Chapter 3

THREE

Shannon

I tried to slip out from underneath Jack's arm; his very muscular and tattooed arm. For an electrician, he had the body of a damn Greek god. A body, I could say with one hundred percent confidence, that knew exactly what it was doing between the sheets. I may or may not have licked every part of it at some point throughout the night. Okay, there was no maybe about it. I absolutely licked every damn inch of his body, but can you blame me? Hello, Greek god!

Score one for me on picking out a man who didn't require me to fake my orgasms.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Aww, damn. Did he really have to have a sexy gravelly voice first thing in the morning as well? Like I needed another reason to want to stay. One night I reminded myself. I wasn't even supposed to give myself that, so it was important I stuck to my guns this time.

"Trying to slip out of bed so I can do a classy walk of shame back to my own room."

Ha! There was no such thing as a classy walk of shame. I knew without looking in the mirror that the evidence of what we did last night was written all over my body. Jack did enough tugging on my hair that it would take more than a brush to tame the wild locks, and I was pretty sure there was more than one bite mark along my collarbone. Jack went a little crazy when he realized just how much that turned me on.

The only upside was that I never wore makeup, so at least I wouldn't look like some crazy raccoon walking the halls.

Shit, and I almost forgot about my ruined panties. How could I forget Jack shredding them off my body with his teeth? It was hands down the sexiest thing that ever happened to me.

Which was actually a little sad, considering that one thought revealed just how boring my sex life was before last night.

"And what if I said I wanted you to stay?"

So the man did have a flaw. I knew there had to be one somewhere. No one was that perfect, even if Jack had come pretty damn close.

"I would remind you that we agreed to one night, and just like Cinderella, this woman is going to turn back into a pumpkin very shortly."

Yes, I know. I was screwing up that fairy tale but what can I say? My brain was still a little muddled from multiple rounds of good sex and lots of orgasms. Sue me.

"Pretty sure that's not how that story went, but I get what you mean. You're a flight risk. Give me a second to throw on some clothes and I'll walk you to your room."

Warning bells started going off in my head. Those suckers were loud and alerting me to danger ahead. Nothing good would come from Jack walking me back to my room.

Because really? I would probably jump his bones and drag him into my room to continue what we started. That couldn't happen.

"You don't have to do that."

I was walking around the hotel room gathering up my clothes, minus my panties, when Jack stopped me with a hand on my elbow.

"This isn't up for debate. My mother raised me to be a gentleman and that means I walk a lady to her door. Even if that door is in the same hotel. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you on the way."

In hindsight, I should've fought harder. I should've demanded to be the independent woman I claimed to be, but I recognized the stubborn set of his jaw. My father would get the same way when he liked to remind me how a true gentleman acted.

"Fine,” I conceded. “Give me five minutes and I'll be ready to go."

I clutched my clothes tightly to my chest and darted into the bathroom. One look in the mirror was all it took to know I wasn't wrong about my earlier assessment.

There would be no containing the rat's nest that was my hair. I used the ponytail holder on my wrist to wrangle most of it into a messy bun on the top of my head.

I searched through Jack's toiletry bag until I found a small tube of toothpaste. Putting a dab on my finger, I set forth to eliminate the fuzzy feeling on my teeth and rid myself of my morning breath. No one wanted to smell that.

Last up was my clothes from the night before, sans underwear since those suckers were headed straight for the garbage. No way that piece of lace would ever be effective again after what Jack did to it.

I took one last look in the mirror and decided I didn't do a shabby job. Maybe I could pull off a classy walk of shame after all.

"The bathroom's all yours," I told Jack as I walked back into the main part of the room. I nearly swallowed my tongue when I saw what Jack was wearing.

Damn gray sweatpants. Those suckers were every woman's kryptonite. Pair it with a tight t-shirt that was molded to every one of Jack's muscles and showcased the tattoo sleeve on his one arm and I was ready to say the hell with it. Screw one night only. What could it hurt to spread that out to one weekend only? It wasn't like it would go past that; both of us were leaving on Monday.

"I just need two minutes and I'll be ready to go. Don't sneak out on me in the meantime," he warned.

Like I could if I wanted to. I was frozen in place, watching his ass walk into the bathroom. An ass I was very much familiar with and knew from experience how tight and firm it was.

I physically shook my head to get rid of the mental images. I wasn't normally this horny but there was something about Jack that made every one of my good senses vanish in thin air. That should've been reason enough for me to slip out of the room while he wasn't looking, but my damn feet were rooted in place, waiting for Jack to give the okay to move.

Stupid vagina. Since when was she in charge?

I was still in the same spot when Jack came out of the bathroom a couple of minutes later and smiled at me.

"Glad to see the listening to me doesn't stop just because we’re out of bed."

I rolled my eyes. Cocky bastard. It was my own fault his head was so damn big. I screamed his name one too many times and may have told him how good he was at giving orders.

In my defense, the man knew his way around sex. A woman could easily get used to that.

Not this woman in particular, but another woman for sure.

"Keep it up and I'll leave your ass here," I teased.

We both knew it was a useless threat. His legs were a good six inches longer than mine, so even if I took off at a dead run with him giving me a few seconds head start, he would still catch up to me quickly.

And there was no way I was drawing more attention to myself by running down the hallway to the elevator. Even if the thought of him chasing me made me ready to go another round.

Not in charge! I hissed at my stupid lady parts.

Like the gentleman he insisted he was, Jack opened the door for me and waited until I walked past him before exiting himself. With one hand on my lower back, he guided me farther away from his room to the bank of elevators.

This felt like more than just a one-night stand. I needed to build my walls higher. Reinforce those bitches with some barbed wire and maybe even a guard dog. The kind that bit on command. The last thing I needed was Jack worming his way in deeper.

Already I could feel myself softening toward him. A big mistake given the predicament I was in. Things would end badly for everyone involved if I wasn't careful.

The ride up in the elevator was quiet. I think Jack understood my need to put distance between us because he stood just far enough away that we weren't touching but not too far that someone would mistake us for strangers. It was the perfect balance.

I knew something was wrong before we stepped foot on my floor.

"You don't need to walk me any further. I'm just a couple of doors down."

"No can do," Jack was quick to answer. "I need to make sure you get inside safely."

I blew out a shaky breath. Maybe I was wrong. Everything looked good from the outside. As far as I could tell, no one had messed with the door.

Boy, was I wrong. That was clear as day the second the door swung open.

"What the hell?" Jack charged forward into my hotel room.

Both queen beds, that I never got the chance to sleep in, were stripped bare and their mattresses turned up on their sides. My duffel bag that held all my clothes was dumped upside down and the contents were strewn across the room. Dresser drawers were ripped open, even though nothing had been in them. Some were even taken out of the dresser completely. The toiletry bag that I had set in the bathroom was now tossed on the floor. Most of the bottles were crushed and ground into the carpet.

The room looked like a toddler threw a tantrum in it, and really, that was probably the most accurate description for my ex.

I walked over to the rolling desk chair and took a seat. The questions would come. They always did, and I didn't have it in me to make up any more excuses.

"We need to report this to management and then call the police," Jack started.

I merely nodded my head in agreement because what else was I supposed to do? I tried running. Clearly, that didn't work; I wasn't even gone one full day and he already found me. If I left without saying anything, I would be charged for the damages, even if I attempted to clean up some. There was no way I was getting everything out of the carpet and who knew what the bathroom looked like? I was almost afraid to go in and see.

"How can you be so calm?" Jack asked.

Now that made me laugh. A very sinister laugh that probably sounded more like a villain than a woman on the verge of tears. Or was it on the verge of a mental breakdown?

Based on the laugh, I would say it was more the latter in this case.

"Calm? I don't remember the last time I was calm. This"—I gestured around to the room—"has become my norm."

"This is how you live?" Jack sounded and looked completely confused by my statement. I could see why. He didn't have all the information and I wasn't making any sense.

"No, this is the reason I threw a dart at a map and got the hell out of my small town. Obviously, it didn't do any good."

I dropped my head on the desk and groaned. So much for thinking this was a brilliant plan. Not only did I not get away as planned, now my one-night stand had a bird’s-eye view of my disastrous life. Talk about a mess.

"Do you know who did this?"

I rolled my forehead side to side on the desk. It didn't help. I couldn’t fathom why I thought it would, but it sounded like a good idea for a hot second.

Jack waited patiently for my answer and I realized this wasn't a topic he would be dropping anytime soon. So I took a deep breath, pulled up my big-girl panties—they really aren't that big and I wasn't actually wearing any—and prepared myself for the uncomfortable conversation.

"Yup." I popped the P. "I know exactly who did this. My ex and the reason I'm here this weekend." I paused. Not for dramatic effect but because I knew as soon as the name left my mouth, things would change. "Davis Jackson."

"The media mogul?"

"The one and the same."

I could see the wheels turning in Jack's mind. Things were definitely about to change.