MisMatch (A Humorous Contemporary Romance) (18 page)

“Of course I know. I saw him draped all over
her.”

“Okay, take a deep breath. Draped all over
her like kissing her, or like intertwined fingers. I find that's a
little different, depending on what they were actually doing.”

Jessica heard a series of banging and
clicking. “Well, neither if you really want to be a stickler about
it, but they looked really intimate. Like they were really
comfortable with each other.” More clicking. “What the hell are you
doing over there anyway?”

“Arming myself to the teeth. You called, I'm
bringing the militia. I just want to make sure that when I
slaughter some poor woman it's 'cause she deserves it and not
‘cause your new not-boyfriend was showing around his sister or
something.”

Jessica giggled. “Are you really arming
yourself to the teeth? ‘Cause I'd love to see you with a gun.”

“Now you sound like Jason. He's convinced
everyone in the house needs to learn to shoot. Ever since that
scare a couple of years ago, he's been a little security crazy.
Part of the reason I had to leave normalcy for Malibu.”

“Stop complaining. I'd switch places with
you any day. Not in the crazy, man-stealing way—although that man
of yours if very nice to look at—but in the I'd love your life kind
of way.”

Izzy chuckled. “I feel you. Speaking of
family, how’s my kid? Thank you for scooping her up from dance
class for me.”

Jessica eyed Kara, who squealed as she
tossed sand in the air. Eeeks, must stop her before she got more
sand in the hair. Izzy would kill her if, once again, she had to
contend with sand in the baby's afro. “She's perfect. We’re headed
home.”

“So, you're okay? No need for me to send the
militia? ‘Cause right now I’m arming Nick and crew with paint guns.
I figured it would be fitting.”

“Hardy har. I'm good.”

“Okay, come on back, and we'll discuss
properly over hot cocoa. But honey, only you can know what you want
from him. Either you want him, or you don't.”

“I really wish it was that simple. I want
him. I simply don’t want the pain that comes with him.”

“You’re going to have to figure it out,
sweetie, because this yo-yo thing isn’t good for you. Maybe you two
should try having an actual conversation that doesn't end with the
two of you ripping each other’s clothes off.”

Jessica frowned. “I am unfamiliar with these
conversations of which you speak.”

“Truth be told, I can see why.”

After hanging up with Izzy, Jessica stared
at her phone. Jessica had to determine exactly what she wanted from
Eli. Otherwise, she was only torturing herself. With a deep breath,
she sent Eli a text.

***

“Hey, little brother, you want to tell me
what the hell Jessica is so pissed about?” Eli strode into Samson’s
studio as he was staring at his latest work.

“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a
million times, I don't understand women, big brother. All I
understand is how to pleasure them. Beyond that, I got nothing.
You’ll have to elaborate.”

“I got a text from her earlier asking about
some daisies or something. You have any idea what that means?”

Sam frowned then his eyes went wide. “Dang,
bro, that chick of yours really is Colombo. How did she even know
about them?”

Eli's patience pulled tight like the cords
of a violin. “Explain.”

“I took Jocelyn to the Grove today to cheer
her up after she broke up with her boyfriend. I bought her some
daisies. Jessica must have seen us there.”

The pounding in Eli’s head increased until
it sounded like a herd of elephants doing the bachata in his skull.
“See, this is why I didn’t want to do this. I don’t want to lie to
her and have to keep stories straight and figure out where the hell
you've been that I’ve been. Hell, I can’t even tell her about my
job or talk to her about any real shit because I’m too busy
pretending to be you.”

Samson spread his arms wide. “Is it so bad
being me, big brother?”

“I have no problem being you, except I
happen to like being myself, and I hate lying. And right now,
Jessica’s pretty pissed.”

Samson had the grace to look chagrined. “I
guess we should coordinate better.”

“Wrong answer. Right answer would have been,
‘Eli, why don’t you go ahead and tell the truth like you wanted to
from the start.’” But now Vince had him in even deeper.

Samson’s eyes went wide. “Dude, you can’t
until after this opening. You promised. Jessica made it clear that
if I step a toe out of line she’s gone. I need this, and Jessica is
the one. She's the only one who can get me there. I thought you
were going to help me?”

The desperation in his
brother's eyes sliced deep. Eli
had
given Sam his word that he'd help. And Jessica
was the fast track ticket to doing that. After these two
exhibitions, and if she could convince the board of the Stanton
Endowment for the Arts to make Sam their featured artist of the
year, then his brother would be set for life. Sam would never have
to spiral out of control like he'd done before. Eli would finally
be taking care of him like he was supposed to. But what the hell
would it cost him?

Before the words were even out of his mouth,
he knew what he'd say. “Yeah, Sam. I'm behind you.”

The relief in Sam’s eyes was the final nail.
Sam was so used to not being able to believe in anything or anyone
that he really thought Eli would abandon him. No matter how much
Jessica was under Eli’s skin, Sam was his priority. Even if he was
lying to him.

Eli had to figure out what his next move
would be on the signatures. Now that Vince had somewhere to look,
he wouldn’t let it go. He had to address their Vince issue, but
there was no need to alarm Sam yet. There was still a chance they
wouldn’t need to open that can of worms.

Back at his place, Eli
palmed his phone and stared at it for what seemed like hours before
calling Jessica. He had to think about Samson.
You have to think about yourself.
That one text had him spinning out. It was easily explained,
but he still didn’t want to have to go through with the
lie.

Jessica’s phone rang four times before she
answered with a brusque, “What do you want, Eli? I don't really
have time for this right now.”

“Okay, you’re pissed. I get it. But I swear
to you, I was just cheering up a friend. I wish you'd called me
then; we could have all had lunch together.”

She snorted. “Yeah right. How awkward was
that going to be? Look, Eli, I don’t need this. We, this thing,
it's getting way more complicated than I bargained for. I’ve got my
hands full. I just lost another fucking client to Destiny, and my
mounter has upped his prices. The last thing I need is to deal with
you. You’re pretty much dangerous to my equilibrium. I'm not the
jealous crazy chick. Current behavior notwithstanding.”

Eli's heart thudded in his chest. He might
have chosen to protect Samson, but like hell he'd give Jessica up
so easily. “You don't have to believe me. But for the record, that
was a friend. Her boyfriend broke up with her, and I was literally
cheering her up.” He sighed. “Now do you want to tell me about your
day?”

She didn’t seem to want to hear it.
“Bullshit, Eli, I saw you two together. It was all so fucking
intimate.”

Fuck Samson. If Eli couldn't fix things
tonight, he'd have to tell Jessica the truth. “Did you see me kiss
her? Was I holding her in a lover's embrace? Whispering sweet
nothings in her ear? Did you see any of that?”

She was silent for a beat. He could almost
see the doubt worming its way through her psyche. “Eli, you were
draped all over her.”

“She'd lost her boyfriend, Jessica. I think
you've been there before. I was trying to cheer her up. But the
only woman I’m currently having any sort of intimate relationship
with is you. I swear it.” He swallowed around the lump in his
throat. She was more than merely under his skin, she was working
her way to his heart, and he wasn’t particularly fond of that idea,
so he veered the conversation toward the one area he could actually
deal with when it came to Jessica—sex. “Do you really think, we
could have done what we did last night, and then the next day I’d
be hooking up with some other woman? You were there.”

He heard her ragged breaths. “That was sex,
Eli. Chemistry doesn’t seem to be our problem.”

“You're lying to yourself if you think that
was just sex. Let me be clear with you. I've never had 'just sex'
like that at any point in my life.” He shifted in his comfortable
leather chair, trying to make room for his thickening erection.
Merely thinking about her set his blood on boil. He would do almost
anything to feel this way with her again. Anything except give up
Samson.

“I keep thinking about how you looked in
that dress, the way the fabric hugged your skin. You’re lucky I
didn't rip the thing to shreds.”

“Knowing you, you would have described it as
art.”

Eli chuckled. She had a point there. That's
something he and his brother had in common. “Yeah, maybe.” He
cleared his throat. “Are you going to start talking to me now, or
do I need to grovel more? I have to tell you, having my manager not
speak to me is going to make things a little difficult, especially
when I get you naked again.”

“Not going to happen, lover boy. I can only
take so much punishment.”

“Oh really?”

***

Jessica couldn't help herself when Eli’s
voice dropped to a velvet smooth texture. Talking to him on the
phone was a whole new kind of sexual experience. She honestly
hadn’t expected him to call. She'd acted like a brat. Izzy was
right—if she didn’t want him, then why had she been so upset seeing
him with another woman?
Because you want to be
intimate with him. Strolling around doing normal people stuff. When
have you ever wanted to be normal?

“You're awfully quiet over there, Jessica.
Are you thinking about punishing me now? Because if you are, then
you’re reading my mind.”

A hot sizzle danced up her spine. God, the
man didn't usually say much when they were in person. Granted they
were too busy ripping each other’s clothes off. But get him on the
phone, and he was pure seduction. “Eli, I’m at work. I can’t talk
about this right now.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about
it?”

“Not really.”

“Okay then. Last I checked you worked for
yourself. Close the door.”

“Eli.” Shocked, she whispered his name as an
admonishment.

“There's something about the way you say my
name.”

She was not going to have phone sex with
this man—though she strode over to close her door just in case. She
also glanced surreptitiously around to make sure no one could walk
by and could accidentally overhear anything.

“You’re incorrigible, Eli.”

“You know, it's funny, I’ve heard that
before. Did you close your door?”

“Yes, but—”

“Good girl. Now, not to be cliché, but can
you tell me what you're wearing, love? I want to be able to give
you the right kind of instruction.”

Shit. What was it about her and a trouble
maker? “Eli.”

His voice went deeper, gravelly. “I'm
waiting.”

She rolled her eyes as she planted herself
in her Barcelona chair. “Fine. But only so you can get the picture
of how fabulous I look. I'm wearing a vintage Chanel wrap
jumpsuit.”

“Hair up or down?”

“Up.”

“Let it out.”

She complied and removed the bobby pins
holding up the thick tresses. “It's down.”

“Should I guess what color feather you have
in your hair today?”

“I'm not wearing any actually. I had a
meeting with an investor for the gallery, so out came the
piercings, feathers, and colored hair. I look pretty ordinary
now.”

“Somehow, I doubt that. What are you doing
in the office? Shouldn’t you be out scouting new talent?”

“Sometimes I do take meetings in my
office.”

Eli's low chuckle had her eyes fluttering
shut. “Instead of meeting your clients in a dark club for
instance.”

Heat prickled over her skin. “Sphinx is a
perfectly fine place to meet an artist. I need money people, and
they have a thing against clubs unless it's for celebrating.” At
least, that’s what she thought.

“Jess?”

“Mm.”

“You remember that night in the club? When I
set you on the table and stepped between your thighs?”

Jessica's tongue stopped working. As if all
of a sudden it had been glued to the roof of her mouth with a paste
of sandpaper and glue. All she could manage was a weak,
“Mm-hm.”

“I want you to sit like that right now. Like
I'm there standing between your thighs.”

She knew she shouldn't, but the part of her
that had always been drawn to the dark and dangerous felt compelled
to follow through. To listen to his instructions. To follow the
adventure wherever it might lead. She finally found her voice as
she positioned herself at the end of her desk. “Okay, I'm
here.”

“Okay, beautiful, I have one rule, you're
not allowed to touch yourself.”

“Newsflash, handsome, that's going to defeat
the purpose of phone sex.”

There was that chuckle again. Deep and rich.
“Who says? Besides, I think it'll be hotter if I can bring you off
from the memory alone. You want to see if your memory rivals mine?
Once I sat you down, what did I do next?”

Heat flamed up her face as her mind spun the
photograph in her memory. Eli between her legs, lips hovering above
hers as he bent to kiss her. And then the shocking rasps of his
knuckles against her smooth thighs as they stoked up her legs.
“Y-your fingers, right at my G-string.”

His voice pitched even lower. “Then
what?”

She remembered the frustration as he'd
refused to kiss her and only brushed feather light kisses against
her lips. His fingers had stolen under her G-string and stroked
her. Her center immediately softened in anticipation. “You were
stroking me. So gently. Y—you, wouldn't touch my clit. Just kept…”
Her voice hitched as she felt the blood rushing to her most
sensitive skin.