“You’re welcome.” If he’s going to be polite and professional, I can be the same.
Now that he understands that nothing more is going to happen, he’ll head back home. It should make me happy, but somehow I feel like I just lost a war.
He reaches out and caresses my chin before turning and slowly taking a couple of steps away.
“Bye,” I whisper, hating the contradictory emotions pulsing in my veins.
Abruptly, he stops, then spins around, striding back toward me. Before I can react, he cradles my face, his large palms hot against my cheeks. His mouth is on mine, and oh my God. My whole body explodes, the kiss nuclear to my heightened senses. All the nerve endings that have been wound tight since the moment he crashed the dinner snap, sending shock waves of bliss through me.
I whimper as he licks me, and I lick him back. He’s as good as I remember—no, better. My head swims, and I clutch his shoulders, my long nails digging into his lean, steely muscles.
We devour each other like tasting and getting drunk on us is the only thing that matters. My heart is pounding like a drum at a rave. Need and pleasure entwine and coil around me.
I press myself against his tall body, feel the hard length of him pushing against me. It’s so hot how his reaction to me isn’t controlled, no matter how self-possessed he appears in public.
Just as abruptly as he started the kiss, he pulls back. His eyes glitter like dark emeralds, his lips slightly swollen and wet. The pads of his thumbs brush the upper curves of my cheekbones. His breathing is rough, and a sharp longing for him—the need—clogs my throat, making it harder for me to draw in air as well.
“I’ll take care of everything, Jo.” His raspy voice moves over my sensitized skin, and I shiver. “Everything.”
Then, before I can gather my wits and process what just happened, he places a kiss on my forehead. “See you around, pretty girl.”
And he’s gone.
Chapter Nineteen
Edgar
I twist and turn in bed. Again. I check the time. A little after five.
I’m not going back to sleep, though. My blood is simmering again. Kissing Jo felt good—and right. But in retrospect, it was an unplanned and uncontrolled move on my part. If I’d given myself some time to think about it, I might not have done it.
But when she whispered, “Bye,” like that, as though we’d never see each other again, my restraint broke. She needed to understand that not only will we see each other again, I’ll make sure the objections she raised are dealt with.
Regardless, the kiss contributed to my insomnia. My cock’s hard and throbbing still. Even my hand wrapped around it doesn’t do much, because it isn’t Jo’s hand. Hers is smaller, more delicate…slightly cooler than my own. When she held me—
I should stop thinking about it. Otherwise I won’t be able to get my body under control. I’m not joining Tony and Ivy for breakfast with morning wood.
I lie back, staring at the ceiling. To calm myself down, I mentally recite all the places Blackwood Energy has offices, then our figures from last quarter, and what our projected earnings look like for this quarter…
My phone rings, and I scowl at the name on the screen. What’s Dad doing, calling at this hour?
Then I remember he’s still in Louisiana, which is two hours ahead.
“Yes?” My voice is slightly rough.
“Where have you been? You missed all the meetings yesterday.” His tone is quiet but no less forceful for that.
This is just like him. Blackwood Energy is critical. But a small part of me objects to his tone and words. If he were anything like Jo’s family, he would’ve asked if everything was okay with me… Wouldn’t he?
On the other hand, why am I trying to compare Dad to Jo’s family? They’re totally different people.
“I’m in Los Angeles.”
“Why? Is Ivy… No. She isn’t due yet.” He pauses. “Did something happen to her?”
Indignation sticks in my chest like a knife. How can he ask that while dating Mom behind everyone’s back? The divorce was an olive branch—a token of his good will and remorse for the way he looked the other way while Mom trampled all over Tony and Ivy’s lives. Actually, that wasn’t all that he overlooked. She mistreated me and Court as well. But he let her because he loved her too much. Still does.
“She’s fine.” My tone says I don’t know why he gives a damn.