Jailbait (20 page)

I kiss her so I don’t have to speak. Because I don’t know what to say. Right here, right now, makes it feel like the last six years didn’t happen. I left and came back days later, and we continued our relationship growing more and more in love each day. It’d be easy to fall into the belief and go on like everything is okay.

But it’s not.

Chapter Sixteen

Pepper

Water rolls down his tattooed chest, each drop cascading to the shower floor. I bring my hands up, resting them on his pecks. His skin is warm. Wet. Slippery. He puts his arms around me, sliding them down my back to my ass. A mound of scar tissue disrupts the smoothness of his flesh beneath my fingers. I’ve only seen knife wounds in movies, and this looks exactly like one. The question of what happened during those six years burns on my tongue.
 

I told him it was over, that I knew what he went through as a child and don’t want to bring it up. I’m aware most people don’t grow up the way I did, but thinking of everything he didn’t get, of the horrors he witnessed and the abuse he took from his own mother is enough to break my heart all over again.
 

I told him it was over, and I have to accept it.
 

Grayson slips his hands between my legs, and I can feel his cock start to get hard. God, that man is insatiable. I’m a little sore from the night long sex-a-thon. Sore in a good way. I turn around, bracing against the tiled wall of the shower. Grayson moves my wet hair over my shoulder and kisses my neck. His dick is pressed right up against my ass, but instead of fucking me, he starts washing me.
 

Every touch, every movement is so gentle. We move back, and he sits on the stone bench. I get on his lap, slowly lowering myself onto him. He holds me tight, gently rocking us back and forth, bringing on a slow burn that erupts into flames. It’s not just sex; it’s connecting on a deeper level, physically connecting our bodies into one.
 

After we shower, Grayson and I eat a late breakfast in the courtyard. We talk and he makes me laugh, and it’s the first time in a while that I’ve felt at ease in my own home. It’s like the missing pieces are slowly coming back together, and the tight knot of anxiety in my chest has loosened.
 

We go upstairs so I can get dressed and ready to go into the city. Grayson sits on a lounge chair in the closet, looking bored but not complaining as I agonize what to wear. I hate how women in the workforce are judged on what they wear.
 

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asks. “I don’t mean to impose, but you said you were worried about someone turning on you.”
 

“I am worried, but…” My mind goes back to the files on my father’s computer. Or lack there of, technically.
 

“But?”
 

I turn away from the full-length mirror and look into Grayson’s eyes. “But what if no one is after me? Not anymore than they were before. Owning corporations, being born into…into all this.” I wave my hand around the room. “It’s nothing new, nothing I didn’t already know to watch out for. Even as a child I was taught that people will try to take advantage of me just because I have the Davenwood name. It’s all stuff I know already. Who I can talk business with…who to trust…it’s a small circle, but one that’s been drawn around me for years.”
 

“What are you getting at, Pepper?” Grayson asks.

“I looked through all my father’s things. In this house. In his office downtown. In his penthouse…and I didn’t find anything. Not even in your file. There were no notes, no direction of who you should be concerned about. And you don’t know my father, but leaving a threat on the side, waiting for it to attack…that’s not him.”
 

Grayson nods and comes over to me. “You’re right, and I thought the same thing. I don’t know your father like you did, but I could tell right away he was a man who never forgot a detail, especially with what he knew about me,” he mumbles the last part. “The way he wanted me to just watch you, get to know you from a distance…it’s almost like he…like he…wanted to make sure I still cared about you the way I used to.” He takes my hands in his, bringing them to his lips. My heart flutters, feeling as close to whole as possible. And then something clicks into place.
 

“Maybe he just made the whole thing up to get you here. Maybe he knew I’d need you—that I’ve always needed you—and you needed me too. And maybe he never would have told us the truth, or maybe he just ran out of time. But it doesn’t matter now, because I’m here and you’re here and nothing has ever felt more right in my life than when we’re together.”
 

I look into Grayson’s blue eyes, watching him contemplate it all.
 

“But what I don’t get,” I go on. “Is why he didn’t just introduce us again. You know, fake a meeting or something.”
 

Grayson looks at the floor, shoulders hunching forward ever so slightly. His lips part, but no words come out. “I don’t know,” he says and I have a feeling he’s denying whatever he wants to say. “But if your dad really did make this an elaborate setup, I wish I could have had a chance to thank him.”
 

“Me too.”
 

He kisses me, and then takes a step back. “You look good in that. You have the whole sexy librarian vibe going on.”
 

I laugh, looking down at the gray pencil skirt and matching jacket. “I feel like a politician. I hate wearing ‘office appropriate clothing’ like this.”
 

“You don’t have to wear it for long.”
 

I nod. “Right. I’m bringing a different dress to change into once this meeting is done.” I turn, going to the section in my closet that houses my daytime dresses. “Oh, I forgot about this one!” I pull out a blue Versace dress that still has the tags on.
 

“Do you ever repeat an outfit?” Grayson asks with a laugh.

“Yes, of course I do. I have a favorite shirt.”
 

Grayson slowly turns around, looking at the massive closet. “I don’t get why you need so much space for clothes that you basically wear once. If you’re always getting new stuff, then you need a small space.”
 

“But where would I put this new stuff?” I smile and shake my head, moving across the closet to the floor to ceiling wall of shoes. “But I get what you’re saying. And sometimes it hits me how unnecessary this all is.” I remember the time I tried explaining to Grayson the feelings of intense guilt that would hit me every now and then from being born into a wealthy family. I didn’t ask for it, can’t help who my parents are—were—and all, but I did nothing to deserve it either. The privilege I did nothing to earn still gets to me.

“So,” I say, picking out shoes and moving onto jewelry. “Since you offered to come with and all, I thought we could make it a date.”
 

“I’ll do whatever you want, Pepper.”
 

“Well, in that case…” I give him my most innocent smile. “I want to go to the zoo.”
 

He raises an eyebrow, staring at me for a few seconds before talking. “Are you being serious?”
 

“I am. With everything going on, all this new responsibility and stress, having my heart broken over and over…I don’t want to be an adult, even if it’s just for a couple of hours.”
 

His full lips curve into a smile. “I can definitely help with that.”
 

I step over, returning the smile. “Thank you. I figured we could swing by your place so you can get some stuff. I’m assuming you’re staying the night here again tonight, right?”

“My place,” he echoes, and his eyes go dark. He blinks it away, and his smile is back but not before I noticed. “I can go. You don’t have to. And then I’ll meet you in the city.”
 

“That’s a lot of unnecessary driving about, putting pollutants into the air for no reason. Your house isn’t far; I don’t mind.”
 

Grayson blinks and nods. “Yeah. You’re right.”
 

*

“If we hurry, we can make it to the last sea lion feeding!” I give Grayson’s hand a tug, pulling him forward. We’ve spent the entire afternoon together like this, looking at the animals, buying snacks and souvenirs like a bunch of tourists.
 

It’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
 

All my issues are in the back of my mind. They’re not gone, but have been pushed far enough into the dark corners of my brain that I’m able to enjoy the day. After watching the sea lions eat, Grayson and I get ice cream, stopping by the snow leopard exhibit to eat. We slowly walk around the zoo after that, and when we get to the grizzly bears, I get out my phone to take a picture of the two of us.
 

I have over a million followers on Instagram, which weirds me out when I think about it. I don’t think I’m that interesting of a person…but I was born into money, which makes me interesting, I guess.
 

After refreshing my lipstick and messing with my floppy hat until it looks just right, I take several pictures of Grayson and I. He looks great in all of them, of course. I upload it with the caption “Life is hard. Life is fleeting. You never know when it might end. Be kind to yourself, and be kind to those around you. In the end, they’re all you have. I’m so grateful for everyone in my life, especially this guy right now. I’m not sure how I would have made it through the last few weeks without him.”
 

I upload the photo and toss my phone back into my purse, slipping my arm through Grayson’s. We continue to walk through Central Park, stopping at The Pond when the sun begins to sink beneath the horizon. Grayson’s arms go around me, and he steps in close. I hook my hands on his shoulders, staring into his gorgeous eyes.
 

“Thank you, Gray. You have no idea how much I needed this day.”
 

“I’ll do this every day of my life if it makes you happy,” he says and kisses me. The one kiss sends pulses of pleasure through me, and I melt into him.

“Whoa,” I say after a few seconds of intense making out goes by. “I almost forgot we were in the middle of the park.”

“I don’t care,” Grayson growls, putting his lips to my neck. “I’ll lay you down and fuck you right here.”
 

“Right here?”
 

Grayson slips his hands down my back and grabs my ass. “Maybe not
here
, but off in the woods.”
 

I’ve never had sex in public before. The thought is a bit thrilling, but more anxiety provoking, for me personally. I look back at Grayson, wondering if he’d actually do it. My phone rings before I can find out.
 

“It’s my uncle,” I explain and take the call. We talk for just a minute before I hang up.
 

“Is everything all right?”
 

“Yeah. A potential business partner flew in from Beijing today instead of next week, like we planned. We’re all supposed to meet for dinner now.”
 

“As much as I want to keep you to myself, I understand. Go, and be prepared for an epic fucking when you get home.”
 

I blush, still able to feel his dick between my legs from this morning. “Come with me?”
 

“I don’t know shit about your business.”
 

I bite my lip. “I don’t know much about it either, and I own it.” The stress that escaped me starts to come back. “I’m responsible for thousands of people’s jobs. If I make a wrong decision, if I lead us in the wrong—”

“Hey,” Grayson interrupts. “Stop. You’ll be great, and it’ll take a while to get the hang of, but you’ll figure it out.”

I let out a deep breath. “Thanks. I feel kind of like a fraud for being the owner, but not actually being there too.”
 

“Bruce Wayne owned Wayne Enterprises and wasn’t there on a daily basis,” he offers.

“Yeah, but he was out saving the world.”
 

“Not the world. Just Gotham.” Grayson playfully elbows me, and then takes my hand. “If anyone can do this, Pepper, it’s you.”
 

“You’re too kind.”
 

“Just to you.” He says it like a joke, but the darkness creeps back and for a second, I know he’s serious.
 

*
 

“If that’s how you look when you go on business dinners, I think I’ll tag along more often,” Grayson says, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. He eyes me up and down, wiggling his eyebrows. I’m wearing a midnight purple evening dress that’s low cut and curve hugging.

I laugh and step forward to help him with the button and then his tie. “Thanks. And maybe you’ll have to.” I tighten his tie and let my hands fall, fingers sweeping over his abs. “I’m not saying I’m planning our wedding or anything, but I want to think you’ll be in my future.”
 

“I’m not going anywhere this time, Pepper. I promise.”
 

I thread a thin leather belt through the loops on his pants. “You look good in a suit.”

“You don’t sound too sure about that,” he says with a laugh.
 

“I was thinking. You do look good in a suit. Roll the sleeves of your button-up halfway and I’m a goner. But you in jeans, a t-shirt and those tattoos…I like that best.”
 

“That’s easy enough for me.”
 

“When did you get the tattoos?” I ask and turn back to the mirror, putting in diamond studs in my ears. “You didn’t have them when you left.”
 

I see Grayson stiffen in his reflection, and his hand subconsciously fly to his chest, touching the tattoos beneath his clothing. “After my dad died. The first one was in his honor.”
 

“That’s sweet. Sweet in a manly way, of course.” We go downstairs, sitting in the front living room just talking until it’s time to go to dinner. Not wanting to deal with the long drive into the city, we take the business chopper, which Grayson is excited about.