Exposed: A British Bad Boy Romance (13 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Susie

T
he car ride with Jasper is so awkward that I want to roll down the window and jump the fuck out.

I feel like there’s so much hanging between us, unsaid. But maybe that’s just me. Maybe that’s just my emotions making things weird.

Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to this.

I need to be done with him. Jasper can never give me the things I really want from him — loyalty, stability, honesty.

That’s not who he is.

I can’t ask him to change for me.

But at least I can give him a chance.

I knew after Alisha read the story that I wouldn’t be able to submit it without extensive edits. As much as I want to hate Jasper, I’m just not that vindictive.

My career goals never involved ruining someone else, and despite what he likes to say, there
is
such a thing as bad publicity.

He pulls into a parking spot and I see a big decorated pavilion with probably at least a hundred people milling about.

“This is all your employees?” I ask in awe.

Jasper gets out of the car with a stretch, “And their families. It’s kind of an open invitation-type thing.”

There’s reggaeton playing loudly, kids running around, lots of people drinking and laughing and just having a grand old time.

“Chef’s here!” someone shouts and it seems like the whole crowd turns in unison to lift their drinks to him with a hearty cry of ‘Chef!’

Nope, no cowering here.

“Try to enjoy yourself,” he says to me before joining the throng of people.

He just leaves me there by myself. An outcast. A stranger at this big party.

I shuffle my feet a little before moving away from the car.

I’m not exactly
shy
, but I also didn’t expect Jasper to just cut and run.

Maybe I should be grateful for that — it’s not like we were exactly talkative with one another on the ride over. I’d probably just make things more awkward if I hung on behind him without actually wanting to
speak
to him.

So I hang around the outside, listening. Observing.

It seems that Jasper knows everyone — employees and their families alike. He’s getting hugs, handshakes, and bro-hugs from everyone that sees him.

Then he’s being pushed toward a line of charcoal grills, put in charge of the whole thing.

Jasper makes it look easy. He carries on half a dozen conversations, busting balls, cracking jokes, laughing and still keeping a watchful eye on all of the food.

I realize that he’s having fun. Letting loose.

And lighting up in a way I’ve never really seen.

Sure I’ve seen him cook a few times, but that was always in private. Here, he’s got an audience. He’s relaxed and in his element.

And I’m starting to understand a little better — pampered playboy isn’t the life he asked for.

I’m nursing a beer, minding my own business, marveling at how I managed to overlook this aspect of him completely, when a voice from behind startles me.

“You must be the reporter, eh?”

I turn around quickly, my hair whipping around my face as I do, “Um… Guilty?”

The stranger smiles; he’s got a rich caramel complexion, bright green eyes and a cockney accent rough enough to make women swoon, I’m sure. He takes a seat next to me and offers his hand.

“Name’s Ricardo.”

“Susie,” I say, shaking his offered hand skeptically. Did Jasper send him to talk to me?

I look over in his direction, but Jasper’s not paying me any attention.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Ricardo says and I shoot him a surprised look.

“Have you now?”

“Mhm, I have.” He leaves it at that and I have a million questions racing through my mind.

What have you heard?

From whom?

What has Jasper said?

Then I realize I’m being exactly the needy girl I don’t want to be and I shrug it off, “I think he’s mentioned you once or twice.”

“I’d bloody hope so. We’ve been mates for nearly twenty years.”

“So you grew up with Jasper?”

Ricardo drinks from his beer bottle and nods, “Yeah. His folks weren’t too keen on it, but Jasper’s never cared for their opinions. I’m a few years younger than him, mind and my family never had all that much. Jasper’s taken good care of us all.”

I frown. He hasn’t mentioned anything like that.

“What do you mean?”

Ricardo jerks his head in Jasper’s direction, “Did he ever tell you why he got started in restaurants?”

I shrug, “He mentioned robbing someone that gave him a job instead of sending him to jail.”

“Ah. Well, yeah, that’s how it
started
. He
stayed
in the restaurant to make sure my family had food on the table. He’d sneak scraps and clippings home to us and my mum taught him how to make something great out of nothing at all.”

I feel my jaw drop and I can’t even begin to cover up my surprise, “He never mentioned that.”

“Well, no, he wouldn’t would he? Doesn’t really go with the whole
persona
. Well, once I was old enough, Jasper got me a job washing dishes. He was just a line cook then, but he’s got a knack for it. You know some people are just born to do something. That’s Jasper and cooking. Maybe that’s you and writing. I don’t know.”

I nod, understanding what he’s trying to say.

“Well, ol’ Jasper went and got himself right famous, but he never forgot my mum. In the beginning he’d send her bits of his paychecks. Now he’s got her put up in a real swank flat in London. Mum’s not got a care in the world thanks to Jasper. But that’s not the story you’ll read about in the bloody tabloids.”

I bite my lip, feeling a wave of apprehension crash into me, “He told you about my piece, then?”

Ricardo seems confused and shakes his head, “Haven’t heard more than that you’re doing it.”

“Right,” I say, at a loss for anything more.

This conversation has given me a lot to think about.

There are sides to Jasper I don’t know about. I’ve always known that much, but I didn’t realize they’d be so…

Redeeming
.

Ricardo’s story makes Jasper seem more human. More real.

I knew there had to be more to him, but I never expected him to be
charitable
or
gracious
.

Maybe he was telling the truth when he said he’s not as bad as people think.

Maybe I was too quick to judge him.

Maybe I’m just setting myself up for heartbreak all over again.  

I look over to Jasper again and he smiles; my heart clenches.

Can I open myself up to him?

Can I let him inside?

He waves me over and I glance at Ricardo who jerks his head in Jasper’s direction, “Go on, then.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Jasper

“E
njoying yourself, Susie?” I ask as she comes up beside me behind the bank of grills.

We’ve got enough food here to feed an army — and the army to go with it.

“It’s been pretty enlightening,” she says.

“Oh dear. What have they said about me now?”

She smirks and my insides do this little lurch. Right this moment, I’d give anything for things to go back to the way they were before the model incident.

Back to when Susie graced my bed every night. When I was able to wake up and take her to my heart’s content. That one blissful week when everything seemed perfect.

“Oh. Only wonderful, glowing, reputation-ending praise.”

“Oof,” I cringe. “Don’t print any of that, eh? Elliot would burst a fucking artery.”

Susie’s mouth falls and I’m still picturing all the dirty things I could do to that mouth. That it could do — and has done — to me.

Fuck. Will I never stop being hard for this girl? It’s bloody unnatural.

“Why? What’s so horrible about being a nice guy?”

“Oy! Keep your voice down,” I say with a little smirk of my own.

She rolls her eyes, “Clearly it’s not news to any of these people that you’re half-way decent.”

I lift a brow, “Clearly
you’ve
never seen me fly into a rage on the line.”

“Mhm,” she says, crossing her arms defiantly, “I’m not buying it anymore. I don’t think you’re scary or mean at all.”

“Oh no?”

She shakes her head, honey curls bouncing as she does, “Nope. Not a chance.”

Part of me is ecstatic. This is just what I wanted, right?

For Suzette to see me as the person behind the
Jasper Wild
moniker. For her to realize there’s more to me than an overactive sex drive and a hot temper.

Now that she’s realizing it, I feel
exposed.
Like she’s brought my dirty little secrets to light, even if those dirty secrets are actually… well, pretty flattering I suppose.

Most people wouldn’t be ashamed of helping out a friend’s family.

But that’s not the version of me that people want. It’s not what the investors are paying for.

So like it or not, I can’t let Suzette write some mushy piece about my good deeds.

So what the fuck did I want from her?
If it wasn’t to get her to change the story, why did I insist on bringing her here and changing her opinion?

Because you care about
her
opinion
, a nagging little voice says in the back of my head.

“You hungry?” I ask, plating a portion of food, handing it off to her to change the subject before I dig myself in any deeper.

She gives me that suspicious look that makes me want to lift her into my arms, press her against a wall and do terribly naughty things to her.

“Yeah, I am, thanks.”

Instead of taking her plate to one of the picnic tables littering the pavilion, Susie stands right there next to me and takes a big mouthful of food, her eyes going wide the moment it hits her tongue.

“Oh my god, Jasper. This is fucking delicious.”

I shrug, “But I’m not known for having any particular skill in the kitchen,” I tease.

Her cheeks color just the faintest bit, but she doesn’t shrink back from me.

“You should have this on your menu,” she says, shoveling in another plastic forkful with a satisfied groan.

“Glad you approve,” I say.

Ricardo comes up behind me and claps a hand on my shoulder, “I’ve got it from here, mate. Go enjoy yourself. It’s your party, after all.”

Without even thinking, I settle a hand on Susie’s lower back. She gives me a challenging look, but says nothing, so the hand stays.

Small victories.

“Care to take a walk with me?”

Susie finishes inhaling the food I’ve provided and nods, “Sure.”

We wander away from the party, through the park’s winding trails.

“Jasper,” Susie says and I hear the hesitation in her voice.

Don’t turn me away again.

I don’t know how I’ll ever recover if she does.

“I want to…” she sighs, “I wanted to apologize for jumping to conclusions the other night. I should have given you a chance to explain.”

I let my hand curl around her side and pull her a little closer to me.

God damn it, I could be happy just walking with her like this. But I want more. I want
everything
Susie has to give.

I want
all
of her.

“Understandable given my reputation. I wouldn’t have waited around to hear what I had to say either.”

She’s worrying her bottom lip and I can tell that’s not all.

“I was just really embarrassed because… well…” her cheeks turn furiously bright and I stop walking to face her.

“Because what?”

She shakes her head, “Nothing, it’s stupid. It doesn’t matter. I reacted poorly and for that I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” I say.

She lets out a little sigh — relief I’m guessing? — and kicks at the gravel underfoot, “You remember what I was wearing that night?”

I think back, pushing out the memories of all the girls who weren’t Suzette.

“A coat?” I say, remembering how tightly she pulled the garment closed around herself in the hotel’s hallway.

“Right… That was it. I was trying to surprise you with something sexy and… Well, it obviously backfired.”

I’m such a fucking arsehole.

Her anger makes more sense now. It wasn’t just betrayal that hurt her, it was embarrassment, thinking that she’d read the whole situation wrong.

“Fucking hell, I certainly missed out, didn’t I?”

She gives me a coy little grin that sends my pulse racing.

“Yep.”

We’re not walking any more. In fact, we’re locked on one another and I’m searching for a secluded place. There’s a gazebo a few meters away, well-hidden by lush foliage and currently deserted. I steer us in that direction.

“And what about this little number?” I ask, grazing my hand over her hip, desperate to hike up this sweet little dress and have my way with her. “Was this chosen to drive me mad, too?”

She looks down, “No.”

“Liar,” I growl, pulling her against me.

“There’s no way in hell you picked that dress without knowing full well the effect it would have on me.”

Then her lips turn up at the corners and her voice is barely a husky whisper, “Well, maybe.”

Bloody hell
.

I can’t resist it any more. My fingers tangle in her hair and I pull her face up to mine, crushing my lips against her in the most desperate kiss of my damned life.

I expect her to push me away. To fight against it. But she doesn’t.

Susie’s hands find my chest and she leans in and
moans
.

That’s enough to be my undoing.

In a flash I’ve got her pinned up against one of the massive columns of the gazebo. We haven’t quite made it there, but Susie’s clutching at me, whimpering as my tongue enters her mouth and my hand slides up her thigh.

Instinctively she hooks one of her legs around my hip and my fingers graze over the damp fabric of her panties.

“And look at you, Good Girl Susie Q,
dripping wet
for me,” I murmur against her ear, sliding one finger into her.

She throws her head back and grinds against my fingers as I slip a second digit into her welcoming warmth.

“Jasper,” she pants.

“That’s it, luv. Say my name.” I nip at the side of her neck, my fingers pistoning inside of her until her nails dig into my shoulders and each of her breaths escapes as a wanton cry.

“Jasper,” she pants again, her lust-glazed eyes opening just long enough to lock with mine, “I want you.”

Her hand travels down to my khaki shorts, brushing up against my cock and I groan, “Feeling’s mutual, luv.”

I curl my fingers inside of her, finding her clit with my thumb as I push her further and further.

She’s writhing and moaning, but she manages to still herself long enough to look me in the eyes again, “No,
now.
”

She pushes my hand away and then takes it in her own, dragging me into the deserted gazebo. Then she’s hopped up on the railing and crooks her finger at me.

Bloody fucking Christ this woman will be the end of me
.

I settle myself between her spread legs and she unzips my shorts, freeing my cock with one expert motion.

Susie wraps her legs around my waist and drapes her arms around my shoulder, pressing her lips to the base of my ear, “Fuck me, Jasper.”

It’s a fucking miracle that I don’t dump my load right then and there.

But there’s no arguing with a command like that.

With one quick movement, I’ve pushed her panties to the side and I slide into her in the most natural and perfect way.

To all the world, we look like a sweet couple embracing under a romantic gazebo. Her flouncy sundress covers our indecency and the wild hungry look in her eyes spurs me onward.

In reality, I’m buried to the hilt within her, her sweet pussy milking my cock with every short quick thrust inside of her.

Susie clings to me, her fingers digging into my back as she bites down on my shoulder to muffle her cries.

It’s quick, brutal, and oh-so-satisfying.

When we’re finished, Susie just hangs onto me a moment, laughing her head off.

I withdraw from her and tuck my cock back into my pants before I give her a half-cocked grin, “What’s so funny, luv?”

She shakes her head, “I can’t believe we just did that.”

I nod, helping her to her — clearly shaking — feet, “And at your suggestion, even. I was wrong about you, Suzette Quincy. You
are
a naughty girl.”

Her cheeks flush with color but I can tell she’s pleased with herself.

She hooks her arm through mine and turns to me with eyes full of promise, “And that was only the appetizer.”