“I’m serious.”
“I know. I’ll cancel the waxing appointment.”
“What?” I try to step back, but she clings tighter to me.
“I’m kidding. Kind of. I mean . . . I thought we could wax your balls or something, but I see now that was a bad idea.”
Is she fucking insane?
I don’t speak because I can’t guarantee that what would come out would be coherent or kind.
Stella shifts, and the tops of her breasts peek out of her robe. “I wouldn’t have made you do it. It was just a fun way to torture you.”
“This is torture. You being in a room with me alone, practically fucking naked, while I can’t touch you.”
“Well, I’m always naked under my clothes.”
I laugh. “Believe me, love. I know.”
Each time I see her, it’s an exercise in restraint not to rip her clothes off and make her scream my name.
It’s like a dam that’s been broken, the water rushing toward me that speaks her name.
She consumes my thoughts, and I’m not strong enough to resist her.
Two different spa employees enter. “I’m Jodi and this is Amy, we are your massage therapists for today. I’ll be working on you Jack,” Jodi says.
Seems Kami has left me.
“And I’ll be your therapist.” Amy smiles at Stella. “Are you both ready to go in?”
Stella’s brown eyes lock onto mine. “Will you do the massage with me?”
I sigh in resignation. “Yes. I’ll do the massage.”
She walks backward, pulling me with her as she moves toward the door.
When we get into the room, there are two tables in the middle and candles everywhere. Some instrumental music is playing in the background, and Stella sighs deeply.
“You can both get undressed, lie face down on the table under the sheet, and we’ll be back in a few to get started.”
This isn’t what I was expecting.
The door closes, shutting us away in the softly lit space. “This is supposed to be relaxing? I thought that you were giving me the massage.”
“How would that be relaxing for me?”
There are rules for dating, and I didn’t think another chick rubbing me down with oil in a room with sex music and incense was cool, but Stella is the one who set this up.
“I don’t know, but I’m not going to be in trouble for this later?”
She squints, shaking her head at the same time. “Why the hell would you be in trouble?”
“I’m about to get oiled up.”
Stella laughs softly and walks to me. Her hands rest on my chest, long brown hair falling down her back, making her look insanely attractive in the candlelight. “There is nothing sexual about them touching you. I promise, you’ll probably hurt afterward because they’re going to work out all the tension in your body.”
And she said this was supposed to be relaxing . . .
“Good to know. I’ll carry the memories of this day with me always.”
Stella sighs deeply and takes a step back. Her hand moves to her robe, untying the belt, allowing the terrycloth fabric to gape open. “Fucking hell.”
“You can go now or you can take your robe off and get on the table. If you stay, when we get home, I’ll let you wash all the oil off me. How does that sound?”
I do as she says, dropping my robe and loving how Stella’s eyes take me all in. “Enjoying the view?”
She grins. “Absolutely worth it. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah, you are. You’re worth everything.”
Chapter 24
Stella
“It’ll be fine,” I tell Jack while we stand outside of Grayson’s house.
“It’s going to be weird.”
“Yes, but it’ll be fine. Gray will give us shit, we’ll ignore him, and then we can go back to my place.”
Jack gives me a side eye. “Where Oliver is waiting?”
I sigh. “He’ll move out after the first night we have sex at my place. It’s time to rip off this Band-Aid so we can move past it.”
Jack and I have been living in a cloud of happiness. I survived camping and he endured the spa. We’ve had dinner together almost every night, worked on a few business plans, and have spent countless hours making love. I’ve been able to confide in Jack the way I always dreamed of doing.
He’s a partner, a friend, and one hell of a lover.
Jack squeezes my hand a little, shaking out his arms. “No backing out now. If you can attempt camping, and I didn’t kill you after the spa day, then we can handle dinner with your brother.”
He knocks on the door, and it opens suspiciously fast, as if my niece had been waiting for us. “Auntie!” Amelia yells and launches herself at me. I barely have time to catch her.
“Hey, Monkey!”
“I’ve missed you. It’s been forever since you came to see me.”
Grayson is married, so there’s very little need for me to watch her anymore, but that is no excuse. “Well, I’m just going to have to steal you away then.”
“Tonight?”
I smile and tap her nose. “Not tonight, but soon.”
She lets out a dramatic sigh. “Fine.”
Jack drops down and grabs her hips. “Hey, what about me? I don’t get a hello?”
Amelia’s eyes brighten. “Of course you do.” Her little arms wrap around his neck, and he squeezes her tight as he stands and carries her inside.
We find Grayson in the living room, sitting on the couch. “I’m told I have to behave.”
“That’ll be a first,” I toss back.
“The punishment I’ll endure will be a form of torture I don’t subscribe to.”
I grin, imagining what my sister-in-law has threatened him with. “I really love your wife.”
“She apparently loves you.”
I grin and kiss his cheek. “Hello, brother.”
“Hello, sister.”
Jack comes up behind me, wearing Amelia like a necklace as she dangles while giggling. “Gray.”
He grunts. “Jack . . . ass.”
Before I can chide him, Jessica’s voice comes from the kitchen. “I heard that!”
“It’s what we call a donkey,” Gray yells over his shoulder. “Am I not allowed to refer to animals now?”
“Nice try. Let that be your warning.”
He huffs and extends his hand to Jack. “Good to see you again, even if I’m still not sure I like you.”
Jack lifts Amelia up, gives her a kiss on the forehead, and then takes Grayson’s hand. “I haven’t been sure if I’ve liked you for a long time.”
“You both love each other in a bromance kind of way.”
Jessica yells again. “Exactly. Now hug it out so we can eat in peace.”
“It’s a good thing we have women in our lives to let us know what we think,” Grayson says with a laugh.
“I have a feeling they will let us know a lot more than that.”
“Gray?” I call as I’m heading into the kitchen.
“Yeah?”
“Be sure to ask Jack all about how fun pedicures are. He really loves showing things off.”
Jack lets out a curse, but I walk away before hearing the rest, leaving Jack to my brother’s mercy as I seek out Jessica.
She pulls me in for a tight hug. “You’re happy?”
I nod. “Very.”
“Good.”
It is. Life is good right now. Jack and I are figuring things out, and Grayson has Jess to make him not be an idiot. All in all, things are exactly how I always hoped they’d be.
The only big obstacle left is my father. His time to get the funds together to buy all of us out is ticking away. If he can’t manage it, then Jacob Arrowood, Jessica’s friend who just happens to be my favorite actor, is willing to buy them. He’ll take over everything and force my father out and either sell off the properties or maybe enter a new business venture. Either way, all of us will have the capital we need to g
et the Firefly Resort off the ground.
“I’m glad you guys could come tonight.”
I smile at Jess. “There’s nowhere else we’d rather be.”
Jessica snorts. “Oh, I’m sure there’s somewhere else.”
I let out a laugh and try to hide the blush warming my cheeks.
“I know that look.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “Is it everything you hoped?”
I nod. “More.”
“Good. You deserve more.”
Grayson walks into the kitchen, and his eyes narrow. “What are you two whispering about?”
Jessica replies before I can. “Sex.”
His face is priceless. He turns, leaving as quickly as he entered.
“Jess,” I hiss.
“Please. He is the one who said he didn’t want any more lies when it comes to you and Jack. I’m just reminding him that sometimes we leave things out to spare others. He doesn’t really want to hear about you and his best friend and not everything is his business.”
The not everything Jessica means is Kinsley. Telling her was a risk. I trusted that she wouldn’t tell Grayson, and so far, she hasn’t.
In fact, this is the first time she’s even eluded to suggesting that maybe she means more than what she’s saying. She hasn’t mentioned her or asked questions, content to let me get it out how I needed to.
For that alone, she’s become a friend I would do anything for.
“I don’t want to ask you to lie to your husband.”
“You’re not.”
In a way, I am. “He won’t see it that way,” I say as I trace the patterns in the wood countertop.
Jessica stops chopping the vegetables and places her hand over mine. “You have a right to your secrets, just as he has to his. We all do.”
I force a smile and shove down my emotions. There’s guilt, like always, but there is also shame because my brother would never have done things the way I did.
“No more thinking about this. Let’s talk about you and the baby. How are you feeling?”
Understanding fills her eyes, and she smiles back. “I’m good. No sickness and the regular checkups keep me from being anxious.”
Jessica wasn’t very far along when she was trapped in the fire. She is lucky, and Grayson has insisted that she have a team of doctors to monitor her pregnancy. The last ultrasound showed the baby is healthy and everything looks like it should.
That was a huge relief right before the wedding.
“You have no idea how happy that makes me.”
“I think that’s why Grayson was such a lunatic about you and Jack. It was just one more thing for him to worry about.”
“And the fact that he felt blindsided.”
“Well, sure,” she says with a shrug.
Jack enters the kitchen and wraps his arms around me from behind. “You okay?”
I nod, my smile instantaneous.
“Want a glass of wine?”
I turn my head so I can see his profile. “I would love one.”
“Coming right up.”
He goes back into the other room, and I turn to find Jess grinning like a fool. “You guys are so cute.”
“Stop it.”
She laughs. “I’m serious. You guys are perfect, and I’m so happy you got your heads out of your asses and finally made it happen.”
“It’s not weird?”
“No. In fact, I don’t know how the hell none of us ever saw this.”
“You were all worried about other things, which is sort of what we banked on.”
If everyone had been able to tell that Jack and I were in love and struggling, it would’ve been terrible. We were too young and dealing with too much.
The timing wasn’t right until now.
Well, I hope that’s the case anyway.
Jack returns with a glass of wine, and I get a brief kiss. “I’m going to get my nails painted once she’s done doing Grayson’s.”
I giggle. “Oh? And what shade are you going for?”
“Amelia is picking.”
“I hope she does pink.”
“I’m sure she will.”
As am I. Amelia loves pink, and her favorite thing in the world is going to get her nails done. My mother takes her every other week when she goes. They make her feel like a princess, and she’s always excited to show off her new polish.
It’s adorable, and I love that Grayson and Jack are allowing her to paint their nails without argument.
Although, I’m pretty sure they’d let that little girl do just about anything to them. Putty in her hands is what those men are.
Jessica and I bring out the plates of food, putting them on the table and laughing as Grayson blows on his nails.
My phone rings, and my heart stops. It’s Mickey.
“I have to take this,” I say to Jess.
“Sure. Of course.”
I walk outside and swipe the screen. “Mickey?”
“Hey, Stella, I . . . I wanted to call you because it’s bad again.”
I let out a deep sigh. “How bad?”
“I was out of town for the last five days, and my buddy ended up calling Samuel a cab because he was too drunk to drive. The drain he was circling, well, he’s down it now. He needs help that I sure as hell can’t give him.”
I’m not sure what to do. Samuel hasn’t replied to any of my calls or emails. I took it as a sign that he wanted distance to deal with things. I understood and didn’t push, but this has me worried.
“I’ve been trying to get in touch with him.”
“He was doing better for a while there, but . . . I don’t know.”
“Did he say anything?”
“Yeah, he asked me to call you, which I was going to do anyway. I’m at his place, and he keeps saying he has to go in. I don’t know what that means, but you should probably come down.”
I bite my thumb, looking through the window at my brother and Jack with Amelia. “Is his daughter there?”
My chest is tight as I wait for his answer. “There’s a note saying she went to stay at a friend’s house.”
A note. Jesus. She’s still young, but she’s old enough to know her dad is spiraling. Kids are young, not stupid. “I’ll . . . I’ll leave tomorrow. I have to deal with a few things before I can go.”
“Okay. I’ll check on him in the morning, make sure he’s okay before you get here.”
“Thanks, Mickey.”
His deep laughter fills the phone. “Don’t thank me, princess. You haven’t gotten my bill.”
I roll my eyes, and the phone goes dead. This is a mess, and if Samuel is asking for me, then I have to go. Still, I know it won’t be easy. Jack won’t want me to do it, and once again, I’ll have to lie to the people I love about where I’m going.
Blowing out a deep breath, I work on calming myself. I need to get through tonight and then I can deal with the rest.
The scene through the glass is picturesque. My brother is on the floor with Amelia, and Jessica comes around the corner to take a seat on the couch behind him. Jack is there, laughing as Amelia swipes another coat on Grayson’s nail.
Jack looks up, and our eyes lock. My going down there is not something I can keep from him, but I also know how he feels.
Jack’s smile is wide as he jerks his head, indicating I should come inside.
I nod once, swallowing the emotion that’s churning inside me, and vow to do whatever I can to get through tonight.
We pull up to my apartment, and Jack puts the car in park. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on now?”
“Am I that obvious?” I ask.
“Well, I know you, and after that phone call, something changed.”
“Do you remember when I told you about the bartender in Georgia? The one who helped with Samuel?”
Jack’s hands clench, but his voice stays level. “Yes. You said he’d call you if Samuel was in trouble again.”
“Yes, well, he’s in trouble.”
&nbs
p; “Drinking again?”
I nod. “He said it’s bad and that Samuel asked me to come.”
“And what are you going to do?”
I can hear the censure in his voice. Jack may not want me to get involved, but I feel like I have to. It’s not just that Misty was a good friend. It’s also because that’s our daughter whether we have any rights or not. I didn’t raise her, but I still love her, and I don’t know how he doesn’t see that.
I promised myself that I would never abandon her again, and that’s what turning my back would be.
“I’m going to go,” I tell him.
“No matter what?”
I swallow and then clear my throat. “Yes. He asked me to come.”
“What part of this seems like a good idea, Stella?”
“None of it, but it is what it is. Samuel needs help, and I’m sorry, but that means Kinsley does too.”
He runs his hands through his hair. “We’ve survived this for twelve years because we agreed then when we gave her up, that was it. We aren’t her parents. We are complete strangers to her.”
“That may be, but Misty is dead, Jack. She died and things changed. While I understand your feelings and respect them, I can’t pretend that call didn’t come in. I can’t pretend as if it’s okay that Samuel is falling apart and getting drunk in bars while she is alone.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“No, you’re just asking me not to go.”
He pushes the air from his mouth. “If you go, then what?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
There is no way to answer that. I could get down there and find that Samuel is totally okay. This last week could have been just a hard day for him. Or I could find a totally different scene. From what Mickey said, it’s more likely to be the second. No matter what, that little girl has lost enough, and I won’t hang her out to dry.
Jack’s voice is low. “You’re setting yourself up for heartache. And don’t take that as me not caring, because I do. I . . . I care, Stella, but I also know that this doesn’t end well for you. You who has the kindest heart and there’s no way to protect her. You aren’t her parent. You have no rights. We gave those away. Misty was who allowed you glimpses into her life. If she hadn’t, there was nothing we could’ve done and we knew that. We were told, when we signed the papers, that it was the spirit of the agreement, nothing was mandated other than our names weren’t hidden on the birth certificate. Remember?”
Could Have Been Us Page 15
