Текст книги "Love Hate Relationship"
Автор книги: Jessica Prince
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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 16 страниц)
I was losing my fucking mind. The wrought iron railing groaned under the force of my white-knuckled grip.
“Dude, you look like you’re about to have an aneurysm. Just step away from the damn railing already.” Griffin’s voice held far too much amusement as he gave me shit for the millionth time in the past three hours. Feeling a sense of guilt at being out without his wife, Dex had bailed about an hour before, so I was stuck with my asshole cousin as my only company while the women took to the dance floor.
“Shut the fuck up,” I ground out between clenched teeth, my eyes remaining stuck on Navie’s writhing form as she and her friends danced below us. I’d gotten a semi the moment she walked up in that tiny piece of fabric she was wearing as a dress. But the moment she turned around and I saw the damn thing had no back… whatsoever, I about lost my shit completely. I bounced between wanting to bend her over the closest available surface to wanting to gouge the eyes out of every fucking man who looked her way. Which was just about every motherfucker in the club.
It was official. I was going insane.
From my peripheral vision, I saw Griffin come up to me, resting his hip on the railing next to my hand as he joined me in staring down at the girls. The only reason I didn’t wring his neck for looking was because I knew damn good and well who his focus was on. And it wasn’t Navie.
“Then do us both a favor and make a move already, cuz. You’re a serious buzzkill tonight, you know that?”
I didn’t bother with a response as I trailed Navie’s every movement from below. Everything about the way she moved made me crave her. The sway of her hips, the move of her perfect legs, and good Lord, when she reached up to lift her heavy mass of hair from her neck, revealing that glistening skin… I wanted to mark every inch of her body. Watching her was so addictive I physically ached to touch her. My cock throbbed from behind the zipper of my pants.
I was so enthralled by her that I barely noticed the waitress sauntering up to me. It wasn’t until she pressed her big, fake tits against my arm that I pulled my attention away from Navie to look at the woman beside me.
“Can I get you anything?” she asked in a seductive voice that, in the past, would have had me laying on the charm in order to get her to go home with me. But looking at the waitress just then, with her overdone hair and caked-on makeup, for some reason I just felt… empty. And the only reason I could think of that would turn me off of meaningless sex with nameless women was currently shaking her ass with every man who approached her.
Pushing down the ball of fury that rose from the pit of my stomach at that thought, I offered up a smile to the woman giving me her best come fuck me eyes. “No, thanks.” Her smile fell just slightly before she turned and walked away.
Laughter bellowed from Griffin as he punched me in the arm good-naturedly. “Jesus, man, you’re whipped!”
Ah, hell. He wasn’t wrong, and that realization scared the shit out of me. Navie made me feel things I never wanted to feel for another woman, things I swore I’d never feel again.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I grumbled, but it sounded weak even to my own ears.
“You just turned down free pussy. That chick offered it up to you on a silver platter and you flat-out rejected her. You want my advice—?”
“I don’t,” I interrupted, but it was pointless.
“I say fuck the girl out of your system and move on.”
I couldn’t deny that he had a point. He’d also planted a bug in my head that there was no ignoring. Maybe that was exactly what I needed to do. Lord knew my body wanted her like crazy. Maybe one night would get my brain on board as well and I could get over this screwed up obsession that had been plaguing me.
When I didn’t immediately respond, he continued. “Whatever, man. You want to sit up here all night pining away for your personal assistant, go for it. I’m gonna find me someone to warm my bed for the night.”
Before he had a chance to walk away, I turned from the railing and looked at him. “Banging some random chick isn’t going to make you want her any less.”
I could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew exactly what I was talking about, even if we’d never discussed the screwed up relationship between him and Pepper.
Despite his casual shrug, I knew I’d struck a nerve. “That’s the difference between me and you. I already know you don’t always get everything you want.”
With that, Griffin turned and left, undoubtedly on the hunt for another one-night stand. I, on the other hand, already knew who was going home with me. It was just a matter of convincing her.
I cast my gaze back to the dance floor and had to clench my fists at the onslaught of fury that invaded my body at the sight of another douchebag approaching Navie. I took the stairs at a quick pace, dead set on breaking the bastard’s hands for touching what was mine. What the fuck? I gave my head a brisk shake. She wasn’t mine. I didn’t want her to be mine. I just needed one night, that’s all. One fucking night and I could get her out of my head. The moment my feet hit the dance floor, the song changed. I didn’t recognize it, but the beat was slower, the music more seductive. It couldn’t have been a more perfect song if I’d requested it myself.
The crowd parted just slightly, giving me the perfect line of sight to the middle of the floor, just in time to see Navie smile sweetly at the guy with the soon to be broken hands. A possessive growl rumbled up in my chest at the sight of that smile and I had to swallow it down, biting the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood to keep myself in check.
I was only a few feet away when I saw her shake her head at the guy, the mass of blonde hair swishing across her shoulders. She was giving him the brush-off. I wanted to throw my hands up in victory as she turned and began walking away from him. Before she could get too far away, I snaked my arm around her slender waist, pulling her back to my chest. Just the feel of her body against mine had me groaning with need.
Leaning down, I brushed my nose against the shell of her ear, inhaling her mesmerizing scent, peaches and cream. God, I wanted to take a bite out of her more than I wanted my next breath. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Her tiny frame went stiff against me, her chest rising on a sharp inhale. “Rowan?”
I slid one hand up, my fingers teasing the underside of her breast. I smiled triumphantly when she quivered against me. I had her.
“I’ve watched you dancing with every asshole in here all fucking night long,” I growled. “Now, it’s my turn.”
“Rowan, stop.” My argument sounded weak even to my own ears. Tingles shot from the top of my head to the tips of my toes as Rowan pulled me harder against him. Warning bells were going off inside my head, but my body rebelled against the idea of moving away. My breathing stuttered on a sharp inhalation at the feel of his lips trailing against the sensitive flesh of my neck.
This is so wrong. But God, it feels so, so, so good.
“Rowan, please. This is a bad idea,” I panted.
Ignoring my lackluster pleas, he continued caressing me, his nose skimming across my shoulder and neck as he breathed me in. “Christ, Navie,” he hissed in my ear, causing my entire body to tremble. “You look so fucking sexy.” His hands slid to my hips, the pressure from his fingertips burning through my dress and singeing my skin as his grip tightened. His hold was so strong I had no choice but to move with him as his hips started a slow, seductive sway against mine. His presence surrounded me to the point where there was no one on that dance floor, no one in the entire club, but us. He was hypnotic.
“I’ve wanted to put my hands on you all night long. I got hard the moment you came up those stairs.”
My inner feminist should have been ranting at that. His words should have bothered me, made me feel objectified, used. But to my dismay, I found myself leaning back farther, a needy moan escaping my lips.
“Do you have any idea how much I want you?” he asked. From the way his hardness pressed into my back as he ground against me, I had a pretty good idea. All I could do was shake my head in response. My mouth grew dry, what remaining brain cells the alcohol hadn’t affected fried the moment Rowan put his hands on me. Forming a coherent sentence was hopeless just then. I didn’t even have it in me to utter anymore halfhearted refusals.
My buzz, combined with the lust I was feeling for Rowan, was a toxic combination. Even though my brain was screaming at me to move away, to put some necessary distance between us, all I could think as his hands skated down my thighs to the hem of my dress was how badly I wanted to feel them on my bare skin. As if he could hear my thoughts, he began to pull the skirt up oh so slowly, the rough pads of his fingertips creating goose bumps as they brushed the insides of thighs.
“All I’ve thought about for weeks is fucking you. It’s all I can think about.” I whimpered when his teeth sank into my ear lobe. “Come home with me.”
I shook my head, still unable to form words.
“Yes,” he insisted. “One night, Navie. That’s all I’m asking. I just need to fuck you out of my system.”
And that was all it took to yank me out of my stupor and straight back into reality. The fog lifted, the loud music beat against my eardrums and the throng of people continued to gyrate around us like nothing had happened. All the while, my world had shifted on its axis.
What the hell was I thinking? I mentally berated myself as I pulled from Rowan’s grasp, stepping out of the way when he reached for me again. I couldn’t let him touch me. His hands on me short-circuited my brain, and I couldn’t allow that to happen again.
“Navie.” He didn’t say my name with confusion or curiosity. It was more like a warning. When I looked into his blue eyes, my heart stalled at the way the icy color had darkened. He looked ready to pounce if I dared to take another step away from him. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the lion and I was his prey, but I couldn’t risk staying in place. I had too much self-respect, too much pride to allow myself to get wrapped up in a man who wanted nothing more than to use then toss me aside like all the other women in his life.
I didn’t say a word as I spun on my heels and pushed through the crowd. I didn’t register anything going on around me as I was bumped and jostled during my escape. My sole focus was on getting as far away from Rowan as possible. As soon as the last few people moved and my path cleared, I sucked in a much needed breath. I kept going, my body on autopilot, leading me down a dark hallway. I could have cried in relief when I hit a door marked ‘ladies room’.
Pushing through, I was shocked to see it was fairly empty, just two other women giggling as they reapplied their lipstick in the mirrors above the sinks. Once they’d finished and left the restroom, I rested my palms on the cool, granite countertop and dropped my head as I tried to level out my erratic heartbeats. After I’d managed to pull myself together, I looked up into the mirror. “What the fuck just happened?” I asked the wide-eyed reflection staring back at me. I’d just let my boss—an infamous man-whore—practically feel me up on a crowded dance floor as he tried to convince me to let him fuck me.
“Shit!” I hissed. The lingering effects of all those vodka tonics weren’t making it any easier for me to wrap my brain around the cluster-fuck that was my girls’ night out. I needed to formulate a plan. Preferably one that included a time machine and/or some serum that could wipe a person’s memory.
Also, I might need to stop watching sci-fi shows, since they gave me ridiculous ideas.
Brushing the hair back from my face, I wiped at the mascara that had smudged beneath my eyes and straightened my appearance as best I could, determined to act as though nothing had happened once I walked out of the bathroom. But then the door opened and my plans went straight to hell in a hand basket.
“What the hell? You can’t be in here!” I proclaimed as Rowan turned the lock on the door and stalked toward me. The determination etched into his features sent a combination of panic and desire coursing through my blood. My backside bumped into the edge of the countertop as I attempted to move away from him. In just a few steps, he had me trapped between his large frame and the sink. “Rowan, no,” I pleaded, my hands shoving at the hard wall that was his chest. He wouldn’t budge.
“Stop running,” he growled just before his mouth came crashing down on mine. And just like that, all thoughts of self-preservation fled from my mind and Rowan’s tongue prodded my lips, demanding entry. Of its own volition, a moan rumbled up from deep in my chest at the first taste of his mouth. The combination of mint and alcohol was as intoxicating as taking an actual drink, and I found myself diving in for more.
The second my body went pliant in his arms, Rowan unleashed an intensity I hadn’t known he was capable of. He gripped the cheeks of my ass roughly, jerking me even closer to him. I lost track of everything as his teeth sank into my bottom lip. Sparks shot through me and gathered between my legs as I whimpered, desperate for more. He kept our mouths melded together as he lifted me, planting me on the countertop and pushing his way between my thighs, letting me feel exactly how hard he was for me as he pressed impossibly closer.
Ripping my mouth from his, I sucked in a ragged breath as he rocked against me, the rigid outline of his hard cock hitting me just perfectly. My eyes closed and my head fell back as Rowan attacked my neck, biting, sucking, and licking until I thought I might go up in flames. When I said his name on a loud moan, he went crazy, growling as he moved back to my mouth, his tongue mimicking the movement of his hips as he hiked the hem of my dress up for better access. I had no choice but to move against him as heat coiled low in my belly, my panties growing damper and damper with each thrust. I was seconds away from tumbling over the edge and all I could think was that I never wanted him to stop.
“Need inside you,” he panted against my lips. I managed to peel my eyes open at his words and saw the same raw, dark passion that was undoubtedly written all over my face reflected back at me in his icy gaze. He was just as lost for me as I was for him.
“Rowan,” I gasped, falling back on my hands, granting enough space between us for him to do whatever he wanted, because I was helpless to stop this from happening. I didn’t want to stop it.
“God, I need to fuck you,” he groaned as one of his hands left my hip, running up the inside of my thigh to my center.
This was it. Holy shit, this was really about to happen.
I’d just about accepted the fact that Rowan and I were going to have sex in the ladies room of a club when a sudden pounding on the locked door pulled me back down to earth, instantly snuffing out the passion in the room like a bucket of water being dumped on a camp fire.
“Hey!” a loud voice yelled. “Unlock the damn door! I gotta pee!”
“Oh, shit,” I gasped, sliding back from Rowan and covering my mouth with both hands. “Ohshitohshitohshit!”
“Navie, just calm down,” Rowan spoke, obviously grasping that I was about to have an epic freak-out. “Don’t run from me again. I’m getting fucking tired of chasing after you tonight.”
“Then stop!” I shrieked, decidedly un-calm. When I put my hands to his chest and shoved that time, he moved back several inches. “We can’t do this, Rowan,” I spoke as firmly as my quivering voice would allow. “I can’t do this. Tonight was a huge mistake, and it’s never happening again.”
“Don’t count on that,” he warned, the muscle in his jaw ticking as he made a move for me again.
Just as the woman with the tiny bladder started pounding on the door again, I hopped off the sink as quickly as possible and sidestepped Rowan.
“I’m serious,” I told him as I began backing toward the locked door. “Whatever… this… was, it’s done,” I said, waving my hand in the growing space between us. “I mean it.”
“You have two seconds to unlock this door or I’m getting security!” the woman yelled.
Rowan running a frustrated hand through his jet black hair did little to detract from his staggering good looks as he took one step toward me, then another, and another, until I could feel his breath whisper across my cheek. I stood, frozen by the fierce expression on his face, an expression I couldn’t possibly get a read on. “I finally got a taste of something I wanted, and there’s no fucking way I’m stopping with just that.”
“Rowan,” I whispered, hoping and praying he could read the earnestness in my eyes. “You’re my boss. You don’t do relationships. And I don’t do random bathroom hook-ups. You need to forget this ever happened, because I sure as hell am.”
I didn’t let him get another word in before I spun around, flipped the lock on the door and hauled ass out of the bathroom, muttering a half-hearted apology to the woman on the other side as I brushed past.
“Hey!” Harlow said excitedly as I stumbled up to where she and Pepper were still dancing. The bright smile on her face quickly disappeared as she took in my disheveled appearance. “You okay? You disappeared on us for a bit.”
“Yeah,” I lied. “I think I just drank a too much. I’m feeling a little sick. I’m gonna go ahead and catch a cab home.”
“Hold on,” Pepper started. “We’ll come with you.”
I waved off the offer as casually as possible, hoping Harlow didn’t see through the facade. “No, it’s fine. You guys stay, have fun. I’m just going to crash anyway. Don’t let VIP access go to waste.”
“You sure?” Harlow asked, the look on her face just as skeptical as the one on Pepper’s. “Did something happen?”
“Other than puking my guts out in the ladies room?” I laughed awkwardly. “Not much. Seriously, you guys stay here. I’ll see y’all tomorrow.”
“Okay, sweetie.” Harlow leaned in and squeezed me tightly before moving back to give Pepper her turn. “But you text or call us if you need anything. Got it?”
“Promise.” I gave my friends a small smile before taking the stairs to the VIP area as quickly as my heels would allow. I offered Griffin a pathetic goodbye, refusing to spare a single glance in Rowan’s direction, and then I burned out of the Neon Room like my ass was on fire.
Where was she?
I paced the length of my entryway over and over, checking my watch for the fifteenth time in the past ten minutes. Navie was late. She was never late. Hell, if anything the girl was so prompt she typically started her work day early.
Bringing my cellphone to my ear, I hit re-dial for her number, a-fucking-gain. And just like the past three times, it went to voicemail after only two rings.
“Son of a bitch!”
I couldn’t believe it. She was blowing me off! I’d never been blown off before. And the fact that she hadn’t even bothered to show up to work without so much as a heads up really pissed me off. Despite everything that happened at the Neon Room three days ago, she still had a damned job to do.
Scrolling through my phone for the number I was looking for, I hit call.
“Rowan? What are you doing up at eight forty-five in the morning? Shouldn’t you be busy pushing your latest booty-call out the door?”
It was moments like this when I questioned why I hadn’t fired Lauren yet. Ignoring her dig, I pushed forward. “Where is she?”
“What? Who?”
It was too fucking early, I hadn’t had enough caffeine, and I was in serious need of getting laid. To say I had a low tolerance for my publicist’s bullshit was an understatement. “Don’t mess with me, Lauren, not today. Where the hell is Navie? She hasn’t shown up for work and her phone’s going to voicemail.”
“Jesus, Rowan,” Lauren huffed through the line. “Don’t you ever check your email?”
“Of course I don’t check my own email. I have a goddamned personal assistant for that! Why would I check my own email?”
Ignoring my attitude, she responded. “She sent a message that she’s sick and is going to be out today and tomorrow.”
Stomping back into my office, I pulled up my Outlook, and sure enough, there it was. Flu-like symptoms, my ass. She wasn’t sick, she was avoiding me. And that brought forth an entire slew of emotions I didn’t want to think about.
“What’s her address?”
“Oh, hell no,” Lauren spoke. “The poor girl’s sick. The last thing she needs is you giving her shit for missing a few days of work. That’s what paid time off is designated for, Rowan. Leave her alone.”
I was fuming. “For the love of… just give me her damn address, Lauren. I want to go check on her. Make sure she’s all right.”
“You want to…” she trailed off, her voice full of disbelief. “For God’s sake, Rowan! Please tell me you haven’t had sex with that girl!”
“Of course not!” I shot back, keeping it to myself that I had every intention of doing just that. Hooking up with another one of my assistants would go over about as well as a lead balloon as far as she was concerned.
“If you’re lying to me, so help me God—”
“I’m not lying!” Yet. “Just give me the address.”
By the time I got off the phone, I had a raging headache, but at least I had the address to Navie’s apartment in Murray Hill.
Time to pay her a surprise visit.
I’d been ignoring my phone all morning long. And by ignoring, I meant sending every single one of Rowan’s calls to voicemail. And to my shock, there had been tons of them. It had become apparent that the surly man was most definitely not accustomed to being ignored. After what happened at the Neon Room, I’d decided I needed a break from all things Rowan and took two days off work to get my mind straight. I needed to mentally prepare myself to see him again, and the only thing that helped clear my mind and calm me down was making jewelry. When I’d woken up, I dove right in to a set I’d been picturing in my head for weeks. Unfortunately, even my jewelry wasn’t doing much to help. I’d screwed the necklace up three times already—each time was after rejecting another call from Rowan. My hands just wouldn’t work the way I needed them to, my fingers nowhere near as nimble as I needed them to be.
I dropped the mangled creation on the desk with a huff just as my cell phone rang again, cutting off my AWOLNATION playlist. I picked up the phone, prepared to send another call to voicemail, when I saw the name on the screen.
“Hey!” I answered excitedly.
“What’s up, buttercup?” Cassidy chirped happily through the line.
“Oh, not much. How are you? Being pregnant in the heat of the Texas summer killing you yet?”
I loved Cassidy beyond words and thanked fate every single day for bringing her and her family into my life. Before them, the only real family I ever had was my foster bother, Carson. He had worked tirelessly for years to take care of me. He was my protector, my confidant, my saving grace. He did so much for me that I would never be able to pay him back, no matter how hard I tried. He deserved the absolute best, and that was Cassidy and her daughter, Willow. Not a day went by that I didn’t miss them like crazy, but after leaning on Carson for so long, I needed a chance to prove to myself that I could make it on my own. New York was that chance for me.
“I still have four months left, and I’m already miserable,” she answered. “I’m sweating in crevices I didn’t even know I had!”
I giggled into the phone, spinning my desk chair around in a slow circle, having given up on my attempt at jewelry making, at least for the time being. “Aww, poor baby. You should make that husband of yours bring you up here. It’s hot, but nowhere near as bad as it is down there. He still being overprotective about every little thing?”
“You have no idea,” she replied blandly. “I thought he was gonna stroke out when I lifted Willow the other day. It’s like I’m the first pregnant woman on the face of the earth. He keeps forgetting that I’ve done this before. This time around is a cake walk compared to my pregnancy with Willow.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Carson’s behavior. He was so different from the man who had practically raised me. And even though there was a small part of me that envied what they had together, I was still thrilled for him and Cassidy. “Then I doubt there’s any way he’d let you on a plane right now, huh?” I asked, feeling a pang of sadness. I really wanted to see them. With everything that was going on with Rowan, it felt like the foundation of my life was growing shakier and shakier. I needed my family to help me feel balanced again.
“I don’t know, I might be able to convince him. I know he misses you just as much as I do.”
“I miss y’all, too. See if you can work him. I know Harlow would love to meet you guys, and I’m sure we can manage to make room for y’all.”
I could hear the smile in her voice as she answered. “I’ll talk to him. We’ll make it happen, I promise. But you have to swear you’ll be down here as soon as this kid pops out of me.”
“I swear.” I laughed. “Wouldn’t miss that for the world.”
“You sure your slave driver boss will give you the time off for that?”
Looking at my lap, I picked at the hem of my t-shirt anxiously. All Cassidy knew about Rowan was how rocky things had been when I first started working for him. There was no way in hell I could tell her about the growing attraction I felt for him, so talking about what had happened at the club the other night was totally off-limits.
“Nah, he’s gotten a little better. It’s not so bad anymore.”
“You sure? Because you know Carson and I are more than willing to help you financially until you can find something else. We don’t want you stuck in a job you hate.”
That was exactly what I didn’t want. Those two had helped me too much already; I couldn’t take anything else from them. I needed to do it on my own. “I’m good, I promise.”
“Okay,” she spoke hesitantly. “But you tell me if something changes. We’re here for you, sweetheart. Even with the miles between us.”
“I know. And I love y’all for it.”
“We love you, too.”
The backs of my eyes began to burn with unshed tears, and my throat became hoarse with emotion. “You talk to Carson. Convince him to come up here.”
“I’ll do that, babe. Take care of yourself and we’ll talk soon, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I sniffled, needing to end the call before I turned into a sobbing mess and made Cassidy worry that something other than homesickness was the issue. “Bye, Cass. Give everyone my love.”
We hung up and I had to suck in a deep breath to stem off the rest of the tears that wanted to fall. I really hoped she could convince Carson to make the trip. I needed to see them, even if it was just for a weekend.
A loud knock came from my front door, startling me as I dashed away the rest of the wetness on my cheeks. Just as I stood to answer, a loud voice called through the battered wood.
“Open the damn door, Navie. I know you’re in there.”
My head fell and my shoulders slumped. I don’t know why I was so surprised that he’d tracked me down. After the way he’d blown up my phone earlier, I should have known his persistence knew no bounds.
“What do you want?” I asked through the door, feeling somewhat mollified by the protective barrier it created between us.
“I want you to open the damn door.” Just the sound of his rough voice sent shivers through me. Memories of his lips so close to my ear ran through my mind as desire assaulted my senses. No way in hell was I opening that door.
“I’m sick, Rowan. You should go. I bet I’m contagious.” I fake coughed for good measure.
“I’m willing to risk it. Open the door.”
Damn it. I tried a different approach. “How do you even know where I live? I never gave you my address.”
I could hear his frustrated sigh and hoped that was enough to get him to go away. Yeah, not so much. Karma seemed to hate me.
“Open up! I’m not leaving here until I see you.”
Okay, he wasn’t the only one starting to get pissed off. Every time that bossy attitude of his kicked in, it made me want to junk-punch him as hard as I could. I slid the chain lock into place—mainly because I knew it would make him even madder—and opened the door as far as it would allow.
“There, now you can see me. What do you want?”
“You don’t look sick.”
“And you don’t look like a doctor. Now, if you’ll kindly leave, I’m going back to bed.”
I moved to push the door closed, but he stuck his big, dumb foot in the way. “Let me in,” he demanded, making the urge to punch him even greater.
“No. Go away.”
“Come on, Navie. Just let me in for a second, okay? It won’t take long, then I’ll go.”
I raised a brow skeptically. “You promise?”
“Cross my heart.”
With a roll of my eyes, I let out a heavy breath. “Fine. Move your foot and I’ll unlock the door.”
Two seconds later, Rowan pushed his way in like he owned the place.
