Bound Together (10 page)
Authors: Marie Coulson
Received: 19.00
From: The Asshole
* * *
stomach were in a frenzied swarm as I walked through the heavy exit
doors. Jared was leaning against a beautiful, sleek black car. I
didn’t have to look twice to know it was a
Jaguar XK. Dad had always talked about owning one. It was his
dream car. The walls of his study were papered with pictures of the
car and a miniature model in silver sat on his desk. It was not a
cheap machine. Jared clearly wasn’t scraping by.
Seeing me at the top of
the steps Jared started grinning as his eyes made their way down my
body, slowly; as if he were willing my clothes to disappear,
leaving my bare flesh for his viewing pleasure. With his eyes fixed
on me, I felt naked. He was wearing dark blue denim jeans that had
a slight tear design on the right knee. A blue tee was visible
underneath his crisp white shirt which was unbuttoned at the top
and the sleeves rolled up to rest just above his elbows. I could
see the impressive size of his arms, which were practically
bursting to be released from the binds of his sleeves.
He strode over to the
bottom of the steps and held out his hand. “Your carriage awaits my
lady.”
I smiled and bit my lower
lip. It was something I always did when I was anxious or excited.
Taking his hand but being conscious of the five inch heels on my
feet, I carefully walked down the three small steps and onto the
side walk. Leaning in, he opened my door and his body was so close
I could smell his cologne. I inhaled the scent deeply as he pulled
away. It was masculine and it suited him perfectly. Eau de Jared
was a heady scent.
I was still swooning over
his delicious fragrance when he helped me into my seat. I watched
his every move as he ran around to the driver’s side and jumped in.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He smiled over at me, turning on
the ignition and as the engine roared to life, his smile grew
wider.
“
Ready?”
I nodded and smiled to
myself. For whatever you can dish out Jared. Bring it
on.
As we drove along in
silence I began to wonder how we’d gotten to this moment. It was
then that I remembered an important question that needed answering.
Looking straight ahead I took a deep breath and asked, “Jared. How
did you get my number?”
The corners of his mouth
turned up and he gave me a quick glance before turning his eyes to
the road as we sped along. “Does it matter? Or better yet. Do you
actually mind that I have it?”
Cocky Jared had made an
appearance once again and surprisingly, I was pleased to see
him.
I turned in my seat so
that my knees were facing him. Staring at him, I waited for an
answer to my question. I wasn’t responding to his until he had
explained himself. His answer would certainly influence my
own.
“
I got it from Lorraine.
I told her I needed to reach you and discuss financial matters with
you in reference to that coffee incident the other
day.”
My mouth dropped open. I
was angry at him again. Turning back to face the windshield I
crossed my arms over my chest and stared out of the window. How
could he invade my privacy like that? And why had Lorraine so
willingly given him my details? He could have been a stalker for
all she knew.
I was suddenly aware that
we were pulling over. Turning off the ignition, Jared opened his
door and walked around to my side.
What
was he doing?
I watched him curiously as
he tapped on my window indicating that I should open the door. I
motioned for him to stand back and did as he’d asked. Was he going
to throw me out?
I was just about to
unbuckle my seatbelt when he crouched down next to me. He held onto
the door with one hand and took hold of mine with the other. I
couldn’t look at him. I knew if I did I would melt and my resolve
would weaken. He’d done something that I was not ready to forgive
so easily and he had to know it.
“
Layla. I’m truly sorry
for invading your privacy like that. At the time, I wasn’t thinking
clearly. I knew...” He broke off and stared at the ground below his
feet. I found myself gazing at him, wondering what he was going to
say. I didn’t have to wait long. Exhaling loudly he looked up and
met my gaze. Taking a deep breath he continued. “I knew that after
the way I’d behaved in the shop there was no way you would give me
your number if I’d asked for it. But I really wanted to talk to
you. I wanted to apologize and ask you out right there and then,
but you made arguing with you so much fun I just couldn’t help
myself. Especially when it made you blush the way you are
now.”
He was giving me that
same sexy, smoldering smile I’d seen in the coffee shop. I hadn’t
even felt my cheeks get warm but I was certain they were beet red
by now. The touch of his hand had sent a jolt of electricity like a
bolt of lightning through my chest and my heart had responded
immediately. It was drumming below my now rapidly heaving chest.
His eyes were burning through me almost begging for me to respond
and pleading with me to forgive him. His lips were slightly parted
and I had to fight my uncontrollable urge to kiss him, even though
I was sure he wanted me to. His lips were simply tempting me to
take them with my own. And I wanted nothing more than to oblige
him, but I was determined to play it cool.
As though he read my
mind, he ran his tongue over his bottom lip and nipped it gently
with his teeth. That did it. I couldn’t fight it anymore. I
hurriedly unbuckled my seatbelt and cupped his face with my hands,
pulling him to me. A spark of lustful excitement ignited inside my
body as I pressed my lips to his. He responded with the same
urgency, running his hand up my arm and around to the back of my
neck as he pulled me to him with a passionate force. My hands
skimmed across his face and ran freely through his golden hair. His
tongue traced my bottom lip and my mouth opened, granting him
access. He kissed me deeply with a hunger I’d never experienced
before.
I pulled away from him,
trying to catch my breath. Our eyes met and a smile spread across
his face. Running his thumb over my lips, he grinned.
“
Does that mean you
forgive me?”
I bit my lip hard. I
could still taste him on my flesh. I nodded and released my lip
into a smile of my own. “I think we can work something
out.”
His grin widened and
almost reached his eyes. Standing up, he kissed my hand before
closing the door. How the hell were we going to make it through
dinner?
We drove for what felt
like forever and I wondered where we were going. Apart from the
coffee shop and the college campus, I wasn't familiar with the
social scene of Long Beach. I glanced over at Jared. He was
concentrating intently on the road and I couldn't help but smile
when I noticed him singing along to a song on the radio. He was so
quiet, it was almost a whisper and he was fumbling over some of the
lyrics. I couldn't help letting out a small snigger and I hastily
covered my mouth. He shot me a quizzical look and raised one
eyebrow.
"Something amuses you my
lady?"
Letting my hand fall back
to my lap, I shook my head and cleared my throat. "No, sir, not at
all. I was just thinking that if one is going to sing, one should
do so audibly and with correct lyrics."
Now
he
was laughing. His eyes glimmered
with mischief as he gave a nod of acknowledgement before turning
the volume up.
Beyoncé’s ‘All The Single
Ladies’ echoed through the speakers. Jared began bobbing his head
to the music and as the lyrics to the chorus began, he burst into
song. He held up his left hand and began doing the dance, showing
me his palm, then the back of his hand and repeating the movement
quickly about ten times. I burst into laughter. Clutching my
stomach I continued to watch him as he belted out each word. His
head was bobbing left to right along with the music and his hand
was now his microphone. His facial expression was that of a diva
performing on stage to millions of fans. My ribs were aching and my
eyes were beginning to fill with tears.
Once the song was
finished he cleared his throat, turned down the radio and glanced
at me with a playful smile. He was a blurry outline as I tried to
focus through the tears trickling down my face. I tried to stop the
rolling laughter that was heaving inside me, but every time I
looked at him I fell into hysterics again. This time he laughed
with me. I took a few deep breaths and massaged my
ribs.
“
Was that what you had in
mind? I thought I performed rather well myself. However the
audience appears to be of a different persuasion.
”
I reached over and
patted his knee. “Oh, I think you did wonderfully sir. You were
extremely entertaining. Bravo. Encore.”
He moved his hand towards
the volume control slowly as if he were daring me to stop him. My
stomach couldn’t take it if I were to laugh any more. Moving
quickly I grabbed his hand and shook my head. “I was
kidding!”
He brought my hand to his
lips and placed a soft kiss on my knuckles before returning it to
my lap. I reveled in the tender moment we had just shared. He
really wasn’t the man I had thought he was.
The Jared sitting next to
me right now was sweet, funny, charismatic and playful; a far cry
from the sarcastic, arrogant and rude Jared I had met at the coffee
shop. But somehow I found them both equally exciting.
A ringing echoed through
the car speakers and pressing his fingertip to the panel on the
dash, Jared answered, “Harrison. I’m not alone.”
A deep voice boomed
through the sound system and I sat quietly as they conducted their
conversation.
“
Understood. I’m sorry to
disturb you Jared but unfortunately that thing we were concerned
about needs dealing with right away. Unexpected turn of events I’m
afraid. I’ve set wheels in motion but I fear this may spiral faster
than we’d hoped.” Jared’s mouth pressed into a hard line and he
slammed his palms on the steering wheel in frustration. “Damn it!
Keep me posted.”
After he hung up, we
continued the rest of the drive in silence. I didn’t want to pry
into his business as I felt it was none of mine. I was still in the
dark as to where exactly we were going when we turned onto a road
named “Victoria Street” It appeared too long to be a simple street
but I figured that maybe it had been smaller at the time it was
named. Well, that really wasn’t important; the thing I was finding
the most interesting was the scale of the houses. They were
enormous. All lined up in a row, each house was protected by tall
iron gates. Some had gravel driveways and others were paved. The
houses themselves had a modern appearance and were surrounded by
lawns that you’d expect to see at a garden show.
Pulling up to a pair of
large black iron gates, Jared leaned over to a security system on
the wall adjacent to his door. He quickly punched in a code and the
gates slowly opened, allowing us to enter. The house was the
biggest on the street. It was white and had beautiful full length
arched windows. The lawn was immaculate and the edges were
decorated with rose bushes. The roses were stunning; their several
different shades of pink had me in awe and I found myself staring
out my window trying to take it all in.
Parking the car in front
of the house, he turned to me and smiled. I was confused. Why were
we at someone’s house? With my brow furrowed I stared at him.
“Where are we? I thought we were having dinner?” He gave me a
wicked grin. “We are. I told you I was taking you to dinner. I just
neglected to say where. Welcome to chez Jared.”
He let out a small chuckle and got out of the car, jogging
around to my door to open it for me, before taking my hand and
assisting me to my feet. He interlocked our fingers and held my
hand tightly as he led me into the house.
Once inside I realized
that what I’d seen outside was just the tip of the iceberg. I was
standing in the most exquisite foyer I’d ever seen. Glistening
crystal chandeliers hung from the high rise ceiling above me. The
staircase in the center of the room was perfectly white with a
black railing that twisted and wound into a beautiful vine pattern
all the way to the top. The floor was white marble with a
minimalistic design of small black diamonds evenly set into a
pattern across the massive room. Jared ran his fingers over my
knuckles before pressing his lips on my hand. I could feel my
cheeks turning crimson again. He had this amazing ability to make
my blood boil in fury but also to make it simmer inside me. “Would
you like a tour?” I suddenly became aware that my mouth had been
gaping open the entire time. I quickly closed it and cleared my
throat. Turning my face to him, I nodded.
He led me upstairs and
showed me the bedrooms. At one end of the house were three large
rooms, each with an adjoining en suite bathroom. They were an
impressive size and certainly big enough for two. Each bathroom had
his and hers basins and deep bath tubs with a chrome and glass
shower. The bedrooms were decorated in neutral colors and I got the
feeling that they were intended to be guest rooms. Jared’s hand
hadn’t left mine since the car and as he tightened his grasp, I
could feel the heat radiating from his palm and pulsing upwards
through my hand into my arm. We stopped outside a pair of very
large white wooden doors. Taking my other hand in his, he faced me
and smiled with a boyish grin. “This, my lady, is the master
suite.
This
is my
room.”
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