that I needed him to say it. I knew exactly where that sentence was going. The son of a bitch still had the videos. He was blackmailing Lara for the murder of a girl whose sex tapes he still watched for his own pleasure.
“Goddamnit,” Jackson cursed when he finished listening to his voicemail.
“What is it?”
“Some stupid shit at the office. These guys from Japan weren’t supposed to come till tomorrow,” he muttered. “I gotta roll but good talk, man. When you get back to the city, I want to hear all about Piper. Alright?”
My jaw clenched when he threw his arm around me for a hug. But I played it off. “Yeah,” I gave him a hard pat on the back. “We’ll get drinks when I’m back, brother. We still have a lot to catch up on.”
Chapter Seven
Lara
Thank God for office emergencies . With Jackson and Caleb long gone to tend to work drama, I boarded the chartered helicopter back to the city with Sloane and Jake since Sawyer and Gia opted to stay behind along with Piper, who was off to meet family in Montauk.
Through my Ray Bans, I smiled and watched as Jake carried Sloane and her monstrous hangover across the tarmac. She had whined about a headache every time she moved but then panicked at the thought of being left with Sawyer and Gia, who were seemingly on a mission to have sex in each room of the house. So Jake volunteered to carry her to the helicopter and I watched with amusement as he tried to subdue Princess Hangover, the hilarious but insufferable alter ego that emerged whenever Sloane drank tequila.
With the sun setting, I gazed at Jake from behind – at the way his Superman frame stretched the worn-in cotton of his faded Yale shirt. Yale. That was something sexy I hadn’t known about. Laughing, I hung back and watched him grin at my best friend from under his baseball cap, smoothly entertaining every one of her bratty complaints. Somehow, his patience was the hottest thing I’d ever seen.
“The meds you gave me aren’t working , Kinsley.” Sloane was going into her high-pitched whine. Jake gave a mock frown.
“Strange. They’re supposed to kick in faster with children.”
“Oh, haaa -ha. Stop laughing at me.”
“I could be laughing with you.”
“Do you see me laughing?”
“No. Maybe I should’ve left you at the house to watch Sawyer try to talk dirty in broken Spanish.”
Sloane gasped and burst out cackling. “Oh my God, no! Please, no.”
“See. Now you’re laughing,” Jake grinned as he carried her up the stairs into the chopper.
By the time I got in, Sloane was out cold in her seat, her aviators sliding down the bridge of her nose. I chewed my lip as I turned to Jake, knowing that I’d find him already looking at me. He’d taken every opportunity to since I stepped into the kitchen that morning, wearing an off-the-shoulder T-shirt and ripped shorts.
“Daisy Duke,” he murmured as I took a seat, shaking his head at my newly tanned legs. The crooked grin that spread his lips had me desperate to just climb into his lap, kiss his lips and run my hands all over his sculpted torso. But with Sloane across from us, I resisted, breathless and silent as I took the seat next to him, ignoring his continued gaze as we lifted smoothly into the air.
Amusement tinged his sexy voice when he finally broke the silence.
“Look at me,” he murmured.
I laughed. “I’d rather not look if I can’t touch.”
“Who says you can’t touch?”
Staring ahead at Sloane, I held my breath as I felt Jake’s closing in on the curve of my neck. I closed my eyes, breathing hard when I felt his lips press into my hot skin. With a flick of his tongue came an instant thrill pulsing deep between my thighs. “Jake,” I exhaled.
“Let me for a second.” Mischief curled in his voice as he pulled my face toward him. My heart pounded as he held me barely an inch away, gazing wolfishly down at my lips, so visibly turned