“Finally!” the girls all shouted as they ran up to Goldie and gave her a hug.

“You two are perfect for each other.” Tootse clapped as she bounced up and down.

Francy patted her shoulder and then looked at me. “You scored yourself a hot piece of ass, Jett. Don’t fuck it up.”

“Yeah, don’t fuck it up,” Babs repeated as she pushed my shoulder.

“Or we will fuck you up,” Pepper added as they all started to come at me like a little blonde mafia, besides Francy.

I held my hands up and said, “I may have chosen Goldie but that doesn’t mean you ladies can get out of control. Know your roles,” I said with a smirk.

All the girls’ mouths fell open as Kace threw his head back and laughed behind everyone. I couldn’t help it, I let out a little chuckle as well. They were too easy.

“You’re lucky you’re on your way out,” Babs said.

“Give him hell, Lo,” Francy added.

I looked down at Goldie who was looking up at me with a devilish glint in her eye.

Without taking my eyes off her, I said, “I have no doubt in my mind that she won’t.” A small smile spread across her face as I grabbed her hand again. “Time to go.” I turned to the girls and gave them all a wink. “Night, ladies. Don’t get too drunk tonight.”

“Don’t worry about us, Lo is the one with the drunken craziness,” Pepper said as they all started walking away.

God help the men out on the streets tonight because as their jean-clad asses walked away from me, I knew they were going to cause hell tonight.

I led Goldie out to the waiting limo and held the door open for her. I watched as she hiked up her dress slightly so she could climb in. The slight movement brought the slit up to a dangerous height and the mere thought of what she was hiding underneath had me itching to ditch the event and take her back upstairs.

Fuck me, this was going to be a long night.

I slid in next to her and shut the door. The driver pulled forward as Goldie leaned into my shoulder and rested her head on my chest. I wasn’t used to being comfortably intimate with someone but I liked the way she felt against me so I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, allowing her to bury herself deeper into my side.

“Thank you for taking me tonight,” she said with not much spunk like usual but more sincerity.

I kissed the top of her head and played with a strand of her hair. “I’m glad I was able to pull my head out of my ass and realize that I needed you.”

She nuzzled my chest and said, “Please don’t ever stop saying that.”

We sat in silence holding on to each other as the streets of New Orleans passed us by. I should feel weird, I should want to distance myself but right now, in this moment, I knew I made the right choice. I just hoped it didn’t backfire on me. I wasn’t strong enough to get my heart ripped out of my chest again. I liked to pretend I was a strong man and nothing affected me but deep down, I was a hurting son of a bitch with a black hole where my heart should be.

***

“I’m not going to lie, I’m fucking nervous,” Goldie whispered into my ear as we rode up an elevator to the top floor where the party was taking place.

“Don’t be nervous, I won’t leave your side,” I said into her ear, trying to still her shaking hand.

“I just have to stand tall, remember not to fucking swear and make sure to keep my chin even.”

“Don’t overthink it, little one. You’ll be just fine.” I kissed the top of her head, kind of liking the whole affection thing. “Just be yourself.”

She looked at me and gave me that “You’re kidding me” look. I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I like you the way you are.”

“Yeah, well, you have a special taste for trash…”

What the fuck?!

Blood boiled through my veins as I spun around and pinned her against the wall of the elevator. I held her hands at her sides and got right in her face.

I spoke through my teeth as I tried to contain the anger that was spilling out of me.

“I will not repeat myself, if you ever call yourself trash again or degrade yourself in front me ever again, I promise you this, you won’t like the consequences. Do you understand me?”

She gulped and nodded her head.

“I’ve been one hundred percent honest with you since you’ve been with me and I’m telling you this, you are the most beautiful, exquisite woman I have ever met. You do something to me, Goldie, that no one has been able to do. You make me open up, you make me feel and for you to call yourself trash is a direct insult to me. Are you trying to tell me I have no taste?”

I was mere centimeters away from her face, studying her eyes intently. I wanted to get it through her thick skull that even though she came from a rough background she was perfect. She was so much better than the people she was about to meet and she could give them a run for their money any day.

“That’s not what I’m saying, I just—”

“Good.” I cut her off. “Now, you’re going to use the training Miss Mary gave you not to change who you are but to give you more confidence. You’re so much better than these people, so I want you to show me how you are. Got it?”

She nodded again as her eyes welled up with tears. Fuck. I didn’t need her crying.

I leaned in and kissed her earlobe as I spoke gently into her ear, “Steady your breathing, little one. I wouldn’t want anyone else on my arm tonight, okay?” She nodded again as I ran my lips along her jawline and found her luscious lips. Knowing we were closing in on our floor, I was going to have to pull away and straighten myself out but I just needed one last taste so I pressed my body against hers and lifted her hands above her head so she was completely at my surrender. With one quick lick of her lips, I plunged forward and tasted her sweetness. She was so damn sweet.

A moan escaped the back of her throat as her hips grinded into mine. Waves of pleasure rolled through me as I reciprocated the motion. She was driving me crazy and I knew I had to put a stop to it but I couldn’t, for the life of me, I couldn’t stop taking everything from her.

“Ahem.” Someone from behind us cleared their throat.

Like a bullet out of a gun, I stood up straight and fixed our clothing. We both wiped our mouths and I tried to hold back the smile that was trying to cross my face from the panic-stricken look Goldie was giving me.

With confidence, I turned around and faced the person who was interrupting our little make-out session in the elevator. There was a bell hop holding open the elevator door for us and right past him was the entire party, standing still and staring at us.

Fuck.

Not the way I wanted to enter the room but I owned it because that was what a pompous and full of himself man did. I learned that from my dad. Goldie on the other hand was shaking so I held out my arm and clasped her hand when she threaded her arm into my side.

I leaned into her ear and said, “Chin straight, little one.”

She looked up at me, smiled and walked next to me with confidence.

As we entered the party, the room of attendees parted and watched as we glided across the floor. I led Goldie straight to the bar because she was going to need a little bit of liquid encouragement.

“Jett, I wasn’t expecting you to show up with such a gorgeous treasure on your arm tonight,” Bernie said as he flanked my side. Putting on my best smile, I turned to him and held out my hand.

“Bernie, what a pleasure to see you tonight.” I brought Goldie forward and said, “This is Goldie. Goldie, this is Bernie Butler. He is the vice president over at Citi Bank.”

With precision, Goldie held out her hand with just the right bend in her wrist and allowed Bernie to take her hand in his and place a kiss on it. She shied away slightly, working it and then leaned back into me once he was done making her acquaintance. The girl was a fucking pro.