The Billion Dollar Contract: The Executive Collection (27 page)

Although no alcohol came up, she tasted bile in her mouth and began to whimper. Ethan wrapped his arms around her to keep her steady the few blocks it took them to get to get to his penthouse.
Don’t throw up on him. Don’t throw up on him!
Jasmine buried her forehead against his shoulder and closed her eyes. By the time they got to his building, her stomach had settled, but she was still too tipsy to get out on her own.

“I’m fine!” No matter how many times she said it, Ethan didn’t seem to believe her. “Ethan, I know how to walk.” Her ankles went this way and that in her tall heels. The only reason she didn’t land on her ass was because her arms looped around Ethan shoulders. The doorman nodded before they fully approached, and he opened the door for them both, asking Ethan if he needed any more assistance. He blew him off, but not before joking about getting her a wheelchair.

Once they were in the elevator, Jasmine was slightly sober enough to stand on her own.. She waited for the doors to close and for Ethan to put in his code for the penthouse before releasing a large, satisfying belch that tasted of whatever she drank that night.

“Lovely.” Ethan kept his hands to himself as the elevator began its long ascent. “It’s almost like you’re human.”

“Hey!” Jasmine put her hand on his arm. “I’ll have you know that I’ve been human since the day I was born.”

“Fancy that. Me too.”

One of the lunges in the elevator made Jasmine cling to him with both hands. Her nose ended up burying into the crook of his suit, where his cologne was especially potent. “You smell good. What is that? Calvin Klein?”

“Christian, actually.”

“Say what? Leave those poor Christians alone.”

“
Clive
Christian. The brand.”

The numbers weren’t progressing fast enough for Jasmine’s tastes. She was starting to feel a little woozy again, and she hoped that the first thing they did when they got to Ethan’s penthouse was drink a large glass of water. And then throw up. “Ethan…”

“Hm?”

Jasmine wrapped her arms around his midsection and inhaled that scent once more. Woody, with a touch of spice. “Let’s do it right here.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Come on!”

“No thanks.”

“You are absolutely no fun.”

Ethan didn’t have a chance to respond, for the elevator door opened and they were at his penthouse.

They were not the only ones there.

19

“Ethan.” A woman stood up from the couch, draped in black satin and tiny crystals. Her golden skin was made brighter by the bun of blond hair fastened tight to her head. She smiled when Ethan and Jasmine walked through the front door. “I came as soon as you called.”

“Ah…” Ethan dumped his briefcase and Jasmine’s purse by the coat rack. Jasmine put weight on her feet, trying to figure out if she recognized this woman or not. And furthermore, what was someone like her doing in Ethan’s place all alone? “Kate. I forgot you were coming.”

The woman took a second look at Jasmine. “Is this her? She’s cute. And drunk.”

Jasmine struggled to push her greasy hair out of her face. “Wow. You’re hot.”

“Thanks.” Kate remained where she stood, and Ethan dashed around the penthouse looking for something. “You must be Jasmine. Ethan told me a lot about you.”

“Really? What’s he saying?”

Kate approached her, slowly, one hand going out to her elbow and grazing the skin there. She smelled flowery, not as good as Ethan, but delectable in her own right. “That you’re really good in bed.”

Before Jasmine could react, Ethan appeared and handed Kate a wad of cash. “For your trouble. As you can see, plans have changed.”

Kate stuffed the money into her bust, touched Ethan’s shoulder, and then winked at Jasmine. “Maybe next time.” She sauntered out of the penthouse, that skintight dress sashaying with her every step. Jasmine may or may not have lingered on the image of that woman’s nice ass disappearing out the door.

“My God. She was gorgeous.” Ethan barely had time to catch Jasmine’s fall.

She blinked in and out of consciousness from there. Jasmine vaguely recalled struggling to find her footing in Ethan’s arms, her shin grazing the floor as something tried to come up her throat. Ethan muttered to himself, probably cursing her drunkenness, but the next thing Jasmine knew she was back up in Ethan’s arms, which must’ve been stronger than she ever thought.
Maybe those long lunch breaks are because he’s in the gym…
The world blurred by as Jasmine was carried into the bedroom and placed on the bed.

It was dark. Something warm covered her up. Ethan’s scent lingered around her nose and then slowly dissipated into the air. Sleep fell heavy on Jasmine’s eyelids. Somehow she managed to not have any dreams that night.

By some miracle Jasmine did not wake up the next morning with a hangover. She was groggy, with a faint recollection of what had happened the night before, but nothing worse than feeling heavy behind the eyes and a bit lethargic. She was also still wearing her clothes from yesterday, and the first thing she noticed was how bright it was in the bedroom.

“Damnit…” She rolled over, finding Ethan sleeping next to her.

It was her first time seeing him sleep in clothing. Not only that, but he was wearing a navy blue T-shirt that hung loosely on his body.
I’ve never seen him in short sleeves before. Let alone a T-shirt!
She was used to Ethan sleeping in the nude, usually because they had done it the night before. Seeing him lying prostrate with his eyes closed and chest heaving with gentle breaths threw her for a loop. At first she was surprised in general to see him. Then she wondered why. Of course he had been there all night. This was one of his homes. Just because Jasmine was passed out in his bed didn’t mean he wasn’t going to hang around.

Jasmine lowered her head next to his, drinking in how peaceful he was. Then she noticed the faint scent of his aftershave. Something about Christmas and Clive Cussler.

She couldn’t explain it, but somehow purging her body with alcohol had rid her of those bad feelings from the previous week, or maybe it was just looking at Ethan in his most natural elements that made her feel better. Either way, Jasmine had no qualms snuggling up against his chest and feeling the soft cotton of his T-shirt against her cheek.

Within a few seconds, his arm wrapped around her.

“You’re alive.” His voice was heavy with sleep, and he did not open his eyes. “Congratulations. Feel like death?”

“No, actually.” Jasmine kicked out her legs, forcing half of the covers off her body as she slid into Ethan’s arms. “I feel fine.”

“You were pretty out of it last night.” His body turned toward her, his other arm meeting her shoulders. “Good to know you’re doing better.” Not one second later he pressed his lips upon hers, his right hand pushing behind her head to bring her closer to his.

It was their first kiss in over a week. At first Jasmine was reluctant to kiss him back, but then she welcomed his warmth, reveling in the comforts of the strong man who wanted to…

“Whoa.” Ethan turned his head.

He’s not going to kick me out again is he?
“What is it?”

A disgusted smile appeared on his face. “Your breath. It’s awful.”

She smacked her hand against his chest and pushed away, taking half the bed covers with her as she struggled to get up. “I didn’t brush my teeth last night.”

Ethan was already up, and Jasmine had her second surprise when she saw him walk around in a pair of sweatpants. Sweatpants! “I don’t think that’s the main problem. You sure you didn’t throw up at some point last night?”

“No! I mean, yes, I’m certain I didn’t do that.” The bile in her throat had never counted. Jasmine took a cautionary sniff of her clothing and almost gagged herself. “Oh goodness.” She needed to borrow some of Ethan’s cologne, and fast.

But he didn’t seem perturbed as he walked out into the kitchen and let Jasmine follow him. She stumbled, he laughed, and soon enough they were at the counter, Ethan taking down a ceramic bowl and a box full of cereal.

“By the way,” Jasmine said, staring at the marble countertop. If she wasn’t careful, she would get caught up in tracing the lines of the swirls as they danced for her amusement. “Thanks for helping me last night.”

Cereal rattled at the bottom of the bowl. “No problem. I was a little worried at first. How much did you have to drink? Let alone with Nadia.”

Jasmine shrugged. “Three, four drinks? I didn’t mean to drink that much at first. It just kinda happened.”

“With Nadia.”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

Ethan stared at her, cereal almost primed for eating. “No.” He turned to the fridge and opened it to grab the milk carton. “I’m just surprised that you don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

Ethan didn’t pour out as much milk as Jasmine would have liked. So much for stealing his bowl. “It’s not my place to tell you.” The carton went onto the counter, and Ethan pulled open a drawer to grab a spoon. “Was she the one who asked you out?”

“Yeah?”

“Remember when I said she had a boyfriend?”

“Uh huh.”

The spoon plopped into the bowl. “Pretty sure they broke up because of her.”

“You’re scaring me. Is she a serial killer?”

“No.” A spoonful of cereal went into Ethan’s mouth. “Forget I brought anything up.”

Just to spite him, Jasmine snatched the bowl of cereal and the spoon out of his hand. With his eyes wide enough to devour her, Jasmine ate the spoonful of cereal and then passed the bowl back. “Stop messing with my head. Speaking of,” she watched as Ethan tentatively ate his breakfast again, “am I making this up when I think that you bought a prostitute for us last night?”

I am apparently not making it up.
If she had been, Ethan would have stopped eating for two seconds. “There was a woman, but I didn’t pay her for something like that.”

“I saw you give this Kate lady a wad of cash, Buster.”

“Yes, for taking up her time, when she could’ve been making her usual money elsewhere. Least I could have done.”

He continued to eat as if there was nothing strange about this. “Ethan, that was a very beautiful and probably very expensive prostitute waiting for us in your apartment last night. Were you, or were you not, thinking that we were going to threesome with her?”

“I wasn’t thinking anything other than getting you cleaned up and safe.”

“Ethan.”

He glanced up at her. “What do you want me to say? I told you I had a surprise.”

“A prostitute!”

“I believe the PC term’s escort. And no, I didn’t pay her for that sort of thing.” He polished off his cereal and turned around toward the sink. “She gives it away for free to the guy she likes.”

“Please.”

The water ran for a good few seconds while Jasmine contemplated this.
Asshole.
That was the sort of thing she liked to have run by her first. “I wasn’t expecting anything in particular to happen. Hope, maybe. But she would’ve left if you weren’t into it.”

“Have you slept with her before?”

Ethan turned the bowl upside down in the drying rack.
Billionaire doing his own dishes. He must be bored.
“What do you think?”

“Yes.”

“You could’ve slept with her. Then we’d be even.”

Jasmine rolled her eyes so hard she gave herself a headache. “What makes you even think I would be into that?”

“Call it a hunch.”

“Did I ever tell you about college?”

“No. But do go on.”

Jasmine stepped away from the counter. “Maybe later. And Ethan?”

“Mm-hmm?”

She made the mistake of looking over her shoulder and seeing him drink straight from the carton.
Gross.
“Don’t assume things about me. Even if you have the slightest bit of chance of being right.”

The refrigerator door opened and closed again. The sink turned on and off. Ethan Cole rounded the island counter and embraced her from behind.
Now? You think you’re going to get some now?
“Sure thing.” He kissed her neck, but that was all.