The Lover’s Promise (No Exceptions #3)(30)
Author: J.C. Reed

I swallowed hard.

When Brian asked me what I was doing here, I thought it was out of curiosity. I knew he’d try to test me. This felt different. Unlike with Brian, I felt like I had everything to lose with Jett. I felt like I was stepping over boundaries—onto territory where I felt vulnerable. Exposed, with my insides open for everyone to see. For some reason, him not wanting to see me hurt me more than I thought it would. He was angry with me—I got that—but so was I with him for even asking this question.

“What do you think I am doing here?” I asked, but the words didn’t sound as accusing as I’d intended. “You paid off my loans. I don’t need your fucking money, Jett. I don’t need handouts. I’m perfectly capable of paying off the money I own on my own.”

It was a lie.

One he would know if he had indeed checked my balance.

Towering over me, his gaze lingered on me too long. His jaw was tight—the way it often was when he was trying to control himself. I knew then that he wasn’t happy to see me. That he really had no idea why I was here, and that the silence between us felt awkward.

“Forget it. It was a bad idea to come here, seeing that you didn’t even want to see me. Just do me the favor and take the money back. I don’t want it, and I don’t want to have anything to do with it.” Turning my back to him, I was ready to walk out the room when his hand grabbed my elbow, stopping me in my movement.

I swallowed hard, marveling at the strong feel of his grip.

“I know you would have paid them off eventually. There was never a doubt about it,” he murmured so low I wasn’t sure I heard him. “It’s not a handout, though, Brooke. It’s what I owe you.”

I turned back to him, taking in his posture. The expression on his face had softened; the hard grip on my elbow was gone. My whole body began to tense because of the way he kept looking at me—his eyes warm and yet his mouth hard, his half-naked body urging me to touch him, his breath asking me to kiss him, and yet I knew that wasn’t an option.

I would never allow it.

Not now. Not ever, Stewart.

“I don’t understand,” I muttered.

“Consider it an advance payment rather than money borrowed,” Jett said coolly.

“For what?”

“I made you partner at Mayfield Realties,” he said, his eyes glimmering with something I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

I almost tripped in my high heels. The realization of what he had just said kicked in and ever so slowly my mouth dropped open.

He made me partner in his business?

Holy cow!

Why the heck would he do that?

“What?” I stared at him in shock.

Hundreds of thoughts raced through my mind, flying so fast I wasn’t able to catch my breath. I shook my head in confusion. Did I miss something? Did I misinterpret his tone of anger from before?

“I don’t understand,” I said in disbelief. “Why would you make me partner?”

“What do you mean ‘why?’” The skin around his stunning eyes crinkled ever so softly, but other than that his face remained a mask of nonchalance. “Why does there always have to be a why with you? Isn’t it enough that I’m confident in your skills and that you have good references?”

That happens when you sleep with the boss, Stewart.

“References?” I raised my eyebrows. “Yours, I assume?”

“That’s right.” Now, was that another hint of amusement I detected?

I shook my head, letting out a slow breath. “Jett, I can’t lead a whole company. Not even half of it. That’s just crazy,” I said, shaking my head again. “I’m sure it’s some people’s dream to make it partner. You’ll probably find plenty of them on the board, people more suited to this position. Steve, for example. He’s been waiting for a promotion for years. Or you could choose Colt.”

“Steve’s a two-sided snake and you know that. And Colt is way too old. He wants to retire.” He smiled that lopsided smile of his that always managed to send my pulse racing. “You, in turn, are young. Straightforward. Honest. Perfect as my partner.”

His partner. My breath hitched in my throat.

Holy mother of double meanings!

I stared at him, not quite trusting his words when one minute we were having a fight, and the next he had promoted me. Something just didn’t add up.

There had to be some motive—some ulterior motive I wasn’t seeing.

I narrowed my eyes as I let my gaze sweep over his perfect features. “Why would you make me partner, Jett?” I asked, not hiding my mistrust.

“You earned it, Brooke.” He inched closer until he stood mere inches away. He was so close I could smell his manly scent that screamed of power, tenacity and sexiness—of the intoxicating kind—and I realized it must be his scent that made it so hard to think clearly. The knowledge he was a fighter of the hard kind. A sex god, who just had to remove his shirt to make my panties wet. Or maybe it was the feel of his hands going around my waist, pulling me slowly to him until I could feel nothing but the heat emanating from his body.

He pulled me closer and the room began to spin.

Slowly, my bitterness began to fade away, which angered me. Anger was all I had to keep me away from him—both physically and emotionally. Anger was a necessary ingredient for helping me focus on the future, let go of bygones, and move on.

Or at least make sense of everything.

Without it, I would succumb and plead with him to take me right there and then.

“It would make me happy to see you in this position,” Jett said hoarsely.

“I can’t accept it, Jett,” I whispered weakly just when his hands traveled down my back, lingering, threatening to brush over my ass. “It’s a huge responsibility, not to mention a risk. I don’t want to be the one who…”

“I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer,” he cut me off and his eyes met mine. “You’re the only one I trust in my company. If anyone should be partner, I want it to be you.”

“What about the risks? Are you willing to take those?”

“There won’t be any,” he said. “And besides, with great risk comes great success. You’re worth it. I know you have what it takes to succeed.”

Help Jett lead his new company? That was crazy. And yet the thought of working close to him, of being near, made my heart beat faster. Working in real estate had always been my dream. The prospect of being around the man of my dreams all the time felt like heaven. It was almost perfect—except for the secrets he had yet to reveal to me.