Chapter Thirty
“Hold On”
Jett
The smell of coffee permeated my office walls as I looked over a couple of bid options my lawyer put together for Lot 17. Everything was coming together and I felt confident in the proposals we had on the table. I had my lawyer put a couple bids together just in case after the Mayor’s Ball I found something out that needed to be addressed in the proposal. Right now, we accounted for every little thing that could go astray and wrote up a proposal for each. They were due the day after the Mayor’s Ball so we had to be prepared.
I couldn’t wait for all this bullshit to be over and to get Goldie back in my arms. Last night…fuck last night was amazing. After we played around in the Bourbon Room, we went back to her room and I held on to her until the middle of the night, she woke me up with the stroke of her hand against my erection which I had no clue I had until she brought my attention to it. I reprimanded her in a good way for not asking permission first and wound up tying her to her bed, making her scream until her voice went hoarse. She then passed out in my arms and was able to contain her crazy sleeping habits and wake up with her head resting on my shoulder. Our blankets might have been swirled around into a rat’s nest in the middle of the night but she stayed in my arms.
A light knock came to my office door and a little honey-haired girl popped her head through the crack, making me smile from ear to ear. She did that to me, without even saying anything. Just her presence sent my heart hammering.
“May I come in?”
“Of course,” I said as I sat back in my chair.
She was freshly showered and she had a little bag at her side, probably her overnight clothes from the night before. Stopping in front of my desk she twisted her hands as she looked down at me.
“What are you doing, come here,” I said as I scooted out from my desk and patted my lap.
Her eyes brightened as she walked over, set her bag down and sat on my lap.
The flowery scent pouring off her was heaven as I took in the smell of her skin, the softness of her hair and the way she felt in my arms.
“You smell divine.” I rubbed my nose against her neck.
“I have to go,” she announced sadly. “Kace is waiting for me downstairs. I just came up here to give you a kiss goodbye.”
We made out on her bed for at least ten minutes before I came up here, making sure I gave her enough kisses to last the next couple of hours so I found it adorable that she wanted to sneak one more in.
I rubbed my thumb against her cheek and said, “Can you hang in there just a little while longer? I hope to have this all settled after the Mayor’s Ball which is coming up shortly. After that, this whole mess should be taken care of.”
“Really?” She brightened. “Then I can come back here, go back out on the stage and be with the girls?”
“I don’t know about the stage…”
“Jett Colby!” She planted her hands on her hips.
“We can discuss that when the time comes.”
“I want to be out there,” she said defiantly.
“Little one, don’t make me raise my voice. I said we will discuss it later.”
“Ugh, you’re infuriating. Fine, but I’m going to put up one hell of a fight.”
“And I look forward to it,” I replied while nuzzling her neck.
“I really have to go.” She sighed. “Kace is already pissed at me for making him bring me here.”
“Kace can suffer while I soak you in for a little while longer.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and brought her lips down on mine. She was soft and gentle with an edge of yearning. Her tongue darted out of her mouth and I tasted minty toothpaste on her lips that ignited a flame deep within. I felt my cock start to grow under her and she noticed too because she pulled away and looked down between us.
“Seriously? You have more in you after last night and this morning?”
“You do this to me, little one,” I said as I rested my forehead against hers. “I told you, I need you all the time. I can’t control it.”
“I need you, too.” She took a heavy breath and looked out the window behind me. “I can’t wait for all of this to be over, Jett. When it’s over, do you think we could, you know, go out in public together? Like on dates?”
The sadness in her voice spilt my heart in two, I hated that our situation made her sad, that I couldn’t give her what a normal boyfriend could, that I couldn’t even take her out on a simple date like she deserved. She really deserved so much more than me but I was a selfish bastard who wouldn’t give her up. She was mine.
“We will have to lay low for a little bit but after the storm passes through, yes, we’ll be going out in public together. I would love to take you on dates, little one. Please don’t think otherwise, I just need some time to figure this all out.”
She nodded and started to get up but I held her down, I had to tell her something that she wasn’t going to like very much but I thought I would rather be open and honest with her than she find out another way.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay,” she said with hesitation.
“The Mayor’s Ball is a big deal and for me to pull off the fact that we aren’t together, I need to show up with another date.”
“Okay, so are you bringing one of the other girls?”
“No, I don’t want to put them at risk. I need someone who is neutral and frankly who I don’t care about.”
“What are you trying to tell me, Jett?”
“The other day when I had a visitor, that was Keylee Zinc.”
“Keylee Zinc, who the hell is…” She stopped her words as realization hit her. “The kiwi?!” She got off my lap faster than I could react and started to pace the length of my office. “You mean to tell me that you’re going to the Mayor’s Ball with the kiwi who blatantly said she would do anything to become a Jett Girl? Are you trying to deliberately hurt me?”
“What?” I stood up and walked over to her. “No, I would never do that. I’m doing this because it’s the only way…”
“That’s bullshit. I don’t want to hear about how it’s the only way. It’s not the only way. Take me, take Kace, take Miss Mary for fuck’s sake but don’t take the one girl who I would rather eat razor blades over seeing socially ever again. Why the fuck would you do that?” I could feel the tension pouring off her, the anger, the sadness.
“I’m not doing this on purpose, Goldie. It’s the perfect distraction. Keylee is well known in the crowd I need to mingle with so if people see us together…”
“They’ll think you’re together,” she finished for me but in a hysterical tone. “I don’t want people thinking that.”
“Goldie, please think rationally for a second about this.”
“I am,” she shouted. “I’m the only one thinking rationally. You drive me crazy, Jett. Keeping me in the dark about everything, sending me off to live with some guy who, I’m sorry, has some kind of flirting problem because that’s all he knows what to do and then you say you’re going to go to an intimate affair with another woman but not just any woman, you’re going with the kiwi. Fuck, Jett. You’re breaking me in two.”
Flirting? I was going to have to talk with Diego because that was unacceptable. No one flirted with my girl but me but I wasn’t about to bring that up with Goldie. That would be a separate conversation I had with Diego later.
I grabbed a hold of her arms and made her stop pacing. I forced her to look me in the eyes as I spoke carefully.
“Remember what I told you? Have faith in me, little one. In us.” I ran my hand along her necklace. “I gave this to you to let you know that I’m committed to you and you alone. No one else and no one else can step in between that. I might be taking someone else to a ball but you’ll be in my heart.”
She deflated and shook her head. “I hate this so much. Ever since I met you it’s been an up and down roller coaster. I don’t know how much more I can take.”