Owned by Fate (Serve #1)(18)

Not just any fulfillment, either. She’d tried it the…manual way. Technically, it had worked, even if it hadn’t been easy with her puppies in bow ties screensaver staring her in the face. It had been pathetic in comparison to what Jonah had coaxed from her body, leading her to admit one indisputable fact. She wanted, craved Jonah. He’d grabbed hold of her libido and shaken it like a snow globe. Now the little particles, twisting and shimmering behind the glass, refused to settle.

He wanted to show her his world, prove it wasn’t as depraved as she thought. But how could she write an objective article when he planned to steal her objectivity? Had already stolen some of it? Her sex life, up until this point, had consisted of a few third-date consummations, all of which had paled in comparison to Jonah simply sharing air with her. Whether she liked it or not, their chemistry was extreme, to a level she’d considered a myth until now. Worse, she found herself wanting to know more about him. Her weakness for contradictions had been far from satisfied during their two encounters. In fact, it had only ballooned. A man who went from playful to imploring to sexually formidable within seconds…he intrigued the hell out of her.

And then, there had been that unforgettable hint of vulnerability. Just after she’d told him their connection to each other wasn’t healthy, career-wise or personally, right before he’d put his hand up her skirt, she’d witnessed just a brief flash of sorrow. If she had to guess, she’d say he’d heard those words numerous times. Knowing she’d been part of a pattern in any way made her feel slightly ill. Regretful, even.

None of this should matter in the slightest. Tonight, she would get this longing for a man who equated to career suicide out of her system. She would find a way for the attraction to make sense and move on. Get back to what her focus should be on. Saving Preston’s while finding a way to soften the blow when she vetoed her brother’s plan.

First, however, it was obvious her best friend needed her.

“Normally by now, we’d have made this bagel assortment our bitch.” Caroline made a halfhearted attempt to smear cream cheese with the plastic knife. “What could possibly lessen your desire for free carbohydrates?”

“Huh?” Eliza’s vision cleared. “Just not that hungry.”

Okay, that was concerning, considering Eliza liked to eat as much as she did. “Come on,” Caroline pressed. “You’ve been quiet since Friday night. Spill it. Did Gavin Rossdale teleport you back to the nineties and force you to model scrunchies?”

“I’ve been quiet?” Eliza sat up a little straighter and reached for a slice of kiwi. “You still haven’t told me what sent you running out of Serve mumbling about lollipops and feather dusters.”

Caroline winced. She had zero recollection of said mumblings. “Er—you go first?”

Eliza rolled her eyes, stalling as she chewed. “Fine. There may have been a…misunderstanding of sorts. Between Gavin and me.”

“If that was really his name, I’m straight up moonwalking on this table.”

“It might have been.” Eliza gave a strained smile. “Never asked for his actual name.”

Caroline nodded, without a hint of judgment on her face. After all, hadn’t she waited until she and Jonah were pressed against each other in the elevator to get his name? “All right. So what was the misunderstanding?”

Eliza’s cheeks flushed. “I might have…allowed him to believe I’d been there before. Upstairs, that is. Quite a few times, at that.”

Caroline slowly laid down the plastic knife. “You went upstairs with him, letting him think you were experienced in”—she lowered her voice when a group of people walked past their open door—“that sort of thing?”

Her best friend nodded, once again looking numb. “Yeah. He explained that each floor has a different intensity level. First floor being the lightest, third being heaviest.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I told him I preferred the second floor. Medium is the safe choice, right? I have no idea what the hell I was thinking. Except that I wanted an adventure.” She shook her head rapidly. “God, that sounds so stupid now.”

Caroline was stunned by what Eliza had been keeping to herself. “What happened?”

“When we started discussing limits, I think it became pretty obvious I had no idea what he was talking about. I booked it.” Eliza groaned at the ceiling. “We didn’t even make it to the elevator, although that’s probably a good thing, since I wasn’t even cleared to go upstairs.”

Caroline waited until Eliza looked at her. “Hey, stupid would have been not booking it and going through with something you weren’t comfortable with.” Jonah’s voice whipped through her head, asking for her safe word, asking her to trust him. She’d never once felt apprehensive. There hadn’t been room for it among the heat. “You did the right thing. Nothing to be embarrassed about, Eliza.”

“Thanks,” her friend mumbled, clearly not convinced.

“So you, uh…have to be cleared to go upstairs?” Caroline picked up the knife again and attempted to saw a sesame seed bagel in half. “No one cleared me.”

Laughter bubbled from Eliza. “You went upstairs?”

“Hmm.”

“Were you gagged and kidnapped? It’s the only way I can imagine that happening.”