69
“That makes no sense.” He ignores my dash for freedom and holds on.
“Yes, it does! If you like her so much, she must be a leggy bimbo,” I huff and make another attempt at squirming before giving in and slumping instead.
“I already told you, I don’t actually like leggy bimbos, Emma.” He closes in on me, nose to nose. His smile vanishes, and his eyes are instantly serious and dark. His focus moves across my face and rests on my mouth for a long moment. I pause, breath held, before he gives me a slight frown, a chew of his bottom lip, then he glances back at my eyes with a sigh, moving back again.
“I don’t believe you.” I almost gulp at the nervous reaction to whatever that look was and how it sent my insides into twisted chaos, and my heart rate elevated.
“Well, that’s your prerogative.” He softly smiles this time, his mouth moving dangerously close to me again, achingly close. I swear I get a vibe that he means to kiss me, but then we hear a noise on deck.
We glance over to see Daniel stripping off Miracle’s clothes rather indecently. Jake frowns and pulls me up quickly to his side on the lounger, breaking our moment of tension.
“Time for bed,” he says, “I know what Daniel’s like; showtime equals go-time!” His voice is grim and tight. All humor has gone as he hurries me.
“What’s he like? What do you mean, ‘showtime’?” I honestly don’t know, and as I’m being pulled up like a child, I can’t help but stare at the couple.
“He likes kinky sex. He’s an exhibitionist, and it doesn’t matter if you’re male or female. He’ll try and pull you in; he has no qualms about fucking in front of an audience.” He hauls me to my feet as I inhale sharply, staring at the man and his bimbo porn star in wide-eyed shock.
That’s so gross. I hope Leila has the sense to get out quickly.
Richard and Leila get up knowingly and move to loungers away from Daniel. Thank goodness.
“Would you join in?” I squeak in surprise, a sudden swift knock inside my stomach that hurts like hell. I don’t like the thought of Jake doing that with them, with anyone.
“No, it’s not my thing, Emma.” Jake narrows his eyes at me, a deep frown on his forehead as relief washes over me, and he pulls me by the hand, a slight tug to break my focus on Daniel.
“You said you did it on your dad’s boat when you were younger, group … stuff,” I accuse shyly, thinking back to an old conversation a long while ago when he was drunk.
“Who do you think was at the root of that?” He raises an eyebrow toward Daniel and pulls me with him to the stairs leading to the lower deck. I don’t argue; just follow.
“So, you liked it then?” I ask, casting my eyes back once more as Marissa gets up and begins a slow striptease, her eyes following us. Jake ignores her, and I get a wave of happiness at this fact. He shrugs and slides his arm around me as he slowly and carefully leads me down the stairs so I don’t fall to the next floor, guiding me. He pulls me in tight on the second to the bottom step and lifts me off my feet to the floor.
“I was young; it was just sex. I was pretty much partying and pissing my dad off at every turn,” he explains. I stumble on the carpeted floor, and he rights me, holding me close. I notice him sway a little as we head through the door to the inner hall of the boat, indicating he isn’t much soberer than I am. I’m glad he’s leaning against me, though; I’m finding it so much harder to walk than I realized.
“You don’t do group sex anymore?” I hiccup, hating myself for saying it.
Why the hell am I so obsessed with this topic? I do not even want to know any of this.
He eyes me warily, a soft, questioning smile on his lips showing those neat white teeth and devastating dimples, and I’m instantly distracted.
“I like your smile,” I say, alcohol very effectively removing my internal filter again.
“No, I don’t. And I like that you like my smile, Shorty.” He stops and pushes me against the wall to steady me, pulls his buzzing cell from his pocket, checks who’s calling, swipes the screen, and slides it back from where he produced it. “I like when you laugh like that,” he says, glancing up at me, and it’s then I realize I’ve been giggling for no reason.
Where did that come from?
“Like what?” I ask innocently, still unable to stop grinning like a freak. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he has my body pressed to the wall with his, and he is my idea of a good dream.
“Unguarded. I like drunk Emma.” He peels me back off the wall and leads me to my room, disappointment flitting through me that the moment was fleeting.
“I like drunk Emma, too,” I sigh, following him as he opens the door, his hand still encompassing mine. She gets to touch Jake in ways sober Emma doesn’t.
“I thought you said you didn’t?” He squints at me with a confused smirk, pulling me through to my bedroom.
“I was jealous; you like her way too much,” I exhale moodily, and he laughs at me again, only this time it’s deep and heartfelt, as though I’ve said the most hilarious thing. I pout at him, annoyed that he finds everything I say so funny.
“You’re the same Emma; no reason to be jealous, Bambina.” He calms his laughter, pulls me to the foot of my bed, sits me down, and quickly pulls my sandals off my feet. I like when he takes care of me like this, as though I’m something more to him than just his PA.
“Nooo, you like one more than the other,” I exclaim loudly. He smiles up at me and moves closer, so we’re nose to nose, with him bent down at my knees. His hand comes to my hair and ruffles it, toying with its new shortness.
He really is infatuated with my new haircut. Best idea ever!
“I like both versions of you, in different ways, equally,” he utters, keeping close. The room is dark, the only light from the moon shining in the porthole window beside us. It’s so intimate and romantic.
“What do you mean, ‘different ways’?” I’m inquisitive; being drunk makes me crave knowledge and keep him this close. He sighs and runs a hand across my face lightly, moving my hair to tuck it behind my ear as a million tingles erupt across my skin. He chews his lip in that childish way he has when he’s trying to think out an answer before he speaks. He has no idea how much it makes me ache to bite his lip too.
“PA Emma is cool and capable, and she’s the best assistant I’ve ever had. She’s funny and sharp and good at what she does. I like PA Emma.” He nods to himself as though rattling off a checklist. Finished with my shoes, he kneels up, so even though he’s still on the floor, his head is towering over me.
“You like her in an employee-employer way?” I reach up and toy with his spiky hair; seeing that he keeps messing mine up, I think it should work both ways. He raises his eyebrows in surprise but only smiles and lets me continue.
“Yes and no. I just like her because she’s her.” His gaze comes to rest on mine, distracting me from his hair. It feels good and exactly how I thought it would feel.
“And drunk Emma?”
“I’m a little infatuated with drunk Emma, if I’m being honest.” He pulls my hand down and straightens up.
“You are? Why?” I sulk at both his answer and his removal of my fingers.
“Because she’s fun. She doesn’t guard what she says … or does.” He nods toward my fingers to prove the point. “She giggles and lets her hair down.”
“So do most of your leggy boobs!” I sulk at being compared to one of them.
Except am I not the one doing the comparing?
I’m confused.
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