Masquerade (Swept Away #2.5)

“How is it that you taste so delicious?” She moaned as she kissed my stomach, working her way up my body, and lay next to me in the bed, pressing her body against mine and running her fingers across my chest.

“I don’t know.” I played with her breasts idly as she lay there, looking at me with an emotion akin to love. My stomach turned as her hand made its way back down to my now soft cock.

“How long before you get hard again and I can ride you?” she whispered as her fingers moved up and down.

“I have to go.” I made an apologetic face and jumped off the bed quickly, grabbing my shirt from the floor.

“You’re not going to stay?” The cute blonde looked dolefully at me as she flicked her hair back.

“I have work to do.” My voice was abrupt, uncaring, letting her know exactly how I felt. I didn’t want her to think this was anything more than sex. And the look in her eyes had told me that this was already about more than just the physical.

“You always have work to do.” She pouted her full, bright red lips and let the sheet drop down so that her naked breasts were exposed. “I thought you’d stay over tonight.” She batted her eyelashes but couldn’t hide the annoyance in her blue eyes. I grabbed my pants from the floor and pulled them on quickly.

“You thought wrong.” I zipped my pants up. “Have a good night.” I nodded at her with a quick smile, not wanting to appear too callous.

“That’s it, Jakob?” She frowned and shook her head. “You’re really just going to leave?”

“I didn’t realize that casual sex required me to stay over.” I shrugged and did my belt up. “We had fun, but now I have work to do.” I held in an annoyed sigh. I was getting fed up with this conversation with women.

“We didn’t even have sex yet, I didn’t even get to come,” she whined as her fingers worked down her body. “I want you to pleasure me as well.”

“Not tonight, I’m afraid. I have to go.”

“You’re an asshole, Jakob Bradley.” She tossed her hair and lay back down. “You’re going to regret treating me like this. One day, you’re going to wish you’d treated me better. I’m not going to just wait around for you.”

“Okay.” I headed to her bedroom door as fast as I could. I hated this moment the most. I didn’t know why women took a couple of hookups as a sign of something serious. We’d had sex three times and she was acting like she was my long-suffering girlfriend.

“Don’t call me!” she shouted after me. “I don’t know who screwed you up so badly, but I don’t want anything to do with you again.” Her voice was shrill and I hurried out of her apartment, shaking my head. I wasn’t sure how I always seemed to find the psychos. It wasn’t like I didn’t have it together myself. I was a successful businessman. I was a king in New York. I was handsome as sin, as many women had called me. And I was smart—admittedly, modesty wasn’t one of my virtues.

I opened the front door and hurried down the stairs of her fourth-floor walk-up. I wouldn’t miss it or her. I had bigger fish to fry. Other women to meet, to seduce, to have my wicked way with. Brittney or Maggie or whatever her name was had no reason to worry, I wasn’t going to see her again. I didn’t have time for women who wanted more than I could give.

*

I drove to my apartment in silence, not wanting music or talk radio to distract me from my thoughts. My ringing phone interrupted me momentarily and I sighed as I saw the name flash on the screen.

“Brittney, not Maggie,” I chided myself as I turned the radio on. Not that it mattered now, of course. I wouldn’t be answering and I wouldn’t be calling back. The fact that she had called at all told me how desperate she was to be with me, and that was a turnoff. I hated it when women barely knew me, yet wanted to be with me right away. I knew then that they had an ulterior motive. My mom had taught me well. I could still remember her words clearly:

“Concentrate on your studies, Jakob.” My mother looked at me seriously as she ate some salad.

“I am, Momma.” I took a bite of lasagna and swallowed eagerly. I loved lasagna and garlic bread. It was one of my favorite meals and I knew that my mother cooked it when she wanted me to be happy.

“Don’t let girls fill your head and distract you.” She placed another piece of garlic bread on my plate.

“I don’t like girls.” I made a face and bit into the garlic bread and chewed happily. “They’re annoying.”

“Good.” She smiled at me and sipped her water. “Love is for fools, and you’re not a fool.”

“I love you, though, Momma.”

“And I love you, too.” She gazed at me with rays of happiness and love. “You will always be my number-one love.”