Chapter Sixteen

JESSIE SAT IN FRONT OF the mirror in the small changing room, touching up her makeup and smoothing her hair. She had finished her last set of the night a few minutes before. Tony had asked if she would have a drink with him and she had agreed.

Returning to the bar area, she found Tony waiting for her at his table. He flashed his usual creepy smile at her as she sat down in the chair next to him.

“What can I get you to drink, honey?” he asked, his hand immediately finding her thigh under the table. She felt repulsed by his sweaty hand on her but she smiled sweetly.

“I’d love a Malibu Cocktail,” she said softly.

Tony motioned for the waiter, who came over immediately to take his order.

“You sounded like an angel tonight, sweetness,” Tony complimented her.

This broad was definitely a prime piece. She’d been keeping him at arm’s length, but he was planning to get a little closer tonight.

Tony’s friend Ricky approached the table.

“Can I have a word, Tony?” he asked, leering at Jessie as he spoke.

Tony stood up. “Excuse me, honey. I’ll be right back.”

Tony and Ricky consulted privately by the bar for a few minutes. Jessie wished she could hear what they were saying but they were too far away.

Tony returned to the table. “So how about it, sweetness? You wanna come over and play with Tony tonight?”

She hated when guys referred to themselves in the third person.

She smiled coyly, ready for him this time. “Hmmm. You might convince me to come over for a drink. But only one drink and then I have to go home. And you have to promise to behave yourself! I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me.”

Tony snorted and laughed loudly. “Okay, sweetheart. One drink. And then, if I haven’t changed your mind, you can go home.”

He was actually starting to like this girl. She was beautiful and talented, and she was playing hard-to-get. Tony found the game exciting.

Tony drove them to the Upper East Side to his luxury apartment. Once there, Jessie acted suitably impressed, although in fact, she was not impressed at all. His apartment was over the top and gaudy.

She asked for a coconut rum with Coke when he offered her a drink. She sipped it slowly while he turned on music and dimmed the lights in the large living room.

She sat down primly on a stiff sofa. Tony sat down beside her, placing his glass of an unidentified amber-colored liquid on the table in front of them.

“Relax, baby,” he said.

He moved an inch closer and placed his right hand on her thigh.

Jessie turned to face him and smiled, her dazzling blue eyes looking up at him adoringly. He leaned forward as if to kiss her. She turned her head just in time. His lips ended up kissing her neck.

One of his hands tried to pry her legs apart while the other one groped for her breast. She was preparing to stop him and pull away when his cell phone rang.

He swore and got up, walking back over to the bar to answer it. He kept his voice low, but Jessie was able to hear part of the conversation.

Tony answered his phone. “What?” he demanded. He was silent for a minute. “This better not be about that stupid slut again… not my fault she got hooked on that shit. These goddamn whores are more trouble than they’re worth.”

He listened for a moment.

“Okay goddammit, I’m coming down there. Tell her to keep her fucking mouth shut. Is that it?”

He listened again.

“No, the Dennison broad has another week before…” He paused. “What kind of shit is that? Mother fucker checks out owing me a million bucks. How is that my problem? I don’t give a fuck. Do it.”

Jessie couldn’t believe what she was overhearing.

“What else? I’m in the middle of something,” Tony said irritably. “Goddammit, can’t any of you take care of anything without me holding your dicks for you?”

Jessie looked over at him at the sound of his raised voice. He looked angry as he hung up the phone.

“I’m sorry, doll,” he said, reaching for her hand. “I’ll have to take a rain check. I have an emergency that I have to handle right away.”

“I understand,” she tried to look a little disappointed.

She allowed him to lead her out of his apartment building, but she refused his offer to drive her home.

“Thank you but I’ll take a cab. You’re in a hurry I can tell. I’ll be just fine and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

There were a couple of cabs waiting idly in front of the building and she jumped in one and gave the driver the name of the hotel.

As the cab pulled off, she let out a sigh of relief. She opened her purse and checked her phone. She had put it on silent. There was a text message from Jack from two-forty-five, an hour ago.

Jack: You okay?

She would be back to the hotel within fifteen minutes and he was probably asleep by now. She put her phone back in her purse.

She couldn’t wait to tell Jack what she had overheard tonight. They should be able to let Mrs. Dennison know that the debt was legitimate and that she wasn’t being scammed into paying twice. And Jack was making progress finding out where the missing money had gone, so overall the case was going well.

JACK HAD ORDERED ROOM SERVICE and worked through dinner.

He’d found out that New Beginnings, a charity that supposedly raised money to help at-risk youth attend college, was not actually a charity at all. It was a shell company and had been closed three months ago.

Although it had taken the whole evening and an after-hours phone call to Wesley Reid, Jack had traced payments to New Beginnings for the past twenty-seven years totaling over twenty million dollars. The money had been transferred to Violets, LLC.

He had still been up at two-thirty when he expected Jessie to get back from Salvatore’s. When she hadn’t arrived by two-forty-five, he had sent her a text message.

She hadn’t texted him back. Now an hour later, he was worried. And more than a little pissed off.

The door opened at three-forty-five. Jessie closed and locked it.

She turned and found Jack standing by the bar, a glass in his hand. Music was playing. She glanced around to figure out where it was coming from. The television was tuned to a music channel.

“Hi,” she said softly. “You’re still awake. Sorry I didn’t text you back. I thought you would have gone to bed.”

“What happened?” he asked, taking a drink. As usual the expression on his face was unreadable.

“I went to Tony’s apartment after I got done with my last set. You know, to see if I could find out anything.”

Jack raised his eyebrows slightly. “You did what?” His voice was solid ice.

Jessie walked toward the bar, dropping her bag on the floor next to the sofa. “I went with him to his apartment. I overheard him on the phone talking about Dennison owing him the money when he died. It’s legit… he died owing that money. I’m sure of it.”

“You went home with him?” Jessie was surprised by Jack’s rough tone. “What the fuck were you thinking?” Jack was surprised by how much the thought of that guy putting his hands on Jessie pissed him off.

“I don’t know. I guess the same thing you were thinking last night when you took Violet Davis’ roommate home. That going to his place might give me access to the information we need. And I was right. What’s the problem?” Jessie felt herself growing defensive.

“You didn’t let me know. What if you’d gotten into trouble? I’d have had no way of helping you. The only way this works is if we’re a team, Jessie. We need to communicate with each other.” He sounded so angry.

Jessie hesitated. “Okay. I’m sorry. I should have let you know. But to be fair you didn’t tell me where you were last night either.”

“Not the same thing,” he said, his voice stony. “I went home with a hundred pound waitress. Not a thug that turns sweet little girls like you into strung out whores. Do you think this is a fucking game?”

Jessie felt a surge of hot anger rise up in her chest. Who the hell did he think he was?

“Don’t talk to me like that!” She raised her voice. “You disappeared last night and didn’t bother telling me where you were or what you were doing. It was okay for you to go home with someone but it’s not okay for me to do it? Because you’re a man and I’m a woman, right? At least I didn’t have sex with a stranger to get the information I wanted.”

Jessie walked toward her room. Jack followed her.

“You’re right. I do think it’s different because you’re a woman.” His voice got louder. He was almost yelling. “We both know you’re not going to let this guy stick his dick in you, not the way you keep that pussy on lockdown. The little cocktease routine is going to get you in trouble. It’s not even close to the same thing as me fucking that slut last night. And I don’t care if you think that makes me a sexist prick. That’s just the way it is.”

Anger radiated from him as he glared down at her. This was the first time she had ever heard him raise his voice.

She turned, her back to the wall next to the door to her room.

“Oh you’re definitely a sexist prick! She’s the slut and you’re not accountable at all! Typical chauvinist bullshit!” Jessie hissed at him.

He leaned closer to her, invading her space until she felt her back touch the wall.

“Do you realize that asshole wouldn’t think twice about sticking a needle in your arm, putting you on your back and passing you around to anyone willing to pay to fuck you or shove his cock in your mouth?”

When he thought about what could have happened to her he felt sick to his stomach. And here she was acting like it was no big deal. He was trying hard to control his temper.

“God, you’re disgusting! I hate that kind of talk!” Jessie shouted. “And I don’t need you watching over me! I can take care of myself!”

She tried to turn to get away from him so she could go into her room, but he reached his arm out and pressed his hand flat against the wall, blocking her.

He was only inches away. Suddenly he looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time since she walked in the door.

Anger flashed in his eyes as they moved down her body and back up again. He looked into her defiant blue eyes, darkened with resentment.

He moved closer, took his hand away from the wall and slid it roughly behind her neck. He tangled his fingers through her golden hair, as he’d been wanting to do since they’d met. His other hand pressed against the top of her arm, pushing her against the wall.

Jessie breathed in sharply, surprised by his hands on her. But she didn’t pull away. In fact, the feeling of his hands touching her, pressing against her skin and restraining her, sent a rush through her body that made her knees feel like they might buckle.

Jack looked down at her, his anger fading, slowly replaced by something else. There was no getting away from it. He was totally turned on by her.

Most women submitted so easily to him, threw themselves at him, no challenge at all. Jessie was different. Underneath all that innocent sweetness and blushing, though, he could feel that she was on fire.

He just needed a little taste of her. Just enough to satisfy that overwhelming curiosity about her that was making him crazy. He leaned down and pressed his lips hard against hers, surprising her so much that she couldn’t even react. His kiss was rough, urgent, possessive.

Jack felt a current of heat ignite and course through his whole body. He felt light-headed, drunk almost. He couldn’t think straight. All he could focus on was how soft her lips felt.

He slipped his tongue against hers and that was all it took. He was rock hard. She tasted sweet, like cotton candy.

After a few seconds he pulled away slightly, the pressure of his lips a bit lighter.

“Jessie,” he murmured into her mouth, his voice rough and low.

She instinctively kissed him back. She could taste the whiskey on him and it excited her. She felt her whole body tense up and her heart beat so wildly inside of her chest she was sure he could hear it.

The music seemed loud as it thundered all around them, the singer of an eighties rock band groaning about his jet city woman. The haunting drone of the harmonic absorbed her as Jack explored her mouth with his tongue.

She felt arousal pool between her legs. Her body was betraying her by responding to him. She was so mad at him, but now she just wanted him to keep kissing her and never stop. She felt a tingling heat consume her body. She wanted nothing more than to press herself against him, but she resisted the almost overwhelming urge.

He loosened his grip on her arm but kept kissing her, exploring her mouth as his hand skimmed lightly down her side, stopping on the smooth skin of her thigh. She felt his fingers brush roughly over her as they grasped for the bottom of her short dress.

He groaned low in his throat as he felt the heat coming off her soft, silky skin. His instinct was to pull her dress up so he could get his fingers inside her panties. He wanted to find out how wet he could get her, what she tasted like, what her pussy would feel like wrapped around his cock.

She shivered and made a slight moaning sound that made his cock throb even harder inside his jeans. His fingers played briefly with the lacy material of her dress as they glided over her thigh, but he fought the urge to go any further.

What the fuck he was doing? He was two seconds away from tearing that little dress off of her and exploring every inch of that pretty skin. But it wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be doing this.

Not with her.

Suddenly he stopped and removed his hand from her. He pulled away abruptly, leaving her breathless and flustered.

“Fuck.” Jack’s voice was low, barely audible.

He looked at her for a moment, his breathing uneven and shaky, before he turned and walked across the common area and into his room, closing the door behind him.

Jessie stood there for a few seconds, waiting for her brain to start working again. When it did, she quietly turned off the music on the television and then slipped into her own room and closed the door.

What had just happened? One minute they were screaming at each other, and the next minute Jack was kissing her, making her heart pound and her body feel things it had never felt before.

She sat down on the bed, feeling wobbly and a little dizzy. She ran her fingers across her lips, swollen from Jack’s kiss. Slowly, her heart returned to its normal pace.

Jessie kicked off her ridiculously high heels and walked toward the shower, dropping her dress and panties on the floor on the way.

Under the spray of water, she reflected on Jack’s kiss. Why had he done that? She supposed she shouldn’t be too shocked. After all, Jack was… well… Jack. It didn’t mean anything, she was sure. He was probably drunk and when he realized what he was doing he stopped. No big deal.

Jessie was irritated with herself for allowing her body to be so affected by Jack’s kiss. She was looking for a serious boyfriend, not a one-night stand. Jack’s whole life was a series of one-night stands. The only relationships he had with women were sexual. He treated sex like it was a game, just something to do for fun with anyone who happened to catch his eye and was willing to engage in a casual encounter. That was definitely not Jessie.

And yet, there was something more there. She really liked him. She liked spending time with him. He was smart and sexy, and fun to hang out with. They clicked. She enjoyed their fun back and forth, the way his eyes lit up when he teased her. She saw something else in him, saw past his tough exterior. The more she got to know him, the more she was understanding him. Given his childhood, was it any surprise he treated women the way he did?

Jessie believed that underneath that rugged aloofness was a really good person, aside from his tendency to treat women like disposable sex objects. As distasteful as his sex life was to her, he wasn’t really doing anything wrong. The girls Jack had sex with knew what they were getting when they hooked up with him. He wasn’t playing with women’s emotions by pretending the sex was more than that. He was upfront with them.

Even though she knew it didn’t mean anything, she liked the way his hands had felt on her, so rough and insistent. His kiss had sparked a whole new level of sexual desire in her than she had ever experienced before. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this aroused in her whole life. She put her hand between her legs and pressed it against herself, sliding one finger inside her throbbing heat. She was so wet down there. And that was just from a kiss that lasted all of twenty seconds. She closed her eyes and stroked her clit, fantasizing about Jack. She imagined his hands and lips all over her body.

He would press her against the wall, hard, as he kissed her roughly. Then he would rake his hands all over her, pushing her dress up over her hips. His fingers would rub against the black lace of her panties, harder and harder until she lost control and came so hard….

The warm water trickled down her body as she came harder than she’d ever come before. She gasped as her orgasm surprised her with its intensity. She threw her head back and moaned as her pussy clenched and the pleasure spread over her. She leaned back against the wall of the shower as her body calmed down.

She knew that she and Jack shouldn’t kiss again. She certainly didn’t want to give him the wrong idea about what kind of girl she was. Things would be awkward enough after this. Also, there was no way she would settle for less than what she wanted, and that was to be in a committed relationship with someone who put her above all others. She knew in her heart that Jack would never feel that way about her.

JACK CLOSED THE DOOR BEHIND him and sat down on the bed for a minute to calm the fuck down.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why had he walked away from her? He could tell she was into it. He probably could have taken it all the way. Wouldn’t have taken much persuading. He could be in bed with her right now, exploring every inch of that body, finding out what she felt like, what she tasted like, making her come. His dick was also wondering what the fuck just happened. Still hard as granite, waiting for some action.

At the same time, he knew he’d done the right thing by stopping. He knew that if they slept together, not only would it make things awkward between them, but it would also be a dick move to hurt her feelings. Which he no doubt would. She was that kind of girl. And he cared about her too much… he shook his head and smirked to himself. What was he, a fucking boy scout all of the sudden?

Why was he being such a fucking pussy? He did not care about this girl. No fucking way.

They were friends, though. He’d never had a friend that was a girl before. He wasn’t used to it. It was hard to not think about fucking her when they spent so much time together, but this girl was off-limits.

He’d been so worried about her tonight, and so fucking pissed when he found out she’d gone to that guy’s place. She was being reckless. Anything could have happened. He felt responsible for her, even though she said she could take care of herself. He wasn’t about to let anything happen to her, not if he could help it. He was already going to wonder for the rest of his life if he could have prevented what happened to Gus.

He wanted to stop thinking about the whole thing. It was too complicated. The one thing he tried like hell to avoid.

He sighed. He needed to come. Otherwise he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He needed to rub one out. He was still hard when he started stroking himself, various memories of Jessie rolling like a video through his mind, now including the feel and taste of her lips and tongue and her soft skin under his fingers.

She would be standing in front of him, white cotton panties, no bra. He would lean in and lick her nipples, and when he touched her between her legs her panties would be wet. He would pull them down over her hips slowly, and then he would lay her down on the bed and press his tongue against her pussy, breathing her in, tasting her… she would cry out and…

He was already so wound up it didn’t take long to get himself off. His eyes closed as he came hard into his hand.

JESSIE OPENED HER EYES AND stared at the ceiling. Slowly the events of the night before came rushing back to her.

She got out of bed and went into the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth slowly. She put her hair in a ponytail and washed her face. Looking at herself in the mirror she touched a finger to her mouth, remembering the way Jack’s lips had felt when he kissed her.

She pulled on a pair of cut-off shorts and a light blue tank top over a white bra and panties and slid her feet into flip-flops. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and took a cautious step out into the common area.

Jack sat at the table in front of his computer, his attention focused on whatever was on the screen. Jessie cleared her throat as she slowly took a few steps toward the sofa.

He looked up from the computer and their eyes locked for a moment.

“Hi,” Jessie said quietly, eyes darting away from his nervously.

“Hey,” he said, his expression blank as his eyes quickly scanned down her body and then back up again. She looked adorable in little shorts that showed off her tan legs, her hair in a messy ponytail.

He tore his eyes away from her and looked back at the computer. He figured the best thing to do was to not acknowledge the previous evening at all. Wouldn’t be long and it would be just as if that kiss had never happened. No big deal.

Jessie felt herself blush. She wondered if this moment could possibly be any more awkward.

“Looks like Violet Davis was trying to buy real estate in St. Thomas. We’ll have to go check it out.”

Jack was acting totally normal. From the casual way he was talking, you’d never believe that just last night he’d been kissing her like she was the hottest thing he’d ever seen.

“To St. Thomas?” Jessie asked, coming to stand by him at the table.

She wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that Jack was acting like nothing had happened between them last night. Maybe it was better to not acknowledge it. It was just a kiss. It was probably no big deal to him. She was sure he’d kissed hundreds of girls. And he had been drinking last night so maybe he didn’t even remember.

He nodded as he moved his laptop a little so she could see the screen. She leaned forward for a better look, her bare shoulder just inches from him.

“When?” Jessie asked.

“When we finish here. You’ll need to go back to Salvatore’s tonight. You need to see if you can find something concrete to back up the phone call you overheard.”

Jack avoided her eyes. He hated thinking about her going back to where she might be exposed to Tony again, but he didn’t see another way.

Jack didn’t mention that he would be going to Salvatore’s as well. He had no intention of allowing her to be there on her own another night. Now that she had gone home with Tony he would definitely be expecting her to give him what he wanted. Jack wasn’t willing to put her at risk. If she didn’t find anything tonight that would be it. He’d tell Mrs. Dennison that they were as sure as they could be that the debt was legitimate but that they had hit a dead end and there was no way to prove it.

“I’m ordering food. Are you hungry?” Jessie asked, reaching for the room service menu.

He nodded. “Sure.”

He took the menu she handed him, looked it over and then gave her his order. She made the call as he sat down on the sofa and picked up the remote control for the television. He flicked through the channels, settling on a sports program.

“We’re meeting with Mrs. Dennison this afternoon to give her an update. I spoke with her yesterday. I guess I forgot to mention it last night.” Jack glanced at her as she sat on the chair on the opposite side of the room.

Jessie nodded and her face flushed at the mention of the previous evening. The rest of the day passed quickly, and to Jessie’s relief, she and Jack were back to joking and teasing each other as usual. It was as if nothing had happened.