What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 2) Read online

  Travis also always walked me outside and waited until I was safely in a cab before leaving. Friday night there were extra crazies out in the city at one in the morning, so I was grateful that Travis was such a good friend. He kissed me gently on the cheek before I folded into the cab and he gave a sour warning to the driver to take good care of “his woman.”

  An hour later I was drifting off to sleep when I was startled back to consciousness by a loud banging at my door. It wasn’t a normal knock. Before I even made it three steps from my bed, the person on the other side of the door was pounding my door again furiously. Thoughts ran through my head: there was a fire in my building, or a neighbor was being attacked and needed help.

  I opened the door a crack and left the chain on for safety. I probably should have asked who it was first, but I was reacting to the anxious knocking at the door and wasn’t thinking. My pounding heart stopped dead when I saw Jack standing there, his forehead pressed to the doorjamb, which was holding him up. I wasn’t afraid of him physically, but I didn’t release the chain either.

  His beautiful green eyes were bloodshot when they locked on me. “Can I come in?”

  I could smell the liquor on his breath as he spoke and his words were slightly slurred. A pause and then, “Please.”

  I looked into his eyes and saw sadness and pain. I nodded my head and released the safety chain. He walked in slowly, never taking his eyes off of me. We stood there for a moment, facing each other, just looking and watching each other’s reactions. His hand slowly reached for my hip and I took a step backwards. He flinched at my reaction and balled his hands into tight fists at his sides.

  “Is that why you are here? A middle of the night booty call?” I was becoming more and more pissed off each second.

  “No.” His voice was defensive, but he dropped his head in shame.

  “So why are you here then?”

  His eyes lifted from the floor to find mine. “I don’t know. I just couldn’t keep away.”

  Jack’s words touched me and I let my guard slip slightly. My words were no longer bitter, but I still needed to know more. “Why did you leave and not come back last weekend?”

  He visibly flinched again at my question. I watched as he thought and his eyes filled with emotion. “Because I’m a fucking horrible man and you deserve better.”

  For me, alcohol was my truth serum, and I hoped it was the same for Jack. “Why are you a horrible man?”

  He looked tortured and conflicted and I couldn’t bear it any longer. I reached out my hand to him to provide comfort. I saw relief flood his eyes. He took my hand and held it, waiting for me to allow him something more. “I have no idea how to have a relationship.” A long pause. “I hate my father for who he is, but I’m just like him.”

  I couldn’t bear anymore. I needed to take away his pain, even after all the pain he had caused me. I closed the space between us and laid my head to his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist tightly. His arms wrapped around me, engulfing me into his pain. I listened with my ear at his chest as his racing heartbeat slowed and he clung to me tightly.

  We stayed that way for a long time. My emotions were running wild, but I felt more alive than I had that whole week. I pulled back to look at his face, and I could tell he was reluctant to loosen his grip. His face was full of concern. “Would you like to stay and talk in the morning?”

  Jack didn’t respond with words; instead he pulled me back into his arms and wrapped me inside of his hold even tighter. I brought him to my bedroom and sat him on the edge of the bed. I reached down and removed his shoes. He watched me hesitantly, making no move to touch me. He was afraid of overstepping his place for fear I would change my mind.

  “Do you want to take off your pants?”

  He looked at me and shook his head no, but reached for me as he lay back on the bed and positioned me with my head on his chest, his arms wrapped around me so tightly I couldn’t move if I wanted to. But I didn’t want to move. I hated to admit it, but there was nowhere else I would have rather been.

  The next morning Jack was still sleeping when I woke up. His sleep only slightly loosened his hold on me and I had to pry myself from his arms in order to get up. He stirred when I snuck out of bed, but eventually he settled back into sleep. Nature was calling, and I needed an extra large cup of coffee and two aspirin for my pounding headache.

  I decided to make bacon and eggs, hoping that Jack would stay for breakfast this time and make good on his promise to talk in the morning. I sang softly to myself, trying not to wake him. I didn’t know how to cook without singing. In fact, there were a lot of things that I found physically impossible to do without at least quietly humming a tune.

  I turned the bacon and caught Jack standing in the doorway out of the corner of my eye. His frame filled the doorway and he rested his arms on the doorjambs as he watched me.

  “Good morning.” I spoke quietly, suddenly aware that I was still only wearing my old Yankee t-shirt that barely covered my ass. Michael was a diehard Red Sox fan and hated the shirt, which was probably why I had made it into my official pajamas most nights since moving to New York.

  “Good morning.” His voice was raspy and deep and sexy as hell.

  I smiled at him. “Hungry?”

  “Starving.” His tone told me we might not be speaking about the same thing. He made no attempt to move into the kitchen, appearing content in watching me.

  “You just going to stand there and watch me?” One eyebrow arched questioningly.

  “I am.” The corner of his mouth turned slightly up, hinting at a smile.

  I shook my head and laughed, turning my attention back to the stove. He didn’t move from his position until I placed our plates on the table.

  We sat together at the table and ate our breakfast and it felt so normal and right. “How did you know where I lived?” So many unanswered questions rattled through my brain.

  “Your personnel file.”

  My face clearly showed my astonishment. “If you own half of the Heston, I guess that does technically make you my employer, doesn’t it?”

  “It does.” He made no attempt to hide his lack of feeling guilty for using his position for his personal needs. The hesitant, insecure man from the night before was gone and confident, alpha Jack was back with a vengeance.

  “I take it you didn’t know I was performing at the conference?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “Why did your father hire me?”

  “I have no idea. I’ve got a call into the resort in Honolulu to find out if he made contact with anyone there.”

  The Hawaii resort had never crossed my mind. But it dawned on me that we had stayed at one of the hotels he owned, explaining why everyone had known his name. I stood to clear the table and Jack grabbed my arm, gently pulling me into his lap.

  “I like your t-shirt.” He looked down at me on his lap. My shirt rode up over my skimpy underwear. His warm hand cautiously moved to my thigh. As always, his touch sent a jolt through my body. I needed to separate my body from his or we would never have that talk.

  “Yankees fan?” I jumped out of his lap. It was obvious what I was doing and he seemed amused at the reaction that I was having.

  “Now I am.” His voice was low and gravely and I felt his eyes burning into my back as I stood with my back to him, rinsing the dishes. I took my time, hoping the fire inside me would quell with distance.

  Jack knew what I was doing and wasn’t going to allow it. I felt the heat from his body behind me and his breath on my neck. He stood with his front to my back, only inches separating us.

  “Can I touch you, Syd?” I knew it must have been difficult for him to ask permission. Jack wasn’t the type of man that asked. He took what he wanted.

  My mind was foggy from his close proximity and my answer came out breathless. “Yes.”

  His hand brushed over my breast and I had to grip the edge of the counter to keep my weak knees from buckling. The man mad
e me feel like a teenager getting touched for the first time.

  Unlike last time, his touch was soft and gentle, but it turned me on no less. He kneaded my tender breasts and circled my nipples, his thumb brushing gently over my stiff peaks. Jack pushed his body firmly against my back and I felt his hardness up against my ass. A moan escaped from deep in my throat and I heard Jack growl.

  His lips trailed kisses up and down the back of my neck, then he licked his way to my ear. He nibbled my lobe and his hot fast breath sent a wave of pleasure from my ear down to my already swollen clit.

  One of his hands found its way to my sex and my legs widened shamelessly at his unspoken command. I was aroused and panting as one hand hovered near my clit while the other pinched at my swollen nipples.

  “I love how wet you get for me” Jack whispered in my ear as he slid his hand beneath my panties and pushed into me carefully.

  I was glad that he was behind me and couldn’t see my face. He couldn’t see that I closed my eyes and allowed myself to surrender to his touch. I knew he liked to watch me come, but he was making it all about me that morning.

  My back arched, pushing my ass further into his hard cock and unintentionally giving him better access. His finger stroked in and out of me and then he pulled out and pushed back into me with two fingers. I moaned and he responded by plunging into me faster and deeper. My hips made small circles, thrusting into his hand as he finger fucked me with the hands of a man that knew a woman’s body.

  I was panting and mindless and my knees began to buckle beneath me. Jack moved his hand at my breast to around my waist, taking a firm grip on me as he felt my body start to surrender to its weight. He was breathing heavy too as he spoke. “I have you, baby. Give in to it.” His thumb moved to cover my clit and he rubbed in gently but firm circles.

  My body tightened and I screamed out as I came while he pushed his fingers in and out of me over and over again in a steady rhythm.

  Jack held me as I came down from my orgasm and then allowed my raised t-shirt to fall back down around me. He kissed the back of my neck lovingly and turned me around to face him, pulling me into a hug with my head pressed against his chest. I loved the feel of him holding me tenderly.

  After a few minutes, he pulled back to look at me. “We still need to talk.” His lips pressed to my forehead in a gentle kiss.

  “But I didn’t take care of you yet.” My answer was sheepish.

  “Feeling you come is taking care of me.” Jack pushed a lock of hair behind my air tenderly.

  “That’s sweet, but it doesn’t help with that.” I looked down at the bulge in his pants and smiled.

  He laughed lightheartedly and planted a chaste kiss on my lips. “True, if you still want to take care of me after we talk, then I’ll let you.” He held me tight and I had a sick feeling in my stomach that he knew it might be the last time he held me.

  I decided to shower before we sat down to talk. I needed to clear my head after our morning interlude in the kitchen. Jack showered after me, while I did a half-ass job of blow drying my hair and threw on a little mascara. I watched in the reflection in the mirror as he came out of the bathroom wrapped in only a towel. I didn’t think I would ever get used to how beautiful the man was. Everything about him was just so damn masculine and sexy. His body was worthy of worship and I knew that he worked hard at maintaining it. God just didn’t make creatures look like that. Shit like that came from a lot of hours in the gym.

  I was frozen in the mirror when he dropped the towel and pulled on the jeans from the night before without anything underneath. He still had a full erection and, oddly, I found it endearing that he hadn’t taken care of it in the shower. I was so caught up in feasting on his body with my eyes that I didn’t notice he was watching me watch him through the mirror. He lifted his arms over his head to put on his shirt and all of the muscles in his shoulders and pecks flexed. “If you keep looking at me like that, we aren’t going to have that talk today.” He pulled the shirt down over his flat stomach, obscuring my view of his sexy as hell happy trail.

  Shit. He had caught me when my mouth had literally been hanging open. I was just glad that I wasn’t actually drooling when I was caught. His sexy eyes were dark and I was certain he wanted me as bad as I wanted him. But I needed to have a clear head when we spoke and figure out what was going on between us. “Full of yourself aren’t you?”

  I watched as he walked up behind me in the mirror and put his hands on my shoulders. His eyes never left mine in the mirror as he leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I’d much rather be filling you, baby.” His words sent a shiver down my spine and he knew my body reacted to him.

  “Well, let’s get this talk over with then, shall we?” I was teasing, but the smile vanished from his face. He was nervous about our talk and it made me scared of what I was about to hear.

  We sat down in the living room. I curled my feet up underneath me on the couch and he sat across from me in the chair. “So do I get ten more questions?” I tried to break the tension in the room with a teasing question. He smiled but the smile didn’t make it up to his eyes.

  “What do you know about me and my work Syd?” His voice was serious.

  “Well, I know that you own 51% of the Heston Hotel chain voting stock. You pointed that out to your father backstage last week.”

  “I do. My grandfather started the hotel chain and gave my father 49% when he was old enough to get involved in the business. Then when he died, he left 49% to me and 2% to my mother. We had all expected that my mother’s will would leave both my father and I each 1% when she died, so that we would be equal partners, but she didn’t. She left me the 2%, giving me controlling interest in the hotels. I didn’t think she knew about my father’s affairs when she was alive, but after her will was read I realized that she did.”

  Wow, there was a lot of screwed up information there, but that didn’t sound like something that would send me running for the hills. “I take it your father wasn’t happy about your having more control of the business then him?”

  “My father doesn’t like anyone but him to have any control.”

  Hmmm … maybe there was more there than I thought. Did he realize that the apple didn’t appear to fall far from the tree on the control issue? “Okay.” I dragged the word out, letting him know that I was waiting for more.

  “The hotels aren’t my only business.” He paused and looked into my eyes. “Do you remember me telling you that I invested in a business to embarrass my father?”

  I shook my head, waiting for the rest.

  “I own a production company.” Jack ran his fingers through his hair and blew out a deep breath.

  “Okay.” My brows furrowed in confusion.

  “I own the largest porn film production company in the United States, Syd. My other business is making porn.”

  He watched me intently, waiting for my reaction. My first thought was, Okay, that isn’t so bad. But then memories of our past conversations came flooding back and I started to put together the pieces of the puzzle. He had 500 to 1,000 partners. He is amazing in bed. That women, with the over the top appearance at the conference, he said he’d brought her to piss off his father. Was she an actress? I felt the bile in my stomach rise to my throat and it stung as I opened my mouth to speak. “Have you ever been in one of the films?” I held my breath waiting for the answer.

  “No.” His response was immediate and unwavering.

  “Have you been with any of the actresses?”

  “Yes.”

  My heart clenched. “Was the woman that you were with last weekend at the conference an actress?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is she your girlfriend? Were you with her after you got back from Hawaii?” The thought of him being with her after the week that we had shared made me sick. The tears filled my eyes and I looked away, fighting back their escape.

  “No, I didn’t lie to you. I haven’t had a girlfriend since I was a teenager. And I wasn’t with
her after I got back from Hawaii.”

  He moved from the chair to sit next to me on the couch and I kept my head turned from him. I wanted to hide my emotions. He took my face in his hands and gently forced me to look at him. I saw pain in his eyes and the tears started flowing down my cheeks.

  He looked into my eyes as he spoke. “Syd, I’m not proud of who I am or things that I have done. And I know I don’t deserve you. You’re sweet and good and everything that I’m not. I tried to keep away so you wouldn’t get hurt, but I can’t help myself when it comes to you. I never wanted to be with a woman the way I want to be with you. I want to lie under the stars with you and talk for hours, and walk in the park holding your hand. You make me feel like I can be a better man. I’m terrified of the things you make me feel and I don’t know how to control it.”

  I buried my head in his chest and he wrapped his arms around me while my tears turned to sobs. I wasn’t even sure why I was crying, I was just so wrought with emotions and everything he had shared that I couldn’t help but explode. Jack stroked my head until I slowly calmed in his arms. He whispered, “You okay, baby?”

  I nodded. “I just need to lay down for a bit. My head is pounding.”

  Jack pulled off his shirt and laid himself back on the couch, pulling me to his warm chest and wrapping me in his arms. Neither of us was running away, it was a start.

  I had no idea how long I had slept, but my headache was gone when I woke up. And at least I didn’t think I was going to throw up anymore. I looked up and found Jack awake, watching me.

  He spoke softly and stroked my hair. “Hey.”

  “Did you sleep?” I stretched a bit and then snuggled closer into his chest.

  “No.”

  “Are you okay?”

  He shook his head and gently laughed. “I lay out all my fucked up dirty laundry at your feet and you ask me if I’m okay? And you wonder why I can’t keep away from you.”