The beginnings of a grin teased at the left side of his mouth. “It was a chance I was willing to take, sweetheart.” He lowered his head and rubbed his nose against mine. The feel of his hot breath skimming over my lips made me shiver and I felt more than heard him chuckle in response. “Besides, if you hadn’t been here I would’ve ditched this penguin suit and gone looking for you. All I wanted for Christmas is five minutes alone with you, Kin, and I was determined to give myself that present.”
I leaned my head back against the wall, grinning up at him. “You’re so cocky, you know that?”
“What’s your point?” He winked and skimmed his nose over mine again. Fuck. Why did that feel more intimate than a kiss? My nipples were diamond-hard in my bra and my panties were soaked from just being that close to him, but having his nose rub so carefully over mine made my heart beat in a way that exhilarated me.
And it scared the hell out of me.
“You look beautiful in that dress, by the way.” I shivered again as he moved his hand off the wall to touch my exposed collarbone from my strapless ball gown. Yeah, a fucking ball gown. I had hated putting the damn thing on, but with Jace touching me so tenderly right then, I was glad I was wearing it. “I’d rather you were in jeans and an old T-shirt, though. That’s my real Kin. Not this made-up, Barbie-doll version,” he murmured. “I mean, you’re hot either way, babe, but I love the other Kin a hell of a lot more.”
Had he just said love? My desire-fogged mind couldn’t hold on to that thought for very long.
“Jace…” My voice came out husky, full of everything I was feeling and trying so hard to fight. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“The problem is that we should have been doing this all along, baby.” His nose skimmed across my cheek to my ear. “I ache from missing you, Kin. I ache so fucking bad and I need you to take the ache away.”
“Jace,” I whimpered when I felt his lips on my earlobe, his teeth sinking into my flesh in a way he had shown me could send me over the edge. “Please…stop. I-I’m not going to…um…oh, that feels good…Jace, stop. I won’t…ease any aches.” His aches were nothing compared to my own right then. I squirmed against him, feeling his ‘ache’ pulse against my stomach, which only made my own ache that much more intense.
“Bitch!”
I jerked at Angie’s high, angry tone. It was like being doused with a bucket of ice water. Turning my head away from Jace, I saw my stepsister standing toe to toe with Jillian in the middle of her flock. The beady eyes of Jillian’s friends were insulting as they accessed Angie like she was a bug to squash under their Louis Vuitton-ed heels. Jace followed my gaze, his body tensing for a reason other than our mutual need for each other all of a sudden.
The look on Angie’s face was wild. The angelic version was gone, replaced with one hundred percent devil, and the devil was ready to take on Jillian—who was more of a minion from Hell than anyone else I’d ever met.
“Sweet Jesus,” Jace muttered. “This isn’t gonna be pretty.”
I ducked under his arm and headed toward where my stepsister was drawing a large crowd. There was pure malice in Jillian’s eyes—with a hint of glee. Fucking hell, she was enjoying whatever was going on, and that told me that it was worse than I could even imagine, more than anything else could have.
“I won’t sit around while you talk about my sister like that,” Angie raged. “You have no right to judge anyone, you sanctimonious cunt.”
“Angie…” Caleb tried to intervene but one glare from his twin had him holding up his hands in surrender as he took a step back.
“I tell it how I see it, little girl.” Jillian’s smile was in place now and I could almost feel the heat as Angie’s rage built. “McKinley is a—”
Whatever she was going to call me was cut off as Angie took a step toward her, hands balled into tight fists at her sides raising to take a swing at Jillian’s expertly made-up face. Before she could hit the step-monster, Carter was there, pulling his daughter away from her intended target.
“I will destroy you,” Angie seethed. “I will cut off your fucking fake-ass tits and sell the saline bags to the highest bidder.” She struggled against her father’s hold. “Say it again, slut. Say it again, I dare you.”
The crowd around them was only growing bigger and I had to push my way through. By the time I reached them, Scott had appeared as well as both Georgia and Carolina. Georgia had a smug look on her face, but Carolina was frowning back and forth from Angie to her mother. I saw a few cameras flashing and realized that this was exactly what Jillian had wanted all along. She was going to get her Christmas wish when her picture was plastered on the morning edition of every tabloid in the country.
I felt a hand at my waist as I slowed down and realized Jace had followed me.
“Control your daughter, Jacobson,” Scott barked. “She’s making a spectacle of us all.”
Instead of encouraging Carter to deal with Angie, however, it stopped him cold. He slackened his hold on her and she would have gone for Jillian’s throat if Caleb hadn’t stepped between them.
“You’re giving her exactly what she wants,” I heard my stepbrother grumble to his twin. He had to use his full strength to hold her at bay as she struggled against him with triple the strength her little body could possibly have had.
“I don’t give a fuck,” Angie snarled. “She doesn’t get to talk about Kin like that and continue breathing.”
While Caleb’s hold didn’t slacken, his eyes did narrow. “What the hell did she say, Ang?”
I didn’t care enough about what Jillian might have said about me to listen. My attention was pulled from the twins to my stepdad now standing toe to toe with my father. “Control my daughter?” Carter spoke in a voice so calm and collected I knew there was real trouble brewing. Carter only got that calm, dangerous look in his eyes when he was so pissed he was trying to hold himself back. I’d seen it a few times over the years and usually when dealing with business, never in a personal situation like this one was. “How about you control that bitch of a wife you have, motherfucker? Maybe if you grew a set of balls you could stand up for yourself for once in your life and take care of the important things.”
I heard Jace’s breath hiss out of him as he listened to Carter rip into Scott. “Burn,” he muttered with a low chuckle. “Fuck, I’ve missed your family, babe.”
I couldn’t find a reply. It was turning into a war zone around me, and while any other time I would have been standing right beside Carter and Angie throwing my own punches, right then I was picturing the outcome of what was happening. Angie arrested for aggravated assault if she got to Jillian. Carter’s name plastered on the front of stupid tabloids and ruining his business.
I wouldn’t let that happen. Not over me.
Stepping forward I wrapped my hands around Angie’s wrists. She jerked as if I’d electrocuted her, her head snapping back almost like I’d slapped her. Wild blue eyes met mine and some of the rage dimmed. “She said—”
“I don’t care, Angie. Whatever she said doesn’t matter. She doesn’t matter. Stop this before you get into trouble.”
Pain mixed with her anger, making her chin tremble ever so slightly. “She’s evil, Kin. You shouldn’t have to deal with her.”
I pulled her away from Caleb and into my arms, hugging her tight. “She doesn’t matter,” I repeated. “You’re better than her so don’t stoop to her level and give her what she wants.”
She went slack in my arms and I knew what would follow the storm that had nearly turned into an all out hurricane. I felt her tears on my bare shoulder. A sob bubbled up, but I held her head against me, drowning it out so the gossip-hungry vultures around us wouldn’t hear it.
I held on to her for a full minute before looking up at Jace. Behind me, Scott and Carter were still throwing insults at each other and I had to intervene quickly before Carter’s reputation was ruined. As if reading the question in my eyes, Jace stepped up next to me and I handed Angie
over to him without saying a word.
Caleb was quiet beside us, his eyes accessing Jillian who was once again surrounded by her flock, which had grown by at least six women now. I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about him doing anything stupid, though, so I turned to my father and pushed between him and Carter. I shoved Scott back, and fuck, but it felt good when he stumbled back a few steps.
“That’s enough,” I told him before looking up at Carter. “Please, stop. You’re better than this, Carter. Don’t let them bring you down. Don’t let him ruin what you have. He destroys everything he touches. I don’t want to see you added to the trash pile that’s already a mile deep, Carter.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist when he lowered his eyes in shame. “Let’s go,” I murmured, my tone quiet and gentle like I’d heard my mother use when she had tried to soothe her husband in the past. “Let’s go get something to eat and chill out in your hotel.”
“I’m so sorry, Kin.” He released a harsh breath. “Your mother would be so ashamed of me right now.”
My arms tightened around him. “Well, I’m pretty proud of you, and since she isn’t here, that’s all that matters.” I gave him an impish grin, which got me a halfhearted smile from him in return. “I’m really, really hungry. Can we have Chinese?”
Behind me, Jillian let out an angry protest that sounded almost like a squawk. “You’re not leaving with them. I won’t allow it,” she bit out. “You came here with us, McKinley, and you will leave with us.”
I sighed and turned to face her, my expression blank so she wouldn’t see how pissed I really was. She’d already gotten one show for the night, I wasn’t about to give her another one. “I think we all know that you don’t count by now, Jillian, so what you want doesn’t really matter.” I wrapped a hand around Carter’s much larger one.
“See you tomorrow,” I called over my shoulder as I led them away from the crowd like I wasn’t affected by the shit-storm I was sure would follow the next morning.
Jace, still with his arms full of Angie, followed us. “I could really go for some honey chicken if we’re getting Chinese.”
“Only if you promise to share it.” I shot him a thankful smile as we left the venue and Caleb handed over his valet ticket. He was changing the subject, acting like nothing had happened and I wasn’t scared to admit—at least not to myself—that I loved him for it.
“If you share the noodles, babe.”
He was a tough negotiator, but I really liked sharing his honey chicken. “Deal.”
Chapter 17
Jace
I spent the rest of Christmas Eve and all of Christmas Day with Kin and her family in their hotel suite. As soon as we’d gotten back to their room, we’d rented How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Kin’s favorite cartoon Christmas movie, and pigged out on Chinese food. Kin settled between me and Caleb on the couch in the sitting area and before the credits were even running on the movie she was sound asleep with her head on my shoulder and her feet in her stepbrother’s lap.
It was a few hours later before Caleb and Angie went to bed, but I decided to stay where I was, hating the thought of leaving Kin. Carter covered her with an extra blanket and I settled in to sleep sitting up with Kin in my arms. It was the best night’s sleep I’d had in months, even if I did wake up the next morning with a stiff neck.
The Jacobsons were more than happy to keep me around Christmas Day while we stayed in their suite. It was more than I could have asked for, getting to spend the entire day with Kin when all I’d really wanted was just a meager five minutes with her.
At the end of the day, however, Carter told Kin that he and the twins were going to head back to the East Coast the next morning.
“No,” she protested as she shook her head. “You promised me four weeks. I still have at least another week.”
Carter sighed tiredly. “Honey, we’ve caused you enough trouble with Scott and that idiot wife of his. We don’t want to add more to your plate right now.”
I watched helplessly as tears had filled Kin’s eyes, but she had blinked them back, trying to keep them from falling. “I don’t care about them. I don’t want you to leave. I miss you guys so…much.” When her voice broke, I wanted to pull her into my arms and never let her go. “P-please, don’t go.”
The pain on Carter’s face had matched his stepdaughter’s. “Kin…”
“We’ll be back for your birthday, sugar bug,” Angie rushed to assure her. “We aren’t going to miss that. And I promise we will make up for all the trouble we caused.” She clenched her jaw and looked out the window. “That I caused.”
Kin’s chin trembled. “I don’t care about that. I can handle Jillian.”
Caleb’s big body crouched in front of her. “Maybe you can, but she’s going to milk what happened last night for all it’s worth. She will make your life even more miserable than it already is, sweetheart. I wish you would come home with us.”
“I-I can’t do that. I promised Mom.”
“She wouldn’t hold you to that promise if she knew what that crazy bitch was like, Kin. You know that,” Carter growled.
She shrugged. “I’m not going to give in. I don’t have to wait much longer. Once I’m eighteen I’ll leave.”
Caleb blew out a frustrated breath and turned his blue eyes on me. “Promise me you’ll take care of her.”
I didn’t even hesitate. “I promise.”
“I mean it. Really take care of her this time, Jace. I need you to do that for me.”
“Caleb, I swear I will take care of your sister. You don’t have anything to worry about, man. Anything she needs, I’ll handle it.” Our eyes locked for nearly a full minute while I tried to make him see how sincere I was about Kin now.
Whatever Caleb saw must have convinced him because he straightened and held out his hand to me. “Thanks, man.”
I shook his hand, relieved that he would trust me with something so important. He had to know what Kin meant to me. Had to understand that I loved her and only wanted her happiness.
Later that evening I went home to give Kin a night alone with her family before they left the next morning. I arrived back at the hotel to pick her up and drive her home just as the twins climbed into the rented sports car Caleb had been using since they had arrived.
As I parked my car and walked toward Kin, I could tell she was upset. By the time I reached her, she was losing the battle to not let her tears fall. As the first one spilled over her lashes and onto her cheek, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her head onto my chest. “Baby,” I breathed at her ear, “it’s going to be okay. I promise.”
Her shoulders shook with the sob she was trying to hold back. “I m-miss them already,” she whispered brokenly.
“I know, baby. I know.” I rocked her against me while she gave up on the fight to stay strong and sobbed so hard I worried she would damage something internally. The sounds that left her gutted me, but I only tightened my hold on her. “I got you, Kin.”
It was a long while before the gut-wrenching sounds finally stopped. She was limp in my hold and I lifted my head to look down at her with concern. “Feel better?”
She shook her head as she wiped her checks with her fingertips. “Not even a little.”
I traced the path of one errant tear as it fell down her cheek and pooled at the corner of her mouth, then stroked my thumb over her full bottom lip. “I’m sorry, babe. What can I do to make this better?”
She sucked in a shuddery breath. “You can’t, but thanks for being here with me.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, Kin.”
She didn’t respond and lowered her eyes so I couldn’t see what she was thinking. After a few seconds she wrapped her arms around herself and glanced at my car. “Can you take me back to Scott’s house now?”
I didn’t want her to go back there any more than Carter or the twins did, but I nodded my agreement and took her hand. Entwining our fingers, I led her to my car and opened the passeng
er door for her. Once she was settled and had her seatbelt on, I closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.
She was quiet on the drive back to Malibu, and with each mile that took us closer to her father’s house I wanted to demand she come back to my apartment and stay there. If she didn’t want to sleep in my bed with me, there was a spare bedroom that I would give her. She could live with me and Gray until she graduated and then…
Then who knew. Maybe she would want to stay. Maybe she could go to college close by and I wouldn’t have to tell her goodbye again. Maybe…
Fuck. My fist hit the steering wheel as I neared her house, forcing her to finally lift her head and look at me. “What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice sounding hoarse from all the crying she’d done earlier.
“It’s nothing,” I lied. “Just hate that you’re hurting, babe.” That wasn’t a lie. It was torture to see the pain in her eyes. To see how pale she was and how much paler she got with every turn of the car’s tires. This wasn’t right. I shouldn’t be taking her back to a house where she didn’t feel welcome, to a family who didn’t love her.
“I’m going to change my clothes and then walk over to Lucy’s house,” she told me. “You don’t have to worry about me, Jace. They can’t break me.”
“Maybe not, babe, but that bitch will bend and bruise you trying her damnedest.”
She clasped her hands together in her lap and looked at me through her lashes, hiding whatever was in her eyes from me. “Thanks for caring, Jace. It…” She swallowed hard and gave me the smallest of smiles. “It really means a lot to me.”
“I’ve always cared, Kin.” I pulled to a stop outside her father’s house and then turned to face her. Before she could move to get out I leaned across the space that separated us and caught her face in my hands. “What I feel for you hasn’t changed except to grow stronger. Don’t you fucking forget that, babe.” I kissed the tip of her nose and slowly pulled back. She didn’t speak as her wide blue eyes watched me intently. “If you need me, I’m only a call away. No matter what time, baby. Day or night.”