“Didn’t look like it was stopping him.”
Definitely jealousy.
Something churned in me, knowing that this powerful, handsome man had a sense of possessiveness when it came to me. It was ridiculous. We had just met, but I was turned on by it. I wondered if that was why he had caused that scene with Ben.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous…” I said with a sly smile, just as the bartender slid over my cocktail. I picked it up and took a long sip.
Chester leaned in and a shiver trilled up my spine as my hand tightened around the cool glass in my hand. I held my breath as he whispered, “A guy like that doesn’t deserve your presence. Doesn’t even deserve a glance in your direction.”
He pulled away and took another sip of his bourbon. I finally let out a breath and watched him from the corner of my eye, his words still dancing in my ears. He was the hottest man I had ever seen. That was confirmed in the way he ran his hand through his light brown hair, held in place by whatever pomade that complemented his sensuous cologne. I could breathe him in all damn day.
“So, how do you know Will?” I asked, changing the subject as the embers in me began to flicker, trying desperately to put out the flames.
“We met in college. We were roommates in the dorms,” said Chester, looking at his friend who was singing an upbeat acoustic song.
“He’s good,” I said, nodding in the direction of the stage.
“Always has been. He’s just now pursuing it.”
“What took so long?”
“He was working with me.”
“Hmm,” I said, taking a sip of my drink and trying to match the two men as best friends. One in a suit. One with a guitar. What an interesting pair.
“Do you come to his shows a lot?” I asked.
“Not really, no.”
“Not your scene?” I asked with a soft laugh, looking him up and down. That suit really did wonders for him.
“How can you tell?” he asked, raising a playful eyebrow.
“Maybe it’s the fancy suit.” I shrugged.
“This is my ‘casual’ suit,” he said with his fingers in air quotations.
“You wouldn’t know casual if it bit you on the ass,” I quipped, shaking my head.
“Is that so?” He crossed his arms and cocked his head.
“I know all about you, Mr. CEO,” I said, waving my finger up and down at him.
He laughed loudly before knocking back the rest of his drink and looking at me with a challenging look in his eye.
“I don’t think you do, Juliet,” he said, my name sounding like sugar on his tongue. “You thought I was Mike, remember?”
I groaned as I put my hands to my cheeks in embarrassment.
“Well, Ireadabout you in the papers. Briefly. Just to know more about the job,” I threw in quickly, not wanting him to think I was looking him up.
“And?”
“You’re a ‘hatchet man’ as they like to call you. You have built an extensive empire by plucking up companies one by one. You’re abillionaire.” I looked him up and down. “So yeah, you don’t knowcasual.”
He looked at me for a moment, staying quiet. I wondered if had crossed some invisible line, but then he leaned in with a smile that made his eyes darken in a dance.
“I do know about casual sex,” he said in a hoarse whisper, his eyes now hot coals as they fell to my lips. He pulled away and turned his attention back to the show, leaving me with my mouth open and watching him go, wishing he was still inches from my face.
