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His kiss left me giddy. I wasn’t sure if it was from the adrenaline burst back at Chapman’s house, or making love to Jake, but I felt alive.
“All right, ready?”
“Yes.” I jumped off the kitchen stool and walked to the foyer to put my boots on.
“Those boots are so damn sexy, you know that?” He bit his lip. “I don’t know how, but I want you again.”
I laughed. “I don’t know if I can keep up with your stamina.”
He leaned down and kissed me again. “I’m not worried. I bet it’s like working out. We just have to do it more.”
“If we do it more often, I won’t be able to work.”
“You don’t have to, baby. I’ll take care of you.”
My chest tightened, and I couldn’t breathe. His words were simple and perhaps charming for some, but for me, it was like a ton of bricks just fell on my shoulders. “I like to work. I love my job. I—”
He brushed his fingers along my hair. “Hey, hey, I get it. You like your independence. I’ll just find other ways to take care of you.” He waggled his eyebrows at me and Playful Jake was back. I smiled. How easily he deflected my panic attack. It was silly, but someone trying to control me was my biggest button. “It’s not just about independence, it’s self-confidence. I’ve worked too hard my whole life to prove that I could do it without my mother’s help. At first, it was for other people’s benefit to see, but I think I really do it for myself.”
“I admire that. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
I inhaled sharply at his words. He had said he was falling for me earlier. Was that the same as love? I nearly tripped over my boots. “Thanks.”
His face fell for a second. Had my face shown something I hadn’t realized? But then he smiled. “Ready?” I couldn’t get that look out of my mind. Was it my face? Or was he worried about being in public so soon after we’d just narrowly escaped being shot?
Don’t overthink this, Nikole!
I shook off the feeling and smiled back. “Let’s go.”
21
Jake
I can’t keep my hands off of her. Holding her hand, touching her hair, circling the small of her back, I need to feel her next to me.
When I saw Janine standing at the front door, I wanted to ignore her. But I knew if I didn’t confront her, she would stand in the way of what I was building here with Nikole.
So, I listened while she talked.
She said all the words I wished to hear years ago. Everything I had imagined her saying to me, ‘I love you’, ‘I want to be with you’, and ‘I can’t live without you’, were all meaningless to me three years later. And especially after she said, “I heard you’re doing well for yourself now. You have a penthouse on Park Avenue?” She raised her eyebrows and smiled.
She didn’t come for me. She came for my money. The only thing that had changed was my bank account. I could give her what she wanted now. Hell, I could give her more than she could ever want.
I would have given that woman the world, but I gave her my heart and she left it for some other guy.
So, I listened, and I waited for her to finish. Then, in no uncertain terms, I said, “I wished you had said this to me before. It is too late now. I have moved on and I would appreciate it if you never spoke to me again.” Then I turned and left.
It was easier than I imagined it would be. I didn’t think I could do it, but it felt like I’d finally shut the door on our relationship.
Now, I could focus on Nikole.
She held an avocado in her hand inside the grocery store. Turning it over, she gently squeezed it. It should not have been as erotic as my dick thought it was. It was only an avocado after all, but the way her fingers moved around it reminded me of how she handled me earlier in my truck.
Damn.
Now I was hard in public. I turned away and nearly bumped into an older woman with bluish hair and a blue sweater. “Hello, darlin’,” she smiled.
“Ma’am,” I said and moved out of her way.
