by Taylor Hart
She grabbed Shay’s hand. “He’s not going. I want to go on a walk with him.”
For a moment, father and daughter glared at each other. She’d taken a step away from her father, and a tear streaked down her face.
Her father stepped forward, reaching out to her. “Jaycee.” His voice was softer than before. “Listen—”
“Don’t tell me to listen.” She tightened her grip on Shay’s hand and turned toward the side door where they’d entered. “I’m going to take him down to the lake for a little bit.”
“Jaycee,” her father called out, making her stop. He held his hand out expectantly. “Give me the keys, please.”
A blush burned her face. “But it’s my car. You gave it to me.”
“The title is in my name, Jaycee Sue. Give me the keys.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah, and Harvard is paid for by me—and your apartment, your phone … pretty much everything comes from me. You could have a bit more respect, young lady.”
Jaycee took the key to the car from her shirt pocket and dropped it in his hand. “Fine. I don’t want the stupid car anyway.”
Her father looked between them, then focused on her. “You may go for an hour, but I need you back. I leave tonight and I have some things to go over with you.”
“Fine!” She didn’t look Shay in the eyes as she pulled him with her.
Chapter 4
It didn’t take long for them to descend the long, endless string of steps that led from the manor to the pier at the dock. When Jaycee had taken Shay Summerville by the hand, she’d wanted someone to anchor her to reality. She had to get away from her father and the silence about his mistress, away from her brother’s taunts and sullen attitude, and definitely away from all the memories of her mother that felt tangible in the air around her.
At the manor, they’d never had a typical family time—the kind where parents insist there’s no electronics and the family had to do stuff together. No, that didn’t suit her family. None of them could count on her father’s time; he might have to be picked up and whizzed away in some helicopter at the drop of a hat. Her mother had insisted that her constitution could no longer let her withstand the elements, and she’d left Jaycee and Duke to fend for themselves most of the time. That had been a fine system, until Duke got to an age where he would simply ditch her for girls.
It didn’t matter anyway.
“Where are we going?”
Abruptly, she stopped at the shore of the lake and dropped his hand. Her temper was settling, and guilt rushed in to replace it. The fire burning at her feet when they’d kissed had been … interesting.
“What?” The side of his lip tugged up, and butterflies erupted into her stomach as she noticed the dimple in his left cheek. He wore the same kind of dark jeans, but his shirt wasn’t ripped and he wasn’t all greasy. His hair was perfectly styled.
“What do you want me to say?” she challenged.
He blew out a breath and raked a hand through his gorgeous hair. “I thought my family drama was bad but that was intense.”
With a scoff, she bent, picked up a rock, and tossed it out into the lake. “Nah, it’s just my father, really. I just didn’t realize how truly horrible he was until recently.”
Again, silence descended on them.
Up until her father had helicoptered in this morning, she’d thought of nothing else but that kiss. It had been the best distraction ever. She’d relived it over and over again since last week. Sure, she’d kissed a bunch of guys—including Kurt, because her father had insisted she go on endless dates with him—but nothing had prepared her for this guy.
Shay picked up a rock and cocked his arm back, throwing it so that it skipped across the surface five times. “Want to talk about it?”
“Wow.” She pointed to the lake. “That’s an impressive rock skipping.”
“What can I say? I’ve always had a talent for it.”
Her heart thrummed, and she tried to push out all the pitter-patter stuff. She couldn’t deny the smell of his cool mint cologne, though, and she really liked it.
He snapped his fingers in her face. “Come back to me.”
She jerked back to reality and shook her head. “Don’t snap at me. It’s rude. Hasn’t anyone ever taught you any manners?”
A soft laugh escaped him. He exhaled loudly. “Look, I—I don’t need this right now. I don’t know what that kiss was the other day or today, I just …”
Jaycee didn’t apologize; she simply stared at the lake. “The truth is that my life has sucked lately.” She glanced at him, reminding herself that she didn’t know much about him. He might be dangerous, as Duke had kept telling her the past couple of days when he would periodically chew her out for being so petulant. “Never mind.”
For a long moment, there was silence between them.
“Want to go cliff jumping with me?” he asked out of the blue.
“What?” Delicious mischievousness bubbled inside of her.
“Cliff jumping. Now.”
It sounded wonderful and terrifying and completely against anything her father would want her to do. “I can’t.”
“Why? Because your father said you can’t?” He sputtered out. “How old are you anyway?” He was clearly disgusted that she was kowtowing to her father.
She scowled. “I’m twenty-one, and you don’t get it.”
“That you’re tied to Daddy’s purse strings? I get it.”
“You’re right.” Jaycee deflated, giving in to the same hollowness from before she’d met Shay, kissed him, thought obsessively about him. She pushed past him toward the house. “Go ahead and leave. That’s what everyone else does.”
Before she could get very far, his hand closed around her wrist. “You don’t get to do that.”
“Let go of me,” she said quietly.
He let go of her hand, but he pressed both hands onto her shoulders. The sky blue in his eyes turned dark and thunderous. “You don’t get to kiss me to tick your brother off or kiss me to prove something to your father or bring me for a walk with you to the lake because … I don’t know.” He squeezed her shoulders. “You don’t get to treat me like some servant boy or something.”
It had never occurred to her that he would feel this way. Instantly, she felt horrible and everything stilled inside of her.
“Why do you do this? Why are you so, so … scorned or something?”
Jaycee was bristling under the pressure. Without thinking, she leaned forward to kiss him.
He stopped her, pushing her away and dropping his hands. His eyes widened and he clenched one hand into a fist. “ Why do you that?”
“Do what?”
He turned in a circle and threw his hands up in the air. “Kiss me when you haven’t asked.”
The way he walked so uptight, with his hand running through his hair, made her want to kiss him again. She refrained. “Don’t you want to kiss me?”
He stopped, staring at her with reckless eyes. His jaw clenched, and his gaze drifted toward the lake. “That’s not the point.”
It wasn’t like she’d planned this. She hadn’t even considered how this would affect him or what he would be feeling. He had woken her up to how horrible she was being to him. She reached for his hand. “You’re right, I’m awful and I’ve been treating you badly. I’m sorry.”
Shay grinned slowly, and his dimple reappeared, but he dropped her hand. “It’s not okay.”
“What?” Reflexively, she pushed him. “I can’t hold your hand either?”
His hands went up, like he was surrendering. “Seriously, you trail off to Never Never Land or something, then you get in my face a second later. What is your deal?
“I don’t trail off.” She denied.
He nodded. “Yeah, you do. You did it the other day when I asked why you were standing in the middle of the road. What is up with you?”
Jaycee wanted to give him her “kill a man” glare. Yet somehow, the truth came out of her mouth. “There’s so ma
ny reasons I might ‘trail off’ as you call it, but did you know when I kiss you, I see fire.”
He squinted and cocked his head to the side with a look of disbelief. “Okay, like in a good way, or in a weird psychic way?”
“Yeah, that’s right. How do you like the truth now? Still want to kiss me, bring me the keys to the car, walk with me for a love tryst at the lake? Huh? Huh?” She pushed her face closer to his.
He gave her a confused look. “Love tryst? Is that what you think this is? You brought me, so this is your plan, not mine. Plus, you requested that I bring you the car.”
She sighed, turning to face the lake. Her thoughts were whirling in more than her usual confusion. She was a freak. “Sorry, you can …” She was going to send him away, but he’d made it clear that he didn’t like her treating him that way. “Do whatever you want, but I did like kissing you.” She wouldn’t deny it. “ It doesn’t take a therapist to tell me that the reason I see fire is because … my mother died in a fire,” she breathed out the confession, feeling her chest tighten.
For a while, he didn’t respond; then he blew out a breath. “You’re different than I thought you’d be, Jaycee McCade, senator’s daughter.”
She scoffed. “I’m less snobby and princess-y than you thought, right?”
“No comment on that yet.” He nudged her. “Just to be clear, I get to choose the next time we kiss. You don’t get to just plant it on me and be all manic.”
“Whatever. So we’re kissing again?” The question sounded a bit too desperate.
The edges of his lips turned up. “I didn’t say that.” He wagged a finger at her. “About this fire … it’s a psychic thing?”
She didn’t want to talk about it. “I don’t know.”
He frowned. “If you’re psychic, then what am I thinking?”
She mimicked his stance. “It’s not like that.”
“Of course it’s not. Let’s see, my mother watches all these types of shows. You need a letter—let’s say P. What are you sensing?”
Now her hands balled into fists. This was the exact reason she never told anyone. “Just forget it.”
He stepped in her path as she tried to leave. “I told you, you don’t get to dismiss me.”
“I wasn’t dismissing you; I was leaving.” He was as arrogant as he was good at kissing. She struggled to fortify herself against his cool mint scent. “Tow truck boy!”
He cocked an eyebrow. “So, tow truck boy? That’s what you’ve been calling me in your mind the past week?”
“Hey, admit it,” she accused. “You called me something in your mind.”
He laughed in return. “Okay, princess worked.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s not inventive.”
He tilted his head. “Tow truck boy is?”
She laughed, then let the conversation peter out to silence.
Finally, she shrugged and put out her hand for him to shake. “Fine. Officially, I’m Jaycee. Jaycee McCade.”
“Really? I didn’t catch the McCade part or anything.” He glanced at the manor.
She shook her head. “I caught who you are. My brother told me all about you and how horrible you are, Shay Summerville.”
The side of his lip tugged up. “I’m sure he told you some silly story about me wanting to beat the crap out of him last summer when I caught him stoned out of his mind with my little brother.”
She hesitated. “He didn’t tell me that.”
“Of course he didn’t.”
Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
“I hate the drugs,” she admitted.
“Me, too.” He took her hand. “Maybe we should try this whole kissing thing again.”
Her heart sped up. “You want to kiss me now?”
“If that’s okay.”
She wanted to laugh, but the look on his face told him he was serious. Her heart raced and she couldn’t wait to tell her best friend, Tauni, all about this moment.
He bent, and their lips met.
Fire. Heat. Burning. The corners of Jaycee’s vision were hazy, and she couldn’t quite get a handle on where she was. Frantically, she looked back and forth. The room had tan walls, but they weren’t like real walls. They were like the outside walls, stucco. Falling off in different places.
“What is happening?” Shay held her.
This time, she didn’t get angry. She fell into him, all of her strength sapped.
He fumbled to improve his hold on her, then cushioned her against his chest. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
Tears stung her eyes.
“What was that?” he demanded, even as he stroked her hair.
His comforting was the best thing she’d felt in a long, long time. Because he clearly didn’t believe in what she was, and because she didn’t want to think about it, she said, “Did you really go to jail?”
A derisive, low laugh came out of him. “You’ve been checking up on Tow Truck Boy, huh? This is great.” He turned and began hurrying down the path back to the house.
“Wait.” She found herself chasing him again.
He was fast, lifting and lowering a hand in dismissal.
She burst into a jog. “Wait!” By the time she caught up to him, he was already coming out of the path and moving down her driveway. “How are you getting back to town?”
He still kept walking, but this time he turned back, glaring at her. “It doesn’t concern you, princess, so don’t worry about it.”
She watched him go, kicking herself for blowing it with this guy. Simultaneously, she wanted to follow him and demand to know why she felt fire when she kissed him. But she didn’t move—not while she could feel her father’s eyes on her from his position on the deck.
“Come on back, Jaycee! We need to talk!” her father called out.
She tried to ignore him, but her indifference was tested when Duke pulled up on his motorcycle. She didn’t want to stand there and talk to him.
Duke ripped his helmet off. “Saw your boyfriend leaving.” He snickered. “You know, I saw him at the bar the other night, singing. He’s actually not half bad for a convict.”
Her mind whirled with the new information. Even though she wanted to punch her brother in the face because he was such a frigging jerk all the time, she also wanted to know about Shay. “Where does he play?”
Her brother sneered. He glanced up at their father, grimacing. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“Duke, I’m glad you’re here, too. I wanted to chat with you and Jaycee,” her father said, walking toward them.
It wasn’t like they had a choice. When the Senator wanted to talk, you talked. When the Senator was ready for dinner, you ate dinner. This had been how it was while growing up. It had been drilled into them. If you didn’t comply, you got privileges taken away. Right now, the only privilege Jaycee really cared about was the key in her father’s hand. She wanted to follow Shay and give him a ride, and she wanted to find out about this bar he played at.
He’d said that she was good, and that he would know. Did he sing?
It was hard for her to focus as her father straightened himself, smoothing down his shirt. “Listen,” he said, looking between them. “As you both know, I … have someone.”
“Your mistress,” Jaycee said, unable to stop the quip. Defiant tears streamed down her face.
Her father hesitated, focusing on Duke. “I loved your mother very much.”
Her brother bristled. “You could never keep it in your pants, could you, Pops?” He jolted away from her and toward the garage.
“Duke, come back here!” Her father ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. He flung back to her, his finger in the air. “Jaycee, I have to leave in a second, and Millie is in charge of you both for two weeks. I get why you’re upset.”
Upset? That didn’t even begin to cover it. She was frozen, paralyzed, barely able to breathe. The man in front of her was more than a farce; he was a traitor to the one person she loved. “I hate
you,” she muttered, meaning it.
Her father blinked hard, looking very tired. “I understand that.” He held the keys out for her car. “You’d better get over it if you want your car—and your phone, and your tuition paid, and your trust fund, and all the things you enjoy but you don’t seem to realize where they come from.”
Her father had never thrown money in her face before. He’d never had to. Jaycee would have liked nothing more than to flip him off and leave, but her reasonable side stayed her hand. She knew that she didn’t have anything, and she wanted her car to stay where it was.
“I did love your mother,” her father said, “but she was sick, and I thought it was better not to leave her and do that to the family.”
“You mean to expose yourself as the cheater you are to the press.” She wanted to say that she would expose him, but she was weak. What would exposing him mean?
The sound of the helicopter gearing up to leave filled the air.
Her father dropped the keys in her hand. “Millie is in charge. Kurt is coming with me for the party, he likes you, give him a chance.”
She glared at her father.
He held the keys out.
She took them.
He dashed away. “I love you, Jaycee.”
She watched him hop into the helicopter without even turning to wave. All she knew was that she had to figure out a way to see Shay Summerville. She had to.
Chapter 5
Two Days Later
The Bird Lounge wasn’t the place Shay had imagined himself playing the rest of his life, but a gig was a gig. He and his brother Liam prepared for the show by tuning their guitars backstage and doing some vocal warm ups. They could both sing lead vocal or back up so they usually alternated in different songs.
Skinny, the owner, ushered them on. “You have the next hour. Get the crowd moving, will you? It’s depressing in here tonight.”
“You bet,” Shay agreed. Maybe he wasn’t entirely glad to be here, but he was grateful that Skinny had kept the gig going, even if nothing else with the music felt like it was working out.
“We’ll burn it up,” Liam agreed, swinging his long blond surfer hair out of his face. Liam was so much more carefree in life. Not that he wasn’t driven with the music and intrinsic to running the ranch, but it always felt like he didn’t take things so seriously. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked Shay. “You’ve been distracted the past couple days.”
