"I'll see you tomorrow. Are you using the gym in the morning?" he said, pulling on his jacket which looked slightly beaten up and well used.
"Probably," I said. "I'll try not to swear too much this time."
"Nothing I haven't heard before, just not from a pretty girl doing pull-ups better than I've seen some men do. You were impressive." He was interested, there was a husky sound to his voice and I was aware that his gaze had dropped to my chest.
"Thank you," I said, trying not to stick the girls out a little more. I wasn't sure what I was thanking him for so I tried to rein the hormones back in. "And thanks for coming around to check on me. I'm not used to that and it was nice."
He bent down and kissed my cheek. I breathed in the scent of his aftershave, musky and male, and imprinted it in my memory. By morning he might well have removed himself back into the client zone – where he needed to be – and I couldn't manage another disappointment right now.
"'Night, Van," he said, opening the door.
"'Night." I closed it behind him, bolting it securely and adding the extra lock so if I decided to chase after him I'd be slowed down enough so I'd come to my senses.
Only I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to come to my senses.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Chapter Five
Jackson
When a friend sent me a text sometime before I woke up to ask if I'd spot him at the gym we were both members at, it seemed like fate was telling me to avoid seeing Vanessa first thing. I'd gone too far on Thursday night; massaging her shoulders, touching her waist. Even going around to her home had been unnecessary but she'd sounded so redundant and I knew I could help. Nothing like a fucking hero complex, is there?
I spent the morning with Claire, going through the information Katie Worthington had provided about her husband and the risk assessment we needed while dealing with the case. Claire wanted to take it on, I wanted to implement security for her from the outset and have her stay somewhere other than her apartment, where it was too easy to find her. After I pretended to listen to her arguments for twenty minutes she stormed off and I made the call to an old university friend who now ran a security firm.
I felt mildly more in control when there was a knock at my door. If the person behind it had any sense they'd come bearing coffee, preferably from Amelie's rather than the kitchen. The coffee machine there had a temper tantrum so we were waiting on a new one being delivered as it was clear Callaghan Greene couldn't operate without an unhealthy dose of caffeine each hour.
"Hey," the door opened and the dark-haired goddess I fell asleep thinking about, appeared holding two coffees from Amelie's. "If you're busy I can come back. I just need to run through some details for the retirement ball before I head over to my offices."
I stood up, a bit like we used to have to do when a teacher entered the classroom at my school. She looked like sex and home rolled into one perfectly proportioned woman and it was the home that scared me, made me bite my lips together and ball my hands into fists. Fitted black cropped trousers and a clingy black top gave my imagination enough to make sure I wouldn't need porn for the next decade and I didn't quite know what to say.
"Jackson?"
"Sure, I've got half an hour or so."Or all afternoon. In my bed.
Vanessa passed me one of the drinks and sat down opposite. She smelled of sweet limes and I wondered how she'd react to me leaning over and plundering her mouth with mine then taking her over the desk, because at that moment it was the only thing on my mind. "I've booked a venue. I can cancel it if you don't think it will work but I think it will give the right blend of history and tradition with forward thinking."
It was at this point I decided that she wasn't an employee as technically she was a contractor, and although she was a client it was only short term. I set the rules, therefore I could adjust them as needed. In my head I could manipulate my rules. "Where?"
"The Hop Exchange. They've had a cancellation for June 16thwhich is the Saturday you wanted." Her eyes were shining and she was radiating a warmth that made me want to lean in and savor it. She licked her lips and my cock shifted like it has been conditioned to wake up whenever I noticed her mouth.
"I like it there," I said. I did, I wasn't just being polite. It was a good choice and exactly what my father would want, not that he was getting a say as he was over in Niagara with my step-mum, Marie, deciding on which winery they wanted to buy. I was having no part of that venture unless they wanted me to taste the product. "What about caterers, music, décor?"
"Alice in my office will coordinate it. I think she secretly wants to be a wedding planner so any events we have she asks to organize. Have you..." she paused, licked her lips again. My cock was still hard from before, "...contacted Richard?"
"Seph's done it under my instruction. He's working on an injunction against Richard so he can't withdraw any more money and what he's taken will be debited to his director's loan account. I'll be checking everything Seph does, but he's good. I wouldn't trust him otherwise. Carry on as normal and me or Seph will keep you up to date." I moved to touch her hair, my blood definitely not in my brain but she tactfully moved back. Fuck knew why I couldn't control myself. I was an intelligent human being, not a fuckwit of a man who couldn't keep his hands to himself unless the woman had suggested otherwise. "Sorry. I shouldn't have and I apologize. I'll be more professional."
Vanessa stood, pushing the chair towards the desk. She shook her head, her expression unreadable. "Claire asked what I was doing after work. I mentioned we were going for drinks and maybe food and she asked if she could join us. Do you mind?"
Yes, I did mind, for fuck's sake. I wanted her to myself, to ask her questions and get to know her, to make her smile and laugh and watch every time her tongue touched her lips. And then I wanted to take her home and tie her to my bed for the rest of the weekend, which made me sound like a kinky kidnapper and I didn't want to come across as being quite that needy. I'd never been needy. If a woman hadn't been interested, which to be fair, hadn't been a frequent thing then I hadn't pursued it – there were always other women who had been. "No, that's fine. It'll give me a chance to catch up with Claire too."
She screwed up her nose. "Max mentioned coming too. That's before he meets some woman apparently although I wasn't sure if he had a fixed arrangement or he was planning on picking someone up. I wondered about gifting him an iTunes voucher for something other than Ed Sheeran."
I stretched my arms behind my head and smiled. "If you do, make sure I'm there to see his reaction. Is Seph joining us too, by any chance?"
"Possibly. He's meeting Payton at Euston first though. I think a couple of the fee-earners from Claire's team are coming. They mentioned something about two for one cocktails at Whisky Ginger." She pulled her hair back into a ponytail with her hands and bit her lips together. I knew she was trying to avoid being on her own with me tonight although having a few drinks with my colleagues and siblings wasn't that much of a chore for me. I figured that she was attracted to me, her erect nipples gave it away yesterday - and now I'd made up my mind to pursue her – date, court, woo, whatever verb you wanted to use the end result would be the same: Vanessa Moore would be in my bed. Or over my desk.
"What about Saturday?"
