I Know What You Read (13 page)

“Come now,” he growled, forcing her to apply friction to her swollen and aching sex.

It was like a sunburst exploding under the mask.  She was coming so hard that she was seeing stars—that was when she became aware of him telling her to breathe.  She finally realized that she curled almost into a ball with both his and her hand gripping her pubic mound.  She’d been holding her breath and squeezing her eyes shut too hard.  She gulped in a breath as he removed the vibrator. 

He was right that it hurt, but not severely—it was the first ‘pleasure’ pain she’d ever felt—and she liked it.

“Shower with me,” he murmured against her ear.

“Blindfold on?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Tomorrow you’ll let me see you?”

“Yes.”

“Your voice sounds different,” she noted.

“It hurts to keep whispering,” he said with a small laugh.

“Tomorrow,” she stated, “you won’t have to whisper anymore.”

That was when she felt him picking her up from the floor.  He carried her to the bathroom and turned on the water.  She found showering blind to be a bit disconcerting—it was harder to stay balanced—but he was never more than inches away so she knew he wouldn’t let her fall.

He lathered her under the steamy water, washing everything—and she loved it.  She wasn’t as adept at washing him simply because she couldn’t see, but she could tell he was enjoying every moment with her.

When he dried and tucked her into bed, she begged him to stay.

He didn’t say no, he only told her to go to sleep.

She was exhausted, yet thoroughly comfortable as she snuggled under his arm.

“Ask me now,” he whispered in her ear.

Her brain was becoming sluggish with drowsy comfort.  “What?”

“Your question.”

“Oh,” she said, suddenly remembering what had almost made him leave.  “Why do you want me to be the last one?”

“Because,” he said, his voice sounding as if something caught in his throat, “I love you.”

She’d had a man say those three words to her before, but never as sincerely as they had just been spoken.  She started to cry.  Tears and fatigue overwhelmed her; the last thing she remembered was his breath in her ear telling her to sleep.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Who the hell was this guy?

Morning came with the startling buzz from her alarm clock.  She panicked for a split second when she felt something over her eyes, but it didn’t take more than a flash of conscious mind for her to realize it
was
tomorrow and she could take off the blindfold and see him!  She ripped it off and rolled over—to find an empty bed.  He was gone.

She stopped for a coffee on the way into the office.  She didn’t know what time it was when he finally put her to bed last night, but she felt as if she could barely function.  She wondered if her ass would be sore, but she was pleasantly surprised that all was well in that department.  But her abs?!  Holy freaking cow—she felt as if she’d been doing P90X all night!

The closer she came to the parking garage, the greater her nervousness.  He clearly told her that she would discover who he was
today
. 

She walked in to find Kristen with a big grin on her face.

“What’s up?”

“You have a visitor,” she said nodding toward Jade’s office.  Jade could see the door was open and her light was on. 

“Who is it?”  She didn’t think she’d be able to stand the suspense for the next hundred feet or so.

Kristen smiled, “I’m not telling—but he’s
cute
.”

She started to take a step when she stopped and studied Kristen’s face, “Does he work here?”

“Yeah,” she said with a little wiggly squeal, “since about six weeks ago.  I didn’t even know that—” She paused, evidently his name was about to slip off her tongue.  “That,” she began again, “he’d been brought on staff.”

“And
I
know him?” Jade asked, thoroughly doubtful.  The only new guy she had been aware of was Noah.

“Oh yeah,” Kristen said with a wink.

She shook her head and started walking toward her door.

“Hey,” Kristen called out before she’d gone more than a dozen steps, “let me know if you’re going to take the rest of the day off.”

Who the hell was this guy?  He was someone that she and Kristen both knew—very well evidently. 

She could see a huge bouquet of long stemmed red roses on her desk, and, as she drew closer, the back of a rather tall, dark haired man in a suit sitting in the chair across from her desk.  She suddenly didn’t like this; she was getting a knot in the pit of her stomach.  Exactly who had she slept with last night?

When she walked through the doorway, he turned and smiled—she was immediately sick!

“James!?”

“I thought it was about time I came down and said hello—and apologize.”

“You—you— Oh, my God! You
work
here?”

“I’m upstairs in advertising.  I know I should have come by as soon as they hired me, but I wanted to surprise you.  Don’t be mad at me over everything, please.”

“I don’t believe it!  I had sex with
you?!”
she
said far too loudly.

“Yeah,” he said with a strange expression, but then he smiled and stood up “Admit it: it was good between us, Jade.  Give me another chance,” he opened his arms.

She picked up the vase of flowers and thrust them against his chest, splashing water on his suit.

“Careful,” he snapped, “it’s Armani!”

“Take your fucking Armani suit and your roses and get the hell out of my office!  And if you
ever
come back to my house the alarm will be on!”  She pushed him out the doorway and watched as he walked away grumbling.  “And I’m buying a Rottweiler!” she shouted.

He turned around, his face flushed with anger as he promptly dropped the vase of flowers in a garbage can. “Well I hope he’s good in bed!” he yelled back.

Jade stormed into her office and slammed the door.  She snatched up the phone and dialed Hiram’s extension.  Why the hell didn’t he tell her that James had been hired?!  He didn’t answer.  She dialed his secretary.  “Where is Mr. Spencer?!” she asked, clearly still fuming mad.

“He has the day off today, Jade.  What’s wrong?”

“He hired my freaking ex-boyfriend—and didn’t tell me—that’s what’s wrong!”

“Who?”

“James Lattimore,” she ground out.

“We don’t have a reporter named—”

“He’s not a reporter; he’s in the advertising department!”

“Jade, Hiram only hires the reporters, honey.  Personnel handles the other four hundred or so employees.  I’m sure he didn’t even know.”

She hung up her phone and plopped her head down on her desk.  She wanted to cry.  She had been so certain that she found her prince charming.  She raised her head and grabbed for a tissue from the box on her desk.  She refused to ruin her makeup over that
asshole!
 

There was an embarrassing thought; she’d let him… 

“Uh!” she cried, dropping her head back onto the stack of papers on her desk with a heavy thump.  “Ouch,” she added without lifting her face. 
“And I sucked his dick,”
she whined
. 
It was at least five minutes before she raised her head. 

There was a lot of work sitting on her desk, but there was also an assignment sheet from Hiram.  He must have put it on there yesterday after she left.  He had arranged for her to do an interview this morning at 9:30 with Madelyn Jadowski.  Thankfully, it was someone Jade was at least familiar with.

Ms. Jadowski was in her early 90’s and had lived in Tampa all her life.  Her father had been a wealthy hotel owner.  She eventually took over running his business.  Their family legacy had dwindled down to one remaining hotel: Candlewick Chateau.  It was as reclusive, exclusive, and private as its owner.  It was one of the area’s oldest hotels still in use; a luxurious kind of place that made you wonder what century you were in when you walked through its doors.

The note stated that she was donating the building and grounds to Hillsborough County.  It was surprising because as far as Jade knew it was still in wonderful condition and being booked all the time for weddings, honeymoons, couples retreats, or just a weekend getaway.  Not that she could afford to experience that kind of luxury, but she’d seen a few articles on it in the past.

The assignment had Julian listed as her photographer.  She called his office and told him she’d be ready to leave in thirty minutes.

He picked up on her tone, “You okay?”

“No,” came her deadpan response.

“Really?  What’s wrong?”

“Happily-ever-after took a dive into the toilet.  I’d press charges but I don’t want to have to tell anyone.”

He didn’t say anything at first.  He took a breath, “You can tell me. What happened?”

“Can we talk about it on the way to Candlewick?”

“We can skip the assignment and talk now.”

“Julian, I don’t think standing-up one of the wealthiest people in town is a good idea.  Besides, Hiram would have a fit.”

“No he won’t.  Let me make a phone call.”

“He’s not in today.”

“Who?”

“Hiram.  Who’d you think?”

“Give me a couple minutes and I’ll call you back.”

“Fine,” she sighed.  She really was in no mood for this interview anyway.

Five minutes later, her phone was ringing. 

“Sorry, Jade—the interview is still on.  Matter-of-fact, he said it would be best if we go now.”

“I don’t care.  Would you mind driving because if I have to tell you what happened I probably shouldn’t be behind the wheel.”

“It’s
that
bad?”

“Worse,” she choked.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

Before she was completely collected, Julian was standing in her doorway.

She grabbed her stuff and followed him to the parking lot, but they didn’t speak.  She was on the edge of crying, and Julian seemed to sense it.  When they closed the doors to his car she blurted, “He came back last night and he—he—”  The flood gates opened.

He wrapped her in his arms, swaying gently and telling her how sorry he was that he hadn’t done something to stop what happened.

“You couldn’t have done anything.  I didn’t even know who it was until this morning when he showed up in my office.”

“Your office?  He was here?!” he said, his face becoming dark with anger.

“I told you it was someone who worked here, but I didn’t even know James had been hired.”

“James?”

“Remember the real estate guy?”

“Yeah, but he isn’t—”

“Trust me; he works here.  He was hired in the advertising department a month and a half ago.  I guess he knew I’d tell him to go to hell if he just walked right up and said hello.  He pulled another masked bandit routine at my house last night,” she said, taking a moment to regain her frail composure.

He cranked his car and pulled out of the parking garage and headed north. “So,” he began cautiously, “tell me about last night.”

She shook her head, “I can’t, Julian.  It’s too…”  She couldn’t finish.

“Jade.”

She slowly lifted her eyes.

He looked at her, “I’m
not
innocent.  I can handle it.”

“Yeah well I don’t know if I can.”

“Did you have sex?”

She nodded and then turned her reddened face to look out the window.

“Did he force you?”

“No.  I didn’t want to at first, but he didn’t force me.”

“Was it good?”

“Damn it, Julian, that’s not the point!”

“Jade, sex is sex.  It was either unbelievable, just okay, or it sucked.”

She turned scarlet.

“
Oh
,” he said when he saw her color.  “It’s not like that was your first time.” He suddenly appeared perplexed.  “Jade, you’ve had oral sex before, right?”

She still wasn’t talking.

“Are you serious?” he continued his single sided conversation.  “I was half-kidding about the innocent stuff the other day, but hasn’t a guy ever eaten you?”

She wanted to vanish, “Yes, but I never… I never got off that way.”

He couldn’t hide the smile creeping over his face, “Have you ever given a blow job?”

“Uh,” she groaned.  “Not until last night.”

“Holy shit!  Your first ever blow job was last night?!”

“Stop, Julian,” she begged, “You’re making me feel like a slut.”

“Jade, sex isn’t bad—unless you don’t want it or you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.”

“Well then, what’s the right reason?”

“The right reason is that you enjoy the person you’re with, and he enjoys being with you.”

“But I loathe that man!  No, I take that back. I’ll use the H word; I
hate
him.  When I found out the first time that he was a manipulating, lying, cheating con-artist, every experience I’d had with him felt filthy and slimy and…yuck!  Now, it’s even worse!”

“Was the sex good or not?”

She put her head down on her knees and gave a quivering sigh, “He must have been practicing because it was the best sex of my life!  I’m worse than a slut!!”

He couldn’t hold in the laughter.

“It’s not funny!” she whined.  She felt his hand come to rest on her back.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re upset.  Did James admit anything?  You know, in case you decide to press charges.”

She considered what he asked for a moment, mentally reviewing her conversation with James.  “He asked me not to be mad about everything; said he wanted to ‘surprise’ me—it was one hell of a surprise, I’ll give him that much.”

“But he didn’t admit to being in your house last night?”

“No, not in so many words.  I wonder if he left any finger prints?” she pondered aloud.  “I’m screwed right?  Thank God only figuratively, I guess, but—”

“Didn’t he fuck you?”

“Damn you’re blunt!”

“Well, making love just doesn’t sound appropriate. So—did he?”

“No.”

“I don’t believe it,” he said in wonder.

“I’m not lying!”

“No, it’s not that; I’m just really surprised.”