Breaking through the Bond (Espen Jetties #2)

6. Jamie

6

JAMIE

The clock might as well be moving backward for how slow time passed. The only reason I made it through the morning was the new project I’d found on my desk when I arrived. It had been a couple of days since I’d had something new to do at work. The latest assignment was listed with a two-day time frame. Took me four hours. I’d even tried breaking up the work with lunch hoping to extend it. Didn’t happen. But I knew better than to admit that I was done early.

Ronald Halford, the head of the company, was a narcissistic asshole who hated when anything was completed faster than he could do it or in a more innovative manner. I made that mistake once and I would never make it again.

Which left me with more than enough time to think about King. Probably the bigger problem. It had been a week since I met him at Twist and Turn, and I still couldn’t get him out of my head. It wasn’t even the sore ass I had the entire next day. What baffled me most was why I had such a deep need to stay over. To sleep tight against the side of his body. What was it that drew me to him?

I glanced up at the clock again as I pretended to work on the project. Friday afternoons were Halford’s favorite day to walk around and rub in everyone’s faces how much money he planned on spending and the ritzy places he was going to. I wasn’t going to explain to a new employer why I’d wanted an entry-level job, when I had a trust fund that alone could rival their salary, which was one of the reasons I stayed. And that didn’t include the investments I made with the trust fund.

My fingers clicked randomly on the keyboard, while clear hazel eyes danced in my memory. Fuck, did I want to see him again. Feel him again as I came. The man hadn’t needed a single word from me to know exactly what I liked. And he was just kinky enough to keep the sex from being too vanilla. Vanilla was good sometimes, but there were too many flavors to not try new things.

The biggest question I had about calling King again was how it would impact my life. When I first started my job, I’d been a twenty-year-old nobody. Tim was still working his way up and had yet to buy the Emperors. My father had long ago retired and moved to Italy. I’d made them both promise they’d let me make it on my own.

Things hadn’t gone exactly as planned, and I’d spent the last fifteen years keeping my family ties a secret from everyone I worked with. Keeping my name and pictures out of the paper. I didn’t want or need the attention. If the connection to King was as strong as I thought it might be, I’d have to face the reality of putting myself in the public light. Letting them dissect everything about my life. I knew it could happen eventually, which was why I hadn’t put my place in my name.

What I had to decide before I texted King was whether or not I was ready for all of it.

“Being lazy again today?”

That cold sneering voice yanked me out of my thoughts quick. I whipped around in my chair to find Ronald Halford standing with his hands in his pockets, wearing a designer three-piece suit that probably cost more than what he paid most of the employees over a couple of months. His greasy hair and slimy smile made bile rise in the back of my throat. I shoved it down and addressed my boss.

“Mr. Halford.” There was no friendliness or kindness in my voice. The annoyance was clear. I wanted him to leave and let me suffer through the last couple of hours in my day.

“It seems to me as if maybe you need a bit of additional training so that you can continue to work on the project you were assigned this morning. This way it might be completed on time.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell the fucker I was already done. My work was always on time. Not hard when everything you completed was finished a day or more before it was due. Instead, I swallowed it all back. “Not necessary. I understand exactly what I’m supposed to do.”

“Glad to hear it,” he sneered. “We wouldn’t want to have to train you in the proper way to program these things again.” I clenched my hands into fists, digging my nails into my palms to keep from losing it on the guy.

His method of programming was so fucking antiquated that no one but this company had used it in ten or more years. It happened to be the only one he actually understood, and “trained” anyone who did something more creative or new. What a dick. How I missed the offices we had. At least then, I could see him coming. Probably why he had all the walls knocked down years ago and replaced with cubicles.

“No, I’m good.”

“Then, I suggest you get back to work. We’re paying you to finish projects not have conversations.”

The asshole didn’t even give me a chance to respond before he walked away to torture someone else no doubt. Did he think I wanted to spend my time conversing with him? Staring at the blank cubicle wall was more entertaining.

Goddamn asshole derailed my train of thought.

“That guy is such a prick.”

I looked over my shoulder to see Oscar standing behind me with two mugs of coffee in his hands. He handed one over. “Thought this might help get through another couple of hours.”

“Lifesaver.” I lifted the mug to my lips. “Ran for coffee as soon as you saw him coming, didn’t you?”

“You bet your ass I did.”

Oscar Bickell had been my cubicle mate since Halford had them put in. When we worked in offices, I hadn’t spent much time getting to know my coworkers, but with the walls gone there was no choice. Office camaraderie was built on hatred of Halford. But Oscar had been different. We didn’t spend all our time focused on office gossip and bitching.

“Want to tell me what had you still in your seat when he came through?”

He had me there. Normally, my ass would have raced off to the bathroom just to avoid him. “My date from last weekend.”

Oscar scoffed. “You don’t date.”

“I know. But I stayed the night.”

His eyes widened. “Wow, there must be something special about this guy.”

Before I could answer, we saw Halford coming back again. Oscar knew he couldn’t escape twice. Time to stare at the clock on my computer and let the countdown begin.

The elevator opened and the lights turned on as soon as I stepped into the foyer. If I wasted all my knowledge at work, I definitely took advantage of it at home. I pressed on the wall and a panel opened, revealing a small front closet where I hung my bag. There wasn’t anything I would need in it before Monday. I didn’t have any work worth bringing home.

Lights turned on as I walked down the short hall to my living room. The views were beautiful from the floor-to-ceiling windows. The buildings and ocean in the distance.

“Molly, dim windows fifty percent.” The views might be beautiful, but the sun this time of day could be brutal on the eyes.

I glanced over to the bar and immediately tapped the pane on the wall. The panels sunk in and slid off to the side in opposite directions. I reached for the bottle of vodka and a tumbler. What a way to end the week. Of course, Halford had to start shit on a fucking Friday. I set my glass under the machine. “Molly, three ice cubes.”

The ice fell into the glass, and I poured the liquor over it. What I really needed to do was create an AI bartender. If only I didn’t like sex and hookups so much, I might find time on the weekends. It didn’t help that most of my Friday nights I spent trying to kill my shitty mood. Tim had texted about watching the game with him on my drive home. No way did I have the patience to possibly put up with more shit today. It could go either way these days. Which left me planning the rest of my night.

I tipped the glass back, swallowing half of the contents. The burn felt good going down, but before I could really relax, I had to get out of the suit. I left the glass on the bar and turned right toward the floating stairs that led to my second floor. The tie was unknotted and dangling from my hand before I even hit the landing.

When I reached my room, I realized I left the room darkening tint on the windows since that morning. The room was practically pitch-black. “Molly, reduce window tint forty percent.” I stripped off my jacket and shirt, quickly followed by my pants. After, I dropped them in the laundry to be taken to the cleaners. I pulled on a pair of basketball shorts, skipping the shirt and went back downstairs to get my drink.

I grabbed the bottle and glass, on my way to the door across from the staircase that led to the rooftop deck. Taking a seat in one of the loungers, I set the bottle on the table next to me and took another sip of my drink, letting my mind wander back to King, where it had been before I’d been rudely interrupted by the dick I worked for.

What was it about King that had me so drawn to him? Sure, he was sexy with muscles everywhere, but I’d been with plenty of hot guys before, which was the part that didn’t make any sense. Never in my life had I considered calling up a man I’d slept with. One night, and only one night was my usual mantra.

There was a first time for everything as I sat there with the phone in my hand. Maybe another night with him would get him out of my system for good.

Lies.

I knew even as the thought crossed my mind that it was bullshit. I had a feeling another night with him would only lead to me wanting more. I stared at my phone. Was I really willing to go there? Here I sat, at forty years old, in what many would consider paradise, yet it felt so empty.

There were things my parents and Tim wanted for me, and for a while, I tried to make those my dreams. They were so ingrained in me when I realized they weren’t the same things I wanted, I shut down. Anything they wanted for me, I convinced myself I didn’t want. Now, years later, I still had a hard time separating my true wants from theirs.

One thing I did know was that I wanted to know where things might go with King. Could this place be more than a sanctuary for myself? Could I share it with someone else? There was only one way to find out.

I opened my phone and sent a text to King.

Me: Busy tonight?

I sat back sipping my drink while waiting for a reply.

King: What are you thinking?

Me: Drinks?

King: Name a place and time. I’ll be there.

Did I want dinner and drinks or something more my speed? While I wanted to know more about King, something I knew was high on my list, I also didn’t think we were at the point of dinner and drinks. It was bad enough I was more than ten years older than King.

Me: Barrel Lounge? Nine?

King: Sounds good. See you then.

I set my phone to the side. There were still a few hours before I needed to get dressed. The sun beat on my face, and I let the tension of the day melt away. Work had to stay at work if I wanted to enjoy my life. It was just a job. Something I could do to keep Tim and my father off my back, at least some of the time. It sure as fuck wasn’t productive compared to the things I could do, but it checked off a box.

The setting sun called to me as it started to dip low into the horizon. My stomach fluttered as I walked back inside to get showered and changed. Being nervous about meeting someone was new for me. With a hookup, I never had to worry. Either they wanted a night in bed with me or not. There were plenty of other men to choose from.

It had been obvious from our first meeting that King appreciated the tight white jeans. Tonight, I chose tight fitted black pants with a short-sleeve khaki button-down. The top as tight as the bottom, showing off every muscle in my arms. I wouldn’t lie, I wanted King’s eyes on me all night. Dressed and ready, I grabbed my wallet.

“Molly, night mode.” The lights dimmed and the windows darkened.

I learned after I went drinking the first night so I installed her to program a night mode. Kept me from waking up with a hangover at the first light of day. Then again, if I had my way, I wouldn’t be waking up in my own bed tomorrow.

I took the elevator down. The car I called was already waiting at the curb. I climbed inside the black sedan. The Barrel Lounge wasn’t far from my place.

The moment I stepped inside; I scanned the dim room for King. I had a feeling with his big smile and personality, I’d find him in a second. When I didn’t see him, I ordered a drink and found a high table facing the door.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and a shock of thick auburn caught my gaze. King’s eyes found me almost immediately. My dick went rock-hard.

What a night it was going to be.