“It’s six o’clock. If you don’t mind, I’m going to hop in the shower first.” Anna said and then kissed me as she climbed over me to get out of bed.

I grabbed her halfway through her climb and held her on top of me. I’d actually fallen asleep on the first night we had a room together? This was horrible. Terrible. A true travesty.

“You let me sleep all night?”

“You were really tired. Go grab us some breakfast and bring it back up. I’ve got some exciting news for you.”

“You’re going to stay right here and ride me all day long?” I teased.

She slapped my hand and scoffed as if she didn’t think I was serious. I would have stayed right there and rescheduled every other appointment we had if she’d agreed to my little idea.

“No, I emailed the remaining companies yesterday, and I don’t think we need to meet with any of them. They heard who was on board already and are faxing over their forms to the office. We can take a look at the offers and see if they have questions, but I think we can be done with this little trip.”

I grimaced at the idea. I was having a blast with Anna on this trip, and I’d already arranged for Clyde to spend the week with my brother and his family. This was horrible news.

“You should have woken me up,” I whined as she climbed off me.

“If you hurry, you can join me in the shower,” Anna teased as she ran into the bathroom.

In two seconds flat, I was standing in the bathroom with her and stripping off my clothes so I could climb into the shower. She clearly set a boundary that we weren’t going to be having sex in the shower though as she held her hand out and pushed me to the other side of the shower while she washed her hair. Occasionally, she had to use two hands as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and then the conditioner. I took advantage of those moments and moved in closer. Our wet bodies pressed against one another, and I was dying with desire for her.

“Kevin texted you last night, and I told him we would be there to meet with him by ten, so you better hurry,” Anna said as she stepped out of the shower and eyed my throbbing member. “That might take a few extra minutes,” she teased and winked at me.

“You are killing me. I might actually die of blue-ball syndrome you know. That’s a real thing. Look it up. I’m sure guys have died from it.”

Anna just laughed and then went to the large mirror and started blow-drying her hair. She was literally ignoring me as I whined about not getting to play with her before we took off. I was beside myself for falling asleep and missing my opportunity to have a whole night of lovemaking with her.

When I finished my shower, Anna was still drying her hair. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her neck in an effort to get her to give in, but she didn’t break. Even as she let out a sweet moan of delight, she didn’t turn around or give into my groping.

“Get dressed, we have to get going soon,” she said as she pushed me away. “And then go grab us some breakfast. You know it’s going to take me a little bit to get ready.”

“Uggh, I’m dying.”

“You won’t die, you big baby.” Anna laughed.

“You are so beautiful. I’m pretty damn lucky to have gotten to sleep next to you all night. I do have to admit that was probably the best I’ve slept in months. Thank you,” I said as I finally gave in and went to get dressed.

“You’re welcome. Let me know if you want me to come to your house for a sleeping session sometime,” she yelled at me from the bathroom.

“Yes, absolutely. Come and sleep over.” I laughed as I peeked in. “All night. With lots of sweating and groaning.”

“Oh, stop,” Anna said as she laughed at me.

By eight o’clock, we were both ready and had eaten a little bit of food. We gassed up the car and were on the road home.