Page 26 of The Hot Mess

Her eyes met mine with a devilish spark and she shrugged. “I guess only time will tell.”

I laughed and put my hands on her arms. “Really, Jada. I am sorry though. I feel awful for…”

“For what?” she sighed, leaving me to tuck in my shirt and fix my tie. “I told you I didn’t have any expectations. I didn’t think last night would happen…or that anything else would ever happen between us. But now here we are…and I’m not complaining. I told you I was ready to get my first time over with, and you helped with that. I really don’t want you thinking I’m going to follow you around like a lost puppy just because we had sex a few times.”

Mind blowing best sex of my life. She had no idea. Not every time was like what had happened between us. This was something different, something intense and overwhelming, even to me with all of my experience. My bigger fear was that I would be the one following her around like a lost puppy.

“No,” I said. “That’s not what I mean. I’m sorry I…I couldn’t stop thinking about you while I was out. I had to…I had to have you again or it was going to drive me mad. That’s not what you were looking for, but I can’t seem to help myself.”

Her big eyes burned into mine, searching them for any sign that I was lying. She seemed surprised and caught off guard. That made two of us.

“I better go,” I sighed, sliding into my suit jacket and shoes.

I kissed her forehead and left her standing there, still gaping in shock. I hated to run off, but I needed to. I was desperate for some space to catch my breath and get my head back on straight. I didn’t know what she was doing to me, but it was inconvenient to say the least.

Not only that, but I never had the chance to shower or really sleep since I landed back in the city. I needed clean clothes, a decent meal, and anything else I could think of to keep me busy and keep her off my mind.

I returned home to focus on just that, messaging Lucas on the way to let him know I’d be out until the following afternoon. As if my absence in the days before weren’t bad enough, now I was missing even more time just because I couldn’t keep it in my pants around his little sister.

The hot shower, lunch, and twelve hours of sleep were just what I needed to get me thinking clearly again. I was just about to get ready to head back into the office when Lucas called.

“Hey, man. Sorry again for being MIA. I’m on my way back in now. I never had a chance to shower or anything after my flight.”

There was a long pause, giving me just enough time to realize my mistake.

“Flight?” he puzzled.

“Ah, yeah. Had to do some traveling on my personal time,” I shot back, raking my hand down my face. I was kicking myself for letting that slip.

“Uh-huh,” he grunted, growing quiet and tense. “Listen, why don’t you take the day off? It’s slow around here and it sounds like you need a little more time getting yourself together.”

“Lucas, really, I’m fine. I can be there in…”

“Take the day, Jack,” he said more sternly, commanding me this time. “But tonight…I was hoping you could meet up for drinks with Joshua and me.”

Questioning his motives wouldn’t have helped my case any, so I agreed and made a note of when and where to meet them. I was sweating bullets while getting ready. The last two people on earth I wanted to be seated across from that night were Jada’s big brothers. But I dug my own hole. No use in trying to run from it. It was too late for that.

I had a drink at my place first to calm my nerves. By the time I showed up to the bar, I had convinced myself there was nothing to this random meeting. They probably just wanted to catch up or discuss the job offer some more. I knew I was guilty, but they didn’t. Not yet. I needed to act like everything was normal and fine. And like I definitely hadn’t been sleeping with Jada.

But the moment I found them in a corner booth, I knew my optimism was wrong. They glared at me, accusing me with their eyes. Or maybe I was just being paranoid?

“Hey, guys. What’s up?” I slid into the booth across from them.

Joshua scowled. “You wanna tell me why the whole office thinks there’s something going on between you and Jada?”

No. This definitely wasn’t just paranoia.

“I have no idea why everyone thinks that,” I replied calmly.

“Really? No idea?” he scoffed. “Everyone’s saying that you two spent the night together in her office. That you were still there, half-undressed, when everyone started showing up the next morning.”

His teeth were clenched and every vein in his neck was straining, looking like it might pop right out from his skin. I could see the same tightness in his arms and could imagine his fists all balled up under the table. It hurt him to even say the words out loud, and he was two seconds away from lunging across the table and pounding my face into a pulp.

“Oh, that,” I laughed. “That was a misunderstanding. We were up late discussing the new campaign. We fell asleep, but not together. She was behind her desk, I was in the seat across from her. Granted, it didn’t look good when people started showing up…but it was entirely innocent.”

“Keep your hands off our sister,” he added.

“Joshua, I am. You’re not listening to me…”

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