The Next Play: Part One Read online

  “Jesus, don’t say that! You’ll scare her off. I’m still trying to get her to agree to move in with me.”

  He laughed at Sean’s panicked expression, knowing damn well that Natalie was dying to share living space with him. Shit, he wouldn’t be surprised if the two ran off to Vegas to get married before the end of the year. He only hoped he got invited to come along so that he could be one of the first to congratulate them.

  Though Sean had used to live only a few miles from Jonah’s apartment building, his cousin had needed a change of scenery after a nasty divorce and had relocated down to San Diego earlier that year, since his mom, older brother, and younger half-sister were already living there. It’d been a great move for Sean, but Jonah missed having him around. Sean and Paul Cartwright were the only family he had that he’d ever wanted anything to do with, and now that they were both in San Diego, he was determined to get down there and visit as often as he could.

  For some reason, he suddenly found himself wondering if Jocelyn had ever been to San Diego. Did she enjoy the beach? Surfing? Mexican food? Getting her hot little body fucked in the ocean?

  Damn it! Why in the hell am I even wondering about these things? Not like we’re ever going anywhere together. I just want to nail her, and she just wants to pretend like I don’t turn her on.

  “So any news on your old man?” Sean asked, jerking him away from his frustrating thoughts about Jocelyn and back to the conversation.

  He scowled at the question, wondering why Sean always felt the need to bring that asshole up. Carter Cartwright was the last goddamn thing Jonah wanted to waste his time thinking about.

  And, yeah, there was news. Carter had actually had his secretary try to set up a meeting with him through Greg the day before, but Jonah’s longtime assistant had known to shut that shit down on the spot. But he didn’t feel like sharing any of that, so all he said was, “Nothing that I can’t ignore.”

  Sean looked worried, but he could obviously tell by Jonah’s tone that it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. Instead, they jawed about the football games that would be taking place that weekend, as well as the basketball teams they were pulling for.

  “Before you go,” Sean said, “tell me how Gabe’s doing.”

  “What can I say? Engaged life suits him. Guy walks around with a perpetual boner and wide-ass smile every damn day of the week. It’s irritating as fuck.”

  His cousin laughed. “Yeah, like you’re not happy as hell for him. You’re not fooling anyone, Jonah.”

  “You know what? You’re irritating as fuck too,” he drawled with a lazy smile. “Now stop being a dick and let me say hi to your beautiful lady before I have to get back to work.”

  “How do you even know she’s here?” Sean asked, lifting his brows.

  He snorted under his breath. “You’ve got the look, dude. Same one you’ve always got when she’s at your place. Now stop insulting my intelligence and let me talk to her. She’s way prettier than you, and a hell of a lot nicer.”

  “Flirt with her,” Sean muttered, giving him a dark glare, “and I’m kicking you in the nuts the next time I see you.”

  Jonah smirked again. “Like I haven’t heard that before.”

  Sean shook his head as he laughed. “Yeah, what was I thinking? You probably hear it on an hourly basis.”

  “Har har. Since when did you become such a fucking comedian?”

  Sean was just about to reply, when a woman’s voice called out from somewhere off screen. “Hey baby. Who are you talking to?”

  Jonah watched the look in his cousin’s eyes go warm and soft as Sean glanced over to his right. “It’s Jonah.”

  “Yay!” Nat squealed. “Let me say hi.”

  With a resigned sigh, Sean pushed back from his desk, and a second later the beautiful, voluptuous Natalie Richards crawled into his lap, a beaming smile on her lips as she looked at the screen on Sean’s laptop. “Hey Jonah. You’re looking as handsome as always.”

  Sean wrapped his arms around her and grunted, while Jonah laughed. “Hey there, beautiful. Is that jackass you’re sitting on treating you right? Or do I need to come down there and kick his ass?”

  Her big eyes twinkled with humor. “I know he’d love to see you, so maybe I should say he’s been a total tool lately.”

  “What the hell?” Sean grumbled.

  “Just kidding,” Natalie laughed, turning and planting a tender kiss on Sean’s cheek. “He’s an angel, Jonah. Like something that fell right out of heaven.”

  Sean snorted as he pulled her closer against him. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  “But he does miss you,” she added, looking back at the computer.

  “Nat,” Sean groaned, while Jonah snickered. It was fun as hell watching his cousin try to keep up with the little fireball.

  “What?” she asked, smacking her hand against the center of Sean’s chest as she looked at him. “He’s one of your best friends. Of course you miss him. Right?”

  Sean seemed to get a little lost as he stared into his girlfriend’s eyes, his voice a little softer as he said, “Yeah, baby. Whatever you say.”

  Though he loved to give him a hard time, Jonah was thrilled that his cousin had found someone like Natalie, because it was no secret that Sean’s ex had been a raging bitch. The woman had made Sean’s life a living hell, never satisfied with what they had or where they were, always wanting more, thinking that money and fame were going to somehow make her happy, when the problem with her life was her own shitty personality. Sean had stuck by her to the bitter end, until he’d found her in bed with a professional football player, and then he’d walked. The guy had been happier ever since, but nothing like he was now, with Natalie in his life.

  The three talked for a few more minutes, but then Natalie and Sean said they needed to go. They had plans to meet some friends down on the beach for an early bonfire, and so Jonah told them he’d catch them later, after promising to make his way down for a visit just as soon as he could swing it.

  He closed down the camera on his computer and had just glanced at the time again, antsy over Jocelyn’s impending arrival, when his cell phone signaled an incoming text message. Picking the phone up, he frowned when he read the screen.

  Christina: Interested in hitting the Diamond with Ryan and me tonight?

  Shit. Christina and Ryan were a twenty-something couple who loved to hit Vane a few times a month, and Jonah had joined them more times than he could remember over the past few years. They were both models, Ryan’s rugged physique as muscular as Christina’s was lithe, and they didn’t have any boundaries when it came to sex, much like Jonah himself. If it felt good, they were game, and the three of them together always drew a record-breaking crowd. But as badly as he needed the release, Jonah simply wasn’t feeling it.

  Before he gave himself too much time to think about why he was turning them down, he typed in a response.

  Jonah: Sorry. Can’t make it. Don’t have too much fun without me. ;)

  Christina: :( Don’t make us wait too long. We haven’t seen you in weeks!

  Tossing the phone onto his desk, he dropped his head back and glared at the ceiling. There honestly wasn’t any logical reason for him not to take Christina and Ryan up on their offer, knowing he’d have a hell of a good time with them. One that was wild and raunchy as fuck. He always did.

  But they weren’t what—or actually who—he wanted.

  No, the person Jonah wanted wasn’t all statuesque and muscular—but her curvy little body, pink cheeks, and big, moss-colored eyes made him hotter than anything he could remember. She was soft and outrageously innocent-looking, in a way that drove him fucking mad. One look at her and all he could think about was dirtying her up, in as many filthy ways as he could.

  He hadn’t seen Jocelyn since Wednesday morning, when he’d found her and Denny in the break room. But he’d sent her an email yesterday, telling her that she had a day to clear up whatever she’d been working on for Gabe, and t
hat they needed to touch base this afternoon, before she headed home, in order to set up a schedule so that they could be ready to tackle the Fillmore deal head-on starting next week.

  Her response had been annoyingly short. I’ll stop by your office at 4:45.

  And that was it. Irritating as fuck, but then, he was already irritated by the fact that she didn’t want to work with him. That had been made abundantly clear during their conversation in the break room.

  Of course, he’d been acting like an ass for most of that little chat. But he’d slept like shit the night before, pissed off at the way things had gone down between them in the conference room. It’d been hell, getting that close to her on Tuesday, only to watch her storm away. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever suffered from a case of blue balls like the one she’d left him with. His traitorous dick had stayed ready for her all goddamn afternoon, as if she were suddenly going to change her mind and come crawling back to beg him for it. Stupid prick.

  And then there’d been the way that Lucas’s heavy-lidded gaze hadn’t given him the same kick that it usually did when Jonah was with a woman. For some strange reason, there’d been a part of him that had wanted to tell the jackass to get lost. He probably would have, too, if there hadn’t been an even deeper part that had sighed with relief when Lucas had slipped back into the room with them. Having his friend there had been like having a safety net, and Jonah knew damn well that he’d needed it. He just didn’t want to think about why. Refused to, actually. And hell, he was good at putting things out of his mind when he wanted to. He was a master at it, because he’d had to be. It was either that or lose his goddamn sanity.

  The only thing his little mind trick didn’t work with was Jocelyn Brenna. Like some kind of cosmic joke, she’d taken up residence in his head, and screwing an endless stream of hard bodies since he’d met her hadn’t done anything to change it. It hadn’t even made a dent.

  So I just need to screw the hell out of her, and finally get her out of my system, once and for all.

  Jonah laughed under his breath, worried that it wouldn’t be that simple. Or easy, considering how she kept running away from him. But for the sake of his dick, and his sanity, he at least had to try. The fact that he was already hard just from thinking about her was proof of that.

  At the edge of his vision, he saw the red intercom light start blinking on his office phone, and he reached over to press it. “Cartwright.”

  “Hey man.” Lucas’s deep voice came through the small speaker, sounding tired, which was probably why he was using the intercom. Their offices were side by side, so most of the time they just walked next door if they wanted to talk. “You going to the club tonight?”

  Christ. What was it with everyone hitting him up about Vane? And why was it suddenly irritating him to hell and back?

  Shoving a hand through his hair, he scowled at the phone. “Don’t think I’ll make it.”

  “No worries. More for me, then.”

  Lucas’s light-hearted response pulled a reluctant laugh from his chest. “Have a blast. Make good choices. And wrap up little Lucas.”

  “Don’t I always? And little my ass,” Lucas drawled with a smirk in his voice. “You wish you were as big as me.”

  Shaking his head, Jonah said, “I am as big as you, you tool. Do we need to get out the rulers again to prove that we’re both fucking hung? Didn’t we settle that when we were fourteen?”

  “Dude, you seriously need to get laid. Do you realize you just insulted my penis size and then argued about it being as massive as yours all in less than a minute?”

  “Shit.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, then grunted with frustration. “I gotta go.”

  Disconnecting the intercom, Jonah reached down and shifted the dick he’d just been bragging about over to the left, where it tented the fabric of his trousers in a way that could only be described as obscene. He’d never been so twisted up over a woman that he could get this hard just from thinking about her, and it unsettled him in a way that he wasn’t at all comfortable with. What in the ever-loving fuck was wrong with him? Maybe backed-up semen was polluting his brain. He’d heard of weirder shit happening.

  The fact that it’d only been a few days, though, since he’d last unloaded and he was already losing it… Yeah, that worried him.

  Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was nearly 4:30, which meant Jocelyn would be dropping by in fifteen minutes. No way in hell was he getting through their meeting without first giving himself some relief. Heaving himself to his feet, he headed toward his private bathroom. After slamming the door shut behind him, he propped his shoulders against the cold surface of the wall opposite the sink and reached for his belt. Within seconds, he had his trousers opened and his cock in his fist.

  Taking it out, Jonah wasn’t surprised by the angry color and swollen veins. His dick looked like a fucking beast, and he took a minute to study himself in his hand, wondering what Jocelyn would think of it. Would she have enough experience to appreciate his size, or would it make her apprehensive? It would probably surprise a lot of men to know how often he’d come across women who were less-than-thrilled when a guy was packing what they considered “too much.” Would Little Miss Tight-Ass feel that way when she saw his dick? Would she like its girth and shape? Would she get off on the way it felt against her palm? Her tongue?

  Shit, just thinking about her sucking him off had a bead of pre-cum soaking his fat tip. With his teeth clenched, Jonah fisted his heavy shaft in one hand and ripped open the drawer beside the sink with his other, grabbing the tube of lubricant he kept in there. His breaths got deep as he squirted the slippery lube into his palm, then smeared it over his hot skin, before curling his fingers around the thick root and squeezing all the way to the wet, plum-sized head.

  Throwing his head back, he closed his eyes and imagined having Jocelyn right there with him in the bathroom, which wasn’t surprising. The idea of fucking her bent over the granite countertop or having her on her knees on the limestone floor, her mouth stuffed full of his dick, was hot enough to make him sweat.

  No, what shocked him was that no one else was there inside his head. It was just the two of them, and that… Yeah, that wasn’t going to work for him.

  Hardening his jaw, he forced the location of his fantasy to Vane, imagining Jocelyn’s peaches-and-cream skin glowing beneath the lights of the chandelier in the Diamond, her legs spread and her pink cunt glistening like a juicy piece of fruit beneath the damp, golden ringlets on her mound. Then he rifled through his head for another man to put in there with them. Lucas? Nic? Jack—his friend and fellow Atlas co-owner—who had a penchant for bondage and reddening a woman’s ass with his hand?

  “Fuck!” he snarled, unable to choose, none of them feeling right. With the slick sound of his fist jacking his turgid flesh, his muscles bulging as he tightened his grip and quickened his pace, he gave in and went back to just the two of them— alone. Only this time he had her on his desk, before the entire wall of glass in his office, her soft thighs shoved wide by his hands, and his face pressed up tight against her cunt while he ate at her like he was starved for the mouthwatering taste of her cum.

  In his head, Jonah went at her like he’d never done with another woman, ravenous for the slick, wet juices in a way that was animalistic, a goddamn growl in his throat as he imagined just how fucking sweet she would taste. It was enough to make his own cum start to boil in his balls, and he lurched forward, catching himself hard with one hand against the mirror, while his other arrowed his cock toward the sink, still working the dark shaft in a violent rhythm, until his breath stopped and he started blasting long, thick streams of milky release into the bowl.

  Shit, I needed that, he thought raggedly, gasping for breath, the fantasy of Jocelyn’s cunt still lingering on his tongue. He was rubbing it against the roof of his mouth, as if he could seek out more of her imagined flavor, his fist wringing his dick dry with a few more hard, slow pulls, when he suddenly heard her vo
ice calling out from his office.

  “Mr. Cartwright? Are you here?”

  “Yeah,” he called through the door, fighting back a laugh. Huh. Talk about getting caught with my pants down. “I’ll be right out.”

  “Um, okay,” she replied, sounding as if she wanted nothing more than to bolt. If she had any idea what he’d just been doing—and who he’d been thinking about while he did it—she no doubt would have.

  With a wry glance down at his cock, which was already twitching at the husky sound of her voice, Jonah washed his hands and tucked himself back into his trousers. Then he opened the door and stepped back into his spacious office, his hungry gaze finding her instantly, enjoying the sight of her in the dainty cream-colored blouse and flared navy skirt. She didn’t look up from the seat she’d taken in one of the two leather chairs that faced his desk, but he knew she was as aware of him as he was of her. The hand reaching into her bag to pull out her ever-present laptop was shaking, and the tops of her cheeks were pink with a blush.

  She reminded Jonah of a little doll, with her petite stature and mop of blond waves. He’d known, the instant he’d touched her hair in the conference room, that the color was natural. Nothing bleached could ever feel as soft and silky, and he wondered if she was that same light shade of blond between her thighs. Wondered if her cunt was a soft, pale pink, or as lush and rosy as her fuckable little mouth.

  Christ. His mind had taken him so deep into dick-hardening territory that he throbbed even harder than he had before his bathroom break, and he winced as he reached down to rearrange himself.

  Just keep it together and try to get through at least one conversation with her without acting like a prick, he lectured himself as he sat down in the leather chair behind his desk. But sitting only made the fit of his trousers tighter, and he cursed under his breath as he had to straighten out his left leg in an effort to make more room for his cock.