Page 23 of Until You’re Breathless (Insatiable #1)

Bowie

M y head pounding is only exacerbated by the phone ringing.

“God!” I gasp aloud, holding my head, as I sit up in bed.

It’s freezing in here, I smell like puke, and I don’t remember anything beyond sitting at the dinner table last night, talking to Wesley about old school combustion engines.

The phone won’t stop ringing, so I pick it up.

“Hello?” I say groggily, noticing that there is a pair of dress pants, a shirt, and basically an entire man’s suit, on the floor, and my eyes widen.

“Ma’am, I’m just calling to inform you that your car will be there to pick you up in thirty minutes.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I say and hang up the phone.

My first thought is that I did the stupidest thing ever and slept with Wesley.

That would be career death right there. The thought sickens me, but somehow, I feel like my stomach is completely empty.

Judging by the scent filling the room, I’d say that it is.

That’s when I hear the door beep and I flip out, wondering who the hell is coming into my room.

Jagger sees me and raises a hand. “Relax. It’s just me. ”

I’ve pulled the sheets up to my neck, realizing that I’m completely naked under here. “Shit! Shit! What did I do?” I panic.

“You...got drunk. Very drunk. That thing you smell? Drunk.” He chuckles kindly. “You asked me to sleep with you, in the literal sense and the other, so I ended up sleeping right there next to you. Until you started tossing your cookies, and that’s when I realized that every man has a limit.”

“God.” I exhale, holding my head.

“Yeah.” He agrees on a sigh. “I brought your stuff over to my room so I can get you outta here. I’ve sent for housekeeping and gave them a huge tip and a heads up.”

He grabs a robe off the back of the door. “Here. Throw this on and come to my room. The car’s going to be here soon, and we’ve got to get you cleaned up.”

“I’m so sorry, Jagger. I never drink.”

“It’s not your fault. Wesley’s pockets were burning last night for expensive wine, and you were the innocent victim.”

He turns his head while I step out of bed, and he drapes the robe over my shoulders. “What about your clothes?”

“They stink so bad if they clean them, they can keep them.”

“Again. I’m so sorry.”

“Not to worry. Let’s just get you cleaned up. How do you feel?”

“My head hurts but I’m fine otherwise.”

“That’s probably because you puked up everything. It has its advantages.”

As soon as we leave the room, I feel slightly better.

“The adjoining room in this deal doesn’t work. I didn’t want to give you a heart attack by knocking down the damn door.”

He opens his door and I go inside. “Shower’s all yours.”

“Thanks.”

Ten minutes later, I’m fresh again, and Jagger’s got a glass of orange juice, some Advil, and dry toast waiting for me. “You’re a savior.”

He just smiles warmly at me. “You look better already.”

“Thanks. Where’s my dress?”

“Didn’t you see it soaking in the tub?”

“You’re a savior. That’s my lucky dress.”

“It paid off.”

“We should go. I don’t want to leave Wesley waiting.”

He wrings out my dress and stuffs it into a plastic dry cleaning bag, before stuffing it into my overnight bag, and we’re off.

To my chagrin, Wesley doesn’t look any worse for wear when we arrive at the restaurant for breakfast. I opt for coffee and nothing else, and I nurse it the whole time we’re there.

“So, when can I expect you two to find your way back to England?” Wesley asks.

“You say the word, sir, and we’re out here.” Jagger replies.

“How about next month...when we start on the first model.” He says, smirking.

Jagger and I exchange a look, not sure if we heard him correctly.

Wesley’s eyes are dancing and Stephen is grinning.

“Are you serious?” Jagger says on exhale, smile wide, hand on chest.

“My boy, I don’t fuck around.” Wesley says, pleased with himself.

“But...but you haven’t even seen all of our concepts yet.”

Wesley tilts his head but his eyes are still dancing. “Are you questioning my decision, boy?”

Jagger chuckles, rising, holding his hand out for Wesley to shake. “No, not at all, sir. Not one bit.”

I rise, too, and then we’re all standing, shaking hands. “Now, you can go back home to the office with the good news.” Wesley informs. “I’ve taken the liberty of having my office draw up the papers. They’ve been sent to your inbox. Gives you something to peruse on the flight back home.”

“Yes, sir.” Jagger nods.

“And have your lawyers look over the papers, too. Feel free to take as long as you like.” Stephen adds.

“Will do.”

Wesley changes the subject. “So, what’s on your agenda this weekend?”

“Work.” I chuckle. “Lots and lots of work.”

“Nothing in your personal life?” Wesley inquires.

Jagger shoots me a look, like he’s confirming that Wesley does, in fact, have a crush on me. It’s like he’s saying ‘I told you so’ with his eyes. “It’s my sister’s birthday. We’re having a party.”

“A big party?” Stephen asks.

“She’s in PR, so yeah, that’s all she knows.”

“How long has she been planning this party for?” Wesley asks.

“Just a couple of weeks. She’s got another six days, so who knows what celebrity she’ll be able to muster up in that time frame.”

“And what are you doing, dear?” Wesley asks me.

“I’m going, too.”

“Do you know Jagger’s sister well?”

“We met in a...previous life.” I say, watching Jagger from the corner of my eye.

He’s trying to be nonchalant, but I figured it out when he asked me.

I’m just going to play along, acting like I don’t remember, but I do.

And he’s going to shit himself when he realizes what I did because I remember. ..

Jagger

“No fucking way!!” I hear Axl shout from the back of the room.

He’s decided to hijack my production team while me and Bowie have been away.

We’ve just delivered the news that we got the European deal.

I don’t mind. When Axl isn’t getting into trouble with the media, he drips creativity and motivation, and the team adores him.

“Woohoo!!!” My senior guy shouts, too. “I knew it! I knew when that old son of a bitch invited you two out there, that it was in the fucking bag! Yahoooo!!!”

I lift a hand. “Okay, so we’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m having our attorneys look over the agreement, but in the meantime, we’ve got to put together all the engines, not just the prototypes. And I want several, so that Drummond Motors can test them on multiple bodies.”

“Got it!” My head engineer states. “Okay, boys! Let’s get to work!”

That’s why I hired them. This fantastic team that I have.

I look at Bowie and she’s already moving her way down the line, talking to some team members, giving them the scoop on what happened in London.

We reconvene later, in a meeting, and I can’t take my eyes off her.

The woman is luminous. Just full of everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner, both in business and in life.

And I chide myself for thinking about such things at such a time, when this is the most important deal of a lifetime, but then it makes sense.

If it weren’t for Bowie, I wouldn’t be here, and I’ll never forget that.

“So, how did it go there in London?” Axl asks me, once the throng of engineers and staff thin out.

“It was actually a fucking disaster if you want to know the truth.” I chuckle.

“What are you talking about?” He laughs.

“Well, the initial tour and hobnobbing was fine, but then Wesley took us to this restaurant and got Bowie totally fucking tanked. We both thought we were sunk, but she killed it, and then the next morning Wesley told us that he chose us for the deal.”

“I’m not fucking surprised.” He scoffs. “You worry too much, man. And everyone around here thinks the same thing. Do you know that I can count on both my hands how many of your staff want you to make engines with me, too?”

I laugh mirthlessly. “That’s the last thing that I need now that I have the European deal.”

“You do want to keep this company growing, don’t you?” He points out.

“Yeah, but not like that.”

“You haven’t seen my face on any tabloids in the past three days, have you?”

“No, but that’s only because I haven’t looked, and Stevie is too fucking busy planning her big to-do to bother me about it, either.”

“I’ll twist your arm some day, man. Mark my words.”

“I’m sure you won’t. But keep dreaming, man.” I pat him on the back and walk away, before we get into it. It’s been a while and it’s probably long overdue, but now isn’t the time. As I follow Bowie’s lead and make my rounds with staff, I eventually end up back in my office.

Bowie taps on the doorjamb a few minutes later. “Hey. Do you want to do a debriefing later? Make sure that everyone’s on the same page?”

“We can probably add it to the daily engineering meeting and just invite the rest of the clan to join us for a half hour following. It’s probably best not to clog up everyone’s day with meetings right now. They’re all on a high and everyone hates nothing more than meetings.”

“Good point.” She points at me.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ll never drink again for as long as I live.”

“You kicked ass.”

“So did you.”

And now she’s giving me that look again. Her eyes scan down my body as I stand next to my desk. “Stop it.” I warn playfully.

“Stop what.” She snuffles, acting like she doesn’t know exactly what I’m talking about.

“That look. Stop it. It took me every ounce of energy not to look at you like that when you were wearing that fucking black dress.”

“Well, I can say the same thing, Jagger. And you standing there in that suit is just as bad. And we got the deal. I thought that we said we would hold off until the deal is set in stone.”

With a sigh, I allow myself a small, quick glance down her body. She’s in a tailored dress that hugs her chest and ass perfectly. “We really need to stop dressing up for the office.”