Page 21 of White Pawn
Chapter Fourteen
Justin
“Believer”- Imagine Dragons
“Justin….” Some girl down the hall sings, but I keep walking. “Justin Wild.”
I stop and turn around, plastering a fake-ass smile to my face. “Hey.”
“God, I love your books…” And then she goes on a fifteen-minute tirade about how great they are, about how I’m the reason she started writing, about how hot I am, about fucking bullshit. She stands as close as she possibly can to me in the elevator and, when the doors open, she walks out with me. “Oh god,” she says, “I hope the next rumor isn’t thatI’mscrewing you.” She giggles and I stop midstride.
“I’m sorry,” I say, my brow wrinkled, “who are you again?”
“I uh…” Her gaze drops to the floor. “Jenna Brandon.”
“I don’t even know who you are. And I most certainly wouldn’t fuck you.” I grin and walk off.
“Asshole,” I hear her mumble under her breath, and I just shrug. I don’t care if she thinks I’m an asshole. The last thing I need right now is some random chick trying to make people think I fucked her in the hopes to up her ranking on Amazon, or win some bullshit popularity contest.
I walk into the restaurant and order two glasses of merlot, and while I wait for my order to be filled, my mind veers off to Marisa. To how perfectly her lips part when she moans, to how good she felt underneath me... how pretty she is when she comes. If I were the type of guy to get settle down, I would date her, but the thing is, the fun’s basically gone now. I’ve fucked her. I’ll do it a few more times to get her out of my system, hell, I may even pretend for a few days that it may work, because, let’s face it, I’m a hopeless romantic and the idea of love sounds amazing. Soon enough though, I’ll get bored with Marisa. Another shiny object will catch my attention, and then it’s on to the next girl that will stroke my ego and my dick.
The guy behind the counter hands me the wine, and just as I go to turn around, I feel a hand skim my back. When I turn, Tori is standing behind me. Her gaze drifts from one glass of wine to the next, then she glances at her watch. “Oh, you are actually letting someone stay with you instead of kicking them out right after?” She glares at me. “Interesting. I guess even whores can have feelings, huh?”
“Come on, Tori. I couldn’t let you stay with me, you’ve got a fucking reputation. People would have talked.” I take a quick sip of coffee, scalding my mouth. “Shit…and besides, it was just sex.”
She laughs. “Yes, just sex, and I surely wouldn’t have wanted to have a hand in tainting yourpristineimage.”
“Look,” I go to skirt around her, but she steps in front of me, “I know you’re upset—”
“Oh,babe, I don’t get upset. I get even.”
“God,” I snort, “that’s not cliché at all. Aren’t you an author? Come on now, you can do better than that.”
Her nostrils flare, that little diamond stud in her nose glinting in the light.“You’re a fucking liar.”
“I never said—”
“You said I was different.”
I roll my eyes. “Fuck’s sake, Tori. What did you expect would happen? Did you think I’d date you or something, give me a fucking break? You’re five years older than me.” I walk around her. “We were fuck buddies. Just, let it go already.”
“Let it go? You want me to just…let it go?”
“Shit, Tori, you know what?” Heat creeps over my chest and up my throat, “You should be on your knees thanking me. No one even bought your shit-tastic books until the rumors that we were fucking started. That little piece of the rumor mill gained you more acknowledgement than anything you’ll ever put on paper will.” A group of women are staring at me, eyes wide.Fuck it.“Hey, guess what?” I shout at them. They don’t move a muscle. “I fucked her.” I point at Tori and her cheeks turn beet-fucking-red. “There, does that make up for it. Give you some validation?”
“I’m going to end you,” she says.
“Best of luck with that.” Shaking my head, I walk toward the elevator and press the button. That woman couldn’t do a damn thing to tarnish me. I’m a publisher’s wet dream come true. I have a fan base that’s so loyal, nothing can destroy that. It’s laughable that some cut-rate author thinks she could have any impact on me. I seethe all the way up to the 7thfloor, still a little pissed when I get back to the room.
“Yeah... uh-huh…” The sound of the shower and Marisa singing fills the room the second I open the hotel door. I can’t help but smile at that. It’s endearing as fuck. I set the wine on the table in the corner of the room and flop down on the bed. The door to the bathroom’s open just enough that I can see Marisa through the foggy glass door of the shower. I watch her lean her head back. I sink my teeth into my lower lip when she rubs her hands over that perfect, hourglass figure of hers. She’s not bothered by me like all the other girls are. She’s not a Tori or a Samantha, or even a…what was that girl in the elevator’s name…Jenna? I laugh to myself, Marisa is in a league of her own and I like that—no, Ilovethat because it makes the challenge all the more fun. I stand and walk to the bathroom door, peeking my head inside. “I’m going to come in there.”
She stops singing. “Whatever you want,” she says, and goes right back to singing.
I shake my head before I pull my jeans and boxers off and reach for the glass door. The steam from the scalding water swirls around me as I close the door. Marisa gives me a once over and smirks. I stare at her breasts, the curve of her waist, those full fucking lips and I grab her waist, tugging her to me. Fuck, I love the way a woman’s wet body feels against mine, it’s—“What are you doing?” she asks, lifting a brow at me.
My fingers skim along her waist, around to her ass. “Playing with you.”
A quick smile flips over her lips and then…she swats my hands away from her and moves toward the door. “You already had your playtime for today.” And she steps out of the shower, leaving me with a raging hard on.
“Oh, you are wrong on every level, woman,” I say.
“Actually, babe, you were wrong to assume I wanted to fuck you again, now weren’t you?”
If ever there was a woman that had a hope of getting me on my knees, I think it may well be her.
