Page 49 of With This Kiss
She opened her door as soon as I knocked, almost as if she had been doing nothing but waiting for me to come pick her up. For some inexplicable reason, I liked that.
She was dressed casually in jeans and a light sweater, her overnight bag packed and ready beside her. Fuck, but she even made casual look good. Her face was free of any makeup, making her appear younger than her actual age. I let my eyes take in her features. Jamie had the kind of beauty that only got more appealing the more you looked at her.
It made me never want to look away.
Like most times when I stared at her, she squirmed and looked away, pretending my eyes didn’t make her nervous. She was smart to be nervous—most people were when I stared. “You’re punctual,” she said, grabbing her bag before I could.
“I try to be.”
She pushed past me out of her apartment, and I followed, grabbing the bag from her hand and purposely letting our fingers graze. She glared at me from the contact, but I pretended not to notice. She didn’t like to be touched. I just didn’t knowif this was the case with everyone, or if I was just special… and what I could do to get her used to my touch. I wanted to touch her. I leaned against the wall, watching as she locked up, letting my eyes stray down to the generous curve of her ass. Fuck, but I really, really wanted to touch her.
“Excited?”
She shrugged, her expression closed off. “I wouldn't call it excitement. More like… curiosity.”
“About my friends?” They would be surprised to see her.
“About everything.” She brushed past me, her scent momentarily enveloping me. I resisted the urge to pull her in close to me and keep her there until I became desensitized to her scent. “How far is this cabin?”
“About two hours north. It’s secluded, quiet. You’ll like it. It’s close to where I took you when we went on that drive.”
She nodded, her eyes twinkling a little. It hadn’t been that long since we took that drive, but fuck if it didn’t feel like it.
I had been in a bad mood, but by the end of it all, things weren’t so bad.
I followed close behind her as we left her apartment building. Then we were off.
I watched Jamie grab my coffee cup from the cup holder between us and take a sip. I didn’t stop her. I liked that we were sharing the same drink. So she didn’t have a problem with that. She just didn’t like to be touched.
Why was that? I wondered again.
Did it have to do with her childhood? Had someone hurt her?
My grip on the steering wheel tightened at the thought. I forced myself to relax when I noticed her eyes on me, frowning a bit, though she didn’t comment.
Jamie, as usual, sat in the car in comfortable silence, which I didn’t fill with useless words either. Instead, I kept my eyeson the road and thought about work. Hell, I was technically working right now.
This entire trip was nothing more than a guise for me to meet up with a new buyer who might help us transport some goods up north.
Jamie’s father was expanding.
He already managed to secure contacts down south with his son’s help, and while the Caparelli weren’t a bigger threat to us now any more than they had been, it could easily change if we slacked off.
Baran, Makar, and Fabian were coming along as backup. And I knew those fuckers wouldn’t miss an opportunity to have some fun, bringing “dates” with them.
I didn’t know what I was thinking when I invited Jamie. She wasn’t stupid—she was her father’s daughter, after all.
I doubted she would miss much.
But it had been two days since I had last seen her, and I didn’t want to wait an entire weekend before I could see her again.
Why that was, I didn’t want to know.
I didn’t want to analyze my feelings too closely when it came to her, especially since I knew she was most likely playing me.
But when I looked at her, I didn’t fucking see it.
Halfway through the trip, she fell asleep.
