Jasper's Claim | Book One

Fifteen

Photo of Will>>

The air hung heavy with tension as Demi hurriedly pulled on her clothes and brushed her hair, checking the gilded mirror in the elegantly furnished bathroom to make sure there was nothing out of place.
Will, apparently, had taken the last flight out to New York to surprise her. She'd told him she was on her way back to the hotel and that she'd see him soon and had cut the line before he could ask any more questions.

Jax sat noticeably still, his posture and demeanor seemed relaxed, however, his tightly balled fists and clenched jaw were all she needed to see to know that he was anything but.

Crouching in front of him, she palmed his cheek, caressing him softly with her thumb.
'I have to go Jax....he's still my...partner,' she said, trying to avoid the use of the word boyfriend but wasn't sure if that had been the best decision as Jax's eyes hardened further.

'This...' She gestured between them ...'is not right, or fair to him...'

'Do you love him?' He forced out between clenched teeth.

She frowned, 'of course not...I wouldn't...be with you i-if I did...but, that's still no excuse for cheating on him...' She sighed and repeated 'I have to go.'

She stood, grabbing her bag and was almost to the door when he grabbed her arm and turned her back to him, 'Have you had sex with him?'

She frowned, not this again, 'Why is that important Jax?'

'I need to know.'

'Fine. The answer is yes, I have. He's my boyfriend, what do you expect?' Turning away, she opened the door and was again stopped by his question.

'Are you going to sleep with him tonight then? Is he going to fuck you with your ass and pussy still dripping with my cum?'

Demi didn't know the exact moment she turned around, didn't see the impact her hand made with his face, but she felt the burning pain afterwards as the blood rushed to her palm, leaving it red and stinging.

'Fuck off Jax' she whispered as tears clouded her eyesight.

She ran down the stairs and out the massive double doors, coming to a halt only when she saw for the first time, the long driveway leading to the gates.
Placing her hands on her knees, she took in big gulps of air as the tears continued to stream down her face.
A warm hand on her shoulder had her jerking upright and ready to attack when the blurry figure quickly stepped back and apologized.
'Very sorry ma'am, I, ....ah, ...if you wouldn't mind, I can drive you to your hotel.'

He glanced almost apologetically at the gate in the distance.

Demi, breathing hard, followed his gaze, and, although loathe to accept any help from Jasper, she knew she was too tired to walk that distance.

She gave a short nod and followed him to the vehicle parked up front. Notwithstanding how shaken up and upset she was, Will was waiting for her and she needed to get herself together and get to him.

She also needed to get away from here as quickly as possible.

She stared out the window at the passing buildings, her tears blurring her eyesight. It was 12:15am and the streets were considerably quieter. She thought about what she was going to tell will.

She was going to have to break it off with him. She'd ruined their relationship before it'd even begun and she didn't like the idea of carrying the knowledge of that on her conscience for any length of time.

As crass as he was, Jax was right, she'd allowed herself to be wooed by a big dick and a cute smile and had doomed what could've been a good, steady relationship with a good man.

She sniffled and wiped her cheeks as they approached her hotel. She could continue her self pity later, for now, she was going to plaster a brave, deceptive smile on her face and hope that Will didn't see through her bullshit.

~~~

He sat in the hotel lobby, looking tired but handsome and looked up as she approached him, studying her almost too intensely.

'Hey' she said giving him a warm hug, 'so sorry you had to wait.'

He shrugged and offered a slight smile, 'happy to wait if it's for you.'

Shit! Demi thought, smiling tentatively back at him.

'Are you alright?' Will asked, pulling away to study her face again, 'you look...'

'I'm ok, it's just...one of those days you know?' She shrugged slightly, looking anywhere but at him.

He nodded, obviously unconvinced.

'So...uh, that was my colleague on the phone...' She continued, deciding to tackle the elephant between them. 'We had an office function that ran late...he offered to drop me off...' Chancing a look up at his face, she was unable to read the expression there and wondered if he could hear her heart beating out of control.

But then the moment passed and he nodded again and slung his arm around her shoulder, 'then you must be tired, so, let's just get out of this lobby and get some rest.'

'Right.' She gave a small sigh of relief as they made their way up to her room.

~~~

Dawn couldn't come soon enough as Demi tossed and turned all night taunted by images of her and Jax in this same bed.
The knowledge that the sheets had since been changed didn't help much. Luckily, will had been too tired to try anything and if he had, she'd been prepared to feign fatigue.

Jax's parting words to her hadn't helped much either.

At dawn, she rose tiredly and got ready for work, leaving Will to his own devices. He'd planned to check up on a few friends while he was here and meet up with her afterwards for lunch.
He was flying back that weekend and she'd decided to fly back with him, check up on her sister and possibly broach the breakup topic.

She hadn't yet thought of a good reason for why they had to part ways so soon, and, the truth was just too...hurtful.

It turned out to be a busy morning at work and she loved taking her mind off of her issues even if it was for a short period of time.

Time flew by and she met up with Will as planned.

What was not planned, however was the phone call she received from her firm asking her to return to Miami for Mr Mathers' audit exit meeting, which was going to take place on monday.
Apparently, the date had been moved up and she had not been informed.
Also, she had another meeting, in Miami, the following week between her firm and Jax's forensic auditors, which she was required to attend.
She was glad for the two week reprieve from Jax this news afforded her, she'd originally planned to fly home, but, this way, she could stay there for a little while and get her shit together.

She knew she had to inform Jax but as she wasn't interested in having a direct conversation with him just yet, she placed a call to his secretary and left a message.

She was informed during the conversation that 'Mr Taylor' hadn't come in to work that morning.

She ignored that information.

What would you do in Demi's situation?

Your votes and comments are very welcome loves...actually, desperately needed!