My eyes got watery but my lips tipped up and even with my eyes watery, I saw hers were the same.
Suddenly, she dropped her hand and pulled away, announcing, “If we lose it like big goofball girls, we’ll probably be ejected.”
She was wrong. Jake would never eject me. Even for crying in a boxing gym. And he took boxing very seriously.
I didn’t share this.
I advised, “We should deep breathe.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
We deep breathed, making very loud noises doing it.
Then we burst out giggling.
“Woman!” Junior shouted. “There’s no giggling in boxing!”
We both looked out the window to Alyssa’s man and saw him smiling at us.
He didn’t mind the giggling.
In fact, he loved it and he also didn’t mind letting that show.
Yes, I very much liked Junior.
My eyes moved to Jake and I saw he wasn’t smiling, but he was looking into the office at me and his expression was warm and sweet.
I sent a smile his way.
He smiled back.
“Right, so giggling also could get us ejected. Nothing but serious from now on,” Alyssa said, taking my attention off Jake.
I looked to her and pulled a serious face. “Nothing but serious.”
She looked at my face and burst out laughing again.
I joined her.
Junior shouted, “What’d I say?”
I didn’t know him well but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it.
And anyway, for some reason, his shout made Alyssa laugh harder.
So I laughed with her.
* * * * *
Two days later, I lay on my side in Amber’s bed watching boy Taylor, with not a small amount of skill and a great deal talent, sweep her face with a brush.
The door flew open and girl Taylor strode in.
“He’s pulling up the lane,” she announced.
“Oh boy, oh crap, oh God,” Amber started chanting.
But my heart skipped a beat and I looked to girl Taylor.
“Please tell me he didn’t arrive on a motorcycle,” I begged.
“Nope.” She shook her head. “A vintage Mustang.”
“Epic,” boy Taylor breathed.
“His dad restores classic cars for a living,” girl Taylor added. “Alexi works with him on the weekends. He’s always in some kick-butt car.”
“Totally epic,” boy Taylor semi-repeated.
Although I found it gratifying Alexi had employment, especially honoring his father by working in the family business, I couldn’t think of Alexi.
My thoughts were on Amber.
I looked to her.
She looked terrified.
After nearly two weeks of sitting together at lunch, just yesterday, Alexi Prokorov asked Amber out on a date.
We were away to Boston the next morning for the Bounce concert but we weren’t leaving early enough for her to say no to an engagement that night.
She wouldn’t have done that anyway.
She was beside herself with glee just as she was nearly shaking with nerves.
Thus, I had two situations to handle and a very short period of time to do that in. So I pushed myself off Amber’s bed, got close to her and curled my hand under her jaw, bending to get even closer.
“Listen to me and do not forget this,” I said softly. “It is not you who is the lucky one tonight, going out with Alexi Prokorov. It is he who is the lucky one that you said yes. Are you with me?”
Her eyes were big but she nodded.
“You look beautiful,” I whispered, leaned up, kissed her forehead and straightened, looking down at her. “Have a wonderful time, sweetheart.”
She smiled. It trembled a bit but it was gorgeous, filled with excitement and hope, both of which I hoped Alexi Prokorov fulfilled.
I gave a grin to the Taylors and then walked out of the room.
Once out, I hurried down the stairs and reached the bottom to see Jake opening the door for Alexi.
Luckily, I was right on time.
I noted that Alexi was much better looking in person and I was right, he was also quite tall. Not as tall as Jake but not shorter by very much.
“Mr. Spear,” he said, extending his hand to Jake after Jake closed the door behind him.
Jake looked at Alexi’s hand.
I moved close.
Jake looked to Alexi.
I slid my hand in the back pocket of Jake’s jeans and pressed my body to his side.
Jake heard my silent communication and took Alexi’s hand.
He let it go almost instantly and declared, “Her curfew is midnight.”
“I’ll have her home on time,” Alexi replied.
“I hear you got a bike,” Jake noted.
“Yeah,” Alexi confirmed.
“My daughter’s not on it,” Jake announced.
Alexi nodded and looked to me. “You’re Josie, right?”
“Ms. Malone,” Jake corrected.
Alexi’s eyes moved to him then back to me and he murmured, “Sorry. Ms. Malone.”
I smiled at him, extending my hand, saying, “Yes, Alexi. I’m Josie. Ms. Malone.”
“Amber talks about you all the time,” he said, taking my hand, gripping it firmly but briefly before letting it go.
“That’s nice to hear,” I replied but barely got it out before he looked beyond me.
It must be said, I liked how his expression changed for I knew what I’d see when I turned.
And I saw it. Leaving the Taylors behind (it wouldn’t do to let Alexi to know they were there for makeup and moral support), Amber was walking down the stairs.
No short skirt. No lady of the evening makeup. She had on a flattering pair of jeans, my blush colored cashmere sweater, her own pair of fun platform sandals that had a muted collage of pink and brown rope adorning the wedge and she had a chocolate brown suede jacket slung over her arm.
She reached the bottom of the stairs, got close to Alexi, looked up to him and smiled a very pretty, somewhat shy smile
Perfection.
“Hey,” she greeted.
“Hey,” Alexi replied. “You look awesome.”
She dipped her chin a bit, tucked some of her beautiful hair behind her ear and murmured, “Thanks.”
Sheer perfection.
I was so proud of her.
“Someone kill me,” Jake muttered, luckily so low that neither Amber nor Alexi heard him.
Or perhaps they were too into each other to hear Jake.
But I made a noise seeing as I’d swallowed my giggle but in doing so, it was a difficult endeavor.
“Midnight, Amber,” Jake said and Amber looked to him.
“Okay, Dad,” she replied, coming close and moving into his arms.
She kissed his cheek.
He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight but brief hug. “Be safe, honey. Yeah?” he asked gently when they’d separated half a foot.
“Yeah, Dad,” she replied sweetly.
He grinned at her and let her go.
Alexi leaned in and took her hand.
The instant his fingers closed around hers, her eyes shot to me and they were alight.
“Have a wonderful time,” I called.
“Thanks,” Amber called back as Alexi moved her out the door.
“Nice to meet you,” Alexi said, pulling her down the walk.
“You too,” I replied, moving with Jake to the door.
Jake did not share my sentiment and I stifled another giggle.
When they made it to the Mustang, Jake closed the door and turned to me.
I looked up at him and noted, “He seems nice.”
“I die a little every time that shit happens.”
I blinked at his words before they poured through me, an elixir so warm, so healing, I knew nothing could ever ail me again. Not if he was in my life. Thus, I moved quickly to him and pressed close, wrapping my
arms around him.
He returned the gesture and added putting his lips to my hair.
“You’re such a good dad, Jake Spear,” I whispered into his chest.
He gave me a squeeze but said nothing.
“Was it awesome?” boy Taylor intruded into the moment by asking.
Jake’s arms loosened but he shifted one to wrap around my shoulders as I turned to the stairs to see the Taylors standing at the bottom of them.
“It was awesome,” I confirmed.
Boy Taylor smiled huge, jumped, clapped and high-fived girl Taylor.
Ethan walked through, pushing past them on the stairs, ascending them and mumbling, “You all are whacked.”
I grinned.
The Taylors laughed.
Jake gave my shoulders a squeeze and muttered, “Thank God I got at least six whole years before I gotta go through this shit again with Ethan.”
That was when I looked up at my man and finally let myself giggle.
* * * * *
“Jake,” I moaned.
“Quiet, baby,” he whispered.
“Jake!” I gasped.
“Fuck,” he muttered before he drove his hand in my hair, fisted it, pulled it back and slammed his mouth on mine.
And when he did all this, I cried my orgasm down his throat.
He took it, kissed me after it then broke the connection of our mouths to order, “Lean back.”
I did as best I could, wrapping my fingers around the faucet and planting my hand in the counter on the other side.
Jake yanked my hips that were on the bathroom counter of my hotel room in Boston deeper into his as he kept powering into me.
I lifted my already lifted knees higher.
Jake’s eyes drifted over me and down to our connection.
“Fuck, I love watchin’ you take me,” he grunted.
I loved watching him watch himself take me. So much, I shivered.
“Beautiful,” he whispered.
I clutched him tight with my sex.
His eyes came to mine.
“Beautiful,” he repeated, his voice deeper, rougher and looking into his eyes, I decided he was so…very…right.
Beautiful.
His hips powered into mine harder. “Fuckin’ beautiful.”
“Yes,” I breathed.
“Come here,” he ordered.
I pushed up and wrapped my arms around him.
Jake wrapped an arm around my waist, again drove a hand in my hair, shoved my face in his throat just as it arched back, he thrust in and groaned.
I held him tight to me and traced the ridges of his throat with my tongue.
I loved the feel, the taste, but lost it when he bent his head to bury his face in my neck.
“Sucks, I gotta put you in bed and go,” he said there, his voice gruff through his still uneven breathing.
He was right
It sucked.
But it was after the concert. The Taylors and Amber were sharing one room, Conner and Ethan sharing a room with Jake, I was alone in my room at Jake’s decree for the very purpose of what we were doing in the bathroom.
A plethora of photos of the kids and Lavon as well as the rest of Bounce were all over Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. They’d had the time of their lives, been fabulously star struck, Lavon had been unbelievably lovely, we’d come back to the hotel and they were so wound up, I thought they’d never get to sleep.
They all crashed within half an hour.
That was when Jake came to me.
And now he had to leave me.
Which very much sucked.
He lifted his head and I bent mine back to catch his eyes.
“Think the kids are used to you?” he asked.
“Um…” I mumbled as an answer because I didn’t really know what he was asking.
“Babe, we find our times but I want you in my bed, as in going to sleep with you in it and wakin’ up to you in it. Heads up, tomorrow after you leave our house, I’m sittin’ the kids down and having the discussion.”
“What discussion?” I inquired, stuck on him declaring he wanted to go to sleep and wake up with me in his bed thus not following.
“The Josie’s Gonna Be Spending the Night on A Very Regular Basis Discussion.”
“Oh,” I breathed and did it wondering if I looked as delighted as I was.
His lips quirked and he noted, “See you’re down with that.”
I looked as delighted as I was and didn’t care he knew it.
“I am indeed down with that, darling,” I confirmed.
His lips stopped quirking and he smiled. Then he dipped his head to kiss me. He did this for some time, I enjoyed it immensely through this time, and he kept doing it even as he pulled out.
Then he bent deep to kiss my chest before he moved to deal with the condom.
After he was done with that, he pulled me off the counter, took my hand, tugged me into the bedroom and right to the bed. He bent beyond me to pull back the covers before he gently pressed me into it.
I had on my nightie and no undies.
I didn’t mind this.
Not at all.
I had my hands in prayer position under my cheek, watching him dress, when I asked a question I knew the answer to, “Do you think the kids enjoyed tonight?”
His head turned and his eyes caught mine. “Seriously?”
I bit my lip.
He pulled his shirt on, moved to the bed and sat on the side. Once there, he shifted my hair off my neck then leaned into his hand in the bed behind me so his face was close.
“They loved tonight, Josie,” he said quietly.
I nodded my head on the pillow.
“The whole thing. The trip down. Lobster at a fancy-assed restaurant. Cush hotel the likes none of them have ever seen and girl Taylor’s dad is pretty loaded,” he went on. “Definitely the concert and meetin’ the band.”
“I’m glad,” I whispered.
Jake’s hand moved from the bed so he could use it to cup my jaw.
When he did, I turned into it, pressing my jaw deeper into his hand.
“You mean the world to them, baby,” he whispered. “All of them. Even the Taylors.”
“They mean the world to me,” I replied.
“And you mean the world to me,” he stated.
I blinked.
Then I stared.
Then my heart stopped beating.
“Babe?” he called when I said nothing.
“You mean the world to me too,” I pushed out and when I did, it sounded husky.
“Thank fuck,” he whispered and he meant both words, he meant them a great deal, and that meant a great deal to me. “Kiss me before I do something that does not say good dad and leave my sons alone in a hotel room in Boston all night.”
All our rooms were adjoining. Obviously, the door from my room to his room with the boys was closed, as was the door between their room and Amber and the Taylor’s, but still.
He didn’t want to leave them alone.
Such a good father.
I pushed up and put my lips to his. Then I slid my tongue in his mouth. After mere moments of me enjoying drinking from him, his arms closed around me and he drank from me.
He did it better.
Alas, some time after but still too soon, he ended the kiss, lifted his lips to kiss my nose and put me back in bed.
“See you in the mornin’, Slick.”
“See you in the morning, darling.”
Jake grinned.
I grinned back.
He bent in and kissed my jaw.
Then I watched him move to the adjoining door and through it.
I stared at the closed door long after Jake was gone thinking that I meant the world to Jake Spear.
I meant the world to him.
He told me so.
Thus, mere minutes later, I fell asleep smiling.
* * * * *
It was Sunday.
It was dark.
We
were back from Boston. The Taylors had headed home. I’d hung out with Jake and the kids at his house. But now it was time to go home.
Jake was standing outside with me by my Cayenne.
I was in his arms and we were standing close.
“I’ll call you later and tell you how the talk went,” he said.
“Okay,” I replied.
“I don’t get bad vibes, you’re in my bed tomorrow night,” he declared.
This made me slightly nervous but mostly happy so I pressed closer and repeated, “Okay.”
“Okay,” he muttered then dipped his head and touched his mouth to mine. He lifted it and said quietly, “Need to get that shit done.”
“Okay, darling. I’ll talk to you later.”
He touched his mouth to mine, lifted his head again and said, “Yeah.”
I gave him a squeeze and a smile.
Jake returned the gesture.
He then opened my door for me, closed it after I climbed in and stood in the lane that led up to his house while I backed out, turned into the street and drove away.
I didn’t envy him the impending likely uncomfortable discussion with his kids. It was pretty clear they knew what was going on with their dad and I, but bringing it up, discussing it, moving it forward for them in a way that at the very least Conner and Amber would understand, would not be easy.
But I hoped it was relatively painless.
This was on my mind as I drove home.
This was still on my mind when I drove into the curve in front of Lavender House.
It was not on my mind when I saw the shiny black Mercedes parked in front of my house.
“What on earth?” I asked irately into the cab.
I saw Boston Stone move from the shadowed entry of Lavender House as I parked.
I kept my eyes glued to him as I turned off my car, threw open the door, got out, slammed the door, beeped the locks and started to stalk toward him in order to tell him precisely how I felt, not only about a visit late in a Sunday evening, but about any visit from him at all.
However, before I could say a word, I tripped over my feet, righted myself and stopped dead.
Then I went completely still.
And I did this staring at the man who followed Boston Stone from the shadows of the front door of Lavender House.
Staring unthinking but not unfeeling.
And none of the feelings I was having were even remotely good.
For the man who followed Boston Stone was the second to last man I’d ever want to see again in my life.
It was my uncle.