Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND) (17 page)

She was too old to tease a man and too old to get this wound up herself without seeking relief. Whether she was mentally ready or not, she was going to have to have him physically. Jasper wasn’t the only one who couldn’t take much more.

The room phone rang and she walked back into the main area to answer it. “Hello?”

“Should I apologize?” Jasper asked softly without preamble.

The short elevator ride had been enough to bring him to his senses. He couldn’t believe how close he’d come to a line he’d never crossed. He was forty-five and not a horny kid out to score. It had shocked him to know that he’d actually been ready to do anything it took to get inside Chloe Zanders. It had also thrilled him, but by the time he’d reached the lobby it was the shock that ruled.

Chloe shook her head in answer to his Jasper’s question, then realized he couldn’t see her and laughed at herself. “No. No apology needed. I’d be completely disappointed if I thought you were seducing me merely to prove a point, even as effective as it was. Truthfully, I don’t know how I sent you away.”

There was silence on the line. and Chloe wondered if she had offended or surprised him.

“Should I come back to your room then?” Jasper asked finally, crossing his fingers because no one could see him doing so in his office.

Chloe closed her eyes, sighing and impatient with her own reluctance. “No. Not right now, but—I do want to see you tonight, Jasper.”

“Dinner then?” he asked.

“Yes. Okay. Dinner,” she agreed, licking her lips, sucking the bottom one that was still tender from his teeth.

With only a few words, she could have him doing it again in two minutes. Chloe had to work hard not to moan and even harder not to beg Jasper to come back right now.

“Okay, dinner it is. Café or my suite,” Jasper asked, heart beating hard as he waited through the silence again. After a long pause, he wondered if she was still there. “Chloe?”

“I’m here,” she said. “Just thinking.”

Jasper sighed. She was scared of him, of them, and maybe of what was between them. He was too, but being a man, he’d rather be scared and be with her than a coward and never know what it was like. He dug deep for the strength of character he’d spent his life developing.

“Neither location changes the fact that what happens tonight will still be your choice, despite what just happened in your room. I would never—well, I don’t think I would ever—okay, honestly, I don’t know anymore with you, so we better have dinner in the café just to be safe. I want to be with you. It’s all I can think about at the moment.”

Chloe laughed at what Jasper said and how he said it. He had her. She couldn’t resist him anymore. Hang the amount of time that had passed. Who cared about that anyway? The man destroyed her when he kissed her.

In the big picture of her life, where disappointments had been legion over the last decade, wanting and being wanted by Jasper Wade suddenly seemed much more important than some fear she had about falling too hard too fast.

“Safe is for cowards,” Chloe finally said, hearing the resolution in her own voice. “Let’s have dinner in your suite.”

Silence again.

Then Chloe laughed when she heard Jasper audibly clearing his throat. Knowing he was as nervous as she was really did make her feel braver.

“That’s great. Now can you tell me how to fill the next four hours until I can see you at seven,” Jasper said, his voice husky with laughter and more, much more. He was going to have to work hard at not attacking the woman when she showed up at his door.

“Go visit Sam, have a drink, and calm down. Do not brag about us to him,” Chloe ordered. “I will ask Sam later, and he will tell me. And while you’re calming down, be nice and send me up a strong rum and coke. Tell Sam I said to make it a triple-shot. He won’t send that much, but I’ll get my double then. Oh and some pretzels so I won’t be completely drunk when I take a bath. I need the four hours.”

“Fine. Are we doing dinner tipsy or sober?” Jasper asked, trying to keep the cheerfulness from his voice.

“Sober,” Chloe said. “You make me drunk enough without the alcohol.”

Jasper knew that. He knew that when he’d climbed on top of her and realized that he could have her. Of course, he’d known that on some level the first time he kissed her and she had fallen against him. It had always been when—not if—since Friday.

“I’ve been waiting a lot longer than just a few days for you,” Jasper said, his voice full of so much sincerity, he was surprised he wasn’t tearing back up to her room right then. “See you at dinner, Chloe.”

“Okay,” she whispered softly, hanging up the phone.

Then she sank to the bed on very weak legs, wondering how on earth her life had changed so drastically in just four days.

Chapter 14

At five minutes before seven, Chloe stood outside the door of Jasper’s suite, taking deep breaths and reassuring herself that she wouldn’t regret what was about to happen. Finally, she lifted her hand and knocked because her nervousness wasn’t going to get any better waiting in the hall.

The door opened in a few seconds. It was obvious Jasper had been waiting anxiously for her. Instead of soothing her, the knowledge made her anxiety worse.

“Hi,” Jasper said, taking in the long teal dress that scooped low at the neck and gathered at the side of her waist. It showed off every curve he had come to appreciate in the short time he’d known her. The split that ran up one leg was nice too.

He’d have to remember not to rip her dress reaching under it. He had no doubts he’d be doing at least that before the night was over.

“Come in, Chloe. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Chloe nodded at his invitation and swallowed around the nervous lump in her throat as she walked into the room. She smelled Jasper’s cologne as she passed by, and it seemed to be everywhere she walked. It made her want to bypass the sitting area and head straight for the adjoining room that she would bet money had a king size bed in it.

Something of what she was thinking must have shown on her face because Jasper came straight to her and pulled her into his arms.

“I know this is too fast, but I can’t seem to slow down where you’re concerned,” he said, touching his mouth to hers, feeling her glossy lipstick slide across his lips.

The thought of having her mark him made him dizzy with lust. The thought of kissing it off her mouth until her lips were as naked as he intended to make the rest of her made contemplating the act even worse. He would probably go on some crazy rampage soon if he didn’t indulge the urge.

“Kiss me, Chloe. I’ve missed you all afternoon,” Jasper said.

Chloe tossed the small purse she carried on a nearby couch and wrapped her arms around him. Her mouth opened to his, her hands found their way into his hair, and when she pulled away she saw he wasn’t wearing a tie. Groaning as his hands cupped her breasts again, she kissed his neck and the opening of his shirt.

“Wait—I’m getting lipstick all over your expensive shirt,” Chloe said, groaning in dismay instead of lust this time.

“I’ll probably save it as a souvenir,” Jasper said in voice that was husky with arousal. “Please don’t stop kissing me.”

His hoarse plea made her legs weak, and Chloe groaned against his collarbone.

“Jasper, I—oh screw it, I want you too,” she said hoarsely, wrapping herself around him, pouring her whole self into exploring his mouth when she went back to it.

Then she kissed his neck and down his chest as she happily undid the first few buttons of his shirt. They were weaving and both dizzy with longing when they heard the insistent knocking at the door and broke apart.

“It’s a bit earlier than I requested, but I think that’s probably our dinner,” Jasper said sadly, bending his forehead to hers.

“Dinner?” Chloe asked, having totally forgotten she had come for any other reason than to be alone with him and kiss him all she wanted.

“Yes, dinner wasn’t just a ruse to get you into bed. I really did have intentions of feeding you,” Jasper teased, rubbing his forehead playfully against hers.

The insistent knocking sounded again. Jasper swore and moved his head to Chloe’s shoulder, burying his face against her throat and groaning loudly.

Laughing at his reluctance to leave her to answer the knocking, Chloe used both hands to run them through Jasper’s hair while he was burrowed into her neck. He was ruffled and wild looking when he finally raised his head.

The wild hair matched his eyes, Chloe thought. She couldn’t wait to make Jasper even wilder. She intended to strip every smidgen of prim and proper from the man.

“Better answer it before your staff alerts Max or Sam,” Chloe told him, reaching out to wipe a smear of red away from the corner of his mouth. “You’re a mess though. I’ll try to remember to omit the lipstick next time I come to seduce you.”

Jasper stepped back, his gaze still locked on hers, and then finally pivoted and stomped to the door, listening to Chloe’s giggling laughter.

He pulled the door open to find Rayonna’s friend Lea standing there in a light blue designer gown that was practically transparent. She was beaming at him initially, but her triumphant smile faded little by little as she took in his appearance.

Not that he cared a flip, but Jasper could only imagine how he looked to Lea with Chloe’s red lipstick all over him. All he could think was that if the woman hadn’t shown up, he might have looked even worse in a few more minutes. He might have lipstick marks in other more interesting places. He hadn’t had enough time to kiss all of it off Chloe’s mouth yet.

“I came to see if you were free for dinner,” Lea said, putting her cheerful face in place, despite the awkwardness. “I can see I’ve surprised you at an inopportune time, Jasper. Perhaps another day?”

Before he could tell her no and never, Jasper felt Chloe at his back.

“Is that our dinner, Jasper?” she asked, her tone dry with irony. She’d heard the soft female voice asking him out and come to see for herself.

“No—not dinner,” Jasper said, struggling to keep his voice soft. “It’s a misguided friend of my ex-wife’s.”

“Really? Whatever does she want?” Chloe asked wickedly, knowing full damn well what the woman was wanting. She walked around Jasper’s arm and made herself smile at the beautiful blonde standing there in a mostly see-through dress. Chloe mentally swore even as she smiled. “Oh, hello.”

“Hello,” Lea said in return, taking in the woman’s off-the-rack dress that flattered her outrageously and the dazed look of arousal on her face. It was a perfect match for Jasper’s. “I can see now I’m interrupting your evening.”

“Yes, you certainly are,” Jasper said harshly. “So go away and don’t come back.”

Chloe smacked his arm lightly. “No need to be mean.”

She looked at the beautiful woman, consigning her to hell.

“I just have to ask this. What kind of friend would ask you to seduce her ex-husband just to keep some other woman away from him?”

“A not-so-very-smart friend who hasn’t got a clue?” Lea suggested with a guilt-free smile, for some reason liking the outrageous woman’s chutzpah.

“If I was that friend of yours, I think it would be awfully hard to share my man with a woman as equally beautiful as I was. I mean, what if you didn’t want to give the man back afterwards? I seriously don’t get her thinking on this,” Chloe offered, wrapping herself around Jasper’s arm and leaning her breast against it. She tried to put a confused look on her face, instead of an angry, appalled one.

The beautiful, and much younger, woman looked surprised, but eventually smiled even more brilliantly, demonstrating her suitability for having been selected for what she did for a living. If she had been in a commercial, the woman could have sold anyone anything, Chloe thought, but a single glance at Jasper’s still angry face said he was definitely not interested in buying. Since that was the only thing Chloe truly cared about, there was no use standing there in a face-off comparing assets.

So after a lifetime of being nice, she found herself smiling back and shrugging instead of spitting venom and making threats like Taylor would have or getting in the woman’s face with a fiery lecture like the new, improved Emma would have. Chloe was never going to be in the woman’s league when it came to looks, but she was lucky in her friends. She found herself feeling sorry for the twisted friendship the model obviously had with Jasper’s ex.

“Question—am I supposed to be the man in your example?” Jasper asked sharply, turning to look at Chloe.

“Of course you are, darling,” Chloe said, tilting her smiling face to him as she tried her best to match haughty tone for haughty tone.

“Then don’t I get to have a say about this ludicrous situation?” Jasper asked, his tone edged with impatience.

Chloe gave in to her urge to laugh. Evidently, Jasper was at his snootiest when pissed. She was amused more at herself than him for liking it so much.

“You’re wearing more of my lipstick than I am, your hair is standing on end, and your shirt is half unbuttoned,” Chloe told him calmly, rubbing his arm. “Your appearance tells the story of where your loyalties lie at the moment. I—on the other hand—am still wearing all my clothes.”