Never Be the Same Read online

  He chuckled, “Must suck to be normal.”

  “And why is that? Because we don’t have people throwing themselves at us everywhere we turn?” I raised an eyebrow in his direction.

  “What? You’re saying you don’t have men begging at your feet for attention? That is a crime.”

  “Men don’t exactly pay me attention,” I shrugged, taking a long sip of my water.

  I could feel Jameson shift closer to me, “They must be blind if they aren’t throwing themselves at you.”

  What in the world is this man talking about?

  “Huh?” Was all that I got out before Jameson tucked my hair behind my ear.

  The feeling of his fingers tracing my earlobe shot rockets off in my bloodstream. I fought back the need to shiver at his touch. I shook my head, this was probably just one of his games.

  “That’s how you get the girls. Isn’t it, Jamie?” I said sarcastically.

  He winced at the nickname, “Normally I don’t have to say much to get a girl.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Well that playboy crap isn’t going to work on me, so you might as well stop trying.”

  Jameson took out his phone, unlocked it, punched a few buttons and slid it over in my direction, “Then maybe I can give you a real Californian’s tour of the city. You’re different and I like that. We can just go out and enjoy one another’s company. I’ll even let you tell me more about surgical assisting.”

  Oh, what the hell. A few hours with this guy sometime during this trip? What girl in their right mind would complain about that?

  Taking his phone, I input my number before pushing it back towards him, “No funny business, and we have got a deal.”

  He held out his hand, “No funny business, Scouts honor.”

  I giggled and shook his hand before Ashley interrupted us saying that Melanie and Jasmine were ready to go. A quick introduction was made before I stood up and smiled down at Jameson.

  “It was nice to meet you, Jameson. I look forward to this tour,” I said honestly before placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

  Ashley had to practically drag me out of there.

  This was so unlike me…I like it.

  Chapter Two

  I barely made it home last night with the girls before Jameson texted me about doing his tour this afternoon. He didn’t bother telling me why the heck it had to be so sudden, but Ashley practically took my phone and replied for me when I asked if I should go. According to all of my friends on the long drive back to the house, Jameson and I were ‘really hitting it off’ and I ‘deserved to have some fun on this trip’. I wasn’t sure if that last part was more of a dig on themselves or me. The only instructions that Jameson had given me were to wear comfortable shoes. Thanks to that tidbit of information, I was forced to be up for a few hours with Ashley, Melanie, and Jasmine to choose the perfect outfit.

  Now here I stood, waiting for Jameson to arrive in my jean shorts, American Flag tank top that apparently did well at showing my ‘assets’, and a pair of white converse. Jasmine had been fussing over my hair for the last half hour, making sure that my hair was perfectly curled even though I was putting it in a ponytail. It was way too hot for it to be down, I’d be sweating before I even made it to his car if I did. The doorbell rang, and I looked at my phone, wondering why Jameson didn’t just text me that he was there.

  “Bri, you have a visitor,” Ashley sang from the foyer.

  I rolled my eyes. My friends were definitely going to be embarrassing me today. Jasmine giggled and pushed me towards the door after I slung my purse over my body. Walking down the stairs, I barely recognized Jameson in khaki cut offs and a loose-fit shirt. The suit made him look way older and now he looked calm, cool, and collected.

  “Hey, you ready?” He smiled from the open doorway.

  “Oh, she’s been ready for hours,” Ashley teased.

  I narrowed my eyes at her, “Is that why you sent Jasmine up to do my hair for a half hour? Because I was ready?”

  She pursed her lips, trying hard to keep from laughing.

  “If it counts for anything, you do look beautiful…especially your hair,” Jameson smirked.

  I went to stand in front of him, “Yeah, yeah.”

  Melanie came up to where Jasmine and Ashley stood in the foyer, “Keep an eye on her, Jameson. We don’t need to go home explaining why we left with four people and are only returning with three.”

  My palm hit my forehead in embarrassment before I could stop it.

  Jameson chuckled and put his hand on the small of my back, “Don’t worry, ladies. She’s in good hands.”

  We walked out the door and closed the small distance to where Jameson’s car was parked in the driveway. My mouth dropped open at the sight of a bright red Lamborghini Huracan Spyder. The top was down, and I think my body was getting ready to be lifted off to heaven.

  “This…is your car?” I stopped outside the passenger side and resisted the urge to run my hand along the door.

  “Don’t have Lamborghinis in Chicago?” Jameson teased as he opened the passenger door for me.

  “Are you kidding? Nobody would allow themselves to drive this work of art on the streets of Chicago. Every intersection is just an accident waiting to happen.”

  I climbed into the passenger seat, allowing Jameson to close the door for me. Buckling myself in, I watched Jameson jog around the front of the car and get behind the wheel. I slipped on my Ray Ban sunglasses as Jameson covered his eyes with a sleek pair of Aviators. If I thought he looked drop dead gorgeous before, my mind was definitely changed to how he looked now. The engine roared to life before we glided out of the driveway and down the open road. I was suddenly happy that I chose to wear my hair in a ponytail because it would have been flying all over if I had left it down thanks to the convertible.

  “What’s on the agenda, Jamie?” I giggled.

  “I’m taking you to see some sights like I promised,” he grinned, one hand on the steering wheel while the other rested on the gear shift between us.

  “What? Like Griffith Observatory? Santa Monica Pier? Touristy places like that?”

  His deep laugh made me smile and I found myself watching him rather than the ocean that whipped by, “No, not those places. Unless you want to be in massive crowds of people.”

  I shrugged, “I live in Chicago where there are always massive crowds of people. I’m used to it. But new sights might be nice.”

  Jameson reached over and put his hand on my knee, a surge of electricity ran through me, “That’s the spirit, Briella. Now, let’s go sightsee the right way.”

  There hadn’t been a time, in recent years, that I could remember ever having as good of a time as I had been having with Jameson all day. He took me to the Old Los Angeles Zoo, a completely deserted place where the animal exhibits still stood, and people could picnic literally in the former lions’ den. It took me completely by surprise when Jameson did pull out a picnic basket from his car and said that was exactly what we were doing.

  After that, Jameson drove us to The Vasquez Rocks. How the man knew that it was something that I would enjoy, I would never know, but it was still amazing. Up until we saw a snake. I literally jumped into his arms and screamed like the little girl that I am. Don’t get me wrong, I love nature. But anything that has more than four legs or slithers around…I’m not a fan of. The way Jameson laughed but held me protectively in his arms, there were no words to describe the feelings that raged through me. Just when I thought that he was going to kiss me, he put me down. Sure, I know what you are thinking ‘Briella, you have a fiancé. Why are you thinking about kissing this man?’. If you saw him and felt the tensing of his muscles under you as he held you, you’d want to kiss him too.

  Next up, he took us to Barnsdall Art Park. Whomever let it slip that I was an art lover I really needed to thank because I had the time of my life. And let me just tell you, it wasn’t just because of the art. Jameson had to practically pull me from display to display which meant
that he had to hold my hand. He held it the entire time after I wandered off one too many times to go look at the same display that we had just left. A fire raged within me at the feeling of his fingers locked with mine. I didn’t even feel that whenever Gavin held my hand. Not since the first time that we met and went on our first date which was eons ago.

  Up until this point in my life, I had never been paddle-boating. According to Jameson, that fact was the biggest sin that I could ever commit. So, on our way to our last stop of the Californian tour, Jameson pulled over to Echo Lake Park and took me paddle boating. My legs burned through the whole thing and once I finally complained about it, Jameson instructed me to put up my legs and he took over paddling. I had never laughed so hard as when we were out on the lake exchanging stories. I had never felt so free to be myself and have the ability to be so open with another person. My friends didn’t count when it came to being myself and open. We are talking about a complete stranger here.

  The very last stop was the Los Angeles Observation Deck. It was what was known as the best view of Los Angeles…even better than the observatory. Jameson smiled over at me before we climbed out of his car and walked into Los Angeles City Hall. We said that we were there for the observation deck and were given visitor badges before we were escorted to an elevator. We were instructed to take it up to the twenty-second floor then switch to another elevator to the twenty-sixth floor before taking a flight of stairs up to the Bradley Room. Once we finally stepped out onto the deck, my mouth fell open in awe. Jameson chuckled and led me closer to the edge where we could see for miles. The smog was nearly nonexistent today and everything looked so crystal clear.

  “This is one of my favorite places,” Jameson said softly as his hands rested on the metal handrail in front of us.

  “I can see why,” I smiled as I took it all in.

  There was a nice breeze from being this high up, but it had nothing on being in Jameson’s Lamborghini. I could feel myself get pulled closer to Jameson, it was as though he was a magnet I was being drawn to. My hand reached out as though I wasn’t controlling it and laid it on his muscular forearm. Jameson tore his gaze over from the view and smiled at me, his eyes shining.

  “Thank you so much for today, Jameson. It really means a lot that you took the time to take me to all these places.”

  “Did you have fun?” He cocked his head to the side slightly and I found myself looking at his lips as he spoke.

  I swallowed, “Yeah, I really did. Even though my legs are going to be really sore tomorrow.”

  Jameson laughed, “It always hurts the first time but the more you do it, the less it hurts.”

  I giggled and covered my mouth with my free hand.

  “Bri, you know that’s not what I meant,” Jameson playfully shoved my shoulder.

  That had been our dynamic of the whole day. It made me laugh how much I felt like we were just two kids back in high school giggling at the innuendoes of the day.

  “It’s funny, you gotta admit,” I teased as I playfully pushed him back.

  “I’ll show you funny,” he smirked before he reached out for my sides and attempted to tickle me.

  When I had jumped into his arms, Jameson had discovered I was ticklish on my sides. I tried to fight it but as he was setting me down his hand brushed against my side and I flinched and giggled. It’s really hard to hide where you were ticklish after that.

  “No!” I squealed as I ran away from him around the observation deck.

  Jameson was quicker than I thought, or I was just running slower because my legs were already sore, because he caught up fast and wrapped his arms around me from behind, hugging me close. I giggled and tried to fight to get away, but it was of little use. The man looked as though he benched at least two hundred pounds and his biceps made my mouth water. I turned around in Jameson’s arms, holding onto his hands behind my back so that they wouldn’t move to tickle me. Attempting my best scowl, I narrowed my eyes at Jameson. He smiled innocently, and I realized our mouths were just inches apart. The magnet inside of us started to pull us together all over again and soon his lips were closing over mine.

  I gasped at the spark that zapped through my body at the touch of his lips. My hands released his and my arms threaded around his neck as his large hands rested on my hips. His lips easily coaxed mine open for him and soon we were finding our own little rhythm. First kisses with someone were always supposed to be awkward. At least, that was what I had experienced for pretty much all of my life. Especially with Gavin…hell that was the most awkward first kiss we shared because he didn’t know which way I was turning, and I didn’t know which way he was.

  But with Jameson it was all so different. We moved as though we had kissed a million times before, we were comfortable and confident in our movements together. There was no awkward bumping of noses or biting of lips. Every caress of the tongue took my breath away and every nip was intentional. I groaned against his mouth at the sweet taste that was Jameson. My fingers laced into the back of his hair while one of his hands slid down from my hip to cup my ass. Normally, I would swat a man’s hand away in public. Just ask Gavin how many times I hit his hand off my ass in public when he was trying to stake his claim on me. But like I said, everything with Jameson was different. I wanted to feel his caress…I wanted to feel claimed.

  Just when Jameson was gently tugging on my bottom lip, his phone began to ring from his pocket. We both groaned and released one another as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He shook his head and brought it up to his ear, talking to someone named Zander. I wandered back over to the railing looking out over the view. Since I had run away from Jameson, we were on another side of the building and the view was that much more spectacular. I could hear Jameson talking about something regarding the club then I tuned him out. It was none of my business about the inner-workings of Club Roma.

  My hand raised from where it sat at my side before my fingers brushed my swollen lips. I had never been kissed like that in my whole life. It was one of those movie moments where the whole world just seemed to stop, and it was just us in the universe. I brought my hand back down from my lips and placed it on the railing, finding myself smiling bigger than I had in while. What was Jameson doing to me?

  I felt his strong arms engulf me from behind before I felt his soft lips press against my bare shoulder. That was something that I should have stopped, but it felt so right.

  “I should take you back to your place. Zander says there is some emergency with the alcohol delivery and I need to get back to the club,” he said softly next to my ear.

  I sighed sadly, “But this view is just so beautiful. I mean, sure, the view is beautiful at the house that we are renting, but it has nothing on this place. I feel like I can see every part of the city from up here, that the world around me doesn’t really exist because it’s so quiet and it’s just me in Los Angeles.”

  Jameson’s arms tightened around me, “That’s exactly how I feel every time I come up here. I need to be honest though…”

  “About what?” I looked back at him over my shoulder.

  “This view has nothing on you,” he smiled.

  “Is that what you say to all the out of town girls you bring up here?” I asked softly.

  He shook his head slowly, “You’re the only girl that I have brought up here…Scouts honor.”

  I smiled and gently pressed my lips against his. It felt so natural to kiss him like that. Normally PDA was not really my thing and I never felt the need to just kiss someone for something they said. How many times can I say it? Jameson was different.

  Jameson led me back down to the lobby and back to where we parked the car. On our way back to my place, we had to stop for gas. Jameson set up the pump to start dispensing and I unbuckled my seatbelt before getting up on my knees in my seat and reaching for him. He chuckled and stepped over the hose before coming to stand in front of me. I wasn’t exactly sure what enticed me to do what I did, but I pulled him clo
ser by his shirt and kissed him right out in the open. One of his hands rested on the small of my back as his other one cupped my cheek.

  The only thing that forced us apart was the sound of the gas pump abruptly coming to a stop. Once we were back on the road, Jameson’s hand was either on my knee or held my hand. There was a part of me that felt like I needed to be touching him in someway or another. I had never felt like that before. The entire way back, Jameson and I talked like we were the best of friends. It was just so easy to open up to him and he even kept up his end of the bargain and let me tell him more about my job. We wound up the coast before we finally pulled up into the driveway of the house my friends and I were renting. Jameson brought my hand up to his lips.

  “Are you girls going to come out to Club Roma tonight?” He asked quietly.

  “I’m not sure what we are doing tonight. Why? Do you want us to come back out tonight?” I watched as he brushed his lips against my knuckles over and over.

  His eyes met mine, “I’d love to see you again.”

  I smiled shyly, “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Jameson tugged on my hand and I willingly went forward, our lips meeting in the middle. The sound of the front porch door forced me to pull back. As much as I loved my friends, I wasn’t exactly sure they should be seeing me kissing another man when I was engaged. Unhappily or not. Ashley called out something I couldn’t hear over the sound of the ocean or the purr of the engine as we idled. I rolled my eyes before unbuckling my seatbelt and climbing out of the car.

  I closed the door and gave Jameson one of the many genuine smiles he had caused today, “I’ll text you to let you know if we are going to come to the club tonight.”

  “I’ll put you all on the VIP list just in case,” he winked, “Bye, Bri.”

  My cheeks flushed, “Later, Jay.”

  His smile brightened at my own little nickname for him before I turned around and walked back towards the house. Ashley gave me a knowing smile and put her arm around my shoulders.