Be the One
Page 55

 Nina Levine

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She greets me with a smile as I trail my eyes down her body, taking in every inch of skin on display. “I take it you’re not planning on going out today,” I say as I brush a kiss over her lips.
Frowning, she replies, “I’ve gotta go and do some grocery shopping, and I thought I’d come with you when you visit Claudia later.”
“Right, so we’ll need to find you something else to wear when you do all that,” I answer as I step inside and close the door behind me. “And I’m gonna need a key to your place, and I’ll give you one to mine.”
“I see you’ve come home all bossy and shit,” she mutters as we walk down her hallway into her kitchen.
Heading straight to her Nespresso machine, I give her a smile. “I love the way you say ‘you’ve come home’.”
She comes to me and takes my face in her hands and lays a kiss on my lips. Then she smacks me on the ass and takes her turn bossing me. “Go sit down. I’ll make you coffee.”
I do as she says and pull up a stool at the kitchen counter. Resting my elbows on the counter, I drop my chin into the palms of my hands and watch her make the coffee. My eyes track the sway of her ass and appreciate the smooth skin of her legs. Sex is again the last thing on my mind but I’m enjoying the hell out of watching her.
“How’s Claudia?”
“Not too good.” I don’t elaborate for fear I’ll break down and I don’t want to do that this morning.
Her eyes come to mine and she narrows them, watching me for a moment. I wait for her to say something more, to try and make me tell her more, but she doesn’t. She simply nods and then goes back to the coffee.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
A few minutes later, she places a hot mug of coffee in front of me and sits next to me. Taking a sip of her coffee, she asks, “Have you spoken to Tom?”
“Yeah, he’s sorted us out with the label. For now, anyway, and screw them if they aren’t happy with our decision.”
“What would happen if they tried to force you back to work on the album and you didn’t do it?”
I don’t want to think about that. If she’d asked me that a few months ago before my shares crashed, I would have told her I’d buy our way out of it, but now I wouldn’t want to hand over any cash. “Let’s not even go there, baby. Let’s hope it never comes to that.”
She changes the conversation again. “What’s your plan for today?”
“A shower, some sleep in a bed rather than a chair, and then I’m going to head back to the hospital,” I reply before taking a long drink of my coffee.
“I’ll go shopping while you shower and sleep.”
I eye her dress again. “After you change.”
She leans close to me and her hand lands on my knee. “You wanna help me with that?”
She can’t even begin to imagine how much I want to help her with that, but my energy levels are at an all-time low. “Baby, I could help you with that, but you’d be doing all the work. I don’t even have the energy to dream of fucking you, let alone doing it.”
“All right, let’s get you showered and into bed then,” she takes over as she hops off the stool.
I do as she says with a grin on my face while dirty thoughts fill my mind.
“Why are you grinning like that?” she asks, watching me with slight confusion.
“Because I was just thinking that at some point I will have energy and when that happens, it’s gonna be a marathon sex session. And that thought made me really fucking happy.”
I watch as she thinks about that, and I love the sexy smile she gives me.
Motioning for me to walk, she bosses me, “You need to start moving and stop talking, because otherwise I’m going to be happy to do all the work while we change my dress, but I really don’t want to take what little energy you do have. So move, Mr. Rockstar.”
Again, I do as she says.
I love her bossy ways and wouldn’t change her for the world.
* * *
Six hours later, I’m showered, rested, and ready to face the hospital again. And I’ve got Presley out of that scrap of material and into a respectable dress that covers her legs. Every inch of them.
“Do you want to drive?” she asks, holding her keys out to me as we walk downstairs to the car park.
“Christ,” I grumble as I take the keys from her, “we need to go to my place at some point and get my car. I keep hitting my head on yours when I get in and out of it. And I need clean clothes, too.”
She pokes her tongue at me. “Maybe you should bend your head when you get in my car.”
I chuckle. “You’re attached to your car, aren’t you?” It’s gotta be five years old, and I can’t see the attraction, but she seems to really like it.
“It’s the first car I ever bought brand new, so yeah, I am kind of attached to it.”
We reach her car and I unlock it. Smiling at her, I say, “I get that.”
“Crap, I forgot my purse,” she says while rummaging through her handbag. “I’m gonna run up real quick and grab it.”
“Sure, I’ll wait here for you.”
I watch her go and then lean my back against the car while I pull my phone out and check my text messages. There’s one from Claudia from a couple of hours ago that I missed so I tap it to open.
Claudia: I meant it when I said you are the best brother. I love you, Jett.