Chapter Fourteen
AftergivingJakehis belongings, having the quickest shower of my life, and adding a coat of mascara, I was ready in twenty minutes. I opted for black skinny jeans, a white plunging waistcoat which showed off the red lacy bra underneath, and knee-high boots for my date with Jake. I’d left my hair to dry on its own, not liking him sitting unsupervised outside my home or with my dog.
Grabbing one of the knives I kept in my bedside drawers, I carefully tucked it in my right boot, pressing against my calf to conceal it nicely. I stood holding my wardrobe door, contemplating if I should put back on the wig from last night. What was the point? He had seen me now and I could lie saying I’d dyed it late last night when I got home or some shit.
Girls change their hair colour all the time, right?
Urgh, this was already too fucked up.
Jake had been patiently waiting like a good boy on the porch with Rocky lying by his side, his huge head resting on his knee when I stepped outside. I whistled for him to get indoors, and my big fluffy traitor lazily got up and gave me a knowing look – if dogs could even do that - then licked Jake’s hand as he walked past and into the house.
“See you later, big guy,” Jake cooed, as his furry tail disappeared into the living room where he was no doubt going to curl up on the sofa since Alex wasn’t home to stop him.
“You look beautiful.” He stood from his spot on the stoop and his eyes paused appreciatively on the red bra. My throat felt thick as I watched him. So the obvious attraction was still there, even with the lack of alcohol making things cloudy.
Shit.
“Your hair’s darker. It suits you.”
I opened my mouth ready to use my “hair-dye” line when he stepped closer, his proximity making me forget all about hair colour as I focused on the grey flecks in his eyes as he said, “So, you going to take me for a ride?” He winked and eyed my sports car eagerly, a hint of envy dawning on his face.
I knew that look all too well from the male population. That particular model was a limited edition and had cost me a fucking bomb.
“Erm, yeah, not on your life,” I replied, pocketing my keys and striding off down the stairs towards the black SUV I had not noticed when I’d got back from my run. Why did this man’s presence eclipse everything else around me?
The car was fancy and looked expensive. I rounded the front to the passenger’s side, observing the bull insignia on the hood of the car with a flurry of excitement filling my stomach. I knew that this specific Lamborghini cost at least two hundred thousand dollars, and I had never had the pleasure of being in one.
Expensive cars, cheap bourbon, and sexy as hell men were my vices.
“Do you know Alice’s Place?” I asked, buckling the seat belt and settling down into the leather seat for what I knew was going to be the ride of my life. Jake shook his head in confusion, clearly never having gone to the dive bar on this side of town.
Alice’s Place was dirty, rundown, and rough. Not ideal for a first date, or any date for that matter, but then again, this was not a real date. Jake was a target, and I needed to remember that.
I smiled and entered the destination in the sat nav. Not that it was needed, as it was only down the road, but I wanted to enjoy the ride in this beast of a car without having to give directions.
We drove in silence, with me being too captivated by the purr of the four-litre V8 engine that was working seamlessly under the hood of the car to make conversation. I let out a groan that almost veered on sounding sexual, earning a glance from Jake and a slight smile that edged his lips.
“Fan of Lamborghinis?” he asked, sliding his large hands along the steering wheel. I worked on a swallow as I watched them grip the wheel.
“Erm, yes,” I replied breathily and cleared my throat, looking away from his long fingers choking the leather. “But I think I would have gotten her in green rather than black.”
He hummed in agreement and shifted the engine mode from Strada to Corsa,putting his foot down on the accelerator. A surge of adrenaline coursed through me as I was pushed back in my seat from the change in kinetic energy the different engine modes created. I was on the most glorious of highs and never wanted it to end.
“She’s a monster,” I whispered, running my fingertips along the doorframe.
Jake slowed and turned into the parking lot of the bar, bumping along the uneven tarmac to find a vacant space after a far too quick run along the road.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” He frowned, peering out the front window, and I followed his line of sight. My smile grew as I saw the dingy building with its flaky red paint and bars covering every window. The ‘A’ from Alice’s had fallen off, leaving a worn outline of where the letter once sat, so the sign now read Lice’s Place. I guess it was fitting, cause this place was a shithole.
“Yeah, this is it!” I beamed, hopping out of the car. I watched Jake, a look of trepidation sliding onto his face as he took in his surroundings. He looked like this place was his own special kind of Hell, and I’d happily be his personal demon who’d accompany him to the gates. Jacob Weston must be used to classier establishments, with valets and fancy bar snacks.
In all honesty, Alice’s Place wasn’t actually that bad. It served cheap booze, the chef made mean poutine, and the owner, the great-great-granddaughter of Alice herself, kept this place running smoothly.
“C’mon,” I said, hooking my arm around Jake’s and dragging him towards the door.
The smell of beer, sweat, and peanuts saturated the air as we stepped inside. The overhead dim lights created just enough light to find your way to an empty table, and given that it had only just gone past Friday lunchtime, that was relatively hard. The weekend started on a Thursday morning at Alice’s.
I slipped my hand down Jake’s arm and laced my fingers in his, making it easier to meander through the chairs and tables to finally reach the bar at the far end of the room. I leant my hip against the bar, waiting for Lexi to finish up with a customer, my hand still in Jake’s. The pad of his thumb absently ran across the back of my hand, leaving tiny tingles against my skin. I dropped it, receiving a pensive glance, and I cleared my throat.
“We need to do something about how you’re dressed,” I said, checking out Jake’s clothing. He frowned, dropping his head down his front and dusting non-existent lint off his chest. “You look too clean.” I air quoted as I reached around him to grab his black shirt and pulled it out from where it was tucked into his jeans. Running my hands around the edge, my fingers brushed his lower stomach, skimming across soft hair, and I heard his breath hitch.
Swallowing hard, I tried to ignore how much I liked that I had affected him. I pouted while reassessing what I had done, then reached up to run my hands through his hair, finding now I’d started I couldn’t stop myself from touching him. His hair was so soft sliding between my fingers as I ran them up and over his scalp, mussing it up and letting them linger well after I had done what I set out to do.
His blue eyes scorched into me, and I registered his warm hand gripping my hip. I looked into his lust-filled eyes and inhaled sharply, releasing him from my hold and stepping back to give a quick nod in approval.
“Better,” I croaked just as the pretty red-headed bartender strode over to take our order.
“Hey, girl, haven’t seen your fine ass in a while,” she said, before eyeing up Jake, giving him one of her flirty smiles I’d seen her give Alex every time we came here. “Who’s your friend?”
“Lexi, this is Jake. Jake, this is Lexi, the proud owner of Alice’s Place.”
She rubbed her hands down her ripped green jeans and extended one out to him.
“Hey, handsome,” she purred, and Jake shook her hand with a polite smile. One that looked like it was only brought out in the boardroom. Releasing his hand, she leaned over the bar top, pushing her already close-to-spilling-out of her tight shirt tits together and giving us both an eyeful. “See anything you like?”
“We’ll have two beers and two bourbons, Lex,” I replied shortly, although the question had been directed to Jake, and I had long been forgotten. Lexi did tend to throw herself at her patrons, especially the good-looking ones. Alex had been one of those patrons to fuck her outside the back of the bar on several occasions. I guess he had a thing for red hair.
Lexi shot me a dark look before smiling. “Comin’ right up, hon.”
“Do you not ask for a brand of drink here?” Jake asked, his eyes taking in the various bottles behind the bar, most of which were brewed by the locals and packed one hell of a punch.
“God no.” I laughed, running my hands through my nearly dry hair, finger combing out the natural waves. “You just get what they have at the time. Variety is the spice of life and all that.” Lexi came back with our drinks, leaving us to tend to her bar, but not without giving Jake a wink. I pointed in the direction of the empty high-rise booth and indicated for him to follow.
I slid along the worn leather and settled myself in the centre of the table that allowed for optimal viewing of everyone in the bar. Jake dropped in beside me, sitting closer than was necessary.
I threw back the bourbon in one shot, scrunching my eyes and shaking my head with the afterburn.
“Woah, that would put hairs on your chest.” I gasped and quickly chased the liquor with a few gulps of Buttface Pale Ale. That was the legit name of the beer the bar had in stock today – Google it, I was not making that shit up. Jake chuckled at my girlie response to drinking something that could have easily passed as nail varnish remover, and gulped down his with barely a flinch.
Lexi started walking around the room, clearing tables and chatting with the regulars before she made it over to us in less than fifteen minutes since we’d sat down. She obviously had it bad for the man sitting to my right, and since she knew Alex and I were so far in each other’s friend zones, perhaps she thought it was a safe bet to think Jake was there too. Even though this was a fake date or whatever, it didn’t stop that small wave of unwarranted jealousy from rearing its ugly head.
That green-eyed bitch needs to chill the fuck out.
Lexi sidled up beside Jake and reached over to grab our empty glasses, purposely grazing her chest along his arm. Seriously, what was it with women pressing their tits on Jake’s body trying to capture his attention? It was desperate and pathetic, and why did it bother me so much?
“Did I spot a bottle of Jack Daniels behind your bar, ma’am?” Jake asked as Lexi placed my empty glass on her tray.
“You sure did, handsome,” she replied, batting her eyelashes and propping the bar tray on her hip. “Please call me Lexi. I’m far too young to be a ma’am.”
Jake smirked and nodded an apology. “I’ll have a Jack on ice please and Stevie will have…?” He looked towards me as a prompt. I tapped the side of my beer, clinking the glass with my nails in reply, and took another drink. The oddly named beer had grown on me. Lexi smiled and left to grab our drinks.
“Tell me about yourself, Stevie,” Jake said, moving closer and taking a pull of his beer bottle. “I assume Stevie is short for a more feminine name?”
I snorted a laugh at his question, as it wasn’t the first time someone had asked me about the origins of my name.
“It’s Stefany,” I answered with closed eyes, hiding the small fissure of weakness that saying my name out loud seemed to always create. Fiddling with the bottles label that had started to peel at the sides from the condensation, I changed the subject. Deflecting was my speciality, after all. “How long have you been in the pharmaceutical industry? I assume you must be an incredibly smart scientist to be the CEO and have your own company at such a young age?”
Jake chuckled, shaking his head and taking a deep breath before answering. I’d read the interviews he’d done with fancy business magazines, so I knew the answer, but I liked listening to him talk, and it was the easiest way to get targets to open up by making them talk about themselves.
“I actually have no idea about science, or medicine for that matter. I have a degree in business management, and I took over from my father when he died last year.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, remembering Alex had mentioned Jake’s father had died of a stroke last summer, leaving his empire and fortune to his only son. I turned in my seat, watching his expression change as he spoke about him. I reached out to draw circles with my fingers across the back of his hand, a move I’d done a countless number of times in the past, but this time felt different. Genuine.
“Thanks, he was a good guy. Kind of a shitty dad, but a great businessman. He was always working late, never came to any football games when I was a kid or bothered to turn up when I graduated. But he loved my brother and I fiercely when he did manage to find the time to come home.” He smiled to himself, and I couldn’t help but mirror that smile as I hung on to every word as he recalled his father. I’d give anything for an absentee father rather than the one my sister and I had.
Jake continued to tell me stories about his mother and stories from his childhood, one so drastically different from mine.
“Is your mother still here?” I queried, finding myself suddenly very interested in the man sitting next to me. I enjoyed the way his face lit up when he spoke of her and their time together, along with his brother, and how his features seemed to soften when he thought about spending time as a family.
“No, she passed a couple of years back. Cancer,” he replied, sadness filling his eyes before he blinked it away. “What about you?”
“Erm, let’s see… I came from a good family until my mom left us when I was six, only showing up for birthdays or Christmases for a few years before stopping completely. Dad turned into a drunk who resented her for leaving him to look after his two daughters and a stepson, not that Ronan was around much the older he got.” I sneered. “And I haven’t seen my sister in a while, but she’s happy, so that’s all that matters.”
I took a long drink, finishing my bottle of beer, annoyed that so much word vomit poured out. I hated talking about my family, the males in my family mainly, and I should have kept that to myself. I could have just told him that I had a baby sister, omitting that I hadn’t seen her for eleven years to keep her and my nephew safe, or I could have lied and said I was an only child. But for some reason, I found myself not wanting to fabricate the truth.
“You don’t talk to your family?” he asked, a sympathetic look crossing his beautiful features. I hummed, searching for any response that wouldn’t lead to more questions when Lexi strutted up with our drinks in her hands. I think that was the first time I’d been thankful for her thirsty ass’ interruption. Jake muttered a few words to Lexi, making her laugh and coquettishly twirl her red hair around her finger before stroking his arm.
“Do you fancy playing pool, Jake?” I interjected, pulling Jake’s attention from Lexi to the direction of the pool table that had recently become vacant. “I should warn you, though, I’m not very good,” I said with an exaggerated pout and shuffled around the booth, reaching over to collect my fresh bottle of beer as I made my way past a scowling Lexi.
Walking by an old jukebox that only had country and old 80s rock music in its arsenal, I quickly put a couple of quarters in the slot and lined up a few of the old classics I knew the codes for by heart.
Jake joined me by the table as I finished racking the balls, getting ready to play Eight-Ball, and leaned over the table so Jake got an eyeful of down my waistcoat. There was a reason I wore this outfit. The red lace bra gave my tits the optimal amount of cleavage, and if my assumptions of part two of this assignment were correct, I was going to subtly seduce the shit out of Jake tonight.
In our third game, Jake finally missed the mark, not potting any balls on breaking, his confidence clearly making him cocky. I smirked, grabbing the pool cue off him and bent over to take my shot, ensuring he got a nice view of my ass in my tight skinny jeans. I sucked my lips inward, biting down in concentration. Mac taught me how to play Eight-Ball properly after I kept losing games to Alex and would sulk for hours after.
I cleaned up, slyly eyeing Jake as I moved seamlessly around the table, his eyes glued to my movements as I lined up my final shot; the 8 ball. I took my time, chalking up the tip and squinting my eyes as I pretended to be strategizing in my head the best way to finish this. But it was finished before it had even started.
I lined up the shot and flicked my eyes to gaze into Jake’s stormy blue ones that watched me intently from the opposite end of the table. I pulled back the cue, not once breaking focus from Jake, and smacked the white. He broke away from my stare and watched as the ball rolled across the table, hit the 8 ball and tipped straight into the pocket. I smiled, straightened, and drank the last of my beer in silent triumph.
“You sneaky little hustler,” Jake growled low, slowly making his way towards me. I turned, propping my ass on the edge of the table as he put his long arms on either side of my hips and held the wooden edge to box me in. I tilted my head back, still with that stupid grin on my face as he leaned in close, his aftershave swirling around me.
If sin had a smell, it would be him; fruity and woodsy, doing crazy things to my head, like making me want to run my tongue up the column of his neck. My smile slipped and my lips parted with a puff of air.
“You played me, gorgeous,” he said, shifting his eyes down to my lips. He moved his chest closer and pressed his thighs against mine, caging me in with his body.
Jake tilted his head, so his lips were mere inches from mine, his warm breath tickling my lips. My heart thumped, and my pulse raced in my ears that it drowned out the music from the bar and everyone else in it. All that existed was us at that moment. My lips tingled in the anticipation of being touched by his perfect full ones again.
Just one more inch.
“Didn’t I tell you if you ever walked in my bar again, you wouldn’t be walking back out?”