The Banker (Modern Love Book 3) Page 11

  “Thank you.” I kiss him on the lips and he deepens it, his tongue diving into my mouth with such ownership that it feels like he’s branding me as his.

  Once he tears his mouth from mine, he lightly smacks my ass to get off of him so I slide to the floor.

  “Now, can we talk about a second date for us?” he asks.

  “Since our first date lasted thirty-six hours, I might need you to be more specific.”

  He laughs. “How about tomorrow evening?”

  I nod. “I’d love to.”

  He kisses my nose again and I melt a little more for him. “Come on. I’ll buy you some coffee.”

  I follow him out, not having the first clue where this thing between us is going. I’m usually fine not having all the answers and just seeing where life takes me, so I ignore the voice in my head telling me I’m already way too invested in Jasper and me.

  15

  The following week, my palms are damp and I swear the skin behind my knees is sweating as I sit in a chair in the fancy waiting area of Jasper and his partner’s business. The phone hasn’t rung once since I’ve walked in. No one else has gotten off the elevator and no one looks like they’ve poured a cup of coffee from the area set up with a mini-fridge in the waiting room. It’s a virtual ghost town.

  I glance at my portfolio, wanting to open it up to make sure I have everything I need, but I must have done that ten times before I left my apartment this morning. Besides, I’d probably open it up just as Mr. Ashland walks out. So, in the meantime, my toes tap on the hardwood floors while the receptionist, Brittany, keeps peeking her head over the edge of the desk, clearly annoyed by my tapping.

  I don’t stop. Because the alternative is to allow all the pent-up nerves to amass in my system, resulting in me throwing up in this lovely reception area. So even though she doesn’t know it, I’m saving Brittany from having the shittiest day cleaning up my vomit.

  Jasper walks out from down the hall with two Starbucks coffee cups in his hands. “Why didn’t you page me?” he asks Brittany and then smiles at me.

  She twists her blonde strands around her fingers and shrugs her shoulders. “She asked for Drew.”

  “Mr. Ashland,” he corrects, with authority in his voice. It reminds me of the way he likes to boss me around in bed and I press my thighs together. “I told you that when Lennon came in, you were to page me.” He stops on the other side of her desk so he can look at her while he’s talking to her.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Banks.” She turns her gaze down to the desk in front of her and pushes out her bottom lip.

  Jasper turns and walks toward me, rolling his eyes. “Hey, beautiful,” he says, taking the seat next to me. He hands me one of the coffees and I turn it around in my hand until I see the handwriting.

  Joy Mangano.

  I laugh and he knocks his cup with mine.

  After our dinner Tuesday night, he came over to watch a movie on Wednesday. He picked the movie Joy with Jennifer Lawrence because it’s a true story about a woman named Joy Mangano who created the Wonder Mop and over one hundred other products. I see why he picked that now, especially since I offered to watch The Magnificent Seven. I’m a little relieved. I was worried he was a bit on the pussy side with his movie selection.

  “Aren’t you a sweetie.” I lean over and kiss him on the cheek.

  He smiles and rests his ankle on his knee. “I have my moments. I’d take you to my office and let you thank me with a proper kiss, but I might lock the door and you’ll miss your meeting.” He winks.

  “I can thank you in my own special way later.” I flutter my eyelashes and he shifts in his seat.

  “Stop doing that.” He eyes Brittany, who is now typing on her cell phone.

  “Doing what?” I lower my voice, but make it high-pitched, like an innocent schoolgirl.

  “That.” His eyes widen and I giggle, turning my attention to his Starbucks cup.

  “Who are you today?” I ask him, and a sly smile tilts his lips.

  Gordon Gekko.

  I arch an eyebrow and he shakes his head and presses his lips together in mock disappointment.

  “I’ve stumped you already?” When I say nothing, he shakes his head. “I can see I need to educate you in fine cinema from the past. It’s from Wall Street. Michael Douglas’ character.”

  “Ohhhh,” I exaggerate, knowing almost nothing about the movie except that all the guys wore suits. Much like Jasper. “Nice suit.” I wink and he leans in closer to my ear.

  “I’m freeballing today,” he whispers and I smack his arm.

  I press my thighs together even harder this time. “Seriously?” I smack his arm again so he knows how unfair he’s being.

  “What?” He holds his hands up in the air with an innocent expression on his face.

  “How am I supposed to be in the meeting, knowing that if I unzipped your pants, your cock would pop out?” I run my tongue along my bottom lip.

  “Shh.” He chuckles and looks in Brittany’s direction.

  I glance at her, too, but she’s doing nothing but typing on her phone still. “She’s a real employee of the year, that one.”

  He rolls his eyes again. “She’s Drew’s cousin.”

  I nod my head back in understanding.

  “Miss Hart.” A nice older lady comes out from the hallway and then eyes Jasper beside me. “Oh, Mr. Banks. I was just calling your office. Mr. Ashland would like you to sit in on the meeting.”

  Jasper stands, taking my portfolio from where it rests. “I was already planning on it.” He looks down at me and smiles in a cocky smirk because he knows I’m going to have trouble talking about sex toys when I know he’s going commando beside me.

  Jackass.

  I take my portfolio from him and set my coffee on the side table. “Hello. I’m Miss Hart,” I say and the lady nods.

  “Sue. Please follow me.” She walks a little ahead of me and I hear Jasper’s deep breaths behind me. I know what he’s looking at and to say I didn’t think about him when I got dressed this morning would be a lie.

  Sue stops us at a door and throws out her hand for me to walk through.

  “Thank you.”

  “Thanks, Sue.” Jasper trails behind me and I inwardly cringe that this is not the professional meeting I had anticipated.

  “Jasper,” she says and nods.

  Drew sits behind a desk placed in his corner office with a view. Windows make up every inch of the exterior wall. When he sees us he stands, buttoning his suit jacket and rounding the desk.

  Holy shit. He’s hot.

  Bad Lennon. He’s… nope, no other word. He’s hot. What can I say? Old habits die hard.

  His black hair is gelled to perfection and he’s wearing a dark green suit with matching tie. The man oozes confidence and sophistication.

  “Miss Hart, I’ve heard a lot about you this past week.” He holds out his hand and I shake it. Hoping I’m firm enough but not too hard. You know, professional.

  He eyes Jasper over my shoulder. “Did you bring me a coffee?” Drew tilts his head and bats his eyes and I turn my head to see Jasper holding the coffee I left in the waiting room.

  “Hell, no. Have Brittany fetch you one. Not like she’s busy doing anything else.” Jasper sits down on the sofa and I wonder if he’s going to sit behind us the entire time.

  “And here I thought your ornery personality would disappear the moment the lovely Lennon arrived.” Drew purses his lips and I wonder if they had some kind of conversation before I got here. “Come and sit down.” Drew waves his hand toward the couch.

  I do what he says and, not wanting to take the chair and leave the two guys to sit by one another, I sit next to Jasper, throwing him a look, warning him not touch me. He slides over a bit, giving me room, understanding my non-verbal communication.

  Look at me, I already have him trained somewhat. Oh, relax, I’m kidding.

  Drew sits down on the chair opposite me and unbuttons his jacket and I eye his pocket watch
that’s connected by a chain from his vest button to a pocket—very old-school sexy. He rubs his hands together. “Tell me. What do you have?”

  He’s like one of those sharks on Shark Tank, the way he’s so casual about it. Jasper sits up, granting me his undivided attention as well.

  I open my portfolio and pull out the spec sheets of the products I’ve already had made and the drawings I’ve sketched out that remain only in my imagination—for now.

  Drew takes my drawings, flipping through them while I tell him a bit about my ideas for the company and what makes my products different than every other sex toy out there. After he’s done going through all my designs he looks up at me.

  “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not sure if I can work with you while you’re dating Jasper. I mean, I can’t help but wonder—”

  “Stop it, Drew.” Jasper’s voice is low and his tone is filled with warning.

  Drew laughs and looks at me. “Sorry, I just love messing with him.” He leans in closer. “He’s very protective of you. Interesting.” He winks and my stomach rolls over on itself because I’m not sure how to take his comment.

  “Business,” Jasper warns him again and is only rewarded with Drew’s teasing laugh.

  “I mean, he must really want you to succeed because I know he’d probably rather eat broccoli than have me be your investor.”

  I glance back to Jasper and his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

  “Do you not like broccoli?” I ask and Jasper throws his hands up in the air.

  “Hates it. Spits it out like a child.” Drew laughs again and Jasper throws his cup at Drew, hitting him square on the head.

  Luckily, it’s empty.

  “What the hell, man?” Drew stands up, looking over his suit.

  My guess is it’s expensive, God knows why. I do appreciate vintage, but he looks like a giant leprechaun. Of course, he does have a pot of gold he’s willing to share. I’ll be quiet now.

  “Relax, it was empty.” Jasper blows out some air. “Get serious or I’ll take on her business and you’ll be pissing and moaning about how much money you lost out on.”

  Drew sits back down, his humorous expression turning serious. “All right, let’s get this pitch over with and then we can all go to lunch.”

  I can’t help but feel offended that he doesn’t seem to be treating this meeting professionally. I have no plans to rush through the pitch, not to mention the only plans I have for lunch consist of Jasper’s cock.

  “I assume you have samples?” Drew asks and as quick as the snap of a whip on my back, the meeting’s tone changes into all business. Now I can see how this man makes all his money.

  “I do.” I open the bag I have, setting them on the table between us. I go through each one explaining what they’re used for and what makes them unique.

  For the remaining twenty minutes, Drew is the epitome of an assured investor. Jasper sits quietly next to me, his elbows resting on his knees, facing forward to hear my explanations. Once I’m done, Drew asks me questions—the production cost of each unit, how much I’ve already invested in the company, how much inventory I’ll need, how I plan to ship them out and finally how I’m going to sell them to women. I answer all the questions and hand him a copy of my business plan.

  He sits back in his chair and crosses his leg so that his ankle rests on his knee. That’s when I notice little pots of gold on his socks as he studies my business plan. I purse my lips and divert my eyes before I start singing the Lucky Charms song. Instead I admire all the degrees he has framed and posted above the couch.

  Harvard for undergraduate and graduate. Figures. Mr. Smarty Pants. Show off.

  “‘Magically delicious,’” Drew sings, placing my business plan on the table next to him. I glance over to him with wide eyes and he cocks an eyebrow. “You were humming,” he says by way of explanation.

  I was not.

  Jasper starts laughing next to me and I so desperately want to elbow him in the ribcage.

  Here’s my shot and this guy is going to put two and two together and think I was mocking him. “I’m sorry. I have no idea why,” I lie.

  “Now, Lennon. You don’t mind me calling you Lennon, do you?” Drew asks.

  I shake my head. He could call me a C U Next Tuesday right now and I’d just nod my head.

  “I don’t like doing business with liars.” His face is stone-cold serious.

  My heartbeat picks up pace, my face heats and those palms that had dried off are now sweating again.

  “Well, I noticed your socks and the song just kind of got stuck in my head.” I nod toward the damn socks that might just cost me this deal.

  He glances down and Jasper stands from the couch. “You moron. You purposely dressed like you’re ready to slide down a rainbow into a pot of gold.” Jasper holds his hand out to me, but I don’t take it.

  Drew looks down at his socks, like he doesn’t remember putting them on this morning.

  “I really meant no offense. I swear. It had nothing to do with your suit.” I backpedal as best I can, but I’m making a bigger mess of this. The meeting was going great until my damn subconscious had to hum a theme song I probably haven’t heard since I was ten.

  “Come on, Lennon.” Jasper offers me his hand once more. “I razz him all the time about how he dresses, he’ll get over it.”

  “No.” I shake my head and lean forward. “I’m really sorry.” My voice is small, but it earns me his attention as Drew raises his head to look at me. His lips hold a coy smile and he looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “Seriously?” I ask.

  He falls back into his chair laughing, and Jasper blows out an exasperated breath.

  “You’re a fucking baby,” Jasper says, but all I can do is release the tensed-up breath that was locked in my lungs.

  “I’m brilliant.” He puts his hand out in front of him for me to take. “I think you have something here. I’ll need my team to do some due diligence to make sure there are no surprises, but from everything we’ve discussed I don’t anticipate any issues. I look forward to working with you.” He has a genuine smile on his face now.

  “Really?” I ask.

  “Yes. Now if you ever want to ditch jackass and show me how you use them, I’m open.”

  Jasper growls from where he stands behind Drew.

  “I’m kidding. Of course.” He leans toward me. “Like I said… protective. It’s better not to poke the bear.” He winks and I realize that his emerald eyes match his suit.

  “Thank you so much,” I say, realizing my hand is still in his, shaking it up and down.

  “You can let go now, Lennon,” Jasper mumbles.

  “Maybe she likes my hand,” Drew challenges and turns to look behind him where Jasper’s eyes lock with his and he gives him a short shake of his head. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun.” He lets go of my hand and heads back to behind his desk. “Sue will email you some papers and she’ll include a list of what we need. The first thing we need to get to work on is the patents.” He sits down and just like that he’s all business again.

  “Thank you for taking a chance with me, Mr. Ashland.”

  “Please, call me Drew,” he says and I nod, picking up my portfolio. While I try to put the toys back in the bag, Jasper and he start talking about another client. I find their relationship refreshing and it shows me an entirely different side of Jasper. “So you two go and I’ll meet you by Brittany’s desk in what? A half hour?”

  I eye Jasper and we share a look of understanding, knowing exactly what the two of us will be doing during that half hour.

  “Perfect.” Jasper walks to the door to open it for me.

  This time when he takes my portfolio, I don’t object because I’ll need both my hands for what I’m about to do.

  We walk down the hallway like professionals, Jasper leading the way, his arm lazily swinging back and forth in a casual manner. He stops, introduces me to his secretary who thankfully, is friendlier
than Sue but about the same age.

  “Hold my calls, Lynn,” he tells her and opens the door to his office.

  I walk in and he shuts the door, then flicks the lock. I take a moment to look around his office. It’s as big as Drew’s but more contemporary. Jasper’s hand skims down my arm, swiveling me around.

  “Thank you,” I say and he only stares down at me.

  “I’m glad it worked out.” He takes his hand and pulls me toward him and I feel his length pressed against my stomach.

  “I think you knew it was going to work out before I even walked in.” I raise an eyebrow.

  “Believe me, I may have talked to him, but I never know what Drew is going to do.” His hand slides through my hair and he starts to dip his head for a kiss, but I shake my head.

  With my hand in the middle of his chest I push him backwards toward his desk until he falls back into his desk chair. A grin tugs one corner of his lips up as I fall to my knees in front of him. This time I’m in control.

  “I want you to think of me every time you’re sitting in this chair,” I say.

  Jasper stares down at me as I unbuckle his belt, undo the button, pull down the zipper and let his already hard cock spring free.

  I lick my lips when I notice the bead of pre-cum glistening on the tip. “Seems someone’s looking forward to this.”

  “I’ve been staring at that red lipstick on your mouth all morning waiting to see what it would look like wrapped around the base of my cock.”

  His dirty words always get me so hot. “Well, let’s see if it’s everything you imagined it’d be.”

  I lick the pre-cum off his mushroom tip and then spread my lips wide and drag my lips down his hardness until he’s breaching the back of my throat.

  “Fuuuck,” he moans and pushes his hands into my hair.

  I suction my cheeks in and move back up his length, sucking the whole way. A few more bobs on my part and Jasper reaches for his phone on the desk.

  “Mind if I take a few shots? You have my word I won’t ever share them with anyone.”