The Billion Dollar Contract: The Executive Collection (28 page)

Jasmine looked out of the wide glass windows and sighed. It was a beautiful sunny day, the first one she had seen in a while. Lately the weather was nothing but cloudy and rather drizzly. “Whatever. So I guess you want some, huh?”

Ethan loosened his grip on her. “It’s not necessary.”

“Please, I’m sure you got blue balls by now. All that promise last night.”

“Well, between putting you to bed and going to bed myself, I
did
take a shower.”

“And?”

His hot breath pushed into her ear, arousing her just the slightest. “Use your imagination.”

“Aw, congratulations on jacking off in the shower like some Average Joe. I’m flattered.” She then had a thought. “And here I was thinking about taking a shower to get this stink off. Ew.”

“Let me get this straight… you have no problem having sex with me and all that entails, but using the shower long after I…”

“Get out of my way.” Jasmine broke free of his grasp and stomped toward the bedroom. “I need to take a shower. And find something to wear.”

He followed her into the bedroom. “You do need to find something to wear. I’m taking you out today.”

Jasmine had half her clothes off before going into the bathroom. “Out, huh? What if I don’t want to?”

“You have to. It’s Saturday.”

Damnit.
Blackbeard would have to wait for his kibble once more.
That fluffy jerk will live.
“And what are we doing today?”

Ethan gave her one last look before leaving her alone in the bathroom. “Whatever we feel like.”

20

“No way.” Jasmine stepped into Ethan’s private garage, gobsmacked. “No freakin’ way.”

“Way.” Ethan unlocked the passenger side door on his white Lamborghini Gallardo. The door opened on its own, inviting Jasmine to come sit down and enjoy the smoothest ride of her life.
This time not on the other side of Ethan’s cock.
No, just in his giant one.

She tripped in her heels to get to it, her smile about to blast off her face as she drank in the sight of the beautiful curves, lines, and details of such a lovely machine. Inside was nothing but fresh leather, only made more attractive when Ethan – dressed down in slacks, a black jacket, and a bold blue shirt buttoned down halfway – sat in it and punched in the code to start it up. The way it purred in the garage riled Jasmine up more than any man’s touch… almost.

For some reason she didn’t think he owned yet another car. When Jasmine sat down and closed the door, she almost felt like she had descended onto a different planet. The mood, the lights, and the sounds as Ethan revved up the engine and opened the garage door leading to the city were too much for her plebian brain to handle.

Traffic was light enough that Saturday morning that they made good time going down the avenues. Jasmine was plastered against the window as she watched the world go by through tinted glass.
Isn’t this illegal?
Who cared? When Ethan hit a red light, the engine wound down, and Jasmine could hear herself think again.

“How many cars do you have?” She ran her hand on the grip beside her. Smooth.

Ethan adjusted his sunglasses. “Only three. This one, a Ferrari, and the Fiat.”

Jasmine couldn’t help it: she chortled. “What is it with you and Italy, man?”

“Huh?”

“Come on. The Armani suits, the Italian restaurant where you own a table,
three
Italian cars… let me guess, you speak Italian too.”

“Maybe.”

The light turned green and they were on their way again, heading out of downtown and somewhere Jasmine didn’t know about. They passed the Jackson-Cole building, and they both couldn’t help but glance at it as if they were glad to be anywhere but there that day. “This is the time for me to tell you that I’m one-eighth Italian.”

“Is that so?”

“On my mother’s side.”

“Then it’s really legit.”

He stepped on the gas as soon as they were in the western part of the city, heading away from the hustle and bustle of downtown and speeding toward the countryside. As soon as they were free from towering buildings, Ethan hit the button that lowered the roof, welcoming the sunlight and the wind playing with the ends of Jasmine’s hair.

She lifted her arms up and shouted the moment Ethan plowed his foot down and took off for an exit. The rev of the engine was both frightening and exquisite.
Like being with him sometimes.
The scent of early spring hit her the moment they turned onto an old highway and rolled near the meridian. There was no one else on the road at that time of day.

Ethan turned on the radio, left on a modern rock station.
Not classical? Not NPR?
Jasmine stared at him in wonder, the man content behind his sunglasses as he kept his eyes on the road and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to a Foo Fighters song.
He went to a Nirvana concert when he was a kid.
Did he idolize David Grohl? Was there a stack of CDs somewhere emblazoned with the Foo Fighters logo? Jasmine tried to focus on the world passing by and instead could only think about Ethan Cole playing air guitar in his office. She busted out laughing and ate some of her hair as it blew into her mouth.

She had pulled it into a low side-ponytail, mostly because the dress Ethan presented her with when she got out of the shower demanded it. A sleeveless white sundress with green flowers blooming all over it. At first Jasmine thought it was some other woman’s dress, but Ethan claimed to have gone across the street to buy it for her. “You need something to wear today. I’ll have your other clothes washed and returned to you on Monday at the latest.” Jasmine could hardly believe it. Especially when it fit her perfectly. Ethan had guessed her size without a second thought.
He knows my body better than I do.
That was a trip.

So was the song that came on next. Aerosmith’s
Jaded,
the very song Jasmine and her friends used to drunkenly sing back in college.

Ethan nearly leaped out of his seat when Jasmine started belting out the lyrics over the sound of the engine and the wind. They were heading up a mountain now, the air becoming fresher and the sun brighter.
I love it.
Jasmine yelled out lyrics about baby blues while Ethan tried to contain a smile on his otherwise perfect poker face.

The song came to an abrupt end when Ethan turned off to an overlook near a valley, shutting off the engine and the song with it. Jasmine was caught mid-verse and had to clap her mouth shut, letting the serene mountain air take them over.

“What are we doing here?” she asked, hoarse.

Ethan wrapped his arms around the steering wheel and leaned his chin against it. “I like the view from up here. It’s peaceful.”

Jasmine looked out at the valley, still a bit brown and sparse from the winter. She did not doubt that in the summer it was full of greens and flowers blooming like heaven in the afterlife. Although it was not breathtaking now, the air was crisp and clean and everything quiet. “I like your stupid face.”

Now the silence was awkward. Ethan leaned back in his seat and looked at her through his dark sunglasses. “My face is not stupid.”

Jasmine reached over and pinched his fuzzy cheek. “Try again.”
And shave.
Or not. She could dig some stubble.
But then I get the aftershave…

Ethan took her by the wrist. At first Jasmine thought he would push her away, but then he turned her hand in his, brought it up to his lips, and gently kissed it. She almost laughed. Especially when his eyebrows popped up above his glasses as if surprised by her reaction.

“You are really beautiful today. Stunning.” His eyes did not leave her visage, although after a time they gazed down at her dress and then back to her side pony-tail. “Rather ‘90s.”

This time Jasmine really did laugh, snatching her hand away to run her fingers through her thick and now frizzy hair. “You seem like the kind of man who likes the ‘90s. Mr. Nirvana.”

“Do I smell like teen spirit?”

“God I hope not.” Jasmine opened her purse and pulled out her own sunglasses that she never got to use. They were dirty, but it wasn’t like she was trying to see through them anyway. “This will blow you away, but I always preferred the Weird Al version of that song.”

“Who said I didn’t too?”

Jasmine scoffed as if he were pulling her leg. “You’re weird, Mr. Cole.”

“Not as weird as you, Miss Bliss.”

He looked back at the view of the valley, slumping into his seat as both hands remained firmly on the steering wheel. Jasmine leaned her elbow against her headrest, nails digging into her scalp and skirt riding up her thighs. A cool breeze blew through and made her bare skin shiver. “Why me?” she asked.

Ethan turned his head slightly. Jasmine couldn’t tell if he was looking at her with the sunglasses on, however. “What now?”

“I mean… you could have any woman in the world. You asked me to be your, uh, whatever, after only seeing me one time. You hadn’t even talked to me yet. If that’s not crazy then I don’t know what is.”

“I know what I want. I wanted you.”

He said it so matter-of-factly that Jasmine almost believed him. “That’s not good enough. We’re past the point of me being placated with that. There’s gotta be a deeper reason.”

“When it comes to that sort of thing, I’m not nearly as deep as you think I am.”

“So your cock was all about me, and you decided to listen to your second head.”

“You could say that.”

“You really know how to make a woman feel special.”

Before she could face forward with a huff, Ethan took her hand again and gave it a tender squeeze. “I’m a firm believer in lust leading to other things.”

“So what you’re saying is… you’re a love, I mean lust, at first sight kind of guy, huh?”

He remained silent, his hand holding hers as they gazed at each other – or at least Jasmine presumed so. For all she knew Ethan was staring at her chest. But then, as if he were a terrible black hole sucking her into his event horizon, he drew her mouth toward his and kissed her with everything he had.

They hadn’t made out in over a week. Jasmine had missed it, although she didn’t want to admit that the way his lips nibbled on hers and his tongue entwined with hers was intoxicating.
He’s only this good because he’s had lots of practice with lots of women.
She almost didn’t care. She wanted Ethan to make her feel special now, as if the reason he chose her was because of something innate about her. Something that set her above all those other women who clearly weren’t the right ones for him…

No, Jasmine, this is how you get hurt. This is how you end up mad at him for a week. This is how…
His warm hand was on her cheek, and everything came undone inside.

Jasmine wrapped her arms as tightly as she could around him, a burden considering their awkward positioning in the car. That could be fixed. With the warm sunshine on her, Jasmine undid her seatbelt and climbed into Ethan’s lap, wishing that he would take off his seatbelt and take her into the backseat.

Ow. Steering wheel.
She didn’t care. A stickshift could be jamming into her ass and she would still be on cloud nine in this Lamborghini with Ethan Cole beneath her. Now she could straddle his lap and make out with him like she was meant to. Who knew a whole week without him could leave her wanting so much?
I don’t know how I feel about him… I want to like him.
Well, she did like him. Their situation aside, she liked how nice he was to her even when he was telling her to get on her knees in his office and shoving himself into her mouth. She liked him when he spoiled her silly and did things like putting her to bed when she was drunk and sleeping beside her. As they kissed, everything that pissed her off went out the window. Or into the air, as was more apt right now.
I’m going to make him want me.
She ground her hips against his, her lips searching his face for something to make love to. Her hands came up to remove his sunglasses. His designer wear clattered with her cheap Target knock-offs in a cup holder.

There it is.
Ethan never took long to get ready for her. Early on she assumed he was already hard when she came into his office. Now she knew that he was probably only thinking about it, since his body was alert more often than most men she dated.
Either that or I just really turn him on…
Thinking that turned
her
on even more.