Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“Yeah.” I take a tiny sip of my Diet Coke. I have to make it last. “I’m sorry you can’t sleep.”
“I’ll be fine.” He signals to a server. “I need a shot of scotch please.”
The server nods.
“I’m also really sorry about your luggage.”
Jesse shrugs, not meeting my gaze. “It happens.”
“Yeah. And I’m sorry you couldn’t get that upgrade to first class.”
“My own fault. I waited too long.”
I’m not sure what to say to that, so I take another very tiny sip of my drink.
The server comes with Jesse’s scotch, nods to my can. “You want another?”
“Yeah, thank you.”
“You sure you want to drink all that caffeine?” Jesse says. “We need to sleep if we’re going to get on London time.”
“The caffeine in Diet Coke never bothers me,” I say. “When you’ve been raised on strong coffee like I have, this is nothing.”
He doesn’t say anything. Simply nods.
Then he downs a scotch in one gulp.
“Good night.” He rises, pulls some bills out of his wallet.
“I can get that,” I say. “If it’s more than Donny’s money, I’ll just charge it to the room.”
“I pay my own way.” He leaves the bills, turns to walk away, but then he looks over his shoulder.
My heart races.
“You want to get out of here?”
“And go where?”
“I don’t know. But there’s one thing that I know will help me sleep tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jesse
I tried.
I fucking tried.
How am I not supposed to look at her?
Brianna Steel is fucking beautiful.
She looks better now than she did at dinner tonight, but at dinner, I was trying not to fall asleep.
Then of course when I finally get back to my room, threw myself onto the bed—sleep didn’t come.
And now?
Brianna—her long dark hair like a curtain around her shoulders and over her breasts, her long-sleeved Dragonlock T-shirt that hugs her figure, and her tight boot-cut jeans and cowboy boots.
Her whole look screams American cowgirl.
All I can think about is what she might look like naked. Naked and underneath my body.
This is not a good thing.
I know how she feels about me. Why else would she have bought me that belt buckle?
It’s a crush, and I shouldn’t lead her on.
But I’m running on no sleep, and my dick is hard in her presence.
Where would we go?
Dragon’s in my room, and Maddie’s in hers.
“Where?” she asks.
“What?”
“You asked if I want to get out of here.”
Yeah, I did. “Come with me.”
She stands, and I rake my gaze over her entire body.
My God, her nipples are hard. They’re protruding right between the D and the O in Dragon.
Fuck. Me.
“Do you remember our kiss, Brianna?”
She swallows. “Yes.”
“It was amazing.”
“It was,” she agrees, her lips trembling.
I close in on her, caress her cheek. God, it’s like silk. “I want you. I need you, right now. Just tonight. I can’t make any promises other than tonight.”
She swallows again, and this time I hear her soft gulp. “What are you saying, Jesse?”
“Do I have to spell it out for you? If that’s the case, I’m going to need to rethink this.”
“Of course you don’t have to spell it out for me. I’m a grown woman.” She crosses her arms, covering up those luscious nipples. “If you’re asking to take me to bed, just where and how do you think we’re going to do that?”
There’s her fire. That beautiful fire of the Steel women. But not just any Steel woman. The most beautiful of all of them.
“I don’t know. I have to think.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Maybe the hotel has extra rooms available.”
“Right. Let’s go.” I grab her hand, walk swiftly out of the bar and through the lobby to guest services. “We need a room.”
“Let me see what we have.” The attendant taps on his computer. “I’m afraid we’re booked except for a suite on the top floor.”
A suite? That’s going to cost way too much.
“We’ll take it,” Brianna says quickly, throwing her credit card on the counter.
“Oh no,” I say.
“We can argue about who pays later.”
Ten minutes later, after Brianna shows her passport and signs her name, we’re on the elevator, propelling upward to the top floor.
And all that exhaustion that’s been weighing on me since the plane landed?
It’s gone.
I have the energy of an eighteen-year-old, and I plan to use every bit of it.
I take the key card from Brianna, hover it over the reader, and the door clicks open.
We walk in and—
I hold back a gasp.
We’re in a hallway. A freaking hallway in a hotel room, and the tile under my feet is black polished marble. The lighting is soft and welcoming, and it makes Brianna look even more beautiful—as if she’s almost ethereal.
The living area boasts plush leather sofas and armchairs are arranged around a coffee table, and floor-to-ceiling windows showcase London at night.
Jesus Christ. How much is she paying for this?
In the next moment, I don’t care anymore. I close the door, grab her, push her against the wall, and crush our mouths together.