Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND) (21 page)

“I woke up and missed you,” he said roughly, pressing her to the wall before dropping to his knees and—Chloe absolutely had to stop thinking about what Jasper had done then. She only hoped she hadn’t awakened the people in the room next door with her moaning. And what happened at the end—well, she had never been quiet in bed, but she didn’t remember making so much noise that she had actually heard herself before.

Telling herself it was the acoustics in the bathroom made her feel a little better, but the memory of how she’d sounded calling out still caused her to blush. Now if only she could believe no one had heard her begging for him to stop—which of course Jasper hadn’t done.

It was much harder than Chloe had imagined it would be to don Jasper’s pajamas again and stride down the hall as she left his room with wet hair at eight in the morning. Though she only passed a few business travelers and one honeymoon couple on their way to breakfast, Chloe couldn’t help but think that what she had done with Jasper was written all over her face.

She felt more shyness over being with him than she could remember ever feeling with a man before. In fact, this morning she couldn’t even remember being with other men. Not even Aaron, and before last night she had thought her ex-husband was the epitome of good in bed. Jasper had definitely raised the bar.

Chloe thought briefly about calling Taylor or Emma, but what could she say to either of her friends? She was certainly not giving them enough details about Jasper to make them start fantasizing about the man. No indeed. She had no intentions of willingly sharing this one, even mentally, with
any
other woman.

If she had known what Jasper was going to be like in bed before Lea had shown up, Chloe would have not played so nice with her either.

In fact, all she could assume this morning was that either Rayonna had been terrible in bed or Jasper hadn’t really been attracted to her. He certainly seemed to have a lot of energy for a forty-five-year-old who swore he only had sex once a month for years.

Granted, the first time with Jasper had been pleasurable but not memorable for her, but that second time—that one was for the record books. She had ridden a stoic Jasper until she had lost her mind, and then he’d rolled her over and surged into her probably a hundred times more until his control broke. At the end of it, Jasper had gripped two handfuls of her hair and convulsed for at least ten minutes on top of her.

Her body had hit a second climax reacting to his fierce use of her.

Then even later, sharing the pudding with Jasper had been a whole other matter.

Surprisingly, neither of them had found release, but they had licked, tasted, and explored, learning more about each other in an hour and a half than Chloe had known was possible to do with another human being.

Chocolate and Jasper, she had learned, were a heady combination. They had enjoyed pudding-induced foreplay that never really got finished before falling into an exhausted sleep together. Which is why the vigorous, soul-stealing morning-after shower sex with the sole remaining condom hadn’t surprised her either.

Jasper’s knees were probably killing him now, Chloe thought, her face flushing as she padded out of the elevator and down the hall to her room. First he’d been on the shower floor doing amazing things to arouse her, then he bent his legs to get into her, sliding her whole weight up the wall with every thrust afterwards.

Even thinking about it now made Chloe’s face flame and her legs wobble. You’d have thought she had done all the work by how weak she was feeling. No man had ever been that motivated to be with her until Jasper Wade. She still didn’t quite know what to make of it.

Once inside the safety of her own room, Chloe ordered breakfast sent up, comfortable in doing so only because she knew the chances of Eddie delivering it were slim, since he had worked the night shift. It had been hard enough to meet Jasper’s gaze this morning and worse after the shower they had shared.

Chloe couldn’t imagine facing anyone else on his staff, even though most already had a good idea of what was going on by now. Gossip in any workplace always travelled fast. Chloe knew that from experience. But embarrassed as she was to face people, she had promised to meet Max for practice.

Max, who would undoubtedly know by the time she saw him, Chloe realized, her face flaming a the thought. Max was Jasper’s brother and also one of those men who saw every woman as a creature made for sex, which was probably the biggest reason Taylor was keeping her distance.

Too bad Chloe didn’t share that same sense of discretion about Jasper.

“Oh God,” Chloe said out loud, face hot with shame as she looked among her clothes for something to wear to boost up her sagging confidence in the light of day.

A gorgeous nearly naked model had appeared at Jasper’s door last night for heaven’s sake. Sure he’d sent her away, but—it was just too much to believe that a man like Jasper would always pick someone like her over someone like Lea.

Chloe knew she was sexy, and that she always pleased her lovers in bed, but her appeal had eventually worn off with her good-looking ex-husband. It was only reasonable to wonder if it would eventually happen with the also good-looking Jasper Wade who was used to women who were rich, thin, and beautiful.

As Chloe gathered fresh underwear, another thought hit her. She was now officially in an affair with a man who was giving her a job. There were plenty of terms for a woman doing what she was doing, but Chloe wasn’t about to admit they applied to her yet. None of the labels were “love of my life,” that much she knew for certain, regardless of what flowery compliments Jasper had bestowed on her.

Chloe pulled on the white jeans again and the layered scarves top that minimized her breasts. The stretchy room in the jeans felt nice given her sensitive body condition this morning. Instead of sexy heels, Chloe put on her sandals. There was no way she was going to navigate safely in heels on sex-weakened legs.

When she finally made it to her own bathroom, Chloe was startled to see the soft, satisfied, and yes—glowing gaze of the brown-eyed woman looking back at her in shock.

“I only met you a few days ago. What have you done to me, Jasper?”

The answer from the satisfied woman looking back at her was only a sigh.

***

Max smiled as he watched Jasper walking to his table, his loose-limbed gait and tired, satisfied eyes filling him with hope that there had been a good reason. Then he noticed the lack of tie, the open collar of his shirt, and the loose slacks. Jasper’s look all but announced he was a man who’d spent the night with an amazing woman.

At least it did to Max.

“Okay—I don’t have to have any details. Just tell me it wasn’t Rayonna’s friend. I saw her going up in the elevator. I started to stop her, but I didn’t trust myself. I have my own problems,” Max told him, grinning.

Jasper smiled at Max. “I am completely done with Rayonna clones. I saw heaven last night, Maximillan. Now I’m trying to figure out how to see it again.”

“Did the angels sing for you Jasper?” Max teased, happy as hell to see his brother’s wicked smile.

“Just one angel,” Jasper said softly, “but she sang for me all night. I haven’t done that since college. I almost couldn’t turn loose of her this morning. I even accosted her in the shower. She practically ran out the door of my room to get away from me.”

Jasper sipped the ice tea Max had ordered for him. “And you know what—I don’t feel a shred of regret. I intend to chase the woman down and do it again tonight. Do you think you can fall in love in just a few days?”

The laughter tore out of Max. “Man, I bet Sam is going to be disappointed. He was hoping you’d crash and burn with Chloe so he could pick up the sad pieces.”

“Maybe I did. She’s totally embarrassed today, and I don’t know why. It’s not like half of what we did wasn’t her idea,” Jasper told him, closing his eyes. If he was with Chloe a thousand times, he was always going to remember last night. “Maybe she’s still bothered about Lea showing up practically nude.”

Max shrugged. “I’m surprised you got Chloe to even stay if she got a full view of Lea in that dress she had on. It was certainly making the woman’s intention to seduce you clear.”

“I was happily covered in Chloe’s lipstick and partially undressed when Lea got there,” Jasper said on a laugh. “I wasn’t even tempted for a second. This morning being with the women of my past is a sad joke compared to what lovemaking can really be like. I found exactly what I’ve been looking for all my life, Maximillan. Let me tell you, a hot eager woman is not just a fantasy.”

“Good to know,” Max said, his throat tight with what he hoped was just happiness for Jasper and not jealousy. “Now stop bragging before I have to go nail some unsuspecting hotel guest to work off my envy.”

“Sorry,” Jasper said, still not repentant for bragging. “I’ll spare you and take it up with Sam later.”

“You intend to tell your friend, who was also attracted to her, how good Chloe was in bed?” Max asked, shaking his head as the server put their food down. He picked up his sandwich and took a bite. “I guess I would too if I thought he was competition.”

“Sam’s not competition—or not anymore,” Jasper said, picking up his own sandwich, amazed at how good it tasted today. “I just want him to know how it is so he’ll stop hoping and look for his own woman. I like the man, but he can’t have Chloe. I found her first, and she’s all mine.”

Max rolled his eyes. “Are you hearing yourself? Don’t let Chloe hear you saying that yet. I think the pressure would send her running for sure. She’s already scared about singing alone. Speaking of which—quick change of subject before I need a cold shower. What do you think about hiring a couple backup singers? I think it would help Chloe’s confidence.”

Jasper laughed, then realized Max was serious. “Okay. I guess they won’t break me for a few nights a week. You got some in mind?”

“Yeah. Actually, it’s a couple women Sam knows well. I’ve heard them, and they’re good,” Max said. “If he has their number, maybe I’ll see if they can come by today or tomorrow.”

“I’m all about whatever it takes to keep Chloe here and happy,” Jasper said, his tone matter-of-fact and completely sure. He took two more bites and looked up at Max. “I swear this sandwich is the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I’m starved today.”

Max’s booming laughter drew attention, but for once Jasper didn’t care. It was going to take a lot to mess up his happiness.

***

Having put off the task for several days, Chloe reluctantly called her former mother-in-law as she had promised before coming to California. There was the matter of a final paycheck due her, which would be express shipped to her along with some final paperwork.

When they connected, Chloe didn’t ask how the business was doing, didn’t really want to know how they were handling her absence. Now that she was back in California, all that time working with her former in-laws seemed like a long out-of-town work assignment that had finally ended. She also didn’t ask any questions when the woman ranted for several minutes about Aaron’s possible engagement to floozy number three, something that had happened in the few days since Chloe had left.

She caught herself tuning out most of what the woman was saying, thinking instead of how much her life had changed for the better in those same few days.

Last night with Jasper had cured any lingering regret Chloe had about divorcing Aaron. Now she knew for a fact her sex life hadn’t ended with his cheating on her.

Whether things worked out with Jasper or not for any length of time, Chloe knew she was never again going to give up dating and having an active sex life. Jasper said he found her beautiful, and his actions last night had convinced her the man really meant it.

If Jasper had meant it, other men might mean it as well. She was pretty sure Sam would have asked her out too, not that she was interested in Sam, but when she added his interest to the guys who had talked to her by the pool—well, it was a lot of evidence that she’d done the right thing moving back to California. She was going to be a lot more happy here.

Before hanging up, Chloe gave Aaron’s mother the address of the hotel, assurances she was fine, and some vague promise to be in touch once she found a permanent place to live.

When she popped into the lounge, Sam was sitting at the bar, reading glasses on, going over some accounting books.

“Don’t you have an office?” Chloe asked, trying not to wince as she climbed up onto the stool beside him.

“Yes, but good-looking brunettes never pop in there to visit,” Sam told her, making her giggle.

“Have you seen Max?” she asked.

“No,” Sam said, pulling off his glasses and grinning. “Was Jasper that disappointing last night? Max is just an impatient kid. Trust me, he’ll be lousy in bed. Besides, I thought I got second dibs.”

“Stop teasing me,” Chloe said, smacking his arm. “A red face will not match my clothes today. Is it written on me somewhere that I spent the night with Jasper?”

“Only in your sunny smile,” Sam said, his voice soft and happy for her, less happy for the lucky bastard he worked for and called friend.

“Max and I have a working relationship only. You’re still my second choice, Sam,” Chloe told him, just before his gaze landed on something else and his laugh boomed out in the empty room. “What did I say that was so funny?”