Wright with Benefits, page 9
He rolled me over so that I was on top of him. I could feel him hardening underneath me, and I twirled my hips in a figure eight. He groaned, skimming his hands up to my face and pulling me in for another hot kiss.
“What are your plans for today?” I whispered against his lips.
“You.”
I laughed as he flipped me back over with him on top, pressing his cock against the front of my green lace panties. His hands roaming freely under the oversized white T-shirt he’d given me to sleep in last night.
“All day?” I teased as he pinched my nipple, forcing me to arch up against his hand.
“Have somewhere else to be, love?” He pushed up the shirt and replaced his mouth where his hand had just been.
I should have told him to stop calling me love. It wasn’t the first time though. I’d thought it was just a joke. He always said it in such a teasing manner that it had to be. He knew the arrangement. He was also too busy for anything but whatever we were doing right now.
Not that it explained him reaching for my hand in the hospital cafeteria.
“Work,” I finally got out as he slid down my front.
His mouth landed hot on my core as he blew against my panties. I squirmed uncontrollably. Then he hooked his fingers underneath the material, slipping two fingers inside of me before I could say anything else.
“Work can wait,” he told me.
And he wasn’t wrong. It could wait.
He worked me until I nearly climaxed before removing his fingers from inside of me. I clenched down, trying to hold him there, trying to reach that point where I fell over and off into oblivion. But he just smirked at me as he pulled the panties off and tossed them to the floor along with his boxers.
His hands gripped my hips, and he flipped me over, pulling my ass high into the air before settling between my legs.
“Mmm,” he purred.
He slid his still-wet fingers over my opening. Swirling them around and around until I thought I’d come. I was teetering on the edge. Then his cock pressed against the opening of my pussy, and he slid in easily. I was so worked up that it took no effort, even from that angle. In one deep, long thrust, he was inside of me. Then he built a rhythm that bordered on painful. If I hadn’t been so turned on, it would have hurt more. But right now, all I could feel was how fucking amazing this all was until I was screaming into the pillow as I came apart.
Jordan kept going. Holding on as I finished, and then just as I came all the way down, he let go, digging his fingers into my hips and emptying himself inside of me.
We both collapsed, breathing heavy, before I padded to the bathroom to clean up. I returned to the bedroom with him naked and satisfied on the bed. He was lying in repose, his eyes closed, face tranquil, and arms over his head.
“Good morning,” I murmured, taking a sip of my coffee, which had since gone cool.
He cracked open an eye. “Morning.”
I grinned, downed the rest of the coffee, and snuggled into bed next to him. “What do you have to do today?”
“I already told you.”
I giggled as he nuzzled my neck. “Yeah, but besides me.”
He groaned. “Are you making me think about work after fucking you so thoroughly?”
“How’d the winery thing go yesterday? You never told me.”
He buried his head between my breasts and murmured incoherently.
“That bad?”
He looked up at me with his big brown eyes. “Someone made a higher offer. We countered. We’ll find out today if the other people make another offer.”
“And what happens if they do?”
“I curse Julian and Hollin for ever involving me in this.”
I chuckled and brushed my fingers across his brow. “You want it, too. I know you do. Who put in the other offer?”
He propped himself up on his elbow. “That’s the thing. It was anonymous. They don’t have to tell us even if it’s not, but Larissa is good at her job. We got her because she has an eye for these things.”
“Frustrating.”
He shrugged. “What do you have for work?”
“I need to study later, but I promised Jen I’d meet her at Sutton’s work. She’s taking some pictures for the bakery.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Sounds nice.”
“And Sutton said she’d go with me to find something to wear to my Dallas interview.”
“That’s next weekend?”
“Yeah, I leave Thursday. I’ve had a ton of interviews, and it still makes me nervous to think about.”
“I can understand that. You never know what to expect.” He ran his fingers through my hair. “What are your plans until you meet your friends?”
I snuggled in closer as an answer.
“Why don’t we go for a run?”
I groaned and rolled over. “Must we?”
“You said you wanted to start working out again.”
That wasn’t what I’d meant. Just the thought sent shivers down my skin and made my throat close up.
“Yeah, but running…”
“You used to run all the time.”
“I know,” I said.
But Jordan didn’t know the specifics of why I’d stopped running. He didn’t know about Maverick. He didn’t know about any of it. And I didn’t have any desire to tell him.
I scrambled out of bed. “You’ve already worked out. You don’t need a run, too.”
“Annie…is everything all right?”
“Fine,” I ground out. “It’s fine. I just don’t want to run, okay?”
“All right,” he said, holding his hands out. “We don’t have to run. Would you like breakfast?”
“You know, I think I’m going to go.” I found my bag, pulling on sweats, a T-shirt, and a hoodie.
Jordan threw his feet over the side, and I could feel his stare on me. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Wrong?” I asked as if I were confused. “No.”
He huffed as if I was being purposefully dense. I was. I didn’t want to talk about Maverick. I didn’t want to go running. It had been four years since he collapsed next to me, but after three years in med school, I was prepared to fix the situation now. Not discuss it.
“You don’t have to go,” he insisted.
“I know.” I ran a hand down my face as I shouldered my bag. “It’s fine. I have so much studying to do anyway this weekend. I shouldn’t just lie in bed.”
He shot me a disbelieving look. “Are you sure? I could make breakfast. I’m pretty handy with French toast.”
I smiled, tight and guarded. I couldn’t manage my more carefree smile. “That’s all right. I’m not hungry.”
He followed me as I headed for the front door. “Are you going to tell me what happened here?”
“Nothing. I just need to study.”
Jordan reached out and took my shoulder. “Hey. You know you can talk to me, right?”
“We’re not dating, Jordan,” I said, sharper than I’d intended.
“I know that,” he said tersely. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he held his ground. “We’re just friends. And friends tell each other why they just freaked out.”
“I didn’t freak out,” I said with an eye roll. “I just don’t want to run.”
“Then we don’t have to run, but you don’t have to run out of here either.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. “This is why I can’t do relationships right now.”
“Why?” he demanded.
“Because I don’t have time for this.”
He kept his deep, dark eyes on mine. “Fine, Annie. Run out of here and don’t explain yourself. Use our arrangement as your scapegoat.” He shrugged and crossed his arms. “Are you coming over tonight?”
“No,” I bit out. “I’m going to study.”
“All right,” he said, just as irritated as I was.
I could see the frustration roiling through him. That I wouldn’t tell him what this was all about.
But it wasn’t that I wouldn’t.
I just…couldn’t.
No part of me was ready for that conversation, and I certainly wasn’t going to have it here.
So, I turned on my heel and left. Left behind all the unanswered questions and expectations. We weren’t dating, and I didn’t owe him anything.
15
Jordan
Well, what the fuck was that about?
I slammed the door shut behind Annie. So much for friends with benefits not being complicated. Things had been going so well. And now…whatever that was.
My anger simmered in my gut, threatening to boil over if I didn’t give it an outlet. I’d always had a short temper. Courtesy of my asshole father. But I’d learned to rein it in when I had to in business. In my personal life, it was my weakest link, and I didn’t want to let it loose here. Even though I was frustrated and wanted to.
I threw on running clothes and forced myself to go for that run anyway. Annie didn’t want to go, but now, I needed to go. The first few steps were too fast. I knew it wasn’t a sustainable mile, but I didn’t care. I just ran and let the anger out on the pavement.
My breath frosted in front of me, but I wasn’t cold. And for the first time in a long while, I missed Vancouver. Missed the run along the Stanley Park Seawall, the way the sun shimmered along the waterfront in the winter, the eclectic food options, the vibrancy of my home. I even missed the rain. Fuck, who knew I’d ever miss the rain? But I was used to it raining what felt like half of the year, and now, it never rained in Lubbock’s arid climate.
A few miles in, I slowed my pace. The nostalgia of Vancouver had brought my temper back to normal. Whatever had upset Annie wasn’t my concern. If she didn’t want to tell me and she didn’t want to run, then fine. I’d run without her.
Six miles later, I returned to my house and took another shower. I found my phone where I’d left it charging. I had a missed call from Larissa.
My heart skipped. I’d been so occupied with Annie that I forgot we’d hear from the winery seller today. She’d kept me so thoroughly fixated that I forgot business. Who the hell was I?
I called Larissa back. “Hey, Larissa. Sorry about that. I was out for a run.”
“Jordan, good to hear from you.”
“Do you have news?”
“I do. I wanted to call to deliver this: you got the winery!”
I released a relieved breath. “That’s great news, Larissa. Really great news.”
“I’ll let you deliver it to Julian and Hollin.”
“Of course.”
“I’m sending the contract your way right now. Everything looks good to me, but look it over and tell me if there’s anything you want to change.”
“Will do. Did you hear anything else from the other people who offered?”
She sighed. “I didn’t. I know that they went back to them to ask if they’d go over our asking price, and they said no. So, it’s yours!”
I nodded in relief. It was still strange to me. Usually, I knew who I was going up against in business. I didn’t particularly like thinking that my opponent was a ghost.
Larissa congratulated me again and then got off the phone. I read the entire contract before calling Julian and Hollin and asking them to meet me at Walkers.
I staked out an oversized booth at the coffee shop and bar and ordered a latte from the barista. Walkers was actually the first place I’d ever met Annie. She’d been standing against the bar at a medical school orientation happy hour. She’d been shockingly aggressive, and I’d been into it. I still thought about her when I walked into the darkened interior with all of its hardwood booths and glossy bar. During the day, it was a coffee bar, and as the sun set, it turned into a real bar, serving all sorts of libations. I came here frequently enough that I had other memories layered over my first one with Annie.
Julian and Hollin showed up together, finding my table immediately and heading toward me. Hollin in jeans and a button-up, belt buckle, and boots and all. Julian in crisp maroon pants, a white polo, and gray cardigan. They were a mismatched pair and still had turned into the closest of friends. It was one of Julian’s specialties.
“What’s all this about?” Julian asked, shaking my hand when I slid out of the booth to meet them.
I grinned. “We got the winery.”
“What?” Julian gasped.
Hollin’s eyes widened. “We did?”
“I wanted to tell you in person.”
“Holy shit!” Hollin crowed.
Julian looked amazed and jubilant. He threw his arms around me in a careless way I hadn’t seen since we were kids. “You did it!”
I laughed and released him, shaking Hollin’s hand. “I didn’t do much.”
“Whatever, man,” Hollin said. “We never would have gotten here without you.”
They were probably right, but I just laughed them off. I was far too buoyant from our victory. They pulled me over to the bar. I couldn’t even find it in me to argue when they convinced the barista to pour us shots of something clear. I had a way with business, and they had their own charismatic specialties. Apparently, getting drinks out of a barista was one of Hollin’s.
One drink turned into five, which turned into ten. I stopped counting as we celebrated well into the evening, forgetting all about the work I should have been doing and the earlier argument with Annie.
When David showed up with Jensen, Austin, Landon, and Patrick in tow, it was only then that I remembered why I’d chosen Walkers to begin with. It was David’s birthday. All of the guys had taken the night off and planned to start festivities at Walkers.
I clapped David on the back. “Happy fucking birthday.”
David cracked up. “Looks like someone started celebrating without me.”
I laughed. “We got the winery.”
“That’s incredible,” David said, shaking my hand. “I’m happy for you all. I know you’ve been busy with it.”
“What winery?” Jensen asked. He appeared at my other side with a bourbon in his hand. Top-shelf likely. Jensen was the oldest Wright. He’d been CEO and given it up to pursue his love of architecture. It was his wedding to Emery where I’d managed to fuck everything up with both Annie and Missy. A talent, I know.
“We bought West Texas Winery,” I told him.
Austin wrinkled his nose. “That shithole?”
His best friend, Patrick, elbowed him in the side. “Dude.”
“It is,” I agreed anyway. “But we have big plans for it.”
“Isn’t it haunted?” Landon asked with a laugh.
“If you believe in that sort of thing,” I said with a shrug.
“It’s had one too many problems not to blame it on something,” Austin added.
Jensen rolled his eyes. “It’s not haunted. That’s ridiculous.”
“I’ll blame it on mismanagement.”
“Seems more reasonable,” Jensen said. “Haunted.”
“It’s what everyone says,” Landon added.
Julian appeared then with another shot.
I took it from him and lifted it into the air. “To David’s birthday and owning a haunted winery.”
All the other guys raised their glasses at the toast. We all drank deep. The tequila hardly even burned. I didn’t even need a chaser. That was probably a problem. I hadn’t let loose like this in Lubbock in years. Not since the night our mom’s cancer had gone into remission. We’d celebrated for three straight days. We hadn’t thought she’d make it this time, but a year of chemotherapy, and they’d declared her cancer-free. This didn’t feel quite like that, but it was definitely worth celebrating.
The conversation turned to work, as it so often did with so many from Wright in one place. I wasn’t even sure when Morgan had turned up to make fun of us all for talking work at a birthday party.
“You all are the absolute worst,” she said with an eye roll. “I’m going to get another drink to avoid this conversation.”
I laughed, finishing off number thirteen…or was it fifteen? Uncertain. I was drunk. That was for sure.
David pushed past me and straight toward the entrance. I turned and found Sutton standing in the entranceway. He picked her up and swung her in a circle like they were in some fucking Hallmark movie. But it wasn’t Sutton that stopped me in my tracks. It was the woman standing next to her—Annie.
She was in a black dress that I’d never seen before. It hugged her features to her hips and then flared out in a flowy skirt to her knees. Her wild red hair had been tamed into some intricate updo, and she had on more makeup than I’d seen from her in weeks.
She was deep in conversation with Jennifer, who tugged her toward the bar. Neither of them noticed that I was even here. After our fight this morning, I probably should give her space.
But I didn’t.
I stepped right up to her, leaning into the bar and sliding my hand up her waist. She jumped almost out of her skin before she saw it was me.
“Jordan,” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”
I arched an eyebrow. “It’s David’s birthday.”
“Right,” she whispered.
I moved in even closer so that we were nearly touching. My fingers found hers in the empty space between our bodies. She flushed and tugged back.
“Stop it,” she hissed.
“Why?”
“We’re in public.”
“So?”
She took a deep breath and shook her head. “Don’t. Not tonight.”
Jennifer passed her a drink and shot me a pained look. “I’m going to go find Sutton.”
Then she scampered off, leaving us alone.
“I thought you were studying,” I said as my brain remembered her words to me this morning.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she got out, “but Sutton insisted I come with her since she got a sitter for Jason and Madison. I agreed to one drink.”
“How exactly is that none of my business?”
“I don’t have to tell you where I am.” She took a sip of her drink, averting her gaze.
“You didn’t have to lie to me.”
My temper was a caged animal, threatening to rip free and devastate everything in its path. I wished that I’d had a longer leash. That I had found a way to channel my anger into something productive. And while sometimes I could, when I was drunk…all bets were off.
