Forever Ours (The Billionaire Next Door Book 8) (2 page)

~Chapter 3~

As I left the mall, I thought about Jason, and
how he committed to me right away. He never had a single doubt about me, even
when he asked me to move in with him.

Jason.
I loved Jason.

Sometimes I thought about how much I loved him
and let that warm, delicious feeling trickle down through my body.

In that moment, I had the insatiable urge to
see him.

I checked my phone. There was a text from
Jason.

Jason (2:03PM): I’m almost done.

I smiled.

Perfect.

***

The Jacksonville
mall wasn’t far from where Jason worked, as they were both in the downtown
core. I got there as soon as I could and made my way up the elevator to the
60th floor, Jason’s floor.

The elevator doors opened up on a desk with an
attractive woman sitting behind it.

“Hello Dana,” I said.

“Hi Sophia!” The tall, beautiful blond behind
the desk chirped.

“Have a good Christmas?”

“It was lovely - the whole family came down
from New Orleans.”

“Well that’s nice. Is Jason still in?”

“You’re just in time
—
he just finished his last meeting.”

“Great.”

“Do you want me to call him to let him know
you’re coming?”

“Actually, I think I’ll surprise him.”

“Suit yourself.” She smiled and sat back down
behind her desk, clicking away at hey keyboard.

I turned left and walked down the beautiful
office towards the tall, frosted door with Jason Powers’ name on it.

I knocked.

“Come in,” a tired voice asked on the other
side.

I pushed the door open. Jason was standing
behind his desk, leaning on it with both hands and studying something serious
that was laid out on the desk in front of him.

“What is it now? I plan on being out of here
in twenty min-” He looked up and immediately the tiredness on his face melted
away. His whole demeanor changed as he stood up straight and slipped his hands
in his pockets. “Now look what the wind blew in.”

Oh my god.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off that sexy smirk.

The raised eyebrow, the amused smile
—
everything was intensified when Jason was in his work suit, standing
behind his desk in his luxurious office. The walls of his office, much like the
walls in our penthouse suite, were made of windows, simultaneously looking out
over the city as well as out towards his floor and employees.

Taking his time, Jason walked towards the
window looking out over his employees and he pushed a button which automatically
frosted over the windows so that nobody could see in or out.

Jason looked up at me as he slipped his hand
back into his pocket and walked around his desk so that he stood in front of
it. He leaned back, sitting on the surface of the desk, and crossed his arms
across his chest.

“What can I do for you, Ms. Fletcher?”

Ms. Fletcher.
Ugh
. I was so sick of
being Ms. Fletcher.
I wanted to be Mrs. Powers.

“Well, I was thinking about you and I came in
because I thought maybe looking at you would alleviate this curse.”

He smirked. “Since when did thinking about me
become a curse?”

“It’s impossible to go anywhere without doing
it. You have quite the effect on a woman, Mr. Powers.”

He smiled and a satisfied groan escaped his
throat as he looked me up and down. “If seeing me makes you stop thinking about
me, maybe I should turn you away.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Absolutely not,” he said, chuckling. “If it
were up to me, I’d have you right here.” He pointed to the spot immediately in
front of him.

Something naughty flinched inside me.

“I just don’t want you to stop thinking about
me,” he continued.

“There’s a small likelihood of that
happening.” Without thinking, as if possessed by a trance, I stepped towards
him, feeling the renewed excitement between my legs which had lingered there
since the morning.

When I was in reach, Jason pulled me towards
him, pulling my leg up next to his.

Oh my.

“I want to continue where we left off this
morning.” Jason pulled me in for a long, slow, hard kiss. His breath was minted
and though I could still smell the fresh spring soap scent lingering on his
skin, I could also smell the day’s perspiration that hung on him like musky
dew.

I inhaled and let his scent overtake my
senses. I moaned in pleasure as Jason kissed my neck, massaging my skin between
his soft lips.

“Jason, you’re delicious.”

Jason moaned and kissed me harder, moving up
my neck, giving me hot chills. His breath blasted against my ear. His hand
slipped around my waist, pulling me onto him. Between my legs, I felt him
growing against the material of his pants.

“Oh, Jason.”

Jason’s lips found mine as he kissed me
passionately. I grabbed his suit jacket and peeled it off his body. My hand
moved up to touch the already bared section of skin on Jason’s chest.

Jason’s hands grabbed my thighs, pushing my
skirt up around my waist. As he had done many times before, he wrapped my legs
around him and picked me up, carrying me to the chair behind his desk. He sat
down, sitting me down on top of him so that I was straddling him.

If any of those frosted glass windows malfunctioned…

Lifting up a little, I reached down to
unbutton Jason’s pants and spring him free. I touched him, enjoying the feeling
of his stiffness in my hand. I could feel every ridge, every vein. Jason
moaned.

“
Shh
,”
I reminded.

This seemed to push Jason over the edge as his
fingers reached the area between my legs. After playing around for a little
while, he pulled the string of my panties aside, exposing my slippery, wet area
to him. As I straddled him, he poked against me and plunged inside.

The feeling was instantly orgasmic. I let out
a small gasp and Jason put his finger on my lips, hushing me. The steely stare
in his dark eyes commanded me to do all he willed. I kept quiet, stifling my
moans and gasps which built up inside me, adding more pressure, more pleasure,
intensifying every pulse and every push. Jason angled his hips, rocking them
against me, sliding, pushing deeper.

I dropped my head back, allowing my long hair
to dance down my lower back and tickle the tops of Jason’s bare thighs.

There was something insanely seductive about
being taken by Jason next to his desk. This was where he did his work. This was
where he made his office calls and had his meetings. This was where he handled
the most powerful transactions between the Western and Eastern hemispheres.
This
was where Jason was powerful.

Jason’s thighs flinched beneath me as I had
this thought. His hands caressed my back, maneuvering my body as he slid into
me with short, powerful bursts.

“That feels good,”
I whispered. His commanding eyes sought mine and I bit my lips.
“Oh—”

Without warning, my body fell into a frenzy,
pulsing wildly around Jason. My skin suddenly felt sweaty and hot and my vision
blurred. I dug my fingers into Jason’s shoulders and he held me just as tight.
I watched his face carefully as those commanding eyes became lustful. That
power he held on me slipped as he fell into a moment of pure pleasure.

“
Ahh
—”
A momentary gasp escaped his throat. When the orgasm had come and
gone, he looked at me with a look of tired satisfaction. His hair stuck out in
all directions.

I laughed at the juxtaposition of the image
—
a messy Jason in a tidy, professional office. Jason smiled as if joining in
on the joke. He threaded his fingers in my hair and messed it up just as bad.
“There. Now we’re both messy.”

I smirked. “You think you’re so clever, don’t
you?”

He smirked and fixed my hair, smoothing each
strand into place. “Let’s go home, kiddo.”

~Chapter 4~

It was New Years Eve and Jason and I were
getting ready for the big evening. All day I had momentary bouts of anxiousness
as I realized what I was planning on doing. Despite my nervousness, I was
excited and I looked forward to the evening.

I just wished midnight would get here sooner.

The whole year flashed by but now the last day
of the year ticked by as slow as possible. Each time I looked at the clock I
was amazed by how what I thought was a couple of minutes had actually been a
couple of seconds.

Why was time going by so slow?

I wanted to be engaged to Jason Powers now! A
few times throughout the day, as Jason and I lounged around the penthouse,
getting chores done, I thought about proposing right then and there, but I
stopped myself. Proposing while cleaning up the kitchen in our sweatpants
wasn’t the greatest story to tell our future children.

Don’t do it,
I told myself. I already went through the trouble of setting up the
venue for the surprise tonight that I couldn’t just turn around and ruin it.

“Feeling alright?” Jason asked, seeing my
trembling hands as I poured myself a cup of coffee.

“Yes,” I squeaked, sipping the coffee to hide
my shaky voice. “Just looking forward to tonight. I hope I don’t get too tired
before midnight.”

Jason pulled me close to him and wrapped his big
arms around me. “You’ll be fine.”

I held my cup steady, careful not to drip any
coffee onto the floor.

“I hope so.”

Later, we were both getting dressed. I had the
perfect cocktail dress made of large multi-colored sequins — fuchsia,
turquoise, yellow. Ellie helped me pick it out.

Jason watched me as I walked into the room. He
whistled.

“You look like New Years itself.”

I smiled, not exactly sure what that meant,
but I liked it.

“You clean up pretty well.” I smirked. Jason
was dressed in a gray designer suit with a black skinny tie.

 
“I feel
like I should change.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I won’t get any attention standing next to
you.”

I smiled. His compliments almost distracted me
from the apprehension behind his eyes.

“Jason —
are
you
okay?”

His gaze had lingered and now he was staring
off into nothingness. He shook himself back to the present.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m just thinking about
tonight.” He smiled and put his elbow out. “Are you ready to bring this city to
a stop?”

I smiled. “I’ll do my best.” I took his arm.
As we walked towards the elevator, my heart seized.

The ring.

How could I forget it?

“Umm — I forgot something.”

“I’ll go get it.” Jason was already walking
back towards our room.

“No!”
I screamed a
little
too
loud causing Jason to whip around and look at me. “I mean —
it’s one of my lipsticks. I don’t think you’ll know which one I need.” I rushed
past him, my high heels clip-clopping against the tiled floor. Once I was back
in our room my heart was racing in my chest and pounding in my ears like the
most urgent countdown clock.

Jason might come in. Don’t let Jason see. Don’t ruin
the surprise.

I scrambled and opened the drawer, grabbing
the small box containing the silver ring and shoving it in my purse. It was
only once I closed my purse and secured the clasp did I feel like I could slow
down and take a breath.

“Ready?” Jason asked. He was standing in the
doorway of our bedroom.

My heart couldn’t catch a break!

Convincing myself he didn’t see anything, I
looked up, inhaled a deep breath, and smiled.

“Ready.”

***

We made our way down to the front of the
building where the limo waited for us. As we got into the backseat, Jason
grabbed a bottle of champagne and uncorked it, pouring two glasses.

“I want to make a toast.” He handed me a flute
of champagne and held up the other. “To us. This was our year, and we did
everything we could with it.”

I held my glass up. “To us.”

We both drank the bubbly liquid and Jason
topped up both glasses again.

“This really has been a fantastic year,” I
said.

“Of course it has, we met each other.” Jason
slipped his hand in mine. “I didn’t think I’d ever meet a woman as incredible
as you.” He squeezed my hand, sending butterflies fluttering around inside my
stomach.

I shifted closer to him and kissed him on the
lips, slowly so that I’d be careful not to smear my lipstick. He slipped his
free hand around my waist. As we kissed, I was painfully aware of the ring in
my purse, which seemed to be burning hot, buzzing for attention. I did my best
to keep my attention on the man in front of me, but it was nearly impossible.
My fingers were trembling, my stomach was doing somersaults, and the question
lingered on the tip of my tongue. A few times I felt like I wanted to blurt it
out, but I had to bite the words back.

It wasn’t the right time yet.

Pulling back, we looked at each other and
smiled.

“This is going to be the best party of the
year,” Jason said.

He thought we were heading to the courtyard
party downtown near the mall, but I had other plans for him.

The limo came to a stop and the driver came
around to open our door for us. Looking outside, Jason furrowed his brow.

“This isn’t the courtyard party. Stan, you
brought us to the wrong place!”

I put my arm on Jason’s shoulder. “I told him
to come here.” The last thing I wanted was the driver to get in trouble.

“You did?” Jason was still confused.

I nodded.

“But why?”

I smiled. “You’ll see.”

We both got out of the car and I took his hand
as we walked towards the surprise I set up for him.

“Wait — what is this?” Jason looked around. We
were in front of an outdoor skating rink which was surrounded with holiday
lights. A canopy of stars acted as the ceiling for our personal arena. “A
skating rink?”

I nodded. The worry on Jason’s face melted
away into excitement.

“I didn’t know they had these out here.”

“This is the only one. They use special
technology to keep the ice at the perfect temperature for skating.”

“This.” He looked up at me. “This is amazing.”
Jason took a few steps forward. “And the skates?”

“Over there.” I pointed towards the skates
laid out on the bench.

Jason was visibly torn between running towards
the skates and coming back to give me a big kiss. He did the latter, not caring
about the lipstick I was wearing. Jason came out of it with a big red grin.

“This is
awesome
.”

I laughed, wiping the lipstick off his lips
with my thumb.

“Come on!” Jason grabbed my hand from his
mouth and pulled me towards the bench where he handed me my skates and we both
laced up. As he got up and stepped onto the pristine ice, he looked up at me.
“Do you even know how to skate?”

I stepped out onto the ice and pushed myself
off, gliding towards him.

The surprise on Jason’s face said it all. “How
did you learn how to do that?”

“Practice.” I smirked. Truthfully, I had been taking
secret lessons for the past few weeks in preparation for this night.

Jason took my hand and whipped me around,
skating me in a circle. I laughed.

“You look like you’re in shock,” I said.

Jason laughed and shook away the surprise on
his face.

“I still can’t believe you did this. When did
you do the arrangements?”

“While you were at
work.
I asked if I could rent out the skating rink.
It took some convincing, but living with you has considerably improved my
negotiation skills.”

Jason smiled and pulled me in close, as if we
were slow dancing. By this point our lips were no more than an inch away from
each other. The chilliness of the ice kissed my bare legs. Though I thought I
would feel uncomfortable, the sensation was oddly refreshing.

“I want to do more of what you love,” I said.

The corners of Jason’s lips turned up
slightly. “You always know what I love.”

He moved in and kissed me, slowly,
passionately. My heart was beating a hundred times a minute and I wondered if
Jason could hear its song. My palms became sweaty in his. The time to propose
was getting closer and closer.
My heart…
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to
calm myself.

BOOM.

My heart nearly jumped into my throat before
vibrating violently in my chest. Jason and I were startled away from each other.

BOOM.
BOOM.

Still holding hands we looked up into the sky
where red and pink fireworks dazzled in the sky.

BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.

Three more exploded in the night
sk
y — g
reen
, gold, and white. The
shimmering sparkles rained down the sky, lighting our wide eyes and bright,
smiling faces.

For some reason, the loud explosions of the
fireworks sent relief through my body. The explosions were calming, drowning
out the drum of my heart and the whirlwind of thoughts storming in my head.

BOOM.
BOOM.

Jason looked at his watch.

“It’s midnight,” he said. He looked into my
eyes and we connected. “Happy New Years, Sophia.”

His hand squeezed mine. I smiled.

“Happy New Years, Jason.” I leaned in and
kissed him tenderly on the lips.
The perfect first kiss to
start the year.

The perfect last kiss as boyfriend and
girlfriend.

The nerves came back but they were quickly
zapped away by another Earth-shaking firework.

BOOM.

Jason took my hands in his.

I hope he doesn’t feel me trembling.

Despite my nervous demeanor, Jason was calm, cool,
and collected. I let out a sharp sigh. If there was ever a time to do this, it
was now.

I took in a deep breath. “Jason—”

“Sophia,” he interrupted. “Before you go any
further, I want to tell you that from the moment I met you, I knew there was
something special about you. I knew you were someone I couldn’t help but fall
in love with. That’s why I want to ask you a personal question.” Still holding
my hands, he bent down onto the ice and rested on one knee.

Wait — what?

“What’s going on?” I asked stupidly. Jason
blinked up at me. The situation was so absurd, and so unexpected, that I began
to laugh. Jason saw this and smiled.

“Sophia Fletcher.” Jason pulled a small box
out of his pocket and opened it, showing me a beautiful ring which brightly
reflected the white ice, the colorful holiday lights, and the colors of
sparkling fireworks above. “Will you marry me?”

Hot tears streamed down my face. I held my
hands over my mouth.

“Sophia?”

Whether a second or a minute had gone by, I wasn’t
sure. This was a moment frozen in time, disturbed only by the booming fireworks
above us.

I nodded.
“Yes,”
I managed to say
through tears and shock. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Jason got up off his knee and pulled me in for
a kiss, more powerful and intimate than the kiss moments ago.

Our first kiss as an engaged couple.

Jason’s soft lips commanded mine as his hand
slipped behind my head, pulling me closer.

I closed my eyes, savoring the kiss and
committing the moment to memory.

BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.

I wasn’t sure if those were fireworks or my
heart.

When we came up for air we looked into each
other’s teary eyes, we both giggled like teenagers up to no good.

“Have you been planning this?” I asked,
holding up my newly bejeweled finger.

Jason nodded. “For longer than you think. I
wasn’t expecting this.” He looked around the rink. “But it turned out
perfectly.”

I smiled. “You did it just in time.” I pulled
the box out from my purse and opened it. “Because if you waited a minute
longer, I would have done it for you.”

Jason smirked as he looked at the box. His
eyes flashed up to mine and he placed his hands on either side of my face.
“That’s why I fucking love you, Sophia.” He leaned in and kissed me.