Jessie Slaymaker's Rules of Engagement (The Jessie Slaymaker Series Book 2) (5 page)

‘Fair enough,’ Jack replied, smiling. He looked across at the view and tried to see things through Jessie’s eyes. She was right. It
was
spectacular. Years of living amongst these kinds of impressive buildings day in day out had desensitised him; he’d forgotten the awesomeness of the sheer scale and density of all the high-rises packed into such a relatively small strip of land.

‘How do you feel to be back?’ Jessie asked, tearing her eyes away from the view, which was looming larger and larger, to look at him.

‘Good,’ Jack replied, throwing her a crooked smile. ‘Weird, but good. Last time I was here things weren’t so good, but this is a going to be a new start for both of us.’

‘I’m so glad you feel that way.’ Jessie beamed brightly at him.

‘I do. And I’m excited to show you my favourite parts of Hong Kong. We never got to do that last time you were here. Let’s make the most of the time you have before you start work. We can have something of a honeymoon,’ Jack said enthusiastically. He was already making a mental list of things to do and places to visit. It was an exciting prospect to show her the sights and explore new things together.

‘I’d like that,’ Jessie replied, a little dreamily. They were now driving past the International Commerce Centre, and she was craning her neck awkwardly as she tried to see how high it actually was.

Jack couldn’t help smiling at her. There was something almost childish and innocent about her reaction. If Sonia had been in the same taxi with them, would she have stared in awe and wonder at the ginormous buildings rolling past? Hardly. Not that Sonia ever took a taxi anyway. She was more of a chauffeur-driven gal these days.

He couldn’t put his finger on it exactly, but Jessie made him feel positive about life. She’d definitely given him a fresh impulse to get up off his backside and actually do something
constructive
with his time. He was still young. Too young to retire. And she made him want to do well again. There was a time, when he’d first moved to Shanghai, when he’d been ambitious, a dreamer; but he’d lost that feeling at some point. Over the years there, despite his success, he had slowly, imperceptibly lost sight of his initial passion. He’d become tired, jaded; hence his return to England. But now things were so very different. With Jessie at his side, he felt altogether more fired up and positive about the future.

Jessie felt numb as she entered the serviced apartment that was to be her home for the next two months. It was in the heart of Central, in an area known as Mid-Levels on account of it being partway up the rising relief of Hong Kong Island. Her new neighbourhood was a lively district populated by a mixed expat and local community, within easy reach of the business district and practically on the doorstep of an explosive plethora of bars and restaurants.

Now that she was actually there, it all felt a bit surreal.

The apartment itself was a bit of a letdown, however. It was nice enough, she supposed, but it was small, and the view rather left something to be desired. There was no glorious vista across the harbour, like she’d seen when she’d researched online; rather, the windows looked out onto the building opposite. Still, it was a clean and functional space that ordinarily she would have been delighted with. So why was it that Jessie felt uncharacteristically sombre as she surveyed each room in turn? It wasn’t just her missing luggage which had her in a fug. Although, now she realised she had nothing to unpack, it
was
playing a part. What girl wouldn’t be a little lost without the things she’d carefully selected for her new life adventure?

Jessie tried not to feel disappointed about her missing luggage, the apartment, or Jack’s jealous reaction earlier. She was just tired, was all. She pushed the idea that these separate little instances were omens to the back of her mind and tried to pass it all off as bad luck. People lost their luggage all the time, and it was perfectly normal for boyfriends to get jealous, and sometimes companies misled you when it came to making their properties look bigger and more glamourous than they actually were. That was just life.

Jessie sighed as she returned to the living area, unsure what to do next. Jack was standing there, holding out a little black box towards her, smiling.

Jessie’s breath caught, and she fought to maintain a neutral face until he said something. She wasn’t going to jump to conclusions—which was an easy thing to do, considering her overactive imagination. Just breathe calmly, Jessie willed herself. Of course he wasn’t about to do what her overactive imagination was suggesting. Of course not. Or was he? Maybe that would explain his angsty behaviour at the airport. No. No. Of course he wouldn’t be doing
that
. It was far too early. They barely knew each other.

‘I wanted to get you something,’ Jack began, pushing the little black box into Jessie’s hands, forcing her to stop conjuring up a million scenarios involving rings and diamonds. ‘Something to tell you how much you mean to me, and also a kind of welcome-to-Hong-Kong present.’

‘You didn’t have to do that,’ Jessie said, a little shakily. ‘But thank you.’ She stood motionless, staring at the box, wondering if he was going to say anything else.

Or if there was going to be a question.

‘Well, open it,’ Jack prodded.

‘Okay,’ Jessie said. She took a deep breath and opened the box. It was beautiful. Or rather,
they
were beautiful. She’d been right about the diamond part. Staring right back up at her were a pair of diamond stud earrings. Not too big and not too small. They had Jessie written all over them. They were perfect.

‘Do you like?’ Jack asked, wrapping his arms around her.

‘I like,’ Jessie replied, still surprised. She tore her eyes away from the sparkling gems and focused on Jack’s own sparkling eyes instead. ‘But this is so much, Jack. Are you sure?’

‘Of course I am,’ he laughed. ‘I wouldn’t have given them to you otherwise.’

‘Thank you,’ Jessie said as she laced her arms around his neck and went up on her toes to kiss him deeply.

‘Now go and put them on, and take everything else off,’ Jack ordered huskily.

Jessie looked at him briefly like she was about to protest, but then thought better of it, a slow smile playing across her lips. She walked over to the mirror by the door and did as Jack had instructed her.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t get you anything,’ Jessie called over her shoulder as she threaded her new gorgeous earrings through her ears. In all honesty, the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. She didn’t realise they’d reached the stage of giving seriously expensive presents to each other yet.

‘I’m sure you can think of a way to make it up to me,’ Jack called from the bedroom.

Earrings now in place, Jessie tugged off the cosy sweater she’d worn for the flight as she followed the sound of Jack’s voice. She found him in bed and, judging by his naked torso, it was an educated guess that he was naked under the covers as well. He still had the power to stop her dead in her tracks, and she hadn’t gotten bored of seeing this sight at all. She admired his naturally golden and athletic body. He wasn’t the muscular beefcake that Trey was, but she didn’t want him to be. She loved his toned and defined body, which she now knew was the result of good genes and a little bit of gym enhancement. He didn’t need to be there all day, every day. The lucky git.

‘Jeans off,’ he commanded as she edged closer to him. Jessie complied, slipping out of her shoes and wiggling out of her jeans. It felt good to be free of them after her long journey. She watched him watching her and forced herself to exude body confidence. She knew this was one of the things Jack liked about her. Her ability to stand in front of him in next to nothing and still look comfortable. He didn’t have to know she sometimes had to fake this side of her persona. Jessie was like everyone else: she had her good days and bad days when it came to her looks. She placed a hand on one hip and took a breath in to make her stomach appear just that little bit flatter.

‘So, how would you like me to make it up to you?’ Jessie asked, lowering her eyelashes, giving him a slow smile.

‘Surprise me,’ Jack replied, licking his lips in anticipation. Jessie still couldn’t quite believe that this beautiful specimen lying naked in front of her actually wanted
her
. And she could tell by the look in his eye that he
really
wanted her. Even in her comfy, totally unsexy, practical black underwear.

‘Hmm, let me think,’ Jessie said, putting a playful finger to her cheek. She leisurely strolled over to the couch on the far side of the room, conscious that’s Jack’s gaze never left her body for a second. Then she draped herself gracefully across the couch, her legs inching apart in a suggestive manner.

‘Do you want me like this?’ she asked innocently, holding the pose and looking at Jack intently.

‘Or,’ she continued, before he could answer, ‘do you want me like this?’ She rolled over onto all fours, arching her back and pushing up her bottom.

‘No?’ she said, shaking her head slightly, as she got off the couch and climbed on top of him on the bed. ‘Or perhaps you’d rather have me like this?’ she asked finally, slightly breathless.

‘How about all of the above,’ Jack answered as he pulled her down into a passionate kiss. All the stresses and worries of the day disappeared as Jessie tasted him deeply and allowed her senses to be overwhelmed by this man. He always tasted good, but most of all she loved his smell. Jack had this unusual combination of smelling like clean male, yet with undertones of something sweet and new, almost like a newborn baby smell. For Jessie, it was intoxicating and had quickly become addictive. She breathed him in and felt the instantaneous effects of his aroma work its magic on her. Her body melted into his as the stresses and strains of the flight began to undo. How could he smell this good after what was probably nearly twenty hours without a shower? She was quite sure she didn’t smell halfway near as good as he did.

‘You smell so delicious,’ Jack mumbled between kisses, as if he’d been reading her thoughts.

‘Hmm,’ came Jessie’s reply. She wasn’t quite able to believe him, but she managed to stop herself from saying,
yeah right
in her most sarcastic tone.

‘I want to taste you properly,’ Jack said, breaking away from her.

‘Um,’ Jessie began, trying to think of an excuse. The idea of him going down there, in her present flight-scummy state, was enough to make her cringe.

‘I won’t take no for an answer,’ Jack said mischievously, sensing her hesitation. He rolled her over onto her back and managed to remove her of her knickers one-handedly, in a well-practiced move that had Jessie questioning just
how much
practice he’d actually had at that manoeuvre.

‘Hmm,’ Jessie hummed as she gave up what pitiful fight she had in her and concentrated on enjoying the flicks and gentle caresses of Jack’s tongue. This was what she really needed. This was the most perfect way of welcoming her to Hong Kong that she could have ever thought of. As she climaxed under Jack’s expert teasing, she felt herself sink deeply into the mattress. She felt so contented and satisfied that she could quite easily fall into a deep unmoving sleep at any second.

‘Oh, no, sleepyhead. No sleeping for you, I’m afraid,’ Jack said, giving Jessie a playful shove.

‘I’m just so tired,’ Jessie replied, her eyes blinking lazily. She pulled the bedsheet over her and smiled a sleepy smile.

‘I said, no sleeping,’ Jack repeated more forcefully as he pulled the sheet off her and positioned himself on top of her. Jessie was suddenly wide awake and all too aware that they hadn’t finished. Not by a long shot.

Once they were both satiated and showered, Jessie and Jack went out to explore their new home city. What with all the great sex, Jessie had practically forgotten all about her lack-of-luggage situation. Jessie’s wardrobe limitations being what they were, hadn’t given her a whole lot of options, but she didn’t think she looked too bad, considering. She’d reluctantly had to re-don her jeans from the flight, which had felt unbearably grimy as soon as they hit the street in the Hong Kong humidity, and she was wearing too many clothes, something that would have to be rectified in the morning. But on the plus side, she’d commandeered a clean, fresh, black shirt from Jack’s suitcase, put the collar up and rolled up the sleeves. Having something clean to wear felt like an ultimate luxury. As for the underwear situation, it wasn’t great, and Jessie had opted to go commando for the first time in her life rather than put her travel clothes back on. Her travel bra and knickers had been rinsed and were now hanging in the bathroom, ready for her shopping expedition the following day.

Granted, her makeshift outfit was a little botched together, and while it wasn’t the epitome of all that was chic, it would do. Plus, the only person she had to impress that night was Jack, and she knew
he
liked what he saw as he watched her slide on his shirt against her naked skin. Thankfully she’d packed the basics in the makeup department into her hand luggage, so she could survive. Not indefinitely, but for the time being she could still keep up with appearances.

The plan was to grab a quick bite to eat and try and stay awake until they could acceptably call it a day without seeming too geriatric. Jessie was anticipating something around ten p.m., as she was already starting to get that fuzzy-headed jetlagged feeling. As they walked towards the lively district of Soho, a slimy-looking expat walked past, his greedy perving eyes on Jessie. Or more specifically, his greedy perving eyes were on her chest. In her underwear-less state, Jessie was now all too aware that she was less contained than usual and that her ample bosom had developed a mind of its own—a mind that insisted on a great deal of bouncing. The slimy stranger had clearly not failed to notice the movement, and he was obviously not gentlemanly enough to avert his eyes or even try and ignore Jessie’s jiggling chest.

Jack also chose this moment to become super-observant.

‘Oi,’ he said firmly as he shoved the sleazebag back by the shoulder. ‘What gives you the right to ogle my girlfriend like that?’ he demanded.