After diving beneath the crisp pink sheets on my bed, I bury my head into the pillow and scream obscenities at the top of my lungs. A surge of anger pummels through me. I’m not just angry at Marvin and his stupidly-timed rose. I’m frustrated! And do you know what makes matters ten times worse? It’s sexual frustration. There is no worse frustration in the world than sexual frustration.
That kiss… my god! That kiss was… panty-drenching… core-clenching… mind-blowingly good! But do you know what makes it worse? Hugo probably won’t remember our kiss in the morning.
He hasn’t previously, so why would today be any different?
Eleven
Hugo
I push open the fire exit door and sprint down the stairwell as if I have fire ants in my pants. Putting it bluntly: if I don’t leave, I would hunt down Marvin and shove his ass-kissing rose in a place where the sun does not shine, thorns and all.
Some may say it’s all part of the game, and I should hate the game, not the player. But that’s fucking bullshit. Yes, if it tickles your fancy, play the game. But play it fairly. Be open and honest. Surprisingly, most women appreciate when you’re forthright and upfront. You may even get a few extra brownie points for the effort. But its guys like Marvin who fuck up the game and ruin it for the rest of us.
Even if it isn’t written in the handbook, every guy knows you don’t go out clubbing with one girl while sending another one a rose telling her how much you’re missing her and that you can’t wait to see her again. It’s a dawg act, and it proves Marvin’s tactics haven’t changed since we left high school.
But in all honesty, even if I hadn’t seen Marvin with his nose burrowed in the neck of another lady, I would have still reacted the same way. Even after years of absence, nothing has changed. Just one flash of Ava’s killer smile, and I’m ready to drop to the ground and kiss her fucking feet.
I always thought the power of Ava’s pull was because I was young and hadn’t experienced life yet. But it isn’t that. I’ve been through more the past two years than most men endure in a lifetime, aging and maturing me well beyond my twenty-five-years, but Ava’s pull is just as magnetizing as it was when we were kids.
All the proof I needed was staring me right in the face earlier tonight. I didn’t feel the slightest ping of jealousy when I spotted Victoria dancing with James Moreno. When Ava vanished into the crowd, my first reaction was jealousy. That quickly changed to fury when I saw the look of terror on her face as her dance partner’s filthy hands slithered over her body.
Blinded by rage, I charged for Ava and her attacker. A barrage of memories pelted my brain when I yanked Ava to my chest and violently laid my boot into her accoster. It took all my restraint to walk away from her attacker, writhing on the floor, holding his stomach. But my desire to ensure Ava was unharmed was more vital than my need to pummel her attacker into the next century.
Even once Ava was safe and protected, standing directly in front of me, I couldn’t stop the thoughts running through my head of what would have happened if I didn’t get to her in time.If I failed again.
Those dreary deliberations had my mood souring quicker than the excitement of waking up Sunday morning and realizing it is Monday.Normally it would take a good dose of whiskey and a few hundred sit ups to drag me out of my woeful mood. But just like during our childhood, Ava pulled me out of the glum mood with nothing but her wit and a cheeky smile.
But even my morose mood couldn’t dampen my desire to taste Ava’s lips again. I fought the urge. I gave it my very best shot. I stepped away from her when we were dancing. I battled the yearning when we were in the hidden nook at the club and she was looking up at me, wide-eyed and eager.
I even made it halfway down her hallway before the little devil on my shoulder whispered wicked thoughts into my ear. But no matter what I did, nothing worked. I'm drawn to Ava like a magnet. I'm attracted to her, and I don’t just mean her stellar looks. She is the entire package: sweet, kind-hearted, and off-the-Richter-scale sexy.
That kiss….my fucking god. It had my cock breaking the zipper on my jeans, wrangling to get out and plunge into her ravenous pussy. Even through my jeans, I could feel how wet she was. She was the combination I like best: drenched and begging.
There are kisses and then there arekisses. Ava’s are the latter. I’ve never been interested in a lengthy game of tonsil hockey, preferring to focus on the more needy regions of the female body. Kissing Ava forces an exception to that rule. I could kiss her for hours and never get enough.
Snubbing the erection I’m still sporting, I step onto the sidewalk outside of Ava’s apartment building. I'm out of breath, wheezing for air, and sweating like a pig.Karma’s way of biting me on the ass for my impatience.
Sucking in a deep breath, I curl into the backseat of the limousine waiting on the curb. My heart hammers against my ribs when a deep voice asks, “Is she as innocent as she seems?”
Gathering my heart off the limousine floor, I lift my eyes and meet the complacent smirk of Isaac.
Glancing into his smug eyes, I reply. “A gentleman never kisses and tells.”
“Lucky for me, you aren’t a gentleman,” he responds.
Lewdly smirking, he places an empty crystal decanter into a concealed stainless steel minibar in the middle console between our seats.I didn’t even know that existed until now.Once the leather seat is returned to its original position, his dark gray eyes lift to mine.
“Since mybusinessdealings in Ravenshoe are going to take a little longer than I was originally planning, I decided to bring our meeting forward,” he advises.
My brow curves over the unease in his voice, but I nod my head, acknowledging I've heard him.
Smirking at my agreeing gesture, his spare hand digs into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. “After seeing you defend Ava tonight, I know without a doubt you will be a viable asset for my empire. You think quickly even when you are under pressure, and you didn’t let prior events in your life influence your decision. So with that in mind, I decided to increase your initially devised salary.”
He hands me the small folded up piece of paper he removed from his pocket. My eyes shift between him and the cream-colored document as I unfold it. A tickle scratches my throat when my eyes roam over the figure written in the payee amount of the bank check I’m now clutching for dear life.
Unable to grasp the reality of the situation, I lift my disbelieving eyes to his. “Are you pranking me? Cause this shit can’t be real.”
He raises his whiskey glass to his mouth and downs the entire overgenerous serving in one hit. After running the back of his hand across his mouth, his dark eyes bore into mine.
