Surrender Your Love (Surrender Your Love #1)(26)

I tried to shake my head, signaling that I wasn’t indeed, but the motion didn’t bode well with my stomach.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” I said, shame burning through me. I didn’t mean to drink the whole bottle. It must have been my nerves.

Seriously, Steward, how can you get that drunk in front of your boss…twice?

Maybe it was that seafood. It was a bit salty and made me thirsty, but that I wouldn’t tell him. He was the first man who cooked for me. He deserved my respect and praise.

“Let’s get you some fresh air,” Jett said. His arms traveled around my waist to steady me as he guided me through the hall and out onto the balcony.

The night sky was pitch black with a million stars sparkling like tiny diamonds. He sat onto a recliner and pulled me onto his lap. My ass settled against his crotch and I instantly froze. The drunken bubble around me lifted, maybe from the cold air that rustled the leaves and stirred the water shimmering in the moonlight. Or maybe it was his hot and heavy breath on my neck that made me realize this was it. We had signed the contract and now he wanted to seal it.

Jett’s hand moved up my abdomen but instead of the fondling I expected, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back against his chest until his heat seeped into my clothes, warming me up.

“Feeling better?” he whispered.

I nodded.

“Then relax.”

His words were a sharp command, which I didn’t dare ignore. Taking a mouthful of fresh air, I ordered my muscles to relax and my mind to clear.

“When I f**k you I want you to remember each and every kiss, every moan, every scream, every sensation about the way I feel inside of you,” Jett whispered. His arms tightened around me as he moved his crotch against my jeans. The coarse material rubbed through my wet panties against my swollen folds, making me ache with desire. My heartbeat accelerated and the tender buds of my br**sts tightened.

Leaning into him, I trailed my fingertips up his shirt and brushed my lips against his. His mouth tasted of wine and him. The cloud in my head lifted as my pulse spiked with desire.

“Obviously you’re intoxicated, Brooke, and I’m not going to risk you not remembering half of what we’d be doing,” Jett continued. “I’m not going to take you tonight. You’re safe…for now.”

His deep, dark voice sent a pulsating sensation between my legs, and in that instant I regretted drinking so much.

Chapter 13

“The Lucazzone files,” Jett said, tossing a thick blue file on top of my desk. The sound travelled all the way from my ears into my brain, causing a few neuron fibers to fire up pain in the process.

And dammit, did he have to shout like that? Or look so damn yummy when all I wanted was to roll into a ball to die?

I shot him a desperate glance. “I’ll have a look at it.” As soon as I can keep my eyes open without flinching from the glaring light flooding in through the high bay window.

“I need you to familiarize yourself with it, but don’t take too long.” Jett’s brows burrowed into the sexiest frown I had ever seen. “The owner’s health is deteriorating. We want his estate before—” He trailed off, leaving the rest to my imagination.

I knew what he was about to say.

Before the old man kicked the bucket.

“Have you made an offer yet?”

“Only about twenty in the past ten years.” Jett’s expression darkened. I sensed a hint of the wrong kind of determination and couldn’t shake off the feeling Mayfield Realties’s reputation was well earned. The Lucazzone estate was their latest acquisition-to-be, and I was about to be dragged into Mayfield’s strange work ethics, which apparently included not giving up on a project even if that meant trying to change the opinion of an old man who clearly didn’t want to sell.

“Ten years, huh?” I bit my lip, forcing myself to keep my mouth shut, and managed to do so for all of three seconds. “Maybe he loves that house and doesn’t want to part with it.” My gaze traveled up to meet Jett’s gaze tentatively. He measured me up and down, probably considering whether to tell me off for expressing my opinion when I was a mere employee.

Eventually he just sighed and inched closer. His fingers clutched my chin and forced my head up as his dark eyes descended into my soul. “Look, Brooke, I appreciate your input, but this isn’t Sunrise Properties, and I don’t really have a choice. The board members want that estate, and I’m the one who has to make it happen. It’s either getting the old man to sign, or be kicked out of my own company.” His lips trailed down the left side of my face to my ear. “You smell good,” he whispered, his hot breath grazing my skin.

An involuntary shiver of pleasure traveled all the way down into my panties. I held my breath, but a low moan escaped my throat nonetheless, betraying my unsolicited state of arousal. Jett peeled his lips off my earlobe and put a few inches between us, grinning. “I have to make some calls. Catch you later?”

Holy mother of hell, he had noticed. What gave me away this time?

“Yeah, sure,” I grumbled, and looked away—mortified.

“You know I’d help you out if I weren’t too busy. You could ask me to stay and I might be able to squeeze you into my tight schedule.” Jett trailed a finger down the nape of my neck, circling the spot where the tip of my ponytail touched my nak*d skin. His touch was so tender, yet sensual, it sent another jolt through me.