Page 96 of Bourbon Deceit
“Ugh, you’re infuriating. Fine, but I’m going to put up one hell of a fight.”
“And I look forward to it,” I replied while nuzzling her neck.
“I really have to go.” She sighed. “Kace is already pissed at me for making him bring me here.”
“Kace can suffer while I soak you in for a little while longer.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and brought her lips down on mine. She was soft and gentle, with an edge of yearning. Her tongue darted out of her mouth and I tasted minty toothpaste on her lips, which ignited a flame deep within. I felt my cock start to grow under her and she noticed too because she pulled away and looked down between us.
“Seriously? You have more in you after last night and this morning?”
“You do this to me, little one,” I said as I rested my forehead against hers. “I told you, I need you all the time. I can’t control it.”
“I need you, too.” She took a heavy breath and looked out the window behind me. “I can’t wait for all of this to be over, Jett. When it’s over, do you think we could, you know, go out in public together? Like on dates?”
The sadness in her voice split my heart in two. I hated that our situation made her sad, that I couldn’t give her what a normal boyfriend could, that I couldn’t even take her out on a simple date like she deserved. She deserved so much more than me, but I was a selfish bastard who wouldn’t give her up. She was mine.
“We will have to lay low for a little bit but after the storm passes through, yes, we’ll be going out in public together. I would love to take you on dates, little one. Please don’t think otherwise, I just need some time to figure this all out.”
She nodded and started to get up but I held her down, I had to tell her something that she wasn’t going to like very much, but I would rather be open and honest with her than have her find out some other way.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay,” she said with hesitation.
“The Mayor’s Ball is a big deal, and for me to pull off the farce that we aren’t together, I need to show up with another date.”
“Okay, so are you bringing one of the other girls?”
“No, I don’t want to put them at risk. I need someone who is neutral and frankly, someone I don’t care about.”
“What are you trying to tell me, Jett?”
“The other day when I had a visitor, that was Keylee Zinc.”
“Keylee Zinc, who the hell is . . .” She stopped, realization hitting her. “The kiwi?!” She got off my lap faster than I could react and started to pace the length of my office. “You mean to tell me that you’re going to the Mayor’s Ball with the kiwi who blatantly said she would do anything to become a Jett Girl? Are you trying to deliberately hurt me?”
“What?” I stood up and walked over to her. “No, I would never do that. I’m doing this because it’s the only way—”
“That’s bullshit. I don’t want to hear about how it’s the only way. It’s not the only way. Take me, take Kace, take Miss Mary for fuck’s sake, but don’t take the one girl who I would rather eat razor blades than see socially ever again. Why the fuck would you do that?” I could feel the tension pouring off her, the anger, the sadness.
“I’m not doing this on purpose, Goldie. It’s the perfect distraction. Keylee is well known in the crowd I need to mingle with so if people see us together . . .”
“They’ll think you’re together,” she finished for me but in a hysterical tone. “I don’t want people thinking that.”
“Goldie, please think rationally for a second about this.”
“I am,” she shouted. “I’m the only one thinking rationally. You drive me crazy, Jett. Keeping me in the dark about everything, sending me off to live with some guy who, I’m sorry, has some kind of flirting problem, because that’s all he knows how to do, and then you say you’re going to go to an intimate affair with another woman but not just any woman, you’re going with the kiwi. Fuck, Jett.”
Flirting? I was going to have to talk with Diego, because that was unacceptable. No one flirted with my girl but me, but I wasn’t about to bring that up with Goldie. That would be a separate conversation I had with Diego later.
I grabbed ahold of her arms and made her stop pacing. I forced her to look me in the eyes as I spoke carefully.
“Remember what I told you? Have faith in me, little one. In us.” I ran my hand along her necklace. “I gave this to you to let you know that I’m committed to you and you alone, no one else, and no one else can step in between that. I might be taking someone else to a ball but you’ll be in my heart.”
She deflated and shook her head. “I hate this so much. Ever since I met you it’s been an up and down roller coaster. I don’t know how much more I can take.”
Unfortunately, she was right. I’ve been nothing but trouble for her since she got here. If it wasn’t my damn emotional brick walls stopping her from moving forward, it was my father’s lack of humanity. I was fucking with her in every which way and I still couldn’t be the bigger man and let her go. I kept stringing her along. I didn’t want to admit it but in the pit of my stomach, I was pretty sure I knew the reason.
