The Beginning of Us (24 page)

“What friends? Like from college?” Kylee asks.

“No, friends from work. Jacoby is here with one of his buddies,” I tell her.

“Which ones are they?” she asks while peaking around me to get a better look.

“Jacoby is wearing the blue button down dress shirt and has the dark hair,” I tell her, pointing towards Jacoby’s table.

“Um, hell yes. That man is so fucking sexy. I’ll have a drink or two with him and his pal. Shit, let’s do some body shots,” Kylee says.

I guess it might be time to cut Kylee off. Kylee always had a habit of becoming rather slutty when drinking. Okay, I lied. Kylee is always kind of slutty; it just comes off less subtle when she’s drinking.

Kylee says her goodbyes to Skylar, who looks like he’s gritting his teeth together and continues to stare at me, but I refuse to make eye contact. This is the first time I have seen him since I moved out of the apartment and I don’t want to get into anything with him, especially since I have been drinking. I have little filter as it is and with booze involved, my filter is virtually nonexistent.

We walk over to where Jacoby is sitting. Upon our approach, Jacoby stands up and pulls out a stool for me and helps me on so I don’t fall backward. Maybe I have had a little too much to drink as well.

Jacoby introduces his friend Marcus, who also pulls out a stool and helps Kylee get settled. And everyone thought that chivalry was dead. Not with these two guys. Jacoby signals a waitress to come over and take our drink orders.

“Two cotton candy and sprites with a lime on the side,” Kylee says.

“Ky, I think I’m done for the night. I have to drive us back and need to sober up,” I say to her and try to cancel my drink order from the waitress, who was already walking back toward the bar.

“Mira, Marcus and I are staying at the casino hotel tonight. We played some poker earlier and won a fair amount. The casino comped us a suite with an extra bedroom. You and your friend are more than welcome to stay with us there so you can continue your night out with Kylee,” Jacoby offers.

I feel like his eyes are burning holes through my skin. Everywhere he looks, I feel immediate heat. This is not good. My boss is the tri-fecta, sexy, smart and rich. I
cannot
go there with him.

“Thanks, Jacoby. We probably should get back to Ann Arbor tonight, but I appreciate the offer,” I say.

I look over at Kylee who is giving me yet another look. I think this look is a cross between ‘are you fucking kidding me’ and ‘this guy is totally mount-able, you better do it or I will’. Neither one I really appreciate so I give her my best ‘not the time, we’ll talk later’ look, but it fails miserably.

“Jacoby, don’t listen to Mira. We would love to stay downtown. I’m only in town for a few weeks and the more time we can spend together having good old-fashioned fun, the better. Right, Mira?” Kylee says, almost growling the last part at me.

Jacoby looks to me for an answer. As I look up to meet his eyes that are still burning through me, I see Skylar, who is still staring at me. I think for a quick second about the Heather fiasco and decide to stop being so cautious and take a leap.

“I guess that would be okay since you have an extra room and all,” I say, trying to convince myself.

“Great, then we’ll get another round and get this party started right,” Jacoby says. “Waitress, a round of shots, please. Cuervo Black if you have it.”

Tequila and I are still not on good terms. I am still either a bitch or a slut. The last time I drank tequila for an entire weekend, I ended up with my dead fiancé’s best friend. Kylee gives me her signature ‘you’re going to get laid tonight’ look and I can’t help but laugh out loud.

“What’s so funny?” Jacoby asks.

“Nothing, just thought of the last time I drank tequila. Things didn’t end so well,” I respond, trying to make it a joking matter leaving him to believe that maybe I got sick or did something crazy rather than the disaster that took place.

“Let’s see if we can give you a happy tequila memory, huh?” Jacoby asks as he leans over to whisper in my ear and puts his hand on my thigh.

Tequila and I are already getting along better. Let’s keep this momentum up.

After three shots of tequila and another round of drinks, we all get up to leave the bar. We didn’t wear our jackets into the bar and it’s chilly outside. Jacoby takes his jacket that he wore with his suit and places it over my shoulders. I look up at him and smile, acknowledging his chivalry. He places his hand on the small of my back and guides me out of the bar.

When we get outside, I notice that the guys with the motorcycles, Skylar included, were getting ready to leave. He walks toward me and the group I’m with and I don’t have a good feeling about this.

“Mira, are you okay to drive tonight? You had quite a bit to drink. I can give you a ride if need be.” Skylar looks between Jacoby and me.

“Thanks pal, she’s staying with me tonight, but I appreciate you looking out for her,” Jacoby answers for me.

“You’re staying with him?” Skylar seems confused.

“Yeah, we’re going back to the hotel with Jacoby and what is your name again, oh yeah, Marcus,” Kylee chimes in.

“Thanks though, Skylar, it was nice of you to offer,” I say.

“Whatever. Have a good time Mira. Take care Ky. Call me some time, why don’t ya,” Skylar says as he walks back to his bike.

He gets on the bike and rides away. He glances over his shoulder once he was at a red light and shakes his head in my direction, almost saying, “Wow Mira, really?”

“Alright ladies, let’s get you back to the room. It’s too cold out here and I don’t need Mira getting sick,” Jacoby says.

Marcus and Kylee walk in front of us laughing and talking. When we get a little further from the bar, Jacoby casually puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his side. It was warm and my stomach does a little flip. I haven’t had these kinds of feelings in quite some time, probably since Skylar.

He’s my boss and I can’t let my hormones get the best of me
, I mentally repeat to myself.

“Thanks again for the jacket and letting us stay with you tonight. It’s been a long time since we were able to just have fun without having to worry about driving home,” I say.

“Mira, when I saw you tonight, all I could think of was getting to spend time with you. Not the time we usually spend. The kind where you don’t work for me and I get to see you carefree and happy. I really liked hanging out with you tonight and I hope we get to spend some more non-work time together, if that’s okay with you. I know me being your boss is kind of weird, but I feel like I really want to get to know Mira the person as opposed to Mira the office manager,” Jacoby says.

The butterflies in my stomach are back again. How do I answer this? I really enjoy spending time with him. He’s amazing and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a real life, less rich version of a certain BDSM book boyfriend we all love, but I don’t want to jeopardize my job. ‘There you go over thinking again Mira. Live a little’ my brain tells me. Maybe it isn’t my brain but the cluster of nerves between my thighs.

“You know, Jacoby, I really liked spending time with you too. I would like to get to know you better,” I say to him. I look up at him and he has a grin on his face.

“Then say you’ll spend the night in my room and not the guest room tonight. I promise I won’t touch you unless you ask me to,” he says with a hint of seduction in his voice.

GULP! Well, this is moving quicker than I had anticipated, but I have to say, I kind of like the fact that he wants to be with me more tonight and I sense some alpha in his tone. I think this just turned me on more than I already was.

“I’ll think about it,” I say back to him, trying to disguise my stomach flipping and nerves wracking my body.

He hugs me a little tighter to his side and I place my hand around his waist while we continue the walk to back to the hotel. Go big or go home, right?

Chapter Nine

Mira

We finally get back to the hotel and I’m thanking everything holy right now that I chose to wear flats. I don’t know how Kylee’s feet are holding up, but I’m in pain. We walk into Jacoby and Marcus’s suite and it’s magnificent. Floor to ceiling windows that look out onto the city with a great view of the bridge and the Detroit River, plush sofas and an oversized bar are in the corner of the room.

I walk over to sit on one of the sofas. As soon as I’m about to sit, I hear Jacoby speak, “Mira, Kylee, can I make you a drink?” Knowing that I walked off the great buzz I had earlier, I figure I could handle another drink.

Kylee leans into me and whispers, “Mi, I’m going to go and check out the bedrooms in this suite with Marcus. Are you going to be okay out here with Jacoby alone?”

Well shit, I wasn’t counting on this. The whole being alone with someone isn’t something I’m okay with, but I can’t ‘twat block’ on my girl. That wouldn’t be very nice and she’s been so helpful to me.

“Yeah, I’ll have a drink, if you’re having one. Kylee is going to take a ‘tour’ of the suite,” I respond, using finger air quotes.

“Please don’t do anything you’re going to regret Ky,” I say but it comes off more as a scold as she goes off with Marcus to one of the bedrooms.

“Two drinks coming up,” he jokes, pretending to be a bartender.

Jacoby sits next to me on the couch and lean back. I take a drink of the potent concoction. This is strong as hell. If I didn’t know better, I would think that he wanted me drunk.

“So tell me something I don’t already know about you, Mira.” Jacoby asks.

Pushing a stray strand of my brown locks behind my ear, I’m nervous to meet his eyes. I have played this game before and it didn’t turn out so well, if memory serves me right. Great, now I can’t get the memory of Skylar out of my head. This is not good.

“I played the flute in my high school marching band.” I wanted to give him something, but not enough where he would be intrigued. As gorgeous as this man is, he’s still my boss. My brain is saying don’t cross that line, but my hormones are beginning to betray me.

“Flute, huh? I didn’t expect that one. You seem more like a sports kind of girl.”

“Oh, I played sports, don’t get me wrong. I swam and did gymnastics all four years of high school and messed around with it a little in college,” I say, mentally slapping my face. Telling a crazy sexy guy, who I wouldn’t mind taking to bed but can’t, that I’m a gymnast is such an amazing fucking idea.

“Gymnastics, huh?” Jacoby asks, with a sexy look in his eyes.

Fuck! Those eyes. Shit. Every time he looks at me like that I can’t help but imagine how they would look at me during sex. I cannot think about sex with my boss. I cannot think about his face buried between my thighs. I cannot think about the size of his dick. Great, that’s all I’m thinking about. Without even thinking about it, I start to moisten my lips.

Looking back up at Jacoby, I see his eyes on my lips as he starts to speak, “You really do have beautiful lips, Mira. I hope it’s okay that I tell you that. I have been thinking about them all night.”

It feels like my face turns the shade of a tomato and I immediately put my head down, not wanting to meet his gaze. “I guess it’s ok,” I manage to whisper out, still not making eye contact.

He takes his hand and places it under my chin, angling my head to meet his lust filled hazel eyes. I just know he can read every thought I have had all night.

“I would never do anything you didn’t want to do, Mira, but I have to say, you seem to want me as badly as I want you.”

Just as I was getting ready to say something, say anything, Jacoby kisses me. The first touch was gentle and light. Almost as if he was seeking permission. I open my mouth slightly for him. Was it out of lust for this man, out of obligation and the fear of hurting his feelings, or out of habit? I can’t even answer this question.

When my mouth grants him permission, the kiss turns less gentle. Jacoby put his arm around my waist and moves me to where I am straddling his legs. He leans back into the couch with one hand in my hair and one hand cupping my ass. I push my hands into his hair and kiss him back with just as much need. It was almost as if leaning back into the couch was to allow me to control the pace of the situation. I don’t know how he knew it, but it was the control I think I needed. I set the pace. I could stop at any time if I was uncomfortable. This man knows me so much better than I thought he did. How do I get so lucky with such amazing kissers?

After what felt like hours, I pull away from his lips. Both of Jacoby’s hands move to my lower back, sliding under the thin purple fabric of my top. My skin is on fire. That kiss gave whole other definition to “hot and bothered”.  It’s like ninety three thousand damn degrees in here.  I look Jacoby in his eyes and I know he is feeling the same thing I am feeling. As I shift, still straddling his lap, I can feel his erection.
That has to be painful to be restrained like that
, I think to myself.

“Are you okay, Mira? We can stop if you want.”

“Do you want to stop? I don’t think I want to stop. But if you want to then...” I can’t even finish my statement before Jacoby’s lips crash onto mine. There is no more patience in his kiss. He takes the hem of my shirt and pulls it over my head and throws it over the sofa. As he kisses me, his hands are roaming my back, as if he wants to memorize every dip, every bone in my spine. This is killing me.

Still kissing him, I reach between us and start to unbuckle his belt and release the button on his pants. Just as I reach his zipper, a growl escapes his lips and the grip on my back gets tighter as I feel him reaching for the clasp on my bra. I don’t object. I break from the kiss as Jacoby removes my bra from my arms, staring at my tits like they are a feast just for him. He licks his lips. That was all I needed to continue back to my exploration of his pants. I get his zipper down and grab his excessively hard cock. We weren’t skin to skin, only the thin layer of his boxer briefs separates my hand from his goods. I fumble looking for the opening in the front of his boxers. I need to see what he’s working with. I had a pretty good idea just from the feeling through the boxers, but I need an actual visual.