Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“Okay.” I try to ignore the warmth filling my chest. But by the time Jack helps me to my feet, keeping his arm around me as he leads the way to my desk to fetch my briefcase, the warmth has spread.
And the reason for the warmth is Jack’s touch and his concern and the way he stays close as we hit the street, clearly not caring what any passersby might think of him having his hand on another man’s back. The reason is the supersize crush I’m developing, which only gets worse when Jack proceeds to order an obscene amount of Chinese food in the name of “giving me leftovers to take to work tomorrow.”
A man who kisses like the world’s about to end, is amazing in a crisis, and is serious about making sure I’m fed?
Be still my beating heart…
But it won’t be still. That’s my problem, and the reason I should take my food and go home—do not go up to his place, do not risk being alone with Jack again.
Instead, I let him hold the door open for me and follow him to his elevator because some things—like men as smart, thoughtful, and drop-dead sexy as Jack Holt—are impossible to resist.
CHAPTER 9
Jack
Day 6 Monday 8/6
“This view is incredible!” Ellie leans close to the floor-to-ceiling window in my living room, peering out across the city. De-mustached and makeup free, she’s dressed in one of my well-worn Harvard sweatshirts and a pair of basketball shorts about five sizes too big on her, but it’s the best I could offer, considering she was dying to get out of her man-suit and I don’t keep a stash of ladies’ clothes on hand.
I’m not gonna lie. Seeing Ellie in my clothes, knowing there’s nothing between the fabric and her skin? That image will get me through more than a few lonely nights.
“If I lived here,” she says, still gazing out the window, “I’d never leave this spot. You’d have to hire a maid to dust and water me once in a while. It’s that beautiful. Don’t you think?”
The sun went down an hour ago, leaving the glass and steel of Manhattan bathed in a muted glow. But I’m not looking at the buildings or the pink sky or the latticework of roadways below. Not anymore.
Yes, I appreciate the view my open-plan penthouse apartment affords. It’s glorious day or night, summer or winter, rain or shine.
But it doesn’t compare to the view tonight, the warm light shimmering in Ellie’s dark-chocolate hair, the endless sounds of the city muffled by the glass and the funky jazz playlist drifting from my speakers.
“Beautiful,” I say softly. I hold up her coffee mug, steam curling from the surface. “Dash of cream, teaspoon of sugar, yes?”
Ellie smiles, my reward for getting her coffee order right, and I hand over the mug.
Dinner was easier. We were both starving, she was still mustached and manly, and we dogged the Chinese takeout straight from the containers, barely stopping for air.
But now she’s fresh-faced and glowing, my clothes draped over her curves, her dark hair spilling across her shoulders, begging to be touched. And coffee? That’s one step closer to dessert, which, as far as I’m concerned, is one step closer to sex, which is almost certainly a terrible idea.
Almost…
Certainly…
Ellie closes her eyes and takes the first sip, letting out a moan that goes straight to my dick.
Fuck me.
“Oh, Jack. Where have you been all my life?” She moans again, showing absolutely no consideration for what she’s doing to me. “I had no idea you could make coffee like this.”
“One of my two talents,” I say.
Ellie raises a brow. “What’s the other one?”
Tearing off those shorts and burying my face between your thighs until you forget what fucking planet you’re on…
I hold her gaze a moment longer, lost in the dangerous dream of what it might feel like to go down on her, to hear her scream my name, to feel her hands rake through my hair as she pulls me closer…
“Fine, don’t tell me.” Her playful laughter drags me back to the moment.
“Actually, there isn’t another one.” I step to the side, putting some much-needed distance between us, hoping she doesn’t notice the bulge in my pants. Unlike Ellie, I’m still wearing my all-too-confining work clothes, and my cock is hating me for it. “I’m really only good at the coffee. Probably why I’m still single.”
“Somehow I doubt that.” She smiles again.
Forget that million-dollar view. I could stand here and watch this woman wear my clothes and drink my coffee and laugh at my dumb jokes forever.
And if it weren’t for her brother, and the necessary boundaries of professionalism, and the fact that I have to interact with her daily without dragging her into the closest break room and devouring her lush mouth, I’d probably tell her as much.