Like an old habit, his hand slid below the cloth and rested on top of hers and, for a moment, all of this felt real. They were a happy couple, in it together, conquering the night. Jessica forgot how dangerous pretending could be.
Chapter 3
Mathew watched Gavin and Genevieve disappear into their limo, and he spun immediately on Jessica. “What the hell was that?”
“What?” she asked, looking suddenly like she was in trouble.
“That was brilliant. Every bit of that was so well played. How did you do that?”
“By not being the idiot you assumed I was, I guess,” she stepped back from him, wrapping her arms around herself.
He hadn’t meant to insult her, but they seemed to always be speaking different languages. “I never thought you were an idiot,” he defended. “I just didn’t know you were so . . .” He fought for the right words but they didn’t come.
“I’ve traveled plenty for my job. I have people sitting in my makeup chair for hours at a time. People from all over the world. The art of sitting in silence has disappeared, so people feel the need to talk to me. It’s important that, in the moment, I am exactly who they need.”
“What do you mean?”
“When an actor who’s been in the business for ages feels like he’s out of touch, I talk to him about the good old days. When an actress feels like she’s being passed up because of the wrinkles on her face, I distract her while I make them practically vanish. I listen to what people need and then I try to give it to them. There is always common ground, an ‘in’ to connect with someone.”
“Brilliant. Thank you.” He wasn’t sure if he should shake her hand, hug her, or do what he really wanted to do. No, you aren’t allowed to do that on a street corner. Not without being arrested.
“No problem. I’m glad to help. It was nice.” The confidence she exuded over dinner was melting away and being replaced with an unease he couldn’t pinpoint. The way she kept nervously tucking her hair behind her ear made her seem like she wanted to bolt.
“It was very nice,” he agreed as the car pulled up, and the driver came around to let her in. “Let’s not let it be over. We’ll get a drink.”
Her face flashed with concern. “I guess,” she acquiesced, looking conflicted. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I suggested it, so obviously I think it’s a good idea.” He could sense the unease she was feeling was about to be unearthed, and his lusty desire for her didn’t want to hear it. He just wanted her to go for a drink and end up back at his place. Was that so much to ask?
“Then you haven’t thought it through,” Jessica replied in a half scolding tone. “Libby and James are married now. You and I are going to be in each other’s lives. I know I’m going to be the godmother of their baby when they have one, and since James sucks at making friends I’m sure you’ll have to be the godfather. It’ll help, for the kid’s sake, if we haven’t ruined this.”
“I’m sorry; I’m not following your train of thought. We can’t go for a drink because of the imaginary kid James and Libby might have someday? I don’t like this kid already.” It was pretty simple to follow her concern, but he wasn’t willing to let anything get in the way of what they could be doing in a few hours.
“You think tonight’s going to end with a drink?” She raised a brow, and it instantly aroused him. The look, the sexy and knowing way her eyes danced on him, was driving him wild.
“It can,” he lied.
“Oh please, I’d have my legs wrapped around you before I could eat the cherry out of the bottom of my glass.”
“Sorry,” Mathew coughed out. “I can’t figure out which part of that sentence just turned me on more. I think it’s the way you said cherry. I’m not seeing the problem here. Trust me, you won’t regret a night back at my place.”
“Of course I would,” she rebuked. “It’s a terrible idea. I don’t do the relationship thing and casual hookups don’t make for lasting friendships. For the sake of our friends and their future, I think we should just call it a night.”
“No,” Mathew said, furrowing his brows and disagreeing. “That’s not going to work for me. We need a drink. I’m not going to let James and his imaginary children keep you and me from having exactly what we both want.”
They sank into the back of the car, and she eyed him skeptically. “You’re supposed to be the logical one. The business savvy smart guy who weighs the odds and makes smart choices.”
“Maybe we need to both stop assuming what the other is all about. I’m spontaneous. You don’t know me that well.” She wasn’t wrong about his normal tactics for getting through life. He did give his decisions thought and was even willing to admit if they hooked up there was a chance that maintaining a friendship might not work out. But as he stared down at the perfect peaks of her breasts he didn’t care. She was on his mind far too often to not sink his teeth into her.
“Oh please, name the last fun spontaneous thing you’ve done,” she challenged with a roll of her eyes.
Mathew grabbed her waist and pulled Jessica onto his lap, a maneuver that had her yelping in shock. His hand slipped up her neck, and he leaned her back, crushing his lips to hers. It lasted either a minute or a year, he wasn’t sure. Kissing her felt like being drunk, that sweet spot where everything was spinning, but the world hadn’t fallen in around you yet. He was instantly hard, and he knew she felt his firmness as she sat perched on his lap.
“That,” he said, his hand up the hem of her skirt, squeezing her thigh. “That’s the last impractically spontaneous thing I’ve done.”
“We’ll regret this,” she whispered, but her body didn’t match her words as she turned and straddled him.
“Then let’s make it so good it’s worth it,” he insisted as he arched his back and pressed his hardness into her. She rubbed breathlessly against him as his hands climbed up her back, rounded her ribs, and took two handfuls of her breasts into his grip.
There was a taste to her lips he couldn’t place. Some kind of exotic fruit likely mixed into her lipstick that had him diving in for more. The way her tongue swirled over his, her breath catching each time she drove her sweet pulsing core against him, made him certain there would be no regret in this.
“Mathew,” she breathed against his lips, and it no longer sounded like a protest against the choice they were making. Instead it was a begging chant for more.
“I’m going to have you screaming my name. No whispers once we’re back at my place.” He bit down hard against her breast, and Jessica clawed at him and shivered.
The blood rushed from his brain, and it was only the screeching of tires that penetrated his mind. The bright glow of headlights skidded toward the driver side of the car, and Mathew knew nothing would stop the impact.
“Hold on,” he said, covering her head with his hands and tensing his body, trying to shield her as much as possible. The pop. The smash. The glass flying. It was not the fireworks he wanted tonight. Her scream of terror was not the scream of pleasure he’d been promising her.