I rubbed my hand vigorously against his dick, wrapping my hand around him through the fabric and stroking my thumb over the tip where moisture was already seeping through. “Or do you want me to get on my knees and take you in mouth?” I offered.
“Fuck, don’t stop, Kayd. I’m so close,” he said, dropping his head back.
“You can’t even wait for my lips, can you?”
“No,” he groaned as he pressed his dick up into my hand and one of his hands dropped to cover mine as his hips tightened. His back arched and his lips parted on a silent moan as I rubbed him through his climax. He pulled his hand off mine and I released him, smirking at the wet spoton his pants that continued to grow, his thick come soaking through the fabric and onto my fingers.
“Happy?” he asked, chest heaving as his eyes settled on me again. “I’ve never come in my pants for anyone before.”
“I think this is going to be one hell of an interesting assignment,” I said, leaning back and folding my arms across my chest. “But since the personal side of our relationship is still under wraps as far as I’m concerned, you’re going to have to get better control of your orgasm reflex.”
“You’re very smug.” He wiggled his pants around like he was trying to figure out how to make his situation more comfortable.
“No one’s ever come in their pants watching me give a presentation, Jace,” I said, adjusting my own painful erection. “That’s an ego boost I didn’t know I needed.”
“That’s a gross misinterpretation of what just happened,” he grumbled.
I stood up to see myself out and smiled at him as I tucked my laptop into my bag. “I guess we won’t be keeping this professional after all?” I asked.
“Are you going to call me?”
I nodded. “If you can handle the obvious conflict of interest.”
“I realize I’m not giving the impression that I can, since I’m sitting here in my own come, but yes, I can handle it.” He ran a hand through his curls and took a deep breath. “I won’t go easy on you, I promise. Set up a meeting with Rita for me to see your first full draft in three weeks with the changes we talked about.”
“Of course, Mr. Cohen,” I said professionally as I pulled open the conference room door.
“Fuck me,” Jace muttered, tipping his head back.
“Another time, Jace.” I laughed as I walked out the door, leaving him there to clean up his mess.
It wasn’t until I was setting up the appointment with Rita that I realized how little anxiety I felt about this project now. Not because of whatever Jace and I were doing personally, but because he set me at ease in a way no one else had before. I’d had enough therapy to know that anxiety is an individual problem and you can’t rely on other people to solve it for you but it sure did help to be around someone who seemed to quiet the noise in my head without even trying.
Chapter Nine
Jace
I threw cans ofpaint at a large white canvas propped against the wall in my studio. Kaylee was working on a paint by number in the corner behind me and she watched with awe as I flung a small can of blue at the canvas. It splashed on top of the other colors before tumbling to the ground and into the folds of the white drop cloths covering the walls and floor.
“Is that art?” she asked, sounding skeptical.
“What I do with the paint after is where the art is,” I said, picking up the blue can and setting it aside. “The paint covers the canvas and then it’s up to me to create something with it.”
Kaylee crinkled her nose, and I laughed, shaking my head before grabbing a can of yellow and tossing it into the mix. I set the can aside and picked up a sponge and approached the canvas, spotting a way to make the colors look like light reflecting off water. I started spreading thepaint around to pull that image out of the mess.Maybe I’ll spray paint trees and a lake house over top if it comes out right.
“Can I go see Sloane?” Kaylee asked. My mom had given me this studio space in the back of her art gallery years ago and her office was the next room over. Kaylee loved coming here and watching me paint, but she liked hanging out with my mom—who she’d decided was “very cool”—even more.
“Sure,” I said, checking the clock on the wall. “I’ve got to drop you at your mom’s in an hour, so I’ll be in to get you soon.”
“Okay,” she said, already bounding out of the room. I listened until I heard my mom greet her before getting lost in my art again.
It had been more than two weeks since Kayden’s presentation and he’d called me three times. The first time had been to talk through a couple ideas he had for the rehab facility. The second time he’d come over and we’d spent a few hours in bed together before he went home for the night. A couple days later, he’d called with more work-related questions.
It had been almost a week since that last call. I was thinking about reaching out to him tonight to ask if he wanted to get a drink, but I found myself hesitating to tell him that I wanted a meal and conversation with him, not just another hookup. Not because I didn’t think he’d be open to it, but because I sucked at asking other people to meet my needs.
Maybe it was a good thing Kayden and I were keeping things casual. Liv had been preparing me for our pretend date in a few weeks and she’d be starting at the office on Monday, which meant I had a little bit of prep to do to make her first day run smoothly.
The way I was interested in Kayden was confusing whenever I thought about how I felt about Liv, so I tried not to think about either too much.
