Unexpectedly Yours [Private Relations 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 8

  “Hey, now,” he said. “I seem to recall waking up with someone’s mouth around my cock at some point last night.”

  Laughing, she said, “I didn’t say I wasn’t insatiable too.”

  On a sigh, he said, “I’d like nothing more than to take advantage of that fact again, but I need to leave in about forty-five minutes. I need to shower.” He slid out of bed with one last lingering brush of his hand across her skin and headed in to take a shower.

  She lay a few moments longer, then got dressed. She was glad that today was a light day. Her eyes were dry and gritty from a lack of sleep. Brushing her hair in front of the mirror on his dresser, she felt a waft of steam as the bathroom door opened a few minutes later.

  Turning to look at him, she saw he had a towel wrapped low and tight around his hips. She shook her head. It seemed impossible that any person should be allowed to be that freaking beautiful.

  Seeing her obvious perusal, he came behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his lips against her throat. “That look on your face,” he said. “You’ve got no idea what it does to me.”

  When she felt the swirl of his tongue against her skin, she closed her eyes on a moan. “I think I do,” she said in a breathy voice she barely recognized.” You’re going to be late. I doubt they’ll let you board the plane in that.”

  Regretfully he pulled away and said, “You’re right. I need to get dressed now.”

  She shifted out of the way so he could get into the dresser.

  “By the way, there’s a spare toothbrush on the counter in there.”

  “Awesome! Thanks,” she said as she walked into the slightly foggy bathroom.

  A few minutes later, she felt good as new. She had rinsed the makeup off her face, tamed her messy hair, and most importantly, brushed her teeth. Walking over to where Jim stood, she said, “I’m going to get going now so you can finish getting ready to go.”

  As they walked out his front door, she asked, “Let me know you landed safely?”

  Nodding, he said, “I will. Are you planning on being around this evening?”

  “I should be. I’m supposed to be having dinner and drinks with Sara and Chloe. It probably won’t run too late.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you tonight then,” he said.

  Elle wrapped her arms around Jim and said, “Have a safe flight.”

  Jim said, “Always,” as he pulled her close and gave her a light kiss.

  Tilting her head, Elle opened her mouth under his in silent invitation. As he slipped his tongue into her mouth, she felt his hands stroke the length of her spine. Pressing closer, she wrapped her arms around his neck and proceeded to kiss him until they were both breathless.

  He pulled away from her, breathing a little heavily, and said, “I’m tempted to drag you back inside and fuck you against the first flat surface I can find.”

  Elle grinned and said, “That’ll be something to think about while you’re gone.”

  Jim pressed his lips against hers briefly and said, “To be continued. Count on that.”

  Reaching up, she put her hand on his cheek and said, “Have a safe flight. Talk to you soon.”

  Unlocking her car, she slid inside and set her purse in the passenger’s seat. Buckling her seat belt, she turned on the car and backed out of the drive. Giving him a wave, she checked her rearview mirror one more time and pulled away.

  Elle was really looking forward to dinner tonight. It would be great to get a female perspective on the situation. She’d never felt this particular way about anyone before. There was the overwhelming lust, but that was only part of it.

  Shaking her head, she refocused on the road again. She didn’t want to think about this yet. It was way too early to even consider any of the thoughts rolling through her brain now. There could be no possible way she was falling for him this soon.

  Chapter Ten

  By the time Jim landed in Kansas City, texted Elle, and picked up his rental car, he was wiped out. He’d dozed on the plane but hadn’t gotten much in the way of meaningful sleep. Now, caught in traffic, he had been sitting in virtually the same spot for ten minutes.

  He thought back to last night. It had been nice having her in his bed. Not exactly conducive to sleep though. Every time he brushed up against Elle’s curves, his dick would immediately respond. He had literally no self-control where she was concerned.

  She didn’t really have much control either though, he realized. He grinned as he remembered waking up to the feel of her hot, wet mouth on his cock. He’d lain there, not fully awake as she’d stroked him with her mouth and hand. The moment he felt the head nudge the back of her throat, he pretty much lost all sense of decorum.

  He’d dragged her up the length of his body and almost buried himself in her then and there. He had barely remembered to put on the condom. His brain completely switched off when she was near him.

  Initially he’d been worried he had been too rough. He was concerned, as with his previous partners, about hurting her. He was kind of a big guy and the last thing he wanted to do was break somebody. Elle had been pretty direct, though. She’d told him in no uncertain terms that she liked it a little rough, so he’d tried his best to oblige her.

  In the process, he’d discovered how much more enjoyable the sex was when he wasn’t constantly worried about pacing himself, going slowly, and not going too deep. At one point last night, he’d had her hands pinned above her head while he fucked her. She’d come apart underneath him, screaming his name. He’d come so hard he almost lost consciousness. Letting himself go a little bit had improved the entire experience for him vastly.

  Aside from the obvious physical perks, Elle was an interesting woman. The more he knew about her, the more he wanted to know. Every conversation they had uncovered some other unknown quirk. The other night, when he’d talked about his trip and Gavin Johnson, she’d mentioned his batting average. He’d been caught by surprise. He’d never dated anyone who genuinely liked sports before.

  In most avenues of his life, he’d been able to plan things out logically. He prided himself on his ability to think and act rationally. There were several logical reasons for him to date Elle. None of those reasons came into play, though. It was the way she made him feel.

  Jesus, Jim thought, rubbing his hand across his face. He needed to get some sleep.

  Leaning down, he synced his cell phone with the blue tooth in the SUV he’d rented and listened to his messages. Rolling his eyes, he made the first call to his sales manager, Tim.

  Tim wasn’t a bad guy but he had this nasty habit of making promises to prospective clients without getting the authorization to actually make good on them. Apparently he’d had a talk today with Deacon about comping some commercial airtime. Deacon was totally right to tell him no. JDC didn’t need clients that didn’t want to pay for things. Now, Tim was trying to go above Deacon’s head. Bad move.

  Jim shook his head as Tim’s voice mail came on the line and said, “Tim, Jim Conroy. I got your message. Deacon was one hundred percent correct in telling you no. We don’t need clients that don’t want to pay for our services. Airtime isn’t cheap, and it’s definitely not free. When the CFO of the company tells you no, don’t run to me expecting a different answer. It’s unprofessional, and this is the last time it’s going to happen. If you do it again, I’ll fire you. If you have any questions, feel free to call me. I’ll be happy to clear them up.”

  Jim hung up the phone. He’d been kind of an asshole in the voice mail, but that was unacceptable. JDC didn’t operate that way. They’d always implicitly trusted one another. Besides. It was a waste of everyone’s time when they duplicated work efforts.

  Dialing Deacon now, he waited. On the third ring, Deacon picked up.

  “Hey, Jim. What’s up?” Deacon said.

  Sighing, he said, “Guess who I got a call from?”

  Deacon laughed and asked, “That dick weasel, Tim from Sales, right?”

  “Yeah. Can you beli
eve he wanted us to pay for a thirty-second spot during playoffs? Anyway, I got his voice mail. I told him no and that if he tried to go over your head again that he’d be fired.”

  “Nice,” Deacon said. “I knew when he left my office that you’d be getting a call. Not sure what the hell he was thinking. I was pretty sure you’d back me up on that, but I appreciate you laying down the law.”

  “Not a problem. It wastes everyone’s time when we have to duplicate work. You know the financial side better than I do, anyway. I trust you and Chris both implicitly. We’ve got the same vision for the company,” Jim said.

  They talked for a few minutes more about Cynertex and the ongoing issue with Tyrell Jackson before they disconnected. Mentally, Jim went through the other voice mails he’d listened to, deciding that Kimo was the most important of the calls he had to make.

  He felt a little bad about last night. He had definitely not been entirely focused on the call they’d had. Toward the end, he had been rushing through. He hoped Kimo hadn’t been offended. People in Hawaii tended to run at a totally different pace than the rest of the US did, and Jim had definitely been hurrying him along.

  Thirty minutes later, Jim was satisfied that he was still in Kimo’s good graces. He’d been calling to go over one of the points they’d discussed last night, just to make sure he fully understood. Jim was confident that they’d have a new client soon. He’d probably have to go out there to get the signatures. There were far worse places to go on business than Hawaii, he thought with a grin.

  His expression soured slightly when he realized he was in one of those places right now. Kansas City was miserable when it was snowing. Traffic had started moving a little bit, so he was almost to his hotel. Dialing the management office for the Kings, he spoke briefly with the GM’s administrative assistant to confirm the meeting time tomorrow.

  The trip would be two-fold. Tomorrow he’d be working with the Kings directly to help widen their team brand. Friday, he’d be meeting directly with Gavin Johnson to work on his personal marketing strategy. These meetings were always the most enjoyable part of his job. He loved being able to create a big picture for someone.

  Pulling into a hotel parking lot had never felt like such an accomplishment. He grabbed the garment bag and suitcase out of the back of the SUV, then headed for the front desk. Glancing at his watch, he was surprised to see the time was 5:30.

  Once he was checked in, he moved like a zombie toward the elevator. He gave a silent thank you to the elevator gods when one of the doors immediately slid open. Pressing the button for the eighth floor, he waited until the elevator slid to a stop then made his way toward his room.

  He had unpacked and ordered a turkey and swiss sandwich from room service. Sprawling out on the bed with the bottle of water from the minibar, he watched television until he heard a knock on the door.

  Ten minutes and one sandwich later, Jim shucked off his jeans and shirt and slid under the covers. Flipping channels, he finally landed on TSN. He watched the tail end of Locker Room Report. He managed to make it through opening face-off of the Nets vs. Bears before he dropped off to sleep.

  Roughly four hours later he was jarred awake by the sound of something crashing in the hallway outside his door. Rubbing a hand over his face, he realized the room was completely dark except for the television. Fumbling for his phone on the nightstand, he focused on the screen.

  Shit, he thought. He was never going to be able to sleep tonight. It was almost 10:30 now. Seeing he had an e-mail in his personal account, he clicked on it. He rolled his eyes when he saw it was from his mother. Opening the e-mail, he scanned it briefly and then sighed.

  His parents were planning a visit in June. He was expected to take time off. His mother had this way of being insulting and inspiring guilt in the same sentence. His father had a vacation coming. Since Jim had moved away and didn’t do anything important like doctoring people, then taking off time should be easy.

  He’d been listening to her bitch about his life choices for as long as he’d been making them. He was living on his own, and had been running a very successful business in one of the most competitive industries in the world for almost a decade. He was a self-made millionaire for god’s sake. At some point, she’d have to stop hammering on him about not being a doctor.

  Setting the phone down with disgust, he got out of bed and moved the vertical blinds aside. It was snowing heavily outside. He’d been thinking about going out for barbecue but the half foot of snow on the ground changed his mind. Instead he perused the room service menu and called downstairs.

  After he had ordered, he realized that it would be late enough now to call Elle. He picked up his phone and scrolled through his contacts. Finding her name, he dialed.

  After three rings, she answered, “Hey, you.”

  He could hear the smile in her voice and felt an answering grin move across his own face. “Hey, gorgeous. How was your day?”

  As if on cue, she yawned and said, “Good, but I’m exhausted. And a little tipsy.”

  “Oh, really?” Jim asked, intrigued now.

  Elle laughed and said, “I had a couple of martinis at dinner.”

  “You didn’t drive, right?” Jim asked, concerned.

  “Nope. Sara picked me up. I think she may have planned to get me a little drunk. She seemed genuinely sad when I stopped at two drinks.”

  “Yeah?” Jim asked.

  “She’s nosy. She’s been pumping me for details about us all week,” Elle said. “I’m pretty sure she was hoping I’d be more forthcoming with a few drinks in my system.”

  Jim laughed, then asked, “And were you?”

  “No. I kept it classy. It wasn’t easy though. Chloe is a world-class interrogator,” she said on a laugh.

  “She’s relentless,” Jim said. “She called me on Monday night and asked me a ton of incredibly nosy questions too. She should have been a lawyer.”

  “Like what?”

  Jim laughed and said, “Hmm. Let’s see. Did we finally go on a date? How did it go? Do I like you? Are we a couple? Do I think it will last? Am I seeing other people? Are you seeing other people? Did we sleep together yet? Is it serious? Do I think it could be serious? She wouldn’t let up on me.”

  Elle slowly said, “She mostly asked me really direct sex-related questions.” After a moment, she said, “That leads me to believe you might have caved to the pressure and answered her questions. She would have hounded me about those too, otherwise.”

  “I might have,” he admitted. “What did she ask you?”

  “Just basic stuff. Did we sleep together? Were you good in bed? Are you as hot without clothes on as she thinks you’d be? Then she started asking for details about size and specific acts. That’s about the time I shut down.”

  “Oh, really? And what did you say?” Jim asked, grinning.

  “Yes. The best I’ve ever had. Probably hotter than she imagined,” Elle said.

  Jim grinned and then asked, “Really? The best?”

  “It’s not even close. You’re incredibly attentive and that’s rare.”

  “I’m glad you enjoy yourself. It wouldn’t be any fun if you didn’t,” Jim said, slightly mystified.

  “Believe me. I appreciate that about you,” Elle said, the smirk in her voice evident. “Since I told you what I told Chloe, it’s only fair that you tell me what you said.”

  Wincing, Jim said, “Well, you already know the answers to some of it. Yes, we went out. It went really well. I told her that I liked you. She assumed we slept together and I didn’t really dissuade her of the notion.”

  “Oh, come on, Jim. You can’t just answer the questions I already know the answers to. That’s no fair,” Elle said with a slight pout in her voice.

  “Fine, fine. You’re right. That was cheap. I told her I didn’t know if it was serious yet, but that I thought it could be. I told her I hoped it would last. Also, I told her we hadn’t discussed the whole concept of seeing other people but that I di
dn’t want to and hoped you felt the same way about it.”

  Elle said, “I wouldn’t really have the time, even if I wanted to. But I don’t.”

  Jim smiled and said, “I feel the same way. The connection between us is worth exploring. I’d like to give that my undivided attention.”

  “Agreed,” Elle said. After a long pause, she asked, “How was your day? Was your flight okay?”

  Jim replied, “Flight was good, but there was about a half foot of snow on the ground last time I looked outside. I was going to go for barbecue, but that didn’t work out. I hate driving in the snow.”

  “I’ve only driven in it once. It snowed in Bakersfield a couple years before I left. There were accidents all over the place. No one knew what the hell they were doing. It was the same way it is when people drive in the rain here, only multiplied,” Elle said.

  Snorting, Jim said, “They didn’t really know what they were doing here either. I was stuck in traffic for over an hour. The nav system said it was a ten-minute ride from the airport to my hotel.”

  “Ouch. That sucks. Did you get any sleep on the plane?”

  “Not really. It was too noisy,” Jim said, “But I did sleep for about four hours when I finally got to the hotel.”

  “So jealous,” Elle said with another yawn. “I worked all day.”

  Sighing, Jim said, “I wish I could have skipped Kansas City and we could have just stayed in bed all day.” Pausing, he admitted, “I miss you already.”

  Elle was quiet for a minute and then she softly said, “Yeah, I miss you too. It’s kind of silly, since I just saw you this morning, but still…”

  At the knock on the door, Jim said, “My room service just got here, and you sound like you’re ready to pass out. Get some rest, baby. Call me tomorrow?”

  Yawning again, Elle said, “You win. I’m going to bed. Call you tomorrow. Night.”

  “Sweet dreams.”

  * * * *

  By the time that Jim made it home on Friday, it was 11:30 p.m. He was exhausted but in high spirits. Both of his meetings had gone really well, he was going home to sleep in his own bed, and he’d be able to see Elle tomorrow.