One Deep Breath

Chapter Thirteen

Once back inside, Jesse grabbed a menu off the coffee table and handed it to her.

"I believe I promised you real food. I'm embarrassed to say I've been living off of room service here, but it's really good, and really easy. Pick whatever you want."

"I just want a cheeseburger I think, with fries. Oh but they have mozzarella sticks. Hmm," Jolie pondered over the menu.

Jesse picked up the phone.

"Can I please get two cheeseburgers, both with French fries, and an order of mozzarella sticks sent up?" he asked in to the phone, then covering the receiver he asked Jolie "anything else? Drink? There's beer in the fridge. Unless you want more champagne?"

She shook her head at him.

"That's it.... Okay great... thank you!"

He hung up the phone and stood up for the kitchen.

"Do you want water? Beer?"

"I'll have a beer with you if you're having one."

"Got it."

Jesse grabbed two beers from the fridge then returned to the living area. He took off his jacket, followed by his tie and the top button of his shirt. Jolie kicked off her heels and tucked her feet up underneath her, settling back into the couch.

Glancing at the clock Jolie realized it was still pretty early, only two and a half hours had passed since he had picked up outside her dorm.

"Will you get in trouble for leaving early?" the thought just occurring to her.

Jesse shook his head, grinning as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"Charlie will give me shit about it tomorrow, but we already paid for the table and the marketing benefits of being involved," he explained to her. "Plus the money goes to a good cause regardless of whether or not I stay all night and eat subpar food. And he can stay and do some networking for once. He's always the one looking for a good time at these things while I usually try to make them worth our time."

Jolie thought to herself how much older he sounded than any of the other guys she knew.

"So. You guys own TBG. Together. You started it down in New York, and now you're expanding into upstate?"

"Yes and no. We're partners, we started it from the ground up, with help from his father initially, though we've already paid him back and then some. We're headquartered in the city, but we've also acquired properties and projects in Boston, DC and Baltimore that have been completed. We're still working on a few other places along the east coast. Expanding into smaller markets is new for us, but that's why we're here now."

Jolie tried her best not to look too shocked, but from the look on Jesse's face she determined she was failing in that regard.

"We don't need to talk about my job. I sort of eat, sleep and breathe work. Being with you is a nice distraction."

"Yeah? Do you have lots of other distractions falling at your feet?" she joked, half of her hoping he would assure her otherwise.

Part of her wondered if he was like Charlie, a bit of a playboy, from what she could gather anyway. But another part felt reassured by his actions, his reserved nature and moments of self-doubt. She was the one who had kissed him first, after all.

"No," he frowned at her.

A knock on the door halted their conversation.

Jesse jumped up to get the door, and a room service cart was wheeled in. After setting up the trays on the coffee table, Jesse saw the waiter out, grabbed another round of beers and joined Jolie once again.

They both dug into their burgers, turning their conversation to the food, and joking about some of the people they had encountered downstairs. He teased her for eating her burger so fast, and she made fun of him for fitting in with all the middle-aged businessmen so well.

They settled into the couch, and Jesse turned on the tv, selecting a Friends marathon that was playing on one of the stations. He pulled her into him so that she was tucked under his arm, her head resting on his chest as they sat comfortably together.

After a few more rounds of beer, a few hours worth of Friends episodes, and a lot of mindless chatter, teasing and flirting, Jolie got up.

"Can I use the bathroom?"

"Yeah, if you go down that hall there's one off the guestroom."

Finding it with ease, Jolie made herself at home in the unused guest bathroom. She pulled her hair down, taking out all of her bobby pins. Removing her earrings she tucked them into her bag. Then she checked her phone.

It was past midnight.

She wondered if she should head home, and then she wondered if he planned on driving her back. She had had a lot to drink, but it was over the course of the night, so she didn't feel very drunk, just buzzed. He had been drinking liquor earlier though, so she wondered how he was feeling.

She felt pouty at the thought of leaving.

They hadn't kissed again, but they'd been cuddling and playing and laughing on the couch all night. She was hoping he'd make a move, but part of her felt like maybe he was holding back on purpose. Maybe because she had called him out for bringing her to his hotel room.

Smiling to herself, she made her way back to the common area, where Jesse was still sitting.

"This place is amazing. That guestroom is nicer than any hotel room I've ever stayed in."

"Well you should only stay in TBG hotels going forward then," he answered her.

Jolie tilted her head.

"Is this... is this a TBG hotel? Do you own this?"

"As of this week we officially own this hotel, yes. But we'll do some renovating before we officially switch the name and relaunch it as one of ours."

She stared at him, shocked once again.

"Well, don't change this room. I'm already attached to it as is," she said, regaining her composure.

She walked around the open space, stopping in front of the big glass windows for a second before turning back to face him.

"Can I?" she asked, pointing to the double doors leading to the master.

He nodded once, his face frozen, not giving away his thoughts.

She padded over on the soft carpet in her bare feet then pushed the doors open before creeping inside.

It was almost the size of the entire living area, with a huge mahogany framed bed, with a pretty fireplace off to the side with its own sitting area. There was also a workspace set up in the corner, with a variety of Jesse's things; his laptop, an iPad, more blueprints. The master bath was connected and open to the rest of the room, with one frosted glass wall separating it from the rest of the space.

She pictured him living here, working or getting ready for the day. Right when she envisioned him walking around in just a towel, or even less, she felt his presence behind her.

"It's so pretty," she said softly as she turned towards him, suddenly very aware of the bed in the room.

"You're so pretty."

He closed the distance between then, reaching for her hands.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

"No."