shuhaige
26
Like her.
She could make me hard with her stare.
Her smile.
Her kindness and trustworthiness, traits that made her unique.
That made me crave her.
That made me wrap my arm around her when we got out of the SUV. The men we passed on the sidewalk stared at her. I knew they were fantasizing about her body, that they were praying she would glance in their direction, hoping to score a second of her attention. Women were no different, their eyes instantly finding Jo.
She was someone to gaze at.
But I kept my arm tightly around her …
Like she was mine.
That was what I thought about as I took the seat across from hers at our table.
In the past, so many women had wanted a commitment. I wouldn’t give them one. Most of the time, I wouldn’t even consider it.
Jo was different. Jo was making me feel things.
Things I didn’t want to surface because single was the life I’d chosen to live.
But, fuck, she had a face I could wake up to every morning. She was someone I could take for a midnight dessert on a random Tuesday. Someone I could carry onto my jet in the middle of the night, so she could wake up somewhere beautiful in the morning.
But to even consider that, I needed her on my coast, minutes away, giving me access to her whenever I wanted.
Miami wasn’t that.
Goddamn it, there were just too many obstacles with this one.
This had to be just … fun.
That was what I repeated to myself. That this would be over once I returned to LA.
But even as she opened her menu, her long eyelashes taunting me over the flickering candlelight, I was dreading that plane ride back.
She looked at the food selection for only a second and then back at me.
“Tell me, Jo …” I put my hand on my water glass, needing to feel the coolness from the ice. “What are you going to do when you graduate? It’s happening soon, only a few months away.” Once my fingers were wet, I gripped the wine menu, taking a quick peek so I knew what to ask for once the waitress arrived.This content is © NôvelDrama.Org.
She moved her napkin to her lap. “I’m a marketing major. I would like to go into the field, not necessarily at an agency, more like apply my skills to a business and do the marketing and social media and influencing for a company. Those are the things I’m good at.”
“Have you decided what kind of business?”
She sighed. “That’s the hard part. I’m still not sure. I did an internship last semester for a set of privately owned gyms in South Beach, and they offered me a job for when I graduate. I also did some work for a local art dealer who owns several galleries throughout South Florida, and she would love to employ me full-time, but I just don’t know. Although I enjoyed both jobs, neither angle is exactly what I’m looking for.” She shrugged. “I guess time will tell.”
“I didn’t have that luxury.”
“No?”
I shook my head. “I went from prelaw to law school.”
“Did you always know what you wanted to be?”
“I did, but I also knew what was expected of me, and with that came a lot of pressure.”
She leaned her arms onto the table. “Explain.”
“My parents founded one of the largest, most successful law firms in California. They opened it shortly after graduating law school, and they’ve single-handedly built their practice to what it is today, which is several locations across the state, hundreds of attorneys on staff, a focus on almost every practice of law, and relationships with the DA of each county.” I chuckled, remembering pictures that had been taken in our nurseries, the scales of justice painted on the wall above our cribs. “We were bred to be lawyers while in the womb. There were expectations. Thick ones.”
Her brows rose. “Isn’t that the case for most family businesses?”
“I suppose.”
“Were you at least able to choose what kind of law you wanted to practice?”
I leaned back in my seat, crossing my legs under the table. “I don’t want to make it seem like I was tied to law with rope around my wrists.” I smiled at her. “My brothers and I had a choice. No one forced us or gave us an ultimatum. We went willingly, and to be honest, I don’t know what I’d do if I wasn’t a lawyer. I certainly enjoy my job, and I’ve made it my own. I have a passion for real estate, so it only made sense to make that my focus.”
“Why?” She folded her hands in front of her. “What is it about real estate that attracts you?”
“The freedom.” I glanced up, the dark sky hanging over the patio we’d been seated in, the stars just bright enough to show off their glimmer. “I don’t like to be grounded for too long. I love being in the sky. I like new scenery, a new pace. I want to wake up in the mountains and go to bed on the beach. That’s how I’ve always been.”
“A wanderlust. I can definitely appreciate that.”
I eyed her face, her approval telling me we also had that in common.
“My clients have acquisitions all over the world. They need me on the ground, assessing the land, helping with the construction, endlessly negotiating every contract. It works perfectly for me. I don’t spend that much time behind my desk; therefore, I don’t have time to get restless.”
“What’s your endgame?” She twirled a long piece of hair between her fingers. “I mean, will you be going at a hundred miles per hour forever?”
I shrugged. “Until I get bored. Then, I’m sure I’ll find something else to occupy me. Maybe that will be travel.”
“You say that … because you haven’t fallen in love yet.”
There was so much seriousness in her eyes.
In her lips.
I couldn’t hide the laugh; it took over my face, my chest.
Dominick had lived the same life as me until he met Kendall.
He fell in love, and everything changed.
He’d become the person he’d sworn he’d never be.
Will that happen to me?
Even though I considered spending more time with Jo and I’d thought about her nonstop since meeting her in Vegas-more than any other woman-I couldn’t see it.
I didn’t care how enticing she was.
“How do you know I’ve never been in love?”