One Deep Breath

Chapter Twenty

Pulling away sooner than Jolie wanted, Jesse broke off their kiss, stopping just as it was heating up.

"I wanted to do that all day," he breathed, his face flushed. "Come on, I'll show you around."

Grabbing their things he led her up the opulent staircase. At the top there was a hallway with three doors. Passing the first two Jesse pointed out his spare rooms, which she peeked in; each holding the basics of a guest room, but neither appearing to have been used anytime recently. At the end of the hall held the master.

Following Jesse inside Jolie saw that this room was easily twice the size of the other rooms. Situated along the northwest corner of the building it had the same view that she had admired downstairs, but the side windows faced uptown.

This bedroom was way more lived in. The big walk in closet was filled with clothes and the dresser had a few photos on top of it.

As Jolie took it all in, Jesse set their stuff down on the bed.

"Um," Jesse broke into her thoughts, "So this is my room. There are two other bedrooms but they're empty. You can stay in one of those if you want, but I figured if we were having another sleepover like last night you might want to stay in here, with me. I'll behave," he added, grinning mischievously at her.

"Sure you will," she countered, crossing her arms in jest at him. "How about we just decide that later."
No part of Jolie wanted to sleep in a different room than Jesse, but she didn't want to throw herself at him either. She doubted that he would find that attractive.

"So what is this place? Your ...apartment?" she wondered out loud. "Or is this another hotel that you own and live in?"

"No this is where I live, this is my home," Jesse told her. "It's not a hotel, it's a residential building. It's one of our first developments, a TBG original. We totally demo and renovated this place a few years ago. I helped design this space specifically for me."

"You got to design your very own bachelor pad? That's pretty sweet. Does Charlie live here too?"

"He did, briefly," Jesse replied. "But then he created his own bachelor pad, your words, at another one of our properties. Most of these places allow for just a few penthouses on the top floors, so it's more lucrative for us to rent them then just occupy them ourselves. Plus having an owner presence in the building keeps the maintenance and security staff on their toes."

Jolie noted how his voice changed when he talked business. Maybe noticing it himself he changed the subject.

"Here, I'll show you the rest of the place downstairs. We got sidetracked on the way in."

She followed him back downstairs, and he showed her the rooms she missed outside of the main living space, including a half bath and a huge office, before ending back in the kitchen.

Jolie hopped up on to one of the barstools

"Okay. I don't have food since I'm not really living here currently. But I do have booze," Jesse stated, walking around to the part of his counter holding a tray filled with various bottles of alcohol, below a built in wine rack and above a mini fridge. Jolie decided she needed a section like that in her future kitchen.

They decided on opening a bottle of champagne, selected and justified by Jolie because of her return to the city in such glamorous style. Sitting at his kitchen counter with the lights of the Manhattan behind them Jesse and Jolie sipped champagne and talked about all the places she wanted to see.

"Alright," Jesse halted their conversation with a glance at the time. "I need to go, I have a quick meeting but I'll be back here at nine. Then we can go for dinner? I'm sorry I'm sure you're starving."

"I'm fine," she insisted, glad that the car on the way down had pretzels and candy. "I'll just be here, sipping champagne and enjoying the view."

"Okay. Well I'm sorry I'm leaving you on your own, but you can make yourself at home. No one can get up here, and if you need anything you can call me. Or you can call down to security on the phone by the door. Just press 0."

Jolie nodded, reassuring him that she'd be fine on her own with a smile.

Jesse grabbed his coat and his keys, flashed her a grin and then disappeared out the doors.

Topping off her glass, Jolie spun around in her chair, taking in the scene before her. She wondered how it felt to come home to this every night. It was an amazing penthouse, obviously, but it was big for one person. She guessed that's what the pool table and dartboard were for, mindless and easy ways to pass time.

It certainly didn't have a woman's touch, though that part made her happy. She wasn't keen on thinking about Jesse with anyone else. Which was sort of selfish, considering she had an on again off again thing that was on just a few weeks ago.

Pushing that thought out of her mind immediately, Jolie decided to head upstairs and freshen up before they went out for the night.

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A little while later Jolie was perched on the edge of the pool table, draining another glass of champagne trying to memorize the city lights before her. She had changed out of her sweater into a pretty white top, embellished with shiny studs around the deep neckline. She also switched from her boots to her black pumps figuring if she was only going to be in the city for one night she had better make the most of it.

When she heard the quiet twist of a lock Jolie looked back over her shoulder watching as Jesse breezed through the door. His eyes knit together for a second before his mouth turned up at the corners when he saw her.

Hopping down Jolie rounded the pool table and met him in the kitchen.

"You look nice," Jesse murmured, studying her.

The space between them felt electric all of a sudden, and Jolie felt herself heating up under his stare. A minute ago all she could think about was getting out into the city but now her thoughts flickered up to the massive bed upstairs.

"We should go," Jesse breathed, slowly closing the distance between them, running a finger along the bottom hem of her shirt. "Otherwise we might not make it out again tonight."

Jolie exhaled relieved to hear that he felt the same energy that she did whenever they were in close proximity to each other.

Closeting her desires, she pushed the urge to throw herself into his arms aside. Leaning back she looked up at him with a sheepish smile. "I am pretty hungry."

"Me too," he agreed.

Jesse helped her into her coat and led her out of his sky-high perfect penthouse apartment.

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