“Jenner, it’s Ralph,” my client said as I held the phone to my ear, not two minutes into my Monday.
The leather on my seat was still cold, my coffee untouched.
“Ralph. Good morning.” I cleared my throat, reaching for the mug my assistant had just delivered. I was tempted to start the ticker on my computer to track the length of this call, billing Ralph for the time. The software was so precise that seconds were rounded up to minutes. But Vegas was still running thick in my veins, and I just didn’t have the energy yet. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m interested in building a warehouse, totaling upward to a million square feet. Whatever I don’t use, I’ll subdivide for rental income until I can utilize the whole space.”
I took a sip of the hot, dark drink. “An excellent way to generate revenue. Based on the price per square foot you can get for a rental in both Malibu and Marina del Rey, you’ll more than cover your nut.”
Ralph, a longtime client, was a boat dealer, specializing in yachts, cabin cruisers, and center consoles. Since I was so familiar with his business, I knew the warehouse would store the overflow of his inventory and allow him to expand his service department—something he wanted to do more of.
“Except I won’t be building in either of those spots, Jenner. I have news. I’m expanding.”
“Fantastic to hear. Whereabouts?”
“Miami Beach.”
I shook my head, silently laughing.
Out of all fucking places.
“Great spot,” I told him, picking up a pen and tapping it against my desk. “A paradise for boating, and now, you’ll have real estate on both coasts.”
“I need you to weigh in on the land and build-out, handle the zoning. There’s going to be some red tape involved with this one.”
“That’s my specialty.”
“And that’s why I keep you on retainer.”
I turned my chair, facing the windows, squinting at the sun as it burned the sleep from my eyes. “Send me the paperwork. I’ll take a look at everything and let you know what I find.”
“My secretary will email you in the next hour.” He paused. “How quickly do you think you can meet me here?”
“Here?” My brows rose as I stared down at my coffee like it was spiked. “You’re in Miami now?”
“Standing on the lot as we speak. I’d like to make an offer in the next few days before someone else scoops it up, which means we have to move fast. You know how hot Miami real estate is at the moment.”
I exhaled, clicking my mouse, waking my computer. I pulled up my calendar, quickly reviewing the next few days. Each was packed with meetings along with a trip to Seattle on Friday. I was sure I could take several of those calls from the plane and have my assistant rearrange the rest.
“It’s going to take some heavy lifting to pull this off. Give me an hour, and I’ll get back to you.”
“I appreciate it, Jenner. In the meantime, I’ll make sure the paperwork gets sent.”
“Sounds good,” I said and hung up, immediately calling in my assistant.
As she stood in my doorway, I explained the situation with Ralph, letting her know I’d need at least two days in Florida, possibly three. As she left to work on my schedule, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.
The coffee wasn’t giving me the energy I needed to get through this day, never mind this morning. I hadn’t even been home for twenty-four hours, and that sexy, beautiful girl was still so present in my mind.
A mind that should have been cleared of her the moment I stepped on the plane.
Just because she had owned my thoughts and occupied my hands while I was in Vegas didn’t mean that had to continue.
I was home.
I was back to my lifestyle.
Thousands of miles separated us, and so did far too many years. Years that were important, that were full of development, that put us in different stages of our lives.
It didn’t matter that there was a chance I could be flying to her city this week. Seeing her would only delay the inevitable. It would only tease me.
And the best thing for me—the best thing for both of us—was to push our time in Vegas far out of my fucking head.
“Jenner,” my assistant said, returning to my doorway. “I worked a miracle. I don’t know how, honestly, but I did. I have you on the company’s plane tomorrow morning and then flying straight to Seattle on Friday.”
She closed my door, and I stared at the black screen of my phone.
That gave me three nights in Miami.
Goddamn it.
I wasn’t going to call her.
I sure as hell wasn’t going to see her.
Yet I found myself searching for her name in my Contacts and holding the phone to my face, listening to each ring.
There were only two before she picked up and said, “Hello?”
“Jo …”
She took a deep breath. “God, that voice. The last time I heard you say my name like that, you were moaning it.”
I chuckled.
That fucking mouth.
One of the many things I liked about her, whether words were coming out of it or it was swallowing my cock.
“Do you want me to moan it again?”
There was silence on the other end and what sounded like movement and then, “You’re into phone sex, Jenner? How naughty of you.”
I pushed my chair away from my desk, leaning back as far as I could go. “Not that I’m opposed to it, but I think it would be much hotter if I was moaning it against your lips.”
I could hear her smiling when she voiced, “Tell me how you’re going to make that happen.”
“I’m coming to Miami tomorrow for business. I’ll be there for three nights.”
She exhaled, the sound almost sinful. “Does that mean I get you all to myself for those nights?”
I stared out the window, the LA skyline almost glittering under the morning light. “I’m sure I can make that happen … and possibly even a few days.”
“I like that answer even better.”
I held my coffee against my lips. “So, you’re telling me you’re available.”
“For you, I’ll make it happen, although I might have to squeeze in a class or two and a tiny bit of homework.”
I growled, “I don’t think I can let you do that.”
“No?”
My lids shut as I thought about her body and the things I wanted to do to her. It had only been since yesterday that my hands were on her, that my lips had grazed her skin.
It felt longer.
Like months.
“I don’t think I’m going to let you leave my bed once you step foot in my room.”
“Mmm,” she moaned. “How do you plan to spend that time?”
Her voice was as good as her silky, wet tongue licking down the center of my shaft.
“I’m going to start with rope, making sure you can’t move.”
“Tell me more …”
“Or handcuffs,” I clarified. “Whichever I end up bringing with me, but I want you chained to the bed, your legs spread wide open.” I adjusted my dick as it hardened in my suit pants. “I want you available for my mouth, my hands, my cock—whichever one I want to use.”
“Jenner …”
“Are you wet?”
“Oh God, yes.”
I couldn’t control the need erupting inside me, the urge, the craving coming out through my voice. “How fucking wet?” When she went to answer, I cut her off and said, “I want you to put your hand down your pants and dip into your pussy and tell me just how wet you really are.”
There was movement, like she was balancing the phone with her shoulder to free up her hands. Her breathing increased and hitched. “It’s on my inner thighs.”
“Fuck,” I hissed.
“And it’s dripping along my pussy. My finger is sliding down my slit.”
I rubbed my hand over my hard-on. “Goddamn it, yes.”
“That’s what you do to me, Jenner. You make me soaked.”
“That tight, little, wet cunt so fucking ready …”
“For you.”
My dick was throbbing, wanting to be freed from my pants, to sink inside Jo’s pussy.
“Touch yourself for me,” I ordered.
“You’d better be doing the same.”
Just as that thought started to resonate, to really take shape in my head, and I went to reach for my zipper, my door opened, and Ford peeked his head through.
“Fuck me,” I groaned as I stared at him. “My brother just walked in …”
She laughed. “Now, that’s shitty timing. Tell Dominick or Ford I said hello. As for you, I’ll be seeing your sexy ass tomorrow. I can’t wait.”
“That makes two of us,” I said and hung up.
Ford closed the door and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of my desk and said, “Jo?”
I nodded. “She says hello.”
He smiled. “Interesting.”
I rolled my chair forward, pushing my legs under the desk to hide my raging erection. “What is?”
“That the guy who wasn’t going to start anything beyond Vegas is talking to her the morning after he returns.”
“Did you come in here to give me shit? Or did you stop in for a more important reason?”
He pulled at his tie, shaking his head before running both hands through his hair. “The latter. I’m fucking overwhelmed, man. I’ve got this four-year-old who can’t survive without me, and, fuck, I don’t want to fail her, but I feel like I am.”
“Are you really doubting your parenting right now?” I lifted my coffee, wrapping my hands around it. “You’re the best father I know.”
I took a quick glance at the photo on my desk of Everly and me. It was about six months ago when I’d taken her to Disneyland. She was still so little, but we’d had the best time, her face lighting up whenever she saw a character, her little jaw dropping when the fireworks went off.
“You don’t know what it’s like, being responsible for someone and being their everything.”
“You’re right; I don’t, but what I do know is that you do a hell of a job at it. I know how good you are to her. I know how much she loves and admires her daddy.”
He leaned forward, crossing his hands between his legs, his head hanging low.
“You’re doing the best you can, Ford. You should be proud of that. I know I’m proud of you.”
He finally lifted his head. “How can I be when something like this happens?” He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper, placing it unfolded on my desk.
I took the sheet into my hands, seeing that it was a drawing Everly had done. Not that I could distinguish her art from anyone else her age, but pink was her favorite color, and almost the entire drawing was done in magenta. The picture was of a table, two stick figures sitting in chairs around it.
But there was a third placement—a section that was scratched out in black crayon.
A spot where her mother was supposed to be sitting.
You didn’t have to be a psychologist to understand what was happening here.
“She’s angry,” I said, looking up at him.
“And resentful.”
I knew how much this was hurting him. I needed to say something that would make my brother feel better.
“Listen, she doesn’t understand. She’s too young; her mind can’t process this yet. But when she sees that empty spot at the breakfast table, dinner table, wherever, she has feelings, and I don’t blame her. I have feelings about it too.”
“That’s my fault.”
I folded my arms over my desk. “That you’re not with her mother anymore? Don’t you dare start blaming yourself for that shit.” I took a drink of coffee, trying to calm myself down. “One day, Everly will see the whole picture and understand the layers, and it won’t just be pink and black to her.”
“And until then?”
“Take your daughter on vacation and let her play in the sand and boogie-board across the waves. Let her drink virgin strawberry daiquiris and eat McDonald’s and not all that organic, unprocessed, unbleached bullshit you fill her with.”
He gripped the armrests of the chair, but his posture was becoming slightly more relaxed. “You know, that isn’t a bad idea.”
“You just spent a week in Vegas. Now, it’s her turn. Spoil her—even more than you already do.” And because he needed to hear this, I added, “Let’s not forget you were a fucking animal before Everly came into your life. You partied every night; you slept with every skirt in LA. But the moment she came into your world, you did a one-eighty. You went from being a selfish motherfucker to Everly’s father, and not every dad can say that.”
He sighed, rubbing his hands over the wooden armrests. “I appreciate that.” He huffed out more air. “You know, I still wake up sometimes, shocked as hell that I’m a father and she’s mine.”
“I’m pretty sure every parent says that.”
“You’re probably right.” He was quiet for a few seconds and then said, “What about you? Are you good?”
“I’m headed to Miami tomorrow for three days.”
There was finally a change in his expression, and that was because he was laughing. “Jesus, I knew it.”
“It’s for work, asshole. But, yes, I’ll be seeing her.”
“And when the Miami opportunity presented itself, you jumped all over it—no need to confirm. I already know.”
He wasn’t exactly right.
But he was right enough.
“So?” I inquired.
“So … this is shaping up to be a long-distance thing. The one thing you said you didn’t want. And when I caught you almost rubbing one off, your expression told me everything I’d suspected.”
“Which is?”
“You’re fucking wild about her.” He put his hand up as I attempted to respond. “Whether you want to admit it or not, she’s the one.”
“She’s twenty-two years old, Ford.”
He rolled his eyes, like his fucking daughter. “Not again with the age reminder. We know how old she is. It doesn’t make a difference.”
“You’re wrong.” I shook my head. “I like what she does to my cock. End of story.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He got up and walked to the door. “I don’t know how you became a fucking billionaire, doing law, because you have the worst poker face I’ve ever seen in my life.”
I pointed to the door. “Get out.”
He chuckled as he opened it. “God, it feels good to be right.”