Twenty-One

Emery

I braced myself for impact and followed Jensen through the restaurant.

What he had revealed about his past explained so much about his behavior. It was as if I had been chipping away at the ice and I was finally finding the man beneath. When I’d decided to hate all the Wrights a long time ago, I had never once imagined that there would be so much more to who Jensen was or that he had been hurt like I had. He was so charming and gorgeous and everything.

How could someone do something like that to him?

And why did he even bother with Marc? Why go to dinner with someone he thought was a jackass and after just buying his corporation?

Seemed insane to me, but I wouldn’t abandon Jensen, leaving him to deal with Marc alone.

“Sorry about that,” I said when I took my seat.

“Of course,” Marc said, staring at me with his all-knowing sharp gaze. “I took the liberty of ordering you a vodka tonic. You do like vodka tonics, don’t you?”

His eyes slipped to Jensen’s, and I noticed the slight tension in his jaw. This was going to be a problem.

“I’m more of a champagne drinker myself.” I shrugged. “Or tequila shots. Whatever you’re into.”

“No vodka tonic? I’m shocked. A girl like you?” Marc leaned back in his chair. “Soon, you’re going to tell me you’ve never modeled with that pretty face.”

“Marc,” Abigail and Jensen snapped at the same time.

I held my hand up. “Look, it’s fine. Whatever you’re doing is fine. Take shots at me all you want. I get you might be upset with Jensen, and you’re petty enough to try to take it out on me, but I’m not a vodka tonic–drinking, pretty-faced model. I’m not anything you think I am. So, keep hurling insults and layered jabs. I can take it. It’s not going to make a damn difference to me.”

Marc closed his mouth on whatever he had wanted to say next. Abigail gave me an appraising look, as if I had passed some unknown test, while Jensen looked like he wanted to kiss me. Instead, my insides were roiling because I had acted so bold. But I couldn’t ignore the effectiveness of it.

I flagged down the waitress. “Can you replace that vodka tonic order with a glass of champagne? Veuve Brut preferably.”

“Of course.”

My point being made now, the rest of the dinner went much smoother. Marc seemed to reel his claws back in, and I found I actually really liked Abigail. She seemed to be a genuine person. I had to assume those were few and far between in this industry.

And, once Marc stopped egging Jensen on, they settled into some kind of routine. Just over dinner, it was obvious that they had known each other for a long time. I had to guess they had even been friends. I knew from experience that only close friends could speak without saying a word and laugh at implied jokes. Jensen and Marc had that levity—underneath all the animosity at least.

Despite how good things had been going the rest of the night, I was glad when dinner ended. We said good-bye to Marc and Abigail and headed back to the hotel. Our fancy suite was waiting for us—something I found extremely strange. I had lived in this city for three years in a shoebox apartment. We could have stayed at my place, despite the disaster, but Jensen had insisted on this. And I enjoyed the luxury of it. Who wouldn’t want a Jacuzzi to fit a party of ten and a full living room with a balcony? But it was also…strange.

“Glad I grabbed this dress from my place before we left or else I would have had to miss that really fun time,” I said with dry sarcasm, slinging my jacket on the couch.

Jensen ran his hands down my bare arms. He pressed a kiss into my shoulder. “I’m sorry about that. I should have realized it would be a mistake.”

“A mistake,” I said softly. He was trailing kisses up my neck, and it was hard for me to concentrate. “Are you going to tell me what crawled up Marc’s butt?”

Jensen laughed against my neck and then nipped me. “Besides the fact that I just bought his company?”

I swung around to face him. “It was more than that. I’m not blind.”

He nodded with a sigh. “You’re right. It’s a long story. You already know part of it.”

“We have all night,” I reminded him.

“Indeed we do,” he said, his hands landing on my hips and then moving to my ass.

“Tell me about it. I want to know you. I want to understand.”

“All right.” He took a step back and composed himself.

He gestured for me to take a seat, and I tucked my legs underneath myself on the couch. Jensen took the spot next to me.

“Marc and I have known each other a long time. We were always thinly veiled enemies but hopeful friends. Against his father’s wishes, he ended up at Texas Tech because of their architecture program. We were in the program at the same time.”

“You went to school for architecture?” I asked in confusion. “I thought you majored in business.”

“Yes. My father required I major in business, but I took architecture classes on the side. I believed, as did Marc, that business destroyed the soul, as we had seen it happen with our families. It didn’t build anything. It only tore things down. It never made things better. We were visionaries. We wanted more.”

“Yet you each run your respective father’s business,” I whispered.

“I knew I would always have a job at Wright Construction whenever I wanted it. So, post-graduation, I took an internship at an architectural company in New York for a year. Vanessa and I were engaged. My father was furious about the internship, but I had a whole plan. I was going to change the world.”

His eyes cut to me, and then he shook his head. He clearly hadn’t told this story in a while. “Anyway, long story short, my father died. Left with nothing but his disappointment, I took over the company and moved back to Lubbock. There wasn’t another option since Austin was still in college. Landon, as you know, was about to graduate high school. The board needed someone they could trust. They got me. Vanessa stayed in New York. She was…modeling part-time, and things were looking up. We got married that summer. She started modeling full-time, and Marc got my full-time job at the architectural company.”

I covered my mouth. I felt like I was watching a train wreck without knowing how to stop it.

“Wright did as much business in New York as I wanted. I could have flown there every weekend to see Vanessa, but I didn’t. I was engrossed in work and still grieving.”

“But it wasn’t enough for Vanessa,” I whispered.

His eyes were far away. “Never could have been. Then she ended up in Marc’s bed.”

I sighed heavily and leaned into him, wrapping my arms around him. “That’s not your fault.”

“No, it’s not. It took many years of therapy to realize that it was entirely her fault. She was the one who found solace with Marc. She was the one who could have stopped the whole thing, but she hadn’t. She’d wanted the visionary she had fallen in love with…but I wasn’t that man anymore. So, she’d settled for Marc in the meantime. Second best.”

“Everyone is second best to you.”

Jensen had a sad, lost look on his face. “Thanks.”

“So…why is Marc so bitter when he was the one who did wrong?”

“To him, I ruined his life.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“It is. I understand it from his perspective though. He was always in love or obsessed with Vanessa. Whatever the case was, he finally had her, and then she left him again for me. I got the girl. He ended up having to take over his father’s company. And, now, I’ve taken that, too. He’s bitter. But I don’t, no, I can’t sympathize with him. He might find it convenient to blame me, but he’s the bastard who did this.”

“And you shouldn’t sympathize with him. I didn’t, and I didn’t even know the circumstances. I’m glad I snapped at him.”

“God, you’re amazing,” Jensen said. “The way you handled dinner, it was brilliant.”

His hands were back on my legs and moving up to my hips. He crawled forward over me, and I fell back onto the sofa. A smile teased at my lips. I loved the way he adored me like this. When his eyes were only on me and all those skeletons were shoved back in his closet, he was just a sexy, confident man, unhindered by his past and ready to devour me.

“You think so?” I whispered.

“Know so, love.”

He pressed his lips to mine, and I forgot all about our night and deep discussions. I kissed him harder, held him more possessively. I wanted and needed more. This was our first time together since we’d become official, and in the past day, so much had happened to move our relationship forward that I couldn’t seem to get enough of him.

We stood up, and I tore his suit jacket off and removed the rest of his layers in a hurry. I cared so little about the expensive designer suit he was wearing, only wanting the birthday suit underneath. My dress was hastily discarded.

He shoved me up against the wall and then fell to his knees to drag my thong off with his teeth.

I groaned and dropped my head back as he kissed and licked his way back up until he was between my legs. My body was on fire. I couldn’t fathom how I had ever said no. All I wanted to do was scream yes over and over again.

Jensen obliged.

He hooked one leg over his shoulder and then sucked on my clit until I was dripping wet. Only then did he finger-fuck my pussy until I came on his face. My legs were shaking from exertion, but Jensen didn’t even hesitate. He stood, hoisted my legs up around his waist, and then thrust into me in one easy swoop. He braced himself against the wall, and bounced me up and down on his dick at a bruising, rough pace that I matched stroke for stroke. It was only minutes before my legs were trembling again, and my entire body exploded.

Jensen lifted me off the wall, and we both tumbled down onto the floor. He pounded into me a few more times with my hands raised over my head. My breath was coming out in pants. I didn’t think it was possible that I could come again. But Jensen was so close, and feverish desire in his eyes practically pushed me over the edge a third time. His body sleek and rippled, he came with me, toppling onto me.

We lay there, heaving, for endless seconds before Jensen slid out of me and rolled over onto the floor.

“I can feel my heartbeat,” I whispered. “Feel it.” I took his hand and pressed it against my lower abdomen.

“You’re welcome,” he said throatily.

I laughed and then leaned over and kissed him. “Now, he has manners.”

“Didn’t seem like you minded.”

“Not one bit.”

“Good. Then, maybe you’ll be up for round two?” he asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Oh God,” I said with a laugh. “Let me recover first.”

He leaned up on his elbow as I stood up to pad to the bathroom. He smacked my ass as I passed him. “How about we use that Jacuzzi for recovery?”

I glanced back at him from under my thick black lashes. “Why do I have a feeling that you’ll make that sexual, too, Mr. Wright?”

“Everything about you is sexual, Miss Robinson.” He grinned devilishly, flashing me those irresistible dimples. “And I intend to take full advantage of you being naked in my hotel room.”

I seductively shook my hips as I walked away. “Guess I’ll turn the jets on and get started myself then.”

His gaze told me that he was thinking every dirty thought in the book. And I did not regret it one bit when he joined me in the tub and used those jets in all the best ways.

We rose late the next day, and I finally got to give Jensen the tour of Austin I’d wanted all along. It wasn’t as spectacular as I would have wanted since we were short on time. But he didn’t seem to mind when I dragged him back to the hotel, before and after dinner, to use that Jacuzzi again. The feel of those jets combined with his fingers sent me over the edge faster than I’d thought possible. It was even better when he bent me over the side. I could have stayed in that bathtub all day and night.

With all the revelations that had been shared and meeting the people who had been deeply involved in our lives, I felt closer to Jensen than ever. I’d walked into this whole thing, imagining one night of hot sex. Maybe a date after that. Then, our connection had been off the charts. Now, I couldn’t get enough of him—physically, mentally, and emotionally. Spending three days with him, almost one hundred percent of the time, had not irritated me once.

If we didn’t have to get back to town for work, I would have encouraged him to stay longer. I was reluctant to go home.

Jensen could sense it in me, but I thought he must have felt it, too, because he never commented on it.

After our short plane ride, Jensen drove us back to his place.

I wanted to get back to Kimber and see how she was doing with the pregnancy. She was getting pretty close now. Plus, I definitely needed some Heidi time to fill her in on my weekend. But I also wasn’t ready to say good-bye to Jensen yet. I wanted to discover if he had a Jacuzzi as well. I just wanted…to spend more time with him.

As soon as we parked, I hopped out of the car and raced around to his side. He pulled me into his arms and ducked down to give me a firm kiss.

“God, I’m going to miss you,” I whispered.

“Don’t miss me. Stay here.”

I rolled my eyes. “I can’t stay here.”

“Stay here every night you like. I sleep better when I’m with you.”

“We have not been sleeping at night,” I countered.

“Exactly.”

He slid a hand around my waist and drew me toward the front door. We breached the entrance, my laughter filling the foyer. My gaze was still locked on Jensen’s face when he stilled completely. His smile disappeared.

My head snapped to the side, and my stomach dropped. “Landon…”