I woke up the following morning to find Jared showered and dressed, and sitting on the end of the bed. He was staring downward at his phone. Stretching, I twisted to face him. My heart started to flutter like mad, thinking about last night.
"Good morning." He bent slightly and smiled, shoving the phone into his pocket. "How about I run across the street and get us some food before I go?"
"Sure." I responded, thrusting my face back down into the pillow. "What time is it?" I asked, dreading the thought of another full day with an indecisive client. God, I wasn't ready to get out of bed just yet.
Jared was like any other new obsession of mine, the more of him I got, the more I wanted. He stood and I listened to the sound of his steps as he moved around the room. I could hear running water coming from the bathroom and I turned to shift onto my side.
He re-emerged, grabbing his keys from the floor where they had been dropped the night before. "Water's running, better go get in the tub." It was so strange, I had never experienced this side of him, so caring and sweet and I found myself actually looking forward to more of this. "Come on babe, it's getting late." He reached down, tugging on my foot.
"I know, I know." I could just imagine how horrible I looked first thing in the morning, not that he hasn't had his fair share of women stumbling out of bed with messy hair and smeared makeup, but still. We all can't wake up looking sexy as hell like him.
Right away, I cringed at the tender feeling between my legs, recalling just how rough we'd gotten last night. Groaning as I stood up, I wrapped the sheet around me and trailed it with me all the way to the bathroom.
I sat in the hot water, cleaning my achy body and going over what was left of this job. The last of the furniture would be delivered and I hoped like hell, Mrs Daniels wouldn't make any more last minute modifications. I rinsed off and got out, drying off quickly and wrapping the soft white towel around myself. Jared was sitting in the chair by the window, when I exited the steamy bathroom. Holding out a cup of coffee, he nodded toward the food on the table.
"Mmm, pancakes." Sitting across from him, I crossed one leg over the other. "So, I was thinking, I'll be home on Friday. Maybe we can do something, just the two of us, unless you already have plans." Opening the container of syrup, I drizzled it over the stack of the two fluffiest pancakes I'd ever seen. I let out a long, deep breath. We still hadn't talked about what this was going on between us.
He observed every single move I made, never taking his eyes off of me once. "That actually works out perfectly because Shannon already told me that he has a date on Friday night. We can watch a movie and just stay in, or if you'd rather, we can go out. He's going to be back and forth for a few days, moving his things." Jared meticulously began cleaning up the table. "You know Carrie, you don't have to spend every second of your free time with me. It won't hurt my feelings if you need a day or two for yourself. I get it, some days it's nice to just sleep, or unwind all alone. I just don't want you to feel pressured."
Finishing my first bite of food, I took a sip of my coffee, still shocked that he remembered how I like it. "You never make me feel that way, but are you saying this because you're the one who needs some time alone?" I hesitated, waiting for his response and running over the events since our run in at the airport. He was actually the one who started pursuing me. He insisted I come to his place that first night and ever since has been just randomly showing up.
He froze and spun around to look at me. "Come on, you know me better than that, Carrie. I'm savoring my time with you." Stepping closer, he gathered my hair and pushed it from my neck, kissing my naked shoulder. "You have no idea how I had to rearrange my schedule just to get out here and stay with you."
I was mystified at how one touch of his lips could make my breath hitch in my throat. "And I truly do appreciate that."
"You're very welcome." He added, with a kiss to my cheek before going back to his chair.
"So, Shannon has a date? Does he have a girlfriend or is it someone new?" I tried not to sound too interested, but I was dying to know. There was definitely an attraction to him and I could feel the slightest tinge of jealousy stir inside of me when Jared told me about it.
He glanced upwards at me from his phone. "Nope. Just some girl he ran into the other day, nothing serious. Does it concern you that he has a date? Maybe you want to meet her? Maybe we could all go out together."
I immediately felt sick by his proposition, but at the same time, maybe it wasn't a bad idea. "Just curious." I knew that I had no right to be jealous over anything he does. He was nothing to me after all.
"I should really go, but it would be nice for the four of us to have dinner together. Think it over."
I got up and wrapped my arms around him. His touch caused the room to feel warmer somehow, and my last two days seemed a little less bleak because of his short visit. "I should be back here by four, so I'll call you around then. Thank you so much for coming."
"Anytime." He pulled away and headed for the door with me right behind him. "Have a good day."
"Thank you for breakfast." I called out, watching him approaching the elevators. I stood in that doorway, staring in his direction until he waved one final time before disappearing from my sight. Closing the door, I cleaned up my mess, annoyed with myself for only having about fifteen minutes before I was to leave. It was my hope to get this job completed today so that I could drive home tonight instead of tomorrow.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Daniels had other plans and made a few more adjustments, assuring me another stressful day. I came back to my hotel room, thrilled to be leaving in the morning, but completely exhausted. I stopped and picked up some food on the way home, but only succeeded in picking at it before fatigue took over and I fell asleep.
I got up early the following morning and had breakfast before checking out of the hotel. My plan was to leave early so that I had time to spend with Jared that evening, but unfortunately, I probably should have called first.
A shirtless and sweaty Shannon answered the door. "Hello there beautiful, it's good to see you again, even if it's a day early," he leaned against the door frame and reached his hand out, touching my wrist. My skin tingled where he touched me and my heart beat erratically in my chest so hard I was shaking. I drew in a sharp breath as I stared at his exposed torso, swallowing hard. "Come on in." He moved over, permitting just enough room to slide by his muscular frame. His well toned body was a work of art and those magnificent eyes had a softness to them. There was something so welcoming in the rich browns. "Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?"
"Uh, no, thank you, I'm good." I gave him a small smile as the air between us grew thick.
"I bet you are." He stated, his tongue swiping over those full, kissable lips while he scooted closer. "So, did you come all the way over here to see me? Not that I'd mind, I mean, we should get to know each other a little better, right?"
"Where is Jared?" My hands were actually trembling and I leaned forward, thrusting them under my legs.
"Wait, you haven't spoken to him lately?" He looked at me a little confused.
"No, I came by to surprise him. Why?" With my response, the awkward moment led to the corner of his lip twitching in his cheek.
"Oh, he's in New York and won't be back until tomorrow." In his arrogant jubilation, I could tell he was savoring the moment. Those delicious lips smirked in amusement at my mistake.
