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Chapter EIGHT
Carina
Every time Allie and Rachel giggle, I realize Jared Helmsley and I have been gazing at each other for an absolute age.
I fire a pointed glare at Allie, then grab my drink in the hope of covering my embarrassment. Really, sometimes having a crew along does you no favors. And in this case, it serves to underline what I'm trying to eradicate – the large age difference between the man I want more than anything on earth and me.
When he speaks, my gaze fixates on his full mouth, longing for it to be wrapped around the parts of me that won't stop pulsating. When his lips slowly twine around my name, I almost melt inside. His rough sand voice rolls out the three syllables like waves on a soft shore at sunset.
What would I give to feel that mouth on my neck? My lips. The aching tips of my nipples. Why the fuck does it have to matter how many years either of us has been living?
Jared Helmsley appears to have control of the room. And himself. He doesn't wave furiously for the waiter like the guys I've dated up to now. One small lift of his wrist and more drinks appear like magic. Allie and Rachel stop asking pointed questions and retreat into chatting between themselves.
I can't tell whether they realize I need this time with Jared for myself. It feels more like he and I have built some imaginary wall around us where only we exist. I wish we could stay in our secret garden forever.
My eyes are constantly dragged back to his mouth. What would it be like to kiss him? The stubble on his ice-cut jawline would definitely rough me up. That vivid image sets off quivers between my thighs which in turn sends hot redness up to my cheeks. And Jared lifts his gorgeous eyebrows when he observes my embarrassment. God I'm a dork. And he's so perfect a man, even his eyebrows deserve admiration.
But I can't forget how he refused to come to dinner. If he liked me, or had any inkling to see me again, he'd surely have made the effort. He must think I'm completely ridiculous finding my way to his hotel under a lame pretext. No wonder he can't stop smiling at me. It must be amusing to see some kid crushing all over him like he's a Hollywood celeb.
“Okay, Rufie is gonna be here in like, ten,” Allie says. “Parking's a bitch so he said to meet us downstairs at the entrance.”
“What?” I'm jolted out of latest thoughts of Jared Helmsley's tongue licking parts rarely touched by anyone other than myself. “You're leaving?”
“I can't struggle with these bags on transit. I texted Rufus and he said he had to come right away, he's got a game tonight.”
“Damn football.” Rachel mutters “It's on every single night.”
The next minutes fly by in a disarray of panic. I won't see Jared again. He refused dinner, I can't maneuver another excuse to stalk him at his hotel and he'll go back to wherever he came from without ever tasting the yearning I have for him. All too soon, Allie's gathering her bags. It's time to leave. Every part of me is rooted to the chair, refusing to budge. Rachel reaches for her wallet and Jared waves her away.
“My treat, ladies.”
“Thank you,” Allie and Rachel chorus while I remain mute.
“I'll take Carina home,” Jared suddenly announces, his hand coming down to cover mine like a warm sensuous clamp.
Allie's eyes snap to mine, round with kind of excessive shock, even for her.
“You're not coming?” she asks.
“She'll come with me,” Jared informs her with a masterful tone that no one would cross. “I was planning to visit my old college buddy, Todd, tonight anyway.”
“Oh, okay,” Allie relaxes when she gets that Jared really does know my parents. “Call me later,” she adds with a pointed flash of eyes that means don't do anything I wouldn't.
Which from the way she smiles at Jared when he unfolds from the chair, all six three of strapping muscle rising to cheek-kiss my friends goodbye, would be absolutely anything.
Jared remains standing as the two women leave. What a gentleman. You don't see that much now. When he sits back down I am suddenly stricken with a case of tongue tied in a double reef knot. He's so stunning I can't help but notice the other women in the bar taking a peek at him. What is he doing sitting here with me? A girl almost half his age who knows nothing, has done almost nothing.
“I have to admit I was hoping for this moment,” he says, his eyes delving straight through my pupils direct to my core which is clenching.
“This moment?” I repeat, breathily, like an ingenue in a play. So dumb.
“To be alone with you. Get to know you.”
“Me too.” I murmur.
He delves so far into my eyes I feel he knows all of me.
“You didn't come to dinner,” I say in a small whine. Shit.
