Chapter Three

JACK DROVE BACK TOWARD THE city and parked in the garage of their building. Instead of taking the elevator to go to the office, though, he walked in the opposite direction. Jessie followed him up a dark stairway and down a hall to a door with an “Exit” sign above it.

He pushed open the door and they were outside, looking at the busy street in front of their building. Jack led her to a nearby restaurant and sports bar called Castle Pub. Inside, they were seated in a booth and given menus. There were large television screens all over the bar.

When the attractive, dark-haired waitress came to take their order, she greeted Jack by name. “Haven’t seen you in a while,” she said, glancing briefly at Jessie and then turning her attention back to Jack.

Smiling slightly he asked her, “How was Miami?”

Jessie smiled as she read ‘Heather’ on the waitress’s name tag. Heather smiled back, but regarded her suspiciously. Jack didn’t make any move to introduce them.

Heather smiled flirtatiously at Jack. “Would have been more fun if you had been there. We had so much fun when we went last year. What was that girl’s name that you and Nick hung out with practically the whole week? Elena?” She laughed at the memory. “You totally blew off my friend Carrie for her! If I’d known you weren’t into blondes I’d have introduced you to someone else.” Heather looked smugly at Jessie as she delivered this last line.

Jessie found it interesting to hear that Jack didn’t like blondes. Perhaps she had imagined those steamy looks and that moment between them in the dressing room.

Jack smiled and laughed a little. “How is Carrie?”

“She’s fine.” Heather laughed again. “I’ll tell her you said hello. I’m sure she would love to hear from you.”

“Probably not a good idea,” Jack replied, laughing with her as if they were sharing a private joke.

Interestingly, he had never been attracted to Heather, and not just because she had been his buddy Chris’ girl. Of course he would never go for someone Chris had dated, even if he had been attracted to her. A dick move like that would definitely violate the man code.

But Heather didn’t do anything for him at all. He didn’t know why, because she was certainly a sexy girl. She was also pretty wild, based on the details that Chris had shared with him about their sex life. He was also sure she would go for him if he wanted her. She had made it clear that she was interested.

Heather had also confessed to him that she wished she hadn’t blown things with Chris. He was the nicest guy she’d ever been with. Hindsight and all that.

Jack was glad that they had broken up, though, a fact that he did not share with Chris, who had been pretty upset over the whole thing.

Jack thought Chris could do better. Unlike Jack, Chris wanted and needed a nice girl. Heather was just a good-time girl, not someone he could see Chris settling down with.

The trip to Miami had been a blast. Heather had Chris in rare form that week. Nick had been in between girlfriends, so he had been up for nailing almost as much pussy as Jack. They had found no shortage of hotties up for a good time.

Especially Elena. She had been fun. She had taken turns going down on him and Nick and then fucked them both in Jack’s hotel room. Hot as fuck.

The next night, she had invited an insanely hot friend to party with them, and after watching the girls get each other off, Jack and Nick had eagerly joined in the action. Good times.

“So what can I get you guys?” Heather took out her order pad and a pen.

Jack ordered a burger and a Guinness and Jessie asked for the jerk chicken sandwich and a side salad with a sweet tea.

Heather grew serious for a moment and hesitated. “How’s Chris?” she finally asked, looking apprehensive, and maybe guilty.

“He’s good,” Jack replied.

She nodded sadly and walked away.

“So you know the waitress. You must be a regular here,” Jessie casually observed.

“My buddy Chris used to go out with her,” Jack replied. “They broke up a few months ago.”

“Oh.” Jessie was relieved to hear that Jack actually had friends. Given his standoffish behavior she was kind of surprised. He seemed like he would be a loner.

Heather dropped their drinks off on her way to another table. Jessie opened her straw and stuck it in the glass, taking a long sip of the sweet tea.

“How long did they date?” Jessie asked, mostly in an attempt to make conversation.

Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. Awhile. Maybe a year?”

His eyes zeroed in on Jessie’s soft-looking lips wrapped around the plastic straw as she sucked sweet tea into that pretty mouth. He imagined those pink lips wrapped around his dick for only a second before he forced the thought from his mind.

“What happened? Why’d they break up?” Jessie took another sip of her tea.

Jack hesitated and then, “She cheated on him.”

“That sucks,” Jessie sympathized. “What about you? Girlfriend?”

“No way,” Jack responded with a slight laugh. “You? Boyfriend?” She had asked first, and he was curious.

Why the fuck was he so curious?

He looked directly into her eyes, his facial expression indifferent. She broke eye contact first, glancing away from his penetrating gaze.

She shook her head. “Nope. I’m enjoying the life of a single girl right now.”

Jack nodded slightly. He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. Did she enjoy her single life the same way he enjoyed his? Getting laid as often as possible by the hottest pieces of ass he could score? Something told him that she did not.

Their food arrived and Jessie ate every bite of her lunch. Jack also polished off his meal and ordered another beer.

The ice broken, Jessie and Jack chatted amicably throughout the rest of the meal. She did most of the talking, chatting about her family, the food, the case they were working on, and other random observations. She asked him questions about work and his past cases.

He told her about some of the more interesting cases that he and Gus had worked on over the years. He made her laugh with his sarcastic comments and dry sense of humor.

She was definitely attracted to him. What girl wouldn’t be? He was darkly handsome, alpha oozing from him, a cocky confidence that Jessie found annoyingly enticing.

After lunch they walked back to the office where Jack called the client to give him an update on the day’s progress. Jessie entered the day’s activities into the tracking system on the computer. This was the way the company billed the client for time spent on the case as well as mileage, fuel, equipment, meals, and other expenses incurred during the investigation.

Around five-thirty Jessie got ready to leave. Jack seemed engrossed in whatever he was reading on his computer and barely glanced up at her, nodding briefly in response to her murmured “Goodnight.”

JESSIE TOOK AN UBER TO Kat’s and made her way through the rest of the after-work crowd, looking for Zoey, who had texted that she was already there.

Zoey sat at a table, sipping on white wine. She looked amazing and perfectly put-together, as usual. Zoey was a striking girl, and tall, with long black hair. Her skin was the color of creamy caramel, with big brown eyes. She was undeniably beautiful, turning heads everywhere she went.

Jessie sometimes felt invisible when standing in the shadow of Zoey’s exotic good looks. But she adored her friend and didn’t begrudge her the beauty that had so often caught the attention of a guy Jessie had her eye on.

Zoey didn’t do anything to try to attract their attention. She had actually often longed for Jessie’s blue eyes, golden locks and California-girl-next-door look that a lot of guys were so crazy for.

Men noticed Jessie just as much as they did Zoey, but Jessie couldn’t always tell when a guy was into her. She was somewhat oblivious to it at times.

Together they made a lethal combination and without meaning to, attracted a good amount of male attention wherever they went together.

They hugged when Jessie got to the table. Her favorite summer cocktail, hippie juice, was already waiting for her. The combination of watermelon vodka, Malibu coconut rum, pink lemonade, triple sec and strawberries was super sweet, and the effects of it could sneak up on you if you weren’t careful.

She took a sip. “Mmmm. Delicious.”

“So how was it?” Zoey asked, excitedly. “I want to hear every detail!”

Jessie spent the next hour sharing the details of the day with her best friend, leaving nothing out, including the dressing room episode and her reaction to the hard-to-read and very sexy Jack Turner.

They ordered several appetizers, including their favorite fried pickles, mozzarella sticks and chicken fingers to share for dinner.

“It sounds so exciting,” Zoey exclaimed. “My day was totally boring. I spent three hours on the phone with caterers, the party rental store and calling around to find the perfect venue for my client’s awards dinner. Then a two-hour meeting with the client, going over the details.”

“Yeah but you love it,” Jessie said unsympathetically.

Zoey always complained about work, but she lived for the moment of success when her events came together perfectly and she saw the payoff from all of her hard work. Zoey had a knack for turning an ordinary event into something extraordinary. She was so creative and had an amazing ability to put unique touches into each and every detail.

“Uh-oh, oh yeah, check it out,” Zoey said suddenly, distracted. “Up at the bar, super-hot guy, blue shirt, light brown hair.”

Jessie looked in the direction Zoey described and saw the guy she was talking about. He was cute. And totally Zoey’s type. He was a little over six feet tall with an athletic build and boy, was he rocking that suit. He had that lawyer look about him. Zoey always went for that look. He was standing at the bar with a drink in front of him.

As they were checking him out another guy walked toward him and they shook hands, greeting each other with that half hug, back slap thing that guys do. He turned slightly, just enough for Jessie to see his face. She drew in a breath, surprised.

It was Jack Turner.

“Oh my God,” Jessie whispered. “The guy who just walked up to him is Jack Turner.”

“Are you serious? What a weird coincidence!” Zoey laughed. “Well that’s perfect. We can go say hello and you can introduce me to his cute friend. Jack’s totally hot, Jessie, I see what you mean.”

Jessie nodded. “He’s also intimidating as hell.”

“Maybe we should let them come to us,” Zoey said. “Let’s wait a few minutes and see if they notice us.”

“Okay,” Jessie agreed.

On the other side of the bar, Jack and Chris were catching up after not seeing each other for a couple of weeks.

Chris had gone down to the beach for a few days to check on Jack, but he’d been busy with a big case at work and hadn’t been able to get away any longer than that.

“So how’s the new guy?” Chris asked.

“The new guy is a new girl,” Jack answered, taking a sip of his bourbon. He laughed, a little bitterly. “Russell hired a girl.”

Chris raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? That’s interesting. She look good?”

Jack shrugged and nodded. “Cute little blonde. Kind of caught me off guard.”

“I bet. I know you, brother. Better leave it alone. Work is work. No good mixing it with playtime.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “Shouldn’t be a problem. She’s one of those daddy’s little fucking princess types. She probably needs a good pounding, but I doubt she gives it up the way I like, anyway.”

Chris laughed and turned his head to briefly scope out the crowd.

“Are there any girls that you think don’t need a good pounding?”

Jack smirked and shrugged. “Probably not.”

Chris’s attention was sidetracked by a hottie on the other side of the room. He made eye contact with her and she smiled at him.

“Damn, see that?” Chris asked Jack. “Over there. The girl in pink sitting with the blonde.”

Jack looked over in that direction and saw the sexy girl with dark hair and eyes that Chris was getting fired up about. At the same time he noticed the blonde and he immediately recognized her profile. Jessie.

He laughed. “Dude, the girl she’s with, the blonde,” Jack said. “That’s her… Jessie, new girl at Drake.”

“Small world,” Chris said, laughing. “Great, let’s go over there so I can meet her hot friend.”

Jack laughed and obliged, leading the way. When they got to the table Jessie looked up and smiled, as if she wasn’t at all surprised.

“Hey,” Jack said. “Coincidence, huh? What’s up?”

“Hi, Jack.” Jessie gestured toward Zoey. “This is my best friend, Zoey. Zoey, this is Jack Turner. Jack and I work together at Drake & Associates.”

Jack shook her hand and nodded toward his friend. “This is my buddy, Chris.”

“Nice to meet you.” Zoey smiled, her gaze lingering on Chris. “You guys want to sit with us?”

Zoey invited them to take the two empty chairs at their table.

Jessie cringed. Oh, this wasn’t going to be awkward at all. She’d have to remember to thank Zoey later.

“Love to, thanks,” said Chris, a flirty smile making his handsome face even more attractive. He grabbed the chair next to Zoey and lowered his six-foot plus frame down into it.

Jack sat down in the other chair, an amused expression on his face as Chris engaged Zoey in getting-to-know-you conversation.

“You come here a lot?” Jessie asked Jack. “We just started hanging out here a couple of weeks ago.”

Jack nodded, his expression neutral. “Yeah, we come here pretty often.”

For the next half an hour, Chris made them all laugh with his funny stories. It was clear that Chris was the outgoing, talkative one and Jack was a man of few words. Although quiet, Jack appeared relaxed as he sipped his drink and let Chris steer the conversation.

Jessie tried to focus on the story that Chris was telling, but found herself distracted as her eyes kept sneaking glances at Jack. His blue eyes. And those lips. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to kiss them.

She blushed furiously when he glanced at her suddenly, his eyes burning into her as if he could read her every thought.

“Remember last summer when I caught that baseball at the O’s game, Jack? Who were they playing? The Phillies?” Chris asked.

“The Pirates,” Jack answered him, smiling at the memory.

“Yeah, that kid in front of us almost plowed into you he was trying so hard. But it just came right to me.” Chris and Zoey were talking baseball, which they had discovered they both loved.

“You gave the ball to the kid, didn’t you?” Zoey asked, concerned.

“Of course,” Chris answered. “He was so disappointed that he didn’t catch it, poor little guy. I had to.”

Zoey smiled adoringly at him. She had a soft spot for guys who were good with kids. Not surprising since she wanted to have a big family.

“Jessie loves baseball too,” Zoey added. “She’s a huge Orioles fan. Her Dad has season tickets. They got me into it. I started going to games with them when we were kids. But I’m not nearly as obsessed as they are.” Zoey laughed.

“Jack and I are Braves fans. We grew up in South Carolina,” Chris said. “But we go to Orioles and Nats games now since we live up here.”

A stunning brunette walked by their table, and suddenly she stopped next to Jack. She wore a tight, short skirt and a matching top with a plunging neckline that left little to the imagination.

“Oh my God! Jack!” She leaned in and hugged him enthusiastically, planting a kiss on his cheek.

He barely reacted, but greeted her with a slight smile. “Isabella, hey.”

“I haven’t heard from you, Jack.” She left her hand on his shoulder as she talked to him. “You said you would call me,” she pouted, her voice husky and sexy with a hint of an accent.

“Been busy.” Jack shrugged as he responded, his eyes trailing appreciatively over her voluptuous body.

“Well, I’m only in town for a few days this time. I leave for Aruba day after tomorrow for a photo shoot. I’d love to see you before I go. Call me.”

Jack had met Isabella in a bar about six months previously and they had gotten together four or five times since, though it had been almost two months since their last encounter.

Jessie checked out the dark-haired beauty as she walked away and realized that she must have just imagined that moment in the dressing room earlier. If this was the kind of girl Jack was used to, there was no way he would be interested in her. Heat flooded her cheeks briefly.

“Pretty impressive Jack—you have such a way with words,” Chris joked. He turned to Zoey and Jessie. “Can you believe this guy? He barely says two words and women just throw themselves at him.”

The two girls giggled at Chris while Jack smirked and shook his head.

Chris kept the conversation flowing easily, including Zoey and Jessie in his friendly, light banter. Jack listened, quietly entertained by Chris’ storytelling talent.

A few moments later Jack felt the buzz of his phone. Glancing at the screen he quickly scanned a text from Isabella.

Isabella: Want to come over?

She had attached a picture of herself in the tiniest bikini Jack had ever seen, one of her modeling pictures.

Fuck. What a body. His cock stirred as he gazed at her photograph, remembering those full lips wrapped around him, pushing himself into her and pounding away until she screamed his name. She loved getting used up and talked to like a little whore in bed. So goddamn hot.

He forwarded the text to Chris so he could see the picture. A second later Chris checked his phone and glanced quickly at Jack, smiling and trying not to laugh.

Jack waited a few minutes, enjoying the rest of his bourbon in anticipation of hooking up with Isabella later.

Zoey excused herself to the ladies room, grabbing Jessie’s arm as she started to stand up.

Jack also stood. “I’m heading out,” he said. “Nice meeting you, Zoey.” He turned to Jessie, “Guess I’ll see you at work.”

“Have a good night,” Chris said with a smile that showed he knew exactly what kind of night Jack was going to have.

“Goodnight,” murmured Jessie, making brief eye contact with Jack as he turned to leave. She sensed that the focus of his attention had changed after Isabella had stopped by their table.

Not that she blamed him. The girl had been hotter than blacktop on the Fourth of July.

“How about another round, ladies? On me,” Chris said, his eyes shining as he kept his gaze firmly on Zoey.

They nodded their agreement. “Okay, thanks. Can you order our drinks while we go to the ladies’ room?” Zoey asked sweetly.

Making their way through the crowd to the bathroom, Zoey linked arms with Jessie excitedly. “Oh my God, Jessie! He’s so cute and funny! Promise we can stay for a while longer, pretty please?”

“Of course.” Jessie smiled at her best friend. “But ugh, why does he have to be friends with Jack? Talk about awkward!”

Zoey laughed as she joined the line for the bathroom. “It wasn’t that bad. Jack seemed okay. Kind of quiet, but friendly enough. Chris is definitely the funny one.”

“You think?” Jessie laughed. “How about the supermodel chick who stopped to talk to Jack? She was totally hot. I think I hate her.”

Zoey smiled sympathetically. “Yeah, she was pretty hot, I’m not going to lie. I bet that’s why Jack left.”

“Yeah, probably.” Jessie wondered why she felt a pang of disappointment.

Why should she care what Jack Turner did? Or who he did?

“I guess I was way off on the vibes I thought I caught from him earlier today. Clearly I couldn’t be further from his type.”

“Um, not so fast, girl. I definitely think he left to hook up with the model girl, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t notice him looking at you. He totally was. Couldn’t take his eyes off of you, in fact.”

A bathroom stall opened and Zoey was next in line.

“I don’t care,” Jessie replied. “I don’t even want him to look at me. We have to work together. I don’t want things to be weird.”

“Uh-huh,” Zoey called sarcastically from her stall. “Whatever you say. But I’m your best friend and I can tell you like him.”

“Now I hate you.” Jessie pouted as another bathroom stall opened and she slipped in to take her turn.

“SO TELL ME ABOUT YOUR family, Chris. You said you were from South Carolina? That explains the adorable southern accent.” Zoey flirted, as her hand brushed against his as she reached for her drink.

“You like that, huh?” Chris flirted back. “Yeah, I’m from Charleston. My Dad worked for Boeing before he retired. My Mom teaches fourth grade. I have a younger brother and sister. How about y’all?” Chris inquired, politely including Jessie in the conversation, but not taking his eyes off Zoey.

“We’re both from here, well, from Maryland,” Zoey answered. “Let’s see… my Dad is a Senator, a Democrat. And my Mom is a professor at the University of Maryland. And I have four older brothers… I’m the baby.” Zoey, like Jessie, was proud of her family.

“A Democrat?” Chris feigned horror. “I’ll try not to hold it against you,” he laughed. “A Senator’s daughter and four older brothers? I guess I’ll have to watch out then.” His eyes danced as he joked with her. “And what about you, Jessie?”

“Oh, my Dad’s in the boating supplies business and my Mom’s a doctor.” Jessie downplayed her parents’ accomplishments. “And I have an older brother, too. Just one, thank God!” She giggled.

“So tell me, Chris. Are you as much of a player as your friend Jack seems to be?” Zoey asked.

Chris laughed. “Oh no, not at all. I pretty much have zero game. What you see is what you get. And Jack’s not so bad. He just has a lot of… friends.”

“How long have you two known each other?” Zoey asked.

“Oh we’ve been friends forever, since we were little kids. First grade. We grew up together. After his Mom died when we were in third grade, Jack spent a lot of time with my family. He’s like a brother to me.”

“Oh my God, how sad,” Zoey commented. “He was so young when his Mom died.”

“Yeah. It was hard on him.” Chris glanced at Jessie. “Better not mention it to him, though. He doesn’t like talking about it.”

“Oh I won’t say anything! I promise,” Jessie said. She was a soft-hearted girl, and she was replete with sympathy, imagining how terrible it would be to lose her Mom or Dad now, let alone if she had lost one of them as a small child.

The conversation turned to jobs and Chris told them he was a defense attorney for a private law firm. Zoey discussed her work in event planning. They spent the next hour talking and laughing.

Jessie could tell they were really hitting it off. It was nice to see Zoey connecting with someone. She’d gone through a few losers lately.

Jessie hated to interrupt this successful connection but she was tired and anticipated an early morning. She gave Zoey the signal that she needed to get going and Zoey reluctantly acknowledged her. She let Chris know that they needed to head out since they both had to work in the morning.

“Yeah, I should go, too,” Chris agreed. “I have an early court appearance.” They started to stand and Chris turned to Zoey. “So, I hope I run into you again soon.” His interest was obvious and Zoey smiled encouragingly. “Maybe this weekend?”

“Well, Jessie and I are going to Whiskey Rocks on Friday for karaoke night. Maybe we’ll see you there?”

“Yeah, maybe.” Chris smiled. “Be careful getting home.”

Zoey and Jessie said goodnight and made their way out to the street to Zoey’s car.

When they walked inside the house they were happily greeted by Libbie. Jessie was glad to see her dad had brought her dog home earlier that evening.

She let the dog run out in the backyard while she got ready for bed. She called her back in, and the little dog quickly ran and jumped on the pillow at the foot of the bed.

Jessie got in bed, but she was too excited thinking about the day’s events to fall asleep right away. She finally drifted off around midnight, weird dreams of a tall, dark-haired man disturbing her normally peaceful sleep.