Chapter 9

We've stepped in the foyer and headed to the elevators. When we entered, I felt a familiar energy buzzing between us and I remembered our last elevator drive. He gave me a knowing look, and I knew he was thinking about the same thing.

Finally, the elevator stopped on the 18th floor and he led me out, again putting his hand on the small of my back. I almost closed my eyes at the good feeling of him touching me. I seriously needed to pull myself together. I'm here to discuss with him that things cannot go on like this and that we need to keep a normal friendship for the sake of my sister and Brian.

When I entered the apartment, I was taken aback by how clean and tidied it looked. Something you wouldn't expect from a guy, but in some weird way, it suited his personality perfectly.

The place was open and spacious, with very clean-edged furniture in dark brown and white combinations and purely male. A huge dark brown sofa was dominating the living area with a big tv screen, taking up half of the wall. The space led to a modern white dining area and kitchen, and from there another hallway leading who knows where.

I've always wished to have a big kitchen with all these fancy apparatus and here I come and his place looks like it's pulled out of my dreams. What the hell does he do for a living? I cursed myself for not investigate with Becca more.

I look up at Jake and he is looking at my face while I was taking in the space. A small smile was playing on his lips and he looked pleased with my reaction. He came near me and asked to take my jacket.

"Oh, you are really trying with this cavalier act today, aren't you?" I tell him with a smirk playing on my mouth.

He smiled, taking my jacket and returning a few seconds later.

"I was always a gentleman, but you just seem to bring out the worst in me." He laughs when I scowl at him. This damn laugh of his is so cute.

"Let me take you to the terrace, and I'll bring coffee outside. How do you take your coffee?"

"Just regular black, with no sugar. Thank you."

I was really surprised with all the politeness act today when he led me away from the kitchen.

I followed him to the back of the apartment, where I could see another door that probably leads to his bedroom.

He turned right and opened a sliding glass door that led to a beautiful terrace, closed in glass from bottom to the top. The weather was beautiful today and it made the place look nice and so cozy.

The view from this floor was absolutely stunning and the whole city was spread out in front of us. There was a nice small table in the center and on top are spread all kinds of delicious things, from different kinds of bread, jams, butter, croissants, etc.

He went all out for this. I was surprised and completely in awe. I look at him with amazement in my eyes.

He looked a bit shy when he saw my questioning eyes.

"I prepared some food for us, but didn't want to give you an opportunity to refuse to have breakfast with me."

I laughed before replying.

"This looks beautiful, Jake, you didn't need to prepare all this. I would be fine with coffee, to be honest."

I gave him a small smile and his eyes were shining with something I couldn't really define.

He cleared his throat and showed us to the table. He poured the orange juice for me and helped me take the food that I liked, before retreating back to the kitchen.

After a few minutes, he returned with our coffees that smelled heavenly and it reminded me of our first encounter.

We started eating, enveloped in comfortable silence and I really enjoyed the food and the surroundings.

Finally, he decided to speak.

"So, do you have any dreams for your future? Who you want to become, where to settle down?"

Not really the question I expected, and it threw me off guard for being kind of personal.

"Ehm... Tough question for a Sunday morning." I smile though, and he gives me a small shrug, motioning with his hand that he still wants an answer.

"Well, I do have plans, but nothing solid yet. I've always dreamt about being a successful businesswoman, leading a company of my own, and making something that would inspire and challenge me at the same time. However, I want to start as an employee first, get some experience and work my way up from there. But I shouldn't get ahead of myself, I still need to finish my Master's degree before making any further plans."

He is looking at me, listening to what I'm saying, and seeming genuinely interested in my story. His warm stare makes me comfortable and I feel like I could keep on talking about myself, which is usually not the case.

Nevertheless, I stop after this, still not sure what to think about him.

"How about you? What do you do in life? I got the impression yesterday you work at the club?"

He takes another bite of the delicious bread that I ate as I starved for the past week (it was that good) before he replies.

"Yes, you are a very perceptive girl." He is teasing me, and the smile he shoots my way is completely disarming. And for some reason, I blush. God, I'm a sucker for him.

"I actually own the club."

I open my eyes in surprise. That explains his behaviour yesterday and makes sense his apartment looks like this. The X is one of the most famous and luxurious clubs in the city.

He lifts his eyebrows at my clear shock, but I just copy his motion of the hand for him to continue.

"I bought it when it was still a low class, a nothing-important bar in the hope of making it something great. I guess I was lucky with this. It's doing pretty well."

"Of course it does bloody well, it's the best club in the city."

I couldn't hide my appreciation for the place.

He chuckles at my words and thanks me. Even though he can be extremely cocky, apparently he doesn't like to show-off with his success. And I realized I like this about him. I'm not sure how will this compromise my image of him that was making me keep a safe distance.

"So, Jessica, are you seeing someone?" Straight to the point then.

"No, Jake, I'm not. I don't tend to kiss guys if I'm seeing someone else."

I gave him a pointed stare, but he just laughs at my accusation.

"Ok, I see we need to clear this because you keep bringing it up."

"You don't need to expl ..."

He cuts me off mid-sentence.

"I need to explain if we want to continue being friendly to each other. For the sake of the wedding at least."

Even though he appeared to be serious, I sensed something like mischief in his tone. I gestured him to continue.

"I don't lie to women and I don't make them any promises. All of them know things are absolutely casual and they are okay with it. If some of them start to expect too much, I finish it before it gets complicated."

I'm looking at him, not saying a word, and just trying to process what he is saying.

"It's true I show up with Serena more, because we understand each other and seem to be on the same page. Even though, I didn't like the way she reacted to you at the party."

"Well, she obviously didn't like me being near you." I rolled my eyes.

He chuckled lightly, "That she didn't. I wonder why that is?"

He gave me a pointed look with a small smile playing on his lips and I squirmed in my seat. The familiar heat started entering his eyes and I couldn't seem to look away.

After a few intense seconds, he shook his head as he'd want to gather himself and continue,

"However, just wanted to clear that up. I don't date those women and whatever happened with us, wasn't me betraying any of them."

"Well, you do have an interesting point of view on dating," sarcasm obvious in my tone.

"I don't date, Jessica. And I think this is why we have to talk as well."

I looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean, you don't date?"

"I don't. I prefer things casual, and this is how I keep them. And what happened between us ..."

"And what exactly happened between us, Jake? Enlighten me."

I leaned closer, looking him straight in the eyes, anger rising in me.

He manages to get a thousand emotions out of me in a matter of minutes. For the love of god, why does he get me so riled up?

He moved his chair inching closer, staring back at me, his eyes getting darker with the intensity pouring from them. I started to feel my skin tingling with awareness.

"Jess, I can't deny I find you attractive. I mean, fuck, you are so unbelievably hot and when I see that full lips of yours, I can't stop myself from thinking how sweet you tasted back in my office."

My breath hitched and I felt my heart thudding in my chest. I couldn't believe my body and the reaction this man got out of me. I wet my lips, trying to hold in the whimper that almost slid out of my mouth.

"Fuck, don't do this. You will make me go crazy and forget what we need to talk about."

"I am not doing anything."

I started to pull back, putting some distance between us, but he pulled me back for my arm, putting his other hand behind my head. He pulled me so close our noses were almost touching.

"I can't stop thinking about you and what would have happened if we wouldn't be interrupted that night."

I could feel his breath on my lips and I want nothing more than being kissed by him again.

He was looking deep into my eyes, gently brushing our noses together and massaging the nape of my neck. I was melting on the spot; and he smelled divine. I couldn't help a moan slipping from my lips.

Like the sound would trigger something in him, seriousness entered his features and I felt him slightly pull away. For God's sake, what is this? He was contradicting himself.

He started pulling back, putting some distance between us, something like regret entering his eyes.

I started to see where this conversation was going, and I couldn't believe he was planning on telling me, he doesn't want to have anything to do with me.

The temperature dropped around us with his next words.

"Fuck, sorry Jessica, but we can't do this. You are not a girl for me, you are Becca's little sister for fuck's sake. You are too sweet for the world I live in and I am definitely not the guy you should want. You deserve someone who is willing to offer more than just sex."

He took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts and I was sitting completely still, with each word coming from his mouth feeling more and more rejected. I know this is what I wanted to say to him, but I hated how I couldn't seem to control my body or my feelings around him.

"So, are you offering sex to me?"

I looked at him with something too damn close to hope in my eyes. What am I doing? I'm not a friends-with-benefits kinda' girl. Or am I?

He looked confused with what I induced from his words, but the heat was still shimmering in the back of his eyes.

"I can't offer sex to you; Brian would kill me if I'd mess around with you. Not that I want to mess with you, I like you and respect you for more than that. But Christ, when I have you here in front of me, looking all innocent with those big green eyes of yours, chewing your lip and your chest rising with the effect of our proximity, my mind goes wild. I want to fuck you right here, right now, overlooking the city. And I know you would scream, and I would want the whole building to know who is making you scream."

My breathing became shallow again, my heart racing, and I felt my arousal between my legs. I couldn't take more of this back-and-forth game. I understood what he was saying, what he was offering, and right now at this moment, I didn't care about anything except feeling his mouth all over my body and him pulsing inside me.

I couldn't hide my reaction to him when I got closer, putting my hands on his chest and looking up in his questioning eyes.

My voice became lower, almost a whisper, "I want you to make me scream. I want to feel you inside me."

I don't know where my courage came from, but when I saw intense lust pass through his face and his hand making a bruised grip on my hip, I felt pure female satisfaction. I pressed closer to him and I felt his erection pressing to my lower belly. He was so hard and that just made me ache between my legs more. I needed him to touch me, right now.

He put his forehead on mine, inhaling deeply and grinding his cock to my front. He lowered his mouth to my neck and started kissing and dragging his teeth down to my collar bone.

He lifted his head and lingered in front of my mouth, and I couldn't wait to feel his lips on mine. I started to lower my hand down his torso, towards the front of his pants, but then he looked me in the eyes and embarrassment entered his features. Before I was able to react to the change in his mood, he gently took my hands and pushed me back, taking a few deep breaths.

"Christ, Jess, I can't do this to you."

The heat left my body and something cold started to settle in my stomach. I gathered myself, masking my face of any emotion (which was one of the things I do best) and his eyes lifted again to meet mine.

"I really don't know what you want from me Jake, one moment you are touching me and pulling me closer, and two seconds later you are pushing me away, telling me you don't want me."

He started saying something, but I cut him off. It was my time for talking. And I was done with his bullshit.

"I didn't want to start anything with you, let alone something serious, so relax. You are free of me. I will keep my pretense for Becca's sake, but from now on, I really don't think we have anything further to talk about."

I saw he was getting irritated by my words, but I started standing up, ready to leave.

"Where are you going? We didn't finish talking and I definitely do not agree with what you just said. I'm sorry I'm giving you mixed signals, I fucked up. It's not like I don't find you attractive, fuck, you make me hard without even doing anything, but I can't take things further with you. But this doesn't mean I don't want us to get along, and I'm sorry if I made things appear for something they're not. I want us to be friends."

He was standing in front of me, looking at me intently.

"Don't worry; you were pretty clear about not wanting me. And I don't want to be involved with someone who is fucking five other girls at the same time anyway."

"It didn't look that way only minutes ago, did it?" His voice barely audible for me to hear his comment.

That selfish egocentric prick. I shot daggers at him, before deciding to slip that comment.

"Oh, not that I was one of those girls, since fucking me isn't really on your priority list. So TRUST me, I got the picture!"

I was boiling with anger at that point.

He narrowed his eyes at my offensive comment.

"Jake, I believe you are a good friend to Brian and for this reason, I will act friendly when I see you. But outside that circle, I don't want to have anything to do with you. If you are capable of being fine around me, then there is nothing more to discuss."

My voice started to calm down towards the end, and I was trying to hide away the feeling of rejection that tried to push through.

He gave me a long searching look, what he was trying to find I don't know, and then decided against saying anything to my outburst and just nod his head.

I turned around, pushed through the glass doors, and went towards the front door, taking my jacket and purse on my way. He was walking behind me, silent, but the irritation was radiating around him. I didn't want to meet his eyes, so I opened the door and mumble 'goodbye', trying to get out of there as soon as possible.

I was already out in the hall, when he turned me around and whispered close to my ear: "Fucking you will always be on my priority list. It pisses me off you think otherwise."

I felt goosebumps rising on my neck where his warm breath touched my skin and I stared at him, not able to respond anything. What is he doing to me?

Slowly he turned around, pinning me down with his beautiful green eyes, and disappeared behind the doors. My feet took me to the elevator, but my mind was buzzing with the events that happened in the last hour.

How am I going to pretend that we are just friends when all I want to do is go back and have wild, loud sex with him. Shit shit shit.