Becoming a Jett Girl (The Bourbon Series) (16 page)

Taking my eyes off the pert ass that went along with the muscular back, I saw what the pounding noise was, he was boxing and, good God, was he good at it.
 

I felt myself walk inside the room and sit down on a box that was facing the bag and watched the man take all his aggression out on the hanging punching bag.
 

It wasn’t until he turned around that I saw it was Kace.
 

Shit, I knew he was hot, but after seeing him pound the fuck out of that punching bag, my lady folds wept at the sight of him.
 

He continued to punch the bag with more force than I thought was possible. I watched as his pecs flexed with each blow and then pulled back quickly. His biceps were sculpted precisely to every corded muscle God gave him. He had a tattoo that ran along his ribcage, but it was in such loopy cursive that I couldn’t make out what it said. It didn’t matter because it was fucking hot no matter what it said. It could say cat poop face and I wouldn’t care.
 

Kace continued to punch the bag until he turned and faced me. That was when he stepped back from his bag and looked me up and down, I returned the favor and I knew I was rewarded with a better view than he was. His skin glistened with sweat and was rippling in every direction you could think. Mother of God I had a lady boner.
 

Turning off the music with his foot, he looked at me and said, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m pretty sure you could blast someone’s face off with that punch. Remind to never make you mad.”

“Too late,” he said, as he used his mouth to tear off the tape from his gloves that held them on tight. Fuck, I was so horny; I wished I was the tape that his mouth caressed…That instead of him tearing off the tape, he was tearing my panties off and devouring my pussy with that sensual, scruff-covered mouth of his. There was something seriously wrong with me.
 

“Seriously, you’re good.”

“I know.” He pulled a water bottle from the fridge, splashed water on his face, and then swallowed some. I just watched like a creepy pervert as the water ran down his sculpted body and tried not to finger myself right then and there from the erotic scene unfolding in front of me. Now I knew why there were jerk off booths in the Toulouse room, holy shit.
 

“You’re pretty sure of yourself.”

He peeked over his water bottle and said, “Well, since I used to be one of the top professional boxers in the country, I’d think I should know I’m pretty damn good at punching a bag that hangs in front of me.”

“You used to be a boxer?” I asked, ignoring that snarky tone I was so used to him using with me.
 

“Yeah.”

Okay…

“Care to elaborate?”

“Nope.” He grabbed a towel and wiped down his body as I continued to enjoy the show.

“Are you always this moody?”

“Are you always this nosy?” he countered.

“If I said yes, would you answer my questions?”

“No.”

It was standoff. He expected me to ask something else, but I didn’t. I wanted him to stop being an ass and actually try to have a decent conversation with me. We stared at each other and I saw his eyes roam over my body. He stopped at my legs, where my robe rode dangerously high. His eyes blazed with heat and, at that moment, an aching throb took place between my legs.
 

Holy shit, I wanted Kace to fuck me right here on this damn box that was starting to cut through my ass.
 

The tension was extremely thick in the room and it wasn’t because Kace had been working out. No, it was undoubtedly the sexual tension that had been building between us ever since the moment we met at the café in the French Quarter.
 

My breathing began to pick up as Kace continued to take in my entire body, from head to fucking toe. I could practically feel his breath on me as he caressed me with his eyes. I wanted him and I wanted him badly. The strange thing was, I knew he wanted me too.
 

I got up from the box and started toward him, but that was when Kace looked away and turned his back toward me. As if my movements snapped him out of the lust-induced coma we were just in.
 

“Kace…”

“Don’t,” he said, as he set his boxing gloves on a shelf and then turned back around. There was a good couple of feet between us, but it still felt like he was only inches away. “Stay away from me, Goldie.”

It was strange to hear him use my real name, since now I was used to everyone using my Jett Girl name. My God given name almost sounded foreign to me now.
 

“I just want to get to know you better, that’s all. Maybe if we got to know each other, we could be friends.”

“You don’t want to be my friend.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. I’m not someone to hang out with, Goldie. I do fucked up shit.”

I walked closer as he leaned himself against the wall and ate me up with his eyes. Shit, I was about to combust.
 

“What kind of shit?” I stepped closer.
 

“Shit that almost wound me up in jail, where I currently would be rotting away, if Jett hadn’t covered my ass.”

I stopped moving forward as I took in what Kace just told me. Jail? What the hell could he have done that would have put him in jail?

“Just stay away,” he continued. “You have other things to worry about besides trying to be my friend.”

“You’re not just going to push me away like that…”

Before I knew it, I was pushed against the wall that was closest to me with my arms pressed to my sides and Kace’s face inches from mine. I couldn’t fucking breathe and not because he was pressing down on my lungs, but because he absorbed all the air around us.
 

When he was this close, I was able to look into his deep soulful blue eyes. They were damaged, just like mine. He was hiding some kind of demons and by the way he seethed with anger, he was not about to let them out.
 

“Listen to me and listen to me good, stay the fuck out of my business. I am here for one reason and that is to make sure you girls stay in line. I am not here to be your friend and I sure as hell don’t want you to be mine, so drop it.”

I gulped as he pushed me to the side, grabbed his towel and started to walk away.
 

Chapter Eighteen

“Speechless”

Goldie/Lo

The shock that ran through my body from Kace’s action slowly faded and anger took its place instead. As he retreated, I pulled my head out of my ass and ran after him.
 

“Hold on,” I said, while pulling on his sweaty shoulder that should have made me shake my hand about and squeal like a girl, but my deranged mind was turned on instead.
 

He turned slowly to face me as we stood in the narrow hallway of the first floor of the servant’s wing. Not looking happy, he crossed his arms across his chest, typical Kace stance, and waited for me to speak.
 

“I’m getting pretty sick of you acting like you can just boss me around and treat me like shit. Just because I come from a strip club doesn’t mean you can treat me like crusted human feces on the rim of a toilet seat. I am a human you know and I have feelings just like everyone else.”

My chest heaved as I put an end to my childish rant.
 

“Are you finished?”

I nodded as I waited for his reply.
 

“First of all, I am your boss, so get used to it. Jett may make the decisions, but you report to me and if you are not following my instructions and doing as you’re told, then you will find your ass out on the streets faster than you can unhook your bra.” I was about to speak when he held up his hand. “Secondly, you are a lucky little shit who made some kind of odd impression on Jett. You shouldn’t even be here right now, so I would watch yourself, you’re skating on thin ice, sweetheart.”

“What do you mean I shouldn’t be here?” I said with my hands on my hips.
 

Kace snorted, actually snorted. It was the first time I didn’t find him attractive. Then his eyes narrowed on me and my attraction came back in full force. Bastard.
 

“You’re pretty, I will give you that, but you’re short, you have zero class and you’re too weak to get involved in a sexual relationship with Jett. You are accustomed to a type of emotional intimacy that you are not going to find here, so not only will you be disappointed and get your heart ripped out of your chest when Jett doesn’t hand you his heart, but you are going to waste everyone’s time by leaving because of the fact that you can’t find the emotional intimacy you need.”

I stood there completely stunned. I didn’t know how many insults and backhanded insults had just been thrown at me, but they didn’t feel good at all.
 

“What are you, some kind of psychologist?” It was probably the lamest comeback I’d ever had, but I couldn’t come up with anything better.
 

Kace just smirked at me as he continued, “Face it…Lo,” he said in a mocking tone, “you’re not cut out for this. Hell you couldn’t even get a couple of drinks right. If you can’t remember some damn drinks, then how are you going to remember all the steps to the dances? You are the slowest and the weakest out of all the girls and you have absolutely zero motivation.”

“That’s not true,” I protested.
 

“Isn’t it? If you were motivated, you wouldn’t be dragging your ass in the gym and complaining the whole time. You wouldn’t be taking naps in the afternoon when you should be learning as much as you can from the girls and you wouldn’t be wandering around the house tonight looking for trouble when you know damn well there is a curfew for you girls so you get a good night’s rest.”

I didn’t have a retort because everything he said was right.
 

“I don’t know why you are wasting my time, your time, and Jett’s time when there are so many other girls who could easily take your place and do a much better job than you.”

I was completely deflated. Not only was I humiliated today during my first-ever presentation, but now I was being told I didn’t belong in the house. Usually, rage would be boiling through my bones, but when the words came from Kace, they hit me harder. I didn’t understand why his opinion mattered to me so much, but it did.
 

“Why do you hate me?” I said in a breathless whisper, trying to contain my rolling emotions. A tear slipped down my cheek that I quickly swiped away, hoping Kace didn’t catch it.
 

When I looked up, I knew he saw the emotion that was pouring out of me because he actually showed a little bit of sympathy. Kace walked up to me so he was a foot away. He reached out and captured a strand of my hair with his fingers and pushed it behind my ear. The gesture was so small, but at that moment, I knew Kace cared about me. I could see it in his eyes.
 

“I don’t hate you, Goldie,” he used my real name. “You just don’t belong here.”

“Whose decision is that?” Another tear escaped from my eye and before I could wipe it away, Kace pressed his palm against my cheek and wiped it away with his thumb.
 

“It’s ultimately your decision.”

“So why don’t you let me make it. Why are you trying to drive me away?”

Removing his hand from my face, he blew out a long breath as he ran both hands through his hair. I watched his muscles ripple as he held his hands behind his head and looked at me. It seemed like he was going to confess something, but right when I thought he was going to act like a normal human, he closed off and stepped away.
 

“I just don’t want to waste anyone’s time.”

“I’m calling bullshit. There is something you’re not telling me.” I stepped closer so we were only a few inches apart. The heat radiating off his body was warm compared to the frigid attitude he just took on.

“Goldie…”

“What?” I placed my hand on his chest and ran it along his muscular pec. He sucked in a sharp breath of air from my gentle caress. Fuck, I was ready to explode. I wanted him so bad and not just because he was a man and I needed someone to hydrate my parched lady cactus, but because I needed him, Kace. From the minute I met him, I wanted him to touch me, hold me, and fuck me.

“Stop.” He grabbed my wrist and held it out in front of him. “We can’t do this and I don’t want to. You’re…you’re not my type and I would rather keep my job than give it up for what could be a half decent lay.”

Half decent lay? He did not just say that!

“You’re not worth it. Now if you don’t mind, I would like to actually get some sleep. Why don’t you do us all a favor and leave tomorrow morning, so we can fill your spot with someone who actually has the potential to be a Jett Girl?”

“You’re an ass.”

“Spot on, genius,” he said mockingly. “Let me know if you need help packing your bags, I would be more than happy to assist you.”

With that, he took off, leaving me completely punctured and speechless. I have had some mean things said to me, and I have dealt with my fair share of negative comments, but I have never been told off like Kace did to me tonight.