His Next Trick

I find myself smiling without being able to stop.

The thought of being holed up in a luxury penthouse suite with Jett Masters?

“I’d like that,” I chirp, trying not to shout and jump for joy.

“I mean, lay low somewhere else… like out of the city,” he rasps, looking and sounding like a seasoned gangster by now.

“You mean, go on the lamb?” I try to joke, but it's clear to me Jett’s not kidding.

“Yeah,” he nods, reaching for me and holding me close to him as he thinks on it all some more.

“Jett. You’re scaring me,” I tell him truthfully.

“Don’t be scared. Penelope,” he says soothingly. “I’ve just gotta think some things over and this isn’t the place to do it.”

“You want me to go?” I ask, not wanting to sound so insecure. But the thought of not being with Jett now feels impossible.

“I’m not going anywhere without you,” Jett assures me, walking me over to the huge windows and giving me a perfect view of the city like I’ve never seen before.

“I’ve long suspected my agent, Miles, of taking more than his share. Lawyers too, I guess,” he explains, in case I haven’t caught his meaning.

“I know it’s not everything, not to me anyway. But it’s all that drives some people. And my agent and lawyer? They’re hungrier for it than I ever was.” He sighs.

“But what’s the other guy got to do with it?” I ask innocently. “Is it so weird for people to have a meeting? Maybe they’re just having a drink.”

Hearing myself compared to Jett’s reaction, I can feel just how naive I really am.

“I wish that’s all there was to it,” Jett says, giving a small smile for my benefit.

He quickly summarizes what really happened with the whole prison break scandal. Tells me how he was supposed to give the Jett Masters seal of approval on a new prison design but accidentally on purpose showed them all up instead.

“And now they want revenge?” I ask out loud.

“I hoped not, but it looks like Miles might be in on it too,” Jett says before moving on to a different topic.

Like us.

Like going away together.

“How can I help?” I ask out of reflex, feeling stupid when I realize there’s probably not a whole lot I could do.

But Jett seems to think otherwise.

“I think you know how you can, how much you already have helped me,” he grins, almost bashfully. Gripping me in a way that makes both of us forget about everything else for a while as he kisses me.

As my hands explore more of his taut body under his clothes.

“We’ll need a car,” he says, breaking my plan involving me under him all over again. “And money, but that’s easy enough.”

“I guess we can’t take a limo on the lam?” I ask, trying again with the humor but only hearing crickets.

Jett’s silence is suddenly broken when he smiles and kisses me.

“You’re right,” he exclaims. “The driver can’t drive us, but he can help us. Lemme grab a couple of things and we’re outta here,” he says with more certainty in his voice now.

All doubts, if he’s even capable of them have been dissolved, and I can see his energy shift into action mode now that he knows what to do.

If I knew too, that might be useful, but I’m happy to play Bonnie to his Clyde any day.

“You’re not in any real trouble though, are you Jett?” I have to ask, following Jett to an enormous bedroom that feels bigger than the whole apartment, slash diner I live in.

Used to live in.

“Nothing too unusual for an old magician like me.” He grins, shooting me a wink and letting me know it’s mostly legal contract stuff. He’s not in any real danger.

“You’re not old,” I tell him, focusing on the huge bed to match the huge room.

Wondering if we might just have enough time to...

“I’ve got something a little different planned,” Jett smiles to himself, eyeing the bed before he eyes me up and down greedily.

His intense gaze gives me even more intense shivers every time he does.

Try as I might to keep my distance, I gravitate towards him. His manly scent fills my senses as I feel his huge arms around me again.

“I’d love to stay here. I’d love a shower.” He groans.

But I don’t mind how he looks or smells.

I could breathe in his manly essence all day and all night.

“But we need to get moving if this is gonna work,” he says, grabbing his duffle bag and then me by the waist before we both head out.

I’ve never felt so nervous but thrilled at the same time, and Jett’s grip on me is as firm as his command over the situation.

That’s one thing he never has to explain.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Jett

Part of me, a big part, wants to storm into the hotel bar and tear my ex-agent and lawyer a new one.