Chapter Twenty – Jacob

 

Upside #20: The only person who gets to hold you accountable for your actions is yourself. Unless your cousin walks in on you kissing the person you shouldn’t be.

 

I gripped Mellie’s ass, pulling her right against me. For someone who was so determined not to kiss me, she was grabbing onto me like her life depended on it. She was tugging on my shirt so hard I was certain she was going to try to take it off me.

And I didn’t fucking care.

My cock pressed against her pussy, and every now and then, she twitched her hips, moving them against me like she wanted more.

I wanted more.

Would she let me? Would she let me pull that shirt over her head and kiss down her collarbone? Would she let me flip her over on her back on this sofa and kiss a trail down her body to where I wanted her most?

She gave a little moan into my mouth, one that vibrated across my skin and made my cock twitch.

I loosened my grip on her ass and trailed my fingers up her back, taking the material of her shirt with me. Her skin was hot under my touch, and she shivered.

I pulled back slightly, smiling against her lips. She drew in a deep breath, quickly letting it back out before she kissed me again.

Fuck, I loved kissing her. Her lips were soft and full, and she responded to every little thing I did. Whether it was my tongue against hers or my fingers dancing across her skin, she reacted.

I wanted to know how else she’d respond to me.

If her toes would curl if I put my tongue on her clit. If she’d arch her back or dig her nails into me as she came.

If she’d scream or shout.

If she’d beg and ask for more.

I needed to know.

I pulled her shirt up higher, and the lock on the door clicked.

“Oh shit!” Mellie jumped off me onto the sofa cushion next to me.

I quickly adjusted my pants, resisting the urge to shove a cushion on my lap. That was a fucking rookie movie, and really, it wasn’t me that was the problem. It was Mellie.

Her hair was a mess where I’d had my hand in it. Her lips were swollen and pink, not to mention her cheeks were flushed almost red.

And her eyes.

They shone. Bright and wild. They flitted back and forth between me and the door as it swung open, revealing Sam with a short redhead hanging off his arm.

She giggled, and he froze as his eyes landed on me.

I glared at him.

“Ah, fuck,” Sam said und*er his breath. “I forgot.”

Mellie cleared her throat and smoothed her hair down with her fingers. “It’s—it’s fine. I have to go anyway. I start early tomorrow.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “You don’t start until ten-thirty.”

“Um, no. I changed it. I have to do that—that thing.” She grabbed her purse from the armchair and slipped her feet into her shoes.

“What thing?” I sat forward, shuffling to the edge of the sofa.

“The thing!” she snapped, running her hands through her hair again. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Sam pulled tonight’s plaything to the side. Mellie passed him without looking up, and the second she was out of sight, I glared at him.

The redhead looked between us uncertainly. “Uh, do you mind if I use your bathroom?”

“Sure, babe. Down the hall and it’s the second door on the right.” He smacked her ass.

She giggled, offering me an awkward smile, and teetered through the room on sky-high heels.

“How much is she costing you?” I snapped, standing up and grabbing the wine bottle. I walked it into the kitchen and grabbed the cork from the island to close it.

“Shut up.” He slammed the door shut. “I’m sorry, all right? I forgot she was here.”

“No, you thought with your dick instead of your head.”

He threw his arms out. “She’s your fucking employee, Jake. You said yourself it was a bad idea. Really, I was doing you a favor.”

I put the bottle back in the fridge and shoved it closed. “No, you fucking weren’t. Employee or not, I like her a lot. Jesus, Sam, I put up with this shit almost every night.” I motioned toward the bathroom. “You couldn’t give me one evening alone here?”

“She’s. Your. Employee.” He slammed his hand against the island with each word. “Remember that? Someone you hire? Someone you pay? Someone you tell what to do?”

I stared at him for a moment, then shook my head. I knew that. I knew she was my goddamn employee, but I didn’t care.

I wanted her more than I’d ever cared about it.

“I’m going out.” I walked to the front door, put on my sneakers, then grabbed my jacket off the hook.

Sam looked at me, holding his hands out.

“I’m not listening to another one of your fuck marathons,” I told him. “You can stand there and judge me for falling for my employee, but you’re twenty-eight and fucking random women like you’re being paid to do it. Worry about your relationships before you worry about mine.”

I yanked open the door and slammed it behind me. I shrugged on my jacket and headed for the stairs.

It was like living with an eighteen-year-old.

I had to find my own fucking apartment.

 

 

***

 

I opened the new carton of orange juice and stared at it.

I wasn’t usually a straight-from-the-carton guy. It would be petty as fuck, but I was in a petty mood despite the fact I was a grown-ass man.

I pushed my unused glass to the side and drank straight from the carton. Fuck Sam and his interruption. He’d not only interrupted my date, but he’d left me with such a case of blue balls he’d interrupted my sleep.

That was the only reason I’d jacked off in the shower at three a.m. Fuck knew I wasn’t getting any sleep until I’d got the frustration out of my system.

If he hadn’t come in, Mellie and I would have finished what we started. I would have been able to carry her into my room and fuck her until this morning.

I recapped the carton and put it back in the fridge. I got a pathetic fizzle of amusement from closing the fridge with the carton in there.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone was awake.”

I turned and looked at the redhead Sam brought home last night. She was wearing nothing but an old t-shirt of Sam’s that I recognized from high school, and her hair was pulled up on top of her head. Make-up was smudged beneath her eyes, and she looked a million miles away from the person she did last night.

“Early start at work,” I said. “Where’s Sam?”

“Still asleep.” She cocked a thumb over her shoulder awkwardly and shuffled.

Trust it to Sam to piss me off then leave me to babysit his mess.

“Can I get you anything? Coffee? I think there’s herbal tea somewhere,” I offered.

“Uh, do you have juice?”

I motioned toward the fridge. “There’s a bunch in there. Help yourself.”

“Thanks. Where are your glasses?”

Yep. Definitely babysitting.

“I just took that from the dishwasher. I have to go, so knock yourself out.” I smiled at her and grabbed my phone.

“Oh, okay, thanks. Bye.” She opened the fridge, and when I looked back before I left, I saw her pull the orange juice carton out.

I fought back a smile and left the apartment. Petty as fuck, but who wasn’t sometimes? I still had serious blue balls because of my cousin, and she was part of that by default.

I rubbed my hand across my forehead and stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was so quiet for such a big city, but then again, it was eight in the morning. The only people awake were the people like me who had to work instead of party until all hours.

I made the ten-minute walk to the hotel and used the passage at the side to go in through the back entrance. No matter what I’d said to Mellie, there were still a few staff members wary of me and the review system I’d put in place.

I didn’t care; I just didn’t feel like getting evil eyes this early in the damn morning.

It was almost as if some of the staff thought that killing me with their gazes would make their jobs way more secure.

Apparently, I had more than a couple of idiots working for me.

I sighed and stopped outside the office. I’d been so determined to get here that I hadn’t stopped for coffee.

Or donuts.

I had a feeling a certain somebody would need donuts after last night.

Giving up on the staying away from staff thing, I walked out to the lobby where Lillie was helping someone check out at reception. I hovered at the end of the desk and waited for her to be done, all the while admiring how good she was at her job.

She was a lot like Mellie—she just made people feel good. Even if Lillie did stumble over her words with me sometimes.

“Hey,” I said when she was done. “How are you doing?”

“Morning!” she said brightly. “I’m good. How are you?”

“Good, thanks. Is Mellie here yet?”

Lillie nodded. “She got here about ten minutes ago. She’s in a—hey, I didn’t see you come in.”

“I came in the back. You said Mellie’s here?”

“Yeah, she’s in y’all’s office. She’s in a real bad mood, though, so I’d avoid going in there.”

I raised my eyebrows. “She is?”

“Yep. She didn’t speak to anyone on her way when she got here, and I’m pretty sure we all heard the door slam.” She paused and looked at me, her eyes narrowing slightly. “She said she was seeing you last night. What did you do to her?”

Great. She’s in a bad mood, and everyone assumes it’s my fault.

Lillie wasn’t everyone, but fuck me.

“I didn’t do anything.” I held up my hands. “We just did dinner, no big deal.”

“Hmm. You two spend a lot of time together.”

This was getting awkward really quickly.

“Uh…” How the hell did I respond to that?

“Is something going on with you two?”

“I’m not sure that’s any of your business…” I trailed off. “Did she have breakfast with her when she came in.”

Lillie leaned on the counter and folded her arms on it before grinning at me. “Something is going on with you two.”

“Did she have breakfast with her?” I asked, stepping to the side.

“No, she didn’t. No coffee, either, if you were wondering.”

“Perfect, thanks.” I tapped the top of the desk and headed for the front door.

“I like coffee, too!”

“Got it!” I called, holding my hand up in acknowledgment.

I went to Mellie’s favorite coffee shop a block away. After grabbing three coffees and enough powdered donuts to put her in a sugar coma, I headed back to the hotel. I slipped Lillie’s coffee behind the desk, and she shot me a thumb up in thanks.

Then I braced myself for what was sure to be a hurricane behind the office door.

I went for the handle, but it was locked. Surely if she’d left, Lillie would have said something? Then again, she was busy talking to someone…

I put the donuts down and dug my key out of my pocket. I couldn’t get it fully inside the keyhole, which meant Mellie had her key in it.

She’d locked me out.

I pulled my key out, stuffed it back inside my pocket, and knocked on the door. “Mellie?”

She didn’t answer.

“Mellie, I know you’re in there.”

Still nothing.

“Let me in.”

There was the sound of something moving inside, but she didn’t respond to me.

I knocked. “Mellie, open the damn door and let me inside.”

Nothing. She was completely and utterly ignoring me, and I was already running out of patience. However, I did have one last trick in my arsenal.

“I have donuts.”

Silence.

Then, slowly, the sound of someone moving toward the door and the lock clicking.

Thank God for that.

Donuts really were the key to her.

I opened the door and picked up the donuts to carry inside. She was already sitting back at her desk with her feet up. She had a paper file open on her lap, and there were a few marks and circles written on it.

I kicked the door shut behind me. “Hey.”

She glanced over at me. “Hey.”

“I got you coffee. And donuts.” I put the bag on the desk and set the coffee down in front of her. “I already had breakfast, so they’re all yours.”

“Thanks.” She didn’t look at me. She was fully focused on whatever paperwork she had in front of her, and I wasn’t sure anything I could say would bring her attention to me.

She was angry. There was no doubt about it. It rolled off her in waves, like the after-effect of a tsunami, except my gut told me the tsunami hadn’t yet hit.

I wouldn’t push her right now. I’d give her a little time to calm down, but we had to talk about what had happened last night. We had to talk about what would have happened.

Even if I never got to kiss her again, we had to clear the air.

We had to make this a place we could work together.

Feelings or no feelings.