Page 33 of Lie With Me
Then again, I’m sure I would have heard from the facility if someone had asked for her.
I allow a smile to pull my lips up as I ignore her message and raise my eyes to see Tripp watching me curiously. “I can’t. I have plans.”
“Plans with who?” he asks, the side of his cheek jutting out as he clenches his teeth.
He holds my gaze as I walk the few steps it takes to close the distance between us. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I play with the curls that brush his ears. “Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass you.”
“I think you know that’s not what I’m worried about, Valentina.” A shiver runs through me at hisuse of my full name—one that doesn’t go unnoticed by him. His fingers tighten on my waist as he pulls me closer until there’s no space between our chests.
Bending his head, he tries to kiss me, but I whisper against his lips, “I told you, I can’t think when you kiss me. And you can’t seem to be around me without wanting to pull as many orgasms from me as you can. So, I’m going to spend the rest of my Sundayalone, decompressing from this week’s events, and getting ready to give the best performance of my life starting Tuesday. It’s unhealthy to want to stay in bed all day every time we see each other. I think it would be very easy to become addicted to the way we make each other feel. It’ll be like going through withdrawals when webreak up, Tripp.”
My words work as well as a bucket of ice-cold water being poured over him. He sounds in pain when he replies, “I know.”
Letting me go, he takes a step back just as the associate clears her throat to let us know she’s making her way back to us.
When I leave, it’s with a heavy diamond on my finger and an electric fence around my heart.
Tripp
“So, how are things with your little vixen going?” Jackson’s voice drifts across my office as he walks in.
“You mean she hasn’t told Ginny we fucked six ways from Sunday at the club after your engagement party, and then I bought her a four-carat diamond?” My fingers never still as I continue typing up a document, eyes glued to my desktop screen.
My best friend lets out a low whistle as he sits on the other side of my desk, tone amused as he asks, “You sound annoyed. Trouble in paradise already?”
Air expels past my lips on a long exhale. “You know…there may not have beenmanywomen since Emily, but therehavebeen others. None of them made me want to pursue something more than the one night we spent together, though. Why does it have to be the one woman whose job it is to screw people? And why do I have such an unfortunate talent for quickly falling for the wrong women?”
He grabs a folder off my desk and starts to thumb through it. “Falling? Whoa there, buddy. Pump the breaks. You may have already put a ring on it, but it’s just for show.”
Finishing the contract I’m working on, I hit save and exit the screen, dropping my eyes to the desk. “She’s literally all I can think about, Jackson. And that scares the shit out of me. We don’t even know each other, but our physical connection is so insane that it doesn’t even matter. I don’t want her doing anything at the club other than talking to clients. How crazy is that? I’ve never been jealous. And you know I’m not controlling either.”
“Lenni isn’t the type of woman who likes to be kept, Tripp.” Jackson stares at me like he’s seeing me for the first time and not like he’s known me since we were teenagers. “That said, she informed Carmela last night that she won’t be doing the New Year’s Eve show. Not that shecan’t, but that she doesn’t want to. Do with that what you will.”
“Show? You mean the big orgies the club has once a month?” It calms my nerves to know she decided not to do it. The thought of another man’s hands on her is enough to make me see red. The worst part is, I know I don’t have the right to lay claim on her. I know the engagement is just for appearances. That doesn’t change the fact that she said she’d be mine while we worked all of this out.
Sure, she agreed in the heat of the moment while I was buried inside her, but potayto potahto.
“By the way, I should be mad at you. Ginny toldLenni you’ve been making sure we wouldn’t meet this whole time. What’s that about?”
Jackson doesn’t even look ashamed as he shrugs and tosses the file back on my desk. “Honestly, I knowyou, Tripp. And this is precisely what I was trying to avoid. According to Ginny, Lenni doesn’t date. She hasn’t the entire time they’ve been friends. Andyouhave a habit of going all in too soon. Sure, the sex may be great, but don’t let your feelings get in the way of this little display you two are going to be putting on. You’re going to get your heart broken again.”
“You weren’t a relationship kind of guy, and look at you now. All it takes is the right person, Jackson.”
He gets up and turns to leave. “Trust me. There are plenty of other women out there who will fulfill your sexual wants and needs. Don’t demand a relationship from the first woman to suck your dick just the way you like it.”
“What, like you did to the first woman who made you work for it?” I speak to his back as he continues walking.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he singsongs.
As he leaves, my phone goes off with an incoming text message.
Viv
Plans tonight?
After she left me in Harry Winston yesterday, I did my best to stay away from my phone and keepmyself busy, so I wouldn’t feel the need to message or call her. Smiling at the fact that she cracked first, I wait a few minutes before replying.
No. Are you working?