First Thing I See Read online

  Chapter 4

  Kennedy Jenner never obsessed over anything other than business. He made a fortune by keeping a clear head and controlling his emotions. He believed that timing was everything and he often won deals because he paid attention to details and knew when to strike a deal and when to back off. As the founder of Jenner Holdings, he had more than three thousand employees that relied on him and he took the responsibility very seriously. His diverse business investments and financial security provided him with a lifestyle that most would envy. Women threw themselves at him either because of his looks or his money, sometimes both. If they wanted to give him their body so easily, who was he to refuse?

  Yet today as he ran on the treadmill at The Monet, he couldn’t think of anything other than little Miss Hope York. Running usually soothed him and cleared his head, but today the more his heart raced and sweat poured off his body, all he could think of was getting sweaty with the little clerk. As he ratcheted up the speed, he shook his head thinking of her flawless skin and big pouty lips. The harder he ran the more he realized he needed to go find that little woman and get himself into her bed so he can get her out of his head.

  Kennedy showered and changed and went upstairs to Icon, hoping that maybe she would be there again. He had gone up to Icon every night after their first meeting, but she was never anywhere to be found.

  ***

  Shauna and Hope sat out on the deck at Icon enjoying the warm fall evening. Two very handsome men bought them drinks and settled in next to them attempting to charm them with wit and good smiles.

  Kennedy stood at the bar ordering a drink and scanned the room for Hope. Disappointed, he headed outside onto the deck to get some air and clear his head. As he reached for the door leading to the outside deck, he saw her. Head thrown back laughing, she was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her deep green blouse and skirt made her instantly stand out amongst the crowd. But who was the bozo sitting too close to her making her laugh? Realizing he had the door lever in a death grip, he composed himself before walking over to Hope.

  “Miss York, I’m having a problem with the hotel and was wondering if you could provide some assistance?” Startled by the voice that could only belong to him, Hope turned and looked up into the pale blue eyes that made her knees weak. They studied each other for a moment and then she saw the slight uptick in his mouth and a hint of a dimple craving to make an appearance.

  “Umm, yes Mr. Jenner, let me see if I can provide assistance.”

  As she stood to walk away from Shauna and the two men, one stood with her and smiled. “I’ll be here waiting for you when you are done Hope”.

  Barely able to contain himself, Kennedy took two steps to face the smiling man and stood toe to toe, towering over the man until the poor man’s smile disappeared. “She won’t be coming back.”

  Shauna smiled and giggled and gave her friend a wink and a quick hug.

  ***

  Kennedy put his hand on the small of my back and led me out of the bar. The heat from his light touch radiated through my body and his fingers scorched the skin where they touched. Out in the hall, I again flushed with an odd mix of embarrassment and desire, and was unable to look into his eyes. “What seems to be the problem, Mr. Jenner?” I whispered, unable to find my full voice.

  “The problem is that I haven’t had any dessert yet and I was wondering if you would join me.” His beautiful face was serious, the only glimpse of honesty was an ever so slight upward turn on the left side of his smile that caused the irrepressible dimple to start to show.

  “Are you saying that you took me away from my best friend and our two new friends under false pretenses?”

  Kennedy didn’t speak for a moment, then asked “Are you sleeping with anyone?” The way he asked the question was so direct but relaxed, he could have been asking for directions.

  The question caught me so off guard, I stared up at him in confusion. “Am I sleeping with someone?”

  He took one step closer, “Yes, that is the question I asked. Would you like to know if I am sleeping with anyone before you answer?”

  I took one step back and a deep breath. “Why is it any of your business if I am sleeping with anyone Mr. Jenner?”

  Another step closer and his beautiful face bent to my ear “Because I want to be the only one fucking you, Hope.” My knees weakened and I pulled my head up so fast to look up at him that I began to sway, unsteady in my balance. He took one step closer and I took another back until I hit the wall behind me. Placing one hand on each side of my head, he smiled, the full dimple smile this time and I felt an ache between my thighs.

  Knowing the old Hope would have been terrified and ran away made my response easier. “No, I am not currently sleeping with anyone.” We stared into each other’s eyes for a long minute and for a second I thought he would kiss me. Instead, he lifted my hand to his mouth, flattened my hand and kissed my palm until I felt just a hint of tongue in the center of my palm. Did he just taste me? Before I could think, he took my hand and led me into the elevator. I realized I was not breathing and forced an exhale as we stood in the elevator waiting for the doors to close. Him behind me close enough to feel his breathing. I was half expecting him to push the button for the 44th floor, as I knew what floor his room was on. I was slightly disappointed, yet relieved, when he pushed the button to go down to the lobby.

  Standing so close to me, I took a deep breath in and smelled him. Soap and musk – it made me want to taste him right back. As I stepped forward when the elevator doors opened, the closeness of his body was replaced by his hand again at the small of my back. Without speaking, he guided us through the lobby and out to the street.

  “Where are we going?” I glanced a look at him for the first time since we left the 45th floor.

  “To see if this can work” he responded in his deep velvety voice and took my hand in his. I suppose I should have been nervous or concerned for my safety. But I wasn’t. I just hoped that wherever it was we were going was a small space like the elevator where we would need to stand close again.

  We walked for a few blocks before reaching a small, old fashioned ice cream shop. He opened the door and motioned for me to walk in. “A booth for two, preferably private.”

  The hostess with tremendous breasts peeking out from her costume designed to look like a girl from the fifties stared at the Adonis, her mouth hanging open for a few seconds before regaining her composure. I seemed to have been the only one to notice the striking hostess offering her ample breasts and attention to Kennedy, his gaze never left me. We followed her to a booth in the back of the small parlor and I sat across from him, missing his touch as soon as he released my hand.

  He stared across the table holding my eyes, not allowing me to look away. “I am attracted to you Hope. I can give you anything you want, I want one thing in return.” My eyes closed knowing what would come next. They all want only one thing. I forced myself to open my eyes and the close proximity of him and his intense focus heightened to a physically painful level. I shifted re-crossing my legs in a fruitless attempt to contain the throb settling in between my thighs. A hint of an upward tilt bared the start of that left dimple telling me he knew what I was feeling.

  “And what if I don’t want to give you the one thing you want, Mr. Jenner?”

  He stared, his pale blue eyes darkening to steel with intensity. “Kiss me before you decide what you are willing to give me.”

  My breath turning to pants at his words, I licked my lips and watched his gaze settle in on my mouth. My body was betraying my mind. He groaned lifting his gaze back to my eyes, reached over the small table and put his hand firmly behind my neck, pulling me closer to him over the table. Before my brain could catch up with my body, his lips covered mine. Hard confident pressure with just enough aggressive force to demand my lips open when his tongue licked my lips. He growled, tilting his head to deepen the kiss, his tongue dipped inside my mouth, tasting me in long sensual strokes. I felt my cl
it swell and my heart pound against my chest. His release softened and he ended the kiss with a nip to my bottom lip that was stronger than a friendly bite but not quite painful. Our faces still close, nose against nose, ragged breathing, “I want no lies, Hope, ever.”

  That is the one thing that he wants? Certainly not what I expected. I was vaguely aware of the waitress standing with her jaw again hanging open as she cleared her throat to bring us back to reality. Embarrassed by the intrusion into our private moment, I pulled back and attempted to settle myself back into my seat. He ordered something that earned him a big smile from the large breasted waitress, but my brain was not capable of stringing the words he spoke together. I needed to clear my head and move the focus back to the typical “getting to know you” date type conversation before I did something stupid.

  “So, Mr. Jenner, what brings you to New York?” The now familiar flush quickly creeping up over my face. What is it about this man that makes me turn red every time I am near him?

  “Business. And although I like the thought of you calling me Mr. Jenner when you are underneath me in the bedroom, I think Kennedy is more appropriate at the moment, don’t you?”

  Surely he didn’t just say that, did he? “Excuse me?” Eyebrows furrowing in confusion at his question.

  He leaned in closer and slowly, with slight hint of amusement “You heard me correctly Hope, Kennedy now, Mr. Jenner in the future.”

  “Umm…, do you come to the City often?”

  A slow confident smile spread across his face and my breath caught at the vision of the beautiful full smile, dimples so deep I had to remember to breathe. “I do now, Hope.” Again interrupted by the full breasted waitress, this time it was a relief. The smile so soon after our kiss and my traitorous body’s reaction to him left me in a state that was difficult to keep up with our conversation.

  The waitress turned and handed me a large chocolate ice cream cone covered in red sprinkles, then she was gone. “Where is your dessert?” His eyebrows arched and slight smile turned carnal “My dessert is watching you eat that.”

  At first, I had a horrible vision in my head of how stupid I must look slowly licking the ice cream cone. But his unwavering gaze and beautiful pale eyes turned almost navy with desire gave me the confidence I needed to push back the old Hope and become the new woman I so desperately needed to be. I closed my eyes and took a few long slow strokes with the flat of my tongue bringing the ice cream into my mouth and suckling it before a deep swallow.

  “Jesus Christ.” His eyes bore into me, both hands fisting through his hair harshly. “I want to fuck you so bad it hurts.” I was aroused at the thought of having such control over such an incredibly beautiful man.

  When I finished the dessert, he abruptly stood, throwing some cash on the table. The reality of my teasing behavior flooded back to me and I was thoroughly embarrassed. Never in my life did I act that way before, especially in such a public place. Kennedy grabbed my hand and walked with long strides toward the door. I was barely able to keep up. Outside, his longing gaze was replaced with a stone, unreadable face. “I’d like to make sure you get home safely, if that’s okay.” It was still early and a few minutes earlier I thought the last thing he wanted to do was end the evening, but something had changed.

  Embarrassed, but forcing myself to hold my head high. “I can walk from here. Thank you for dessert Kennedy.”

  “You will not walk alone.” His tone clearly leaving no room for disagreement, I pointed north and explained that I was five blocks up and two streets over. He took a deep breath and gently took my hand and began walking. He was so close to me, yet the distance that came between us made it feel like we were miles apart. We arrived at my building, a four story brownstone, and made our way up the ten stairs to the doorway. I explained that my studio was on the ground floor and he made no attempt to join me inside.

  “Is that your bedroom window right there? You have no security on it.”

  I didn’t want to admit that I was uncomfortable with the lack of security and had planned on adding an alarm, but couldn’t since I had spent all of my savings on my new wardrobe. “The window has a lock on it.”

  He stared down at me with a look I couldn’t quite identify. Was it concern or anger?

  I reached for the door knob and began to say thank you once again. Stepping in front of me to block my entrance, he put both hands on my shoulders and pulled me close. His mouth covering mine, his lips and kiss were gentle this time. A soft caress that sparked tenderness, different from the passionate, wanting kiss from earlier. He released my lips and put his forehead to mine, touching his finger to my mouth. “Good night Hope”.

  I gave a slight smile and waited until he backed off slightly. Turning to walk into the building, I looked back over my shoulder and had no idea where the word came from. “Yes.”

  Walking down the steps, he halted and turned to look back at me, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Yes?”

  “Yes, to your one request.”

  He smiled, the full blown make your knees weak smile with dimples the size of the Grand Canyon. I smiled back and turned into my building without looking back, knowing his eyes were on my ass, until I was out of his view.

  Chapter 5

  “Okay, spill it girly.” Although we didn’t speak or make plans for breakfast on Friday morning, I knew Shauna would be at our café after my unexpected departure from Icon last night. After all these years, we were like an old married couple who knew what the other was thinking before she said it.

  “I have no idea what happened, one minute we were caught in intense sexual tension, the next he was walking me home and I was taking a cold shower.”

  “Forget the shower part; I want to hear about the sexual tension part.” Shauna was a professional basketball team cheerleader, but she should have been a detective. She had a way of getting all the information out of you while making you feel somehow guilty if you keep anything back.

  “There really isn’t much to tell. We went for ice cream and he kissed me until I wasn’t sure of my own name for few minutes. Then he walked me home without saying a word and gave me a gentle kiss without even asking to come in.”

  “Are you going to see him again?”

  “I don’t think so, he lives in Chicago and he is checking out today. It’s probably a good thing nothing happened last night.”

  Shauna was silent, nodded and looked at her watch, signaling she needed to leave. “Tonight, 6pm. Forget Icon, let’s try out that new club Salt that opened on 57th. I’ll meet you in the lobby of the hotel.”

  I really didn’t want to go. My head was cluttered and I had the desire to put on sweatpants and settle in with a bucket of Ben and Jerry’s and a sappy movie. But no, that’s old Hope. “Okay, I’m game.” I gave her my best fake smile and took off to the hotel.

  ***

  Today would be my last day of training at the reception desk. The morning was busy with guest check outs, but I looked up every time I hear the elevator ding and was disappointed each time. Dylan must have realized what I was doing. “If you’re looking for that gorgeous man that got your attention on Monday, he checked out before you arrived. He mentioned something about an early morning flight. I know you saw him first, but I wouldn’t mind helping him fluff his pillows in his suite…that man is beyond sexy.”

  I tried to hide my disappointment. “Oh, I wasn’t looking for a guest, I wanted to speak to George about where I would be training next week and thought he might come by.”

  Completely deflated with no contact before he left, I still couldn’t help but think about him all day. By late afternoon, I was glad that Shauna had insisted we got out tonight. A few drinks and some dancing is probably what I needed to get Kennedy Jenner out of my mind.

  Almost at the end of my day, an older man in a suit approached the counter holding an envelope. “I’m looking for Ms. York”.

  I accepted the envelope and he waited. Was he waiting for a tip? Reaching for my pocke
tbook, I fished out a few dollars and extended my hand in his direction. The older gentleman smiled and shook his head. “No, Ms. York, I believe you should read the card.”

  Inside, on thick cream stationary with gold leaf lettering I saw the initials KJ. My spine straightened and heartbeat quickened at just knowing he wrote the note. Dear Hope, Charles is my driver when I am in New York. Please allow him to drive you home this evening. He has a gift in his car that needs to be delivered to your apartment with you. Kennedy. A business card was also included in the envelope, where he had handwritten in his cell phone number.

  Shauna arrived and made her way to the reception desk a few steps away from Charles. “There has been a small change in plans Shauna. This is Charles.” I motioned toward the smiling older gentlemen dressed in a chauffer’s suit and cap. “Kennedy has sent him to drive me to my apartment along with a gift that he has in the car for me. “

  “Oh, I’m so excited! I knew that man couldn’t just walk away from you!“ Shauna turned her charm to Charles. “Charles, would you mind terribly bringing Hope to meet me after she delivers the gift to her apartment?”

  Charles may have been older but Shauna’s charm was not lost on the man. “No problem ma’am.”

  “Hope, I would go with you, especially because I am dying to find out what the gift is, but I told a few of the girls from the squad that we would meet them at Salt in fifteen minutes and, since I know the bouncer, I promised I’d get us all in for free.” After a quick air kiss she walked toward the lobby exit with every man’s eyes following the sway of her hips, including old Charles.

  As I climbed into the back of the stretch limousine and provided Charles with my address, I saw a large package wrapped in brown paper with another handwritten card attached. Perhaps I could find out more about Kennedy from Charles if he has been his driver for years? “Charles, how long have you known Mr. Jenner?”