“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“I know you’re a very busy man, but do you think you could go look at dresses with me?” She held up her hands and said, “Before you say no, I just want to make sure I look right. I know you have a lot going on in your business world and I want to make sure I do everything right to help you succeed.”

Being seen with Keylee outside of the Lafayette Club could be beneficial because she was a debutante of New Orleans and was always seen with paparazzi flocking her. If I wanted to make my dad believe that I was no longer interested in Goldie, being seen publicly with Keylee would be a smart move on my part.

On the other hand, fear tickled my stomach as I thought about Goldie finding out about Keylee and me, especially when she doesn’t have all the information. I would keep my distance from Keylee, it would be nothing but platonic, but the media didn’t need to know that.

I weighed my options as Keylee waited patiently for my answer. I didn’t want to talk to Goldie about what was going on for two reasons, I didn’t want to drag her in any further than she was, the less she knew the better and secondly, I didn’t want her to know about my father and the kind of man he was. She didn’t need to know about what a horrible person I derived from.

The black-patented leather heel bounced on her foot as she waited for my reply, bringing my attention to her legs. Before Goldie, I could see those legs wrapped around me but now, they were just nice to look at.

My eyes ran up her body and found her eyes which were very pleased with my perusal. Making a decision, I took a deep breath and said, “That would be fine. Schedule a day with Jeremy and I will meet you at whatever store you have planned out.”

She leaned forward, showing off more of her cleavage and grabbed my hand with a squeeze.

“Thank you, Jett. I just don’t want to look like a fool and you helping me pick out a dress will ease my mind.”

“You’re doing me the honor of coming with me so it’s only fitting that I help you pick out a dress. If that is all, I have some important things to tend to. I will see you out.”

Her face fell flat for a second but she slipped in a smile and stood from the chair. “No need, please get back to your work. I will see myself out. It was nice seeing you, Jett. I’ll be in touch.”

I stood and walked her to the doorway, like the gentleman I was.

“It was a pleasure as always, Keylee.”

Catching me off guard, she stood on her toes and kissed me on my cheek, dangerously close to the corner of my mouth.

“Pleasure was all mine, Jett.” She patted my chest and walked out of my office, giving me a great view of her backside.

I shook my head and closed the door to my office. She was going to have to learn quickly that touching was a privilege, not a right. I wasn’t hers to touch and if I was going to go through with this, I was going to have to set some boundaries because even though I was taking her to the Mayor’s Ball, she still needed to respect Goldie.

Chapter Twenty Eight

“I Will Wait”

Lo

I hate silence, it makes me nervous and I become fidgety and start to get diarrhea of the mouth because an awkward silence between two people is the one thing that will make me break out in hives and lose all self-control. That was why I found myself talking to Kace about an episode of National Geographic where they went into great detail about primates mating.

“So you see, it’s just like humans, you know? Bend over and let the man pump his salami right into you. Thankfully, it’s not like cats where the males have spikey dicks and can’t get out of the feline vaggy until his spikes go down. Could you imagine getting fucked by a spiked dick?” I clenched my thighs together and held on to my crotch. “That’s just wrong. I wonder what God was thinking when he designed the cat cock? Was he sitting on his cloud, drawing up sketches and said, ‘Do you know what would be fun? Putting pussy ripping spikes on this dick.’ Not that God would say pussy, or anything, but still.” I shook my head and looked over at Kace. “Fucking cat cocks, right?” I elbowed him, trying to get him into the conversation.

Shaking his head, he said, “You’re so fucked up.”

“I’m fucked up?”

“Yeah.”

“How so?” I asked while crossing my arms.

“You’re talking about God ‘designing’ cat cocks,” he said while using air quotes. “That shit is messed up.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I got you to partake in a conversation.”

“Next time maybe try talking about the damn weather.”

“What’s so fun about the weather?”

“It’s not fucking cat cocks,” Kace said while pulling into the alley that led to Diego’s back door.

“God, loosen up.” I gripped his arms and tried to loosen his biceps but there was no use, it was pure muscle and was only turning me on.

He just looked at me, as if I was crazy.

“I think I might suck on whoever’s tits decides to take you on as their man because they will be a fucking saint to deal with your moodiness. It’s called a smile, ever try it before?”

“No,” he answered curtly.

“Have you ever wanted to punch someone so hard in the face that your fist blows right through their skull?” I asked while eyeing him up and down.

“No, but I’ve wanted to fuck someone so hard I would get them out of my system.” His heated gaze traveled very slowly from my legs up to my breasts where they lingered and then to my face. A fire lit up inside me from his perusal and I could feel my fists starting to clench from the need to punch him. Arrogant ass.

“Get out of here,” he said while turning and facing the steering wheel.

“I hate you, you’re so infuriating.” I lied about the hating part as I gathered my things.

“It’s better that way, Lo.”

“Why? Because you’re in love with me?” I singsonged as I opened the door to the car.

I was about to leave when he grabbed my hand and pulled me back down on the seat. His face was inches from mine as he spoke into my ear. His hand was wrapped around my neck, keeping me in place.

“Don’t ever belittle my feelings for you again. I might not be the man that you want or the man that deserves you but that doesn’t mean you can treat me like the crap that comes out of your mouth. I would do anything for you, Lo, so don’t make it seem like I’m some jack off that can only stare at your mouth-watering tits. I’m more than that and you know it.”

His nose brushed up against my cheek, making every last hair on my body stand on end. He took in a deep breath and then pushed away, leaving me feeling cold and confused. He gripped the steering wheel of the car and looked out the front window.

“Get out,” he said in a menacing tone.

“Kace, I’m sorry—”

“Don’t. Just fucking don’t.”

I sighed, knowing that he shut himself off. Understanding when it was my time to step down, I opened the car door again and stepped out, before closing it, I leaned in and spoke to him one last time.

“For what it’s worth, I know your worth in my life and it’s invaluable to me.”

I closed the door and walked up the stairs to Diego’s place feeling sad for the man who needed love more than anyone else that I knew. I just wish I was the one who could give it to him but I wasn’t set out to share my heart with two men and right now, my heart belonged to the one and only Jett Colby.

***

“How many more layers do you have to go?” Diego asked as he hovered over me. I was in the second room and this one was more exotic. There was a table in the middle of the room like Jett had in the Bourbon Room but it didn’t look as fancy. The room was covered in gold linens, walls and flooring. It was exquisite with the lush fabrics that lined the bench against the wall and the gold and crystal fixtures that hung from the ceiling. It was purely gorgeous.