Page 31 of Winning Her

Maybe… Could I take her out to dinner?

With the thought in mind, the first thing I wanted to do was call my PA. I had to remind myself she wasn’t with me at the hotel, even though she was the one who usually set things up for me. So instead, I called for the secretary. She was in my room seconds later.

“I want you to look into someone for me,” I said before she could start. “Her name is Jessi, she works as the pastry chef in the kitchen. I know she lives in the hotel, but I’m not sure where. Just get me as much about her as you can find, all right?”

She nodded, hiding a look of confusion. “Of course, sir. And I also wanted to let you know, that I’ve received a few calls. I know you wanted any meetings to wait, but a major partner of the hotel is coming down to see you. He said it was something important. There was also more than one call like that. Should I send them all away?”

I pursed my lips, thinking. Should I? There was a reason I was ignoring my dad’s meetings. I didn’t know his plans, and I didn’t want to accidentally put a wrench in them. But if they were all already on their way then I might as well. Besides, I’d tried to talk to Dad and he wouldn’t see me. So if anything went wrong it wasn’t my fault I was going in with no information. He wasn’t there to give it to me.

“It’s fine,” I said. “Just get me the information.”

“Yes, sir.”

That was how I found the rest of my day spent in meetings. I knew I should be paying complete attention, but I had no idea what was going on in each of them. I barely heard a word anyway.

Instead, I thought about Jessi and last night. I thought about how she’d sighed as I touched her, all high and breathy, just at the edge of a whine. The way she would hiss, fingertips digging into my back, as I fucked her into the mattress. The way she had looked at me, cheeks flushed, and swollen lips opened wide—her light brown eyes with a wet sheen in them—as she came, writhing under me. I couldn’t help stealing a glance at that look before I’d buried my face in her shoulder for my orgasm.

Fuck.

I want her again, I admitted to myself. There was no point trying to deny it, was there? During lunch, I called for another of her pastries as a dessert with my meal, and it kept her in my mind through the rest of the day. I was half hard through most of my meetings, but thankfully, it all happened in the office, and I was hidden by the desk.

I left the office at my usual time, but I’d got quite a bit done, not including the meetings. The secretary had retrieved the information I wanted, and I couldn’t help rushing to Jessi’s quarters. It was a bit late, but considering how late she was out yesterday, it probably wouldn’t be a problem. I would have wanted to come sooner, but I couldn’t allow myself to shirk my duties for any reason, it just wasn’t professional. I’d already called down, and Jessi wasn’t in the kitchens or the staff room.

After a moment to catch my breath, I knocked on the door. I waited a minute, but no answer. I knocked again, pressing my ear closer to the door.

“Jessi?” I called, feeling a bit awkward. “It’s me, Trent. I was wondering if we could talk, maybe?”

I wasn’t getting an answer and I didn’t know why. Five minutes of waiting made me decide she was either not home, or she just didn’t want to talk to me.

She had been in love with me for years. Or at least, she had been years ago. Maybe I wanted more of her, but… maybe she’d had her fill of me?

That couldn’t be it, could it?

12

Jessi

I worked through the day, half in a daze. By the time my shift had finished, I’d decided there was no way I was going back to my apartment. Trent would know where it was, and the last thing I needed at that moment was to risk running into him again.

So once my shift was over, I moved to the staff room and called for Laura, who must have also finished her shift. Sure enough, minutes after my call, she walked into the room. I jumped a little, still worked up from that day Trent had walked in here with absolutely no warning. I did not need a repeat of that.

I didn’t need to see Trent, period. There was no way I could face him.

“Hey there, Jessi,” Laura said, practically skipping into the room.

I frowned at her. “Hey, Laura. You’re in a good mood today.”

She sighed then plopped down on the couch beside me. Her legs stretched out as she laid her arms on the back of the couch, head tilted back with a smile on her lips as she closed her eyes.

“Well, I woke up this morning feeling wonderful, and it’s just been the same through the day. I caught sight of Mason around earlier, but there were no parties today! That’s enough for me to want to have my own party.”

I watched her with a skeptical eyebrow arched, one she didn’t see because she was busy giggling to herself. I pursed my lips, feeling a little annoyed that she was this happy when it felt like my world was crumbling around me. That wasn’t fair, so I kept my bad mood to myself.

She seemed to sense it anyway, a small frown appearing on her face as she peered at me out the corner of her eyes.

“Why are you so quiet?” she wondered.

I rolled my eyes and then laughed. “Maybe because not all of us had sunshine and rainbows through the whole day? We were drinking together last night; how did you not wake up with a hangover like me?”