by Sherri Renee
I gave Jace a funny look. “I love her, but I don’t think she’s anything like me.”
He shook his head and reached out to tuck some hair behind my ear. “I can’t believe you don’t see yourself in her. She’s strong and independent and fights for what she wants. She’ll be the one to save Celeste’s kingdom from evil in the end because she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her people.” He nodded and his eyes grew distant. I imagined he was envisioning the story.
I was touched. “Maybe I used to be her.” I closed my eyes as I felt them fill with unexpected tears. “But lately, I’m more the damsel in distress who needs rescuing. I’m not sure what happened to me.”
Jace easily pulled me into his lap. “Life happened to you.” He ran a finger down my cheek catching an escaped tear. “It happens to all of us, but it can’t steal your identity unless you let it. I can’t say I’m sorry your boyfriend, ex-boyfriend,” he quickly corrected, “moved away, because I’m not. But I know it came as a shock to you. Add that to meeting your dad for the first time and finding out your mom’s sick, yeah, those kinds of things might throw you off your game, but they aren’t who you are.”
I rested my head against his firm chest and let his steady heartbeat soothe me along with his words. No matter how good he made me feel I had something I needed to confess.
I stayed where I was because I wasn’t ready to face him as I shared my fears. “I made a lot of assumptions about my relationship with Danny. I thought he was more serious than he was.” I bit my lip, but I needed to tell him all of it. “After only dating for a month, I thought we were going to end up married.”
I let out a short laugh. “I like you, Jace. A lot. But I’m scared to take things too fast again. I want to say Danny hurt me, but it was ninety-nine percent my own doing. I can’t just jump back into a serious relationship.”
“I have no expectations,” Jace said, giving his head a slow shake. “I like you and you like me. That’s enough for today. I told you I wasn’t going to hide from life anymore, and I’m not. We might date for a few weeks and decide it wasn’t meant to be. And if that happens, we’ll both be okay with it because it’s better to try at something and fail than not try and miss out on all the fun along the way.”
He lifted my chin so I was looking up at him. “But,” his brown eyes locked on mine and chills tingled my spine, “I have a feeling we’re going to find out we have something real together. When I look at you I see our future. I see a home filled with beautiful flowers with me lost behind my computer and you reminding me to come out of my made up world to live in your real one.”
I swallowed hard as unexpected tears filled my eyes. His words were so beautiful. The picture he painted covered the emptiness I’d felt in my life, and I longed to see it become our reality.
“You don’t want to jump into a serious relationship,” he continued. “And I’m not asking you to. I’m just asking that you give us a chance.”
I nodded and swallowed, unable to speak. I was so moved not only by what he said but by the fact that he was opening himself up to me. I knew all too well how risky revealing your true feelings to someone could be.
I took a deep breath with my eyes still on his. “I was so sad when Danny moved. It felt like my life was ending, and yet really, it was the best thing that could have happened. If he hadn’t moved I wouldn’t have given you a second look as anything more than a friend. No matter how Danny made me sound, I don’t jump from guy to guy. As much as it hurt I guess really he did me a huge favor.”
Jace grinned and rubbed the faded bruise by his eye. “It hurt you?” he joked.
His words lightened the deep moment as he’d intended them to, and I laughed. I ran my finger down the bruise on his cheek to his lips. My laugh faded as I traced his bottom lip and watched his mouth part. He lowered his head to mine and I arched my neck to meet his lips, feeling a combination of heat and contentment swirl throughout my body.
I could have stayed like that for hours, but my neck finally had all it could take of the bent position. I ended the kiss, twisting out of his arms and rolling off his lap to stand. I rubbed my neck, and he gave me a sexy grin with longing still hot in his eyes.
“I should probably go,” I said with so much reluctance Jace laughed at me.
“I don’t want you to leave, either,” he said. “I think I have some ice cream if you’re up for dessert.”
It didn’t take me long to consider his offer. I could go home to an empty house and worry about Mom and dream of Jace or I could stay here and eat ice cream.
“I have room for ice cream.” I smiled.
Jace got out a couple of bowls and spoons and gave us each a big scoop of mint chocolate chip. I looked around and realized we’d been alone for hours.
“Are your parents home?” I took a bite of ice cream and looked up to see his face turning red. “What?” I frowned at him. I replayed my question. It was pretty simple, I wasn’t sure how it could embarrass him.
Jace licked ice cream from his spoon and set it in his bowl. He folded his hands together and rested them on the table. “You know I’ve written some books.”
I gave him a confused smile and nodded. I’d read one of those books. He knew that I knew he wrote.
He took a deep breath and nodded. “They’ve sold pretty well,” he said. “The first one has even been optioned for a movie with interest in the next two.”
He glanced up at me and must have realized I wasn’t following him. “This is my house,” he said looking around. “I bought it with my advance. It’s not huge or anything. I just wanted a quiet place of my own where I could work without being disturbed.”
I raised my brows. “You bought this house with money you earned from your books?”
He shrugged.
“That’s amazing.” I blinked and tried to comprehend someone my age buying his own house. “I mean, I know you’re an excellent author. I couldn’t put your book down. I just didn’t realize there was that much money in it.”
“I got lucky,” he said, but I didn’t believe him.
“You’re hard-working and talented,” I said. “I’m so happy for you.”
“So it’s not weird?”
“Of course it’s weird.” I laughed and ate a bite of ice cream. “How many eighteen-year-olds are already successful? Not many,” I answered my own question. “You are an incredible person. I really think if you don’t tell anyone else, you should tell Mrs. Harrison about your books. I know she’d be really proud of you.” I nodded. “Just like I am.”
I saw the tension ease from Jace’s shoulders as he relaxed. “Maybe I will tell her someday,” he said. “But not yet. I want to get the whole series out first and see how it does. If it’s not a flop maybe I’ll decide to stop hiding it.”
“It’s not going to be a flop,” I reassured him. I checked the time. “Well, as much as I don’t want tonight to end, I guess I should head home. It’s getting late.”
Jace took our bowls to the sink. When I stood, he pulled me against him and kissed me like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. “Wow,” I pulled back just slightly. “You’re making this even harder.”
Jace leaned down and kissed my nose. “I’m really glad you decided to bring me dinner. I wasn’t sure how many of your friends I was going to have to talk to before it got back to you that I was interested in something more than friendship.”
I tilted my head in question.
“Why do you think I’ve been playing basketball at Matt’s every day?”
I frowned, trying to figure out where he was going with that. I cocked my head to the side and tried the obvious answer. “Because you like basketball?”
“True,” he gave an easy nod, “but mainly because it gave me a chance to talk to Kristen about you. And why do you think Jules and I were outside alone at that party when you were spying on me?”
“I wasn’t spying!” I automatically defended myself, and Jace let out a loud laugh.
>
“It’s much better for my ego to believe you were,” he joked. “But I was out there with your friend, talking about you. I know how girls are. Pretty soon one of them was going to tell you I’d been asking about you. And that would have gotten you thinking about me.”
I bit my lip and smiled. “You’re still that sneaky little boy at heart who snuck into your big sister’s room aren’t you?”
He shrugged with a grin. “I like to think of it more as a master chess player setting up my moves.”
I realized my heart was completely healed, and Jace had been the one to heal it. I wondered for just a second what I’d be feeling right now if it wasn’t for Jace and decided I didn’t even want to think about it. Danny might have dumped me, but it was thanks to him that I was with this new incredible guy now.
I let out a contented sigh and rested my head against Jace’s chest. “I really like you Jace Freeman, and I’m so glad you’re in my life.”
Chapter 32
I finally, reluctantly, peeled myself away from Jace and picked up my purse, fighting back a sigh of regret this time. The last thing I wanted to do was leave him and go home to an empty house. From the way his fingers lingered on my arm, I knew he didn’t want me to go either.
“I had a really nice time tonight.” I walked to the front door and turned to face him, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that I was waiting for a goodnight kiss. Just the thought of kissing him caused yummy chills to tingle my spine. I drew my bottom lip between my teeth and looked up at him
“I had a nice time too.” Jace closed the distance between us and soon had my back pressed up against the door. Heat flared through me in the split second before his lips captured mine, and then my world exploded into a blaze of shiny bright fireworks.
His hands moved up and down my arms before settling on my hips. I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer. I’d never felt like this before, not even with Danny, and I was enjoying every second of it. Jace was the first to pull away. I kept my eyes closed enjoying the lingering sensations. He smoothed a strand of hair off my face before pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“I’m really going to miss you,” he said. I opened my eyes and saw Jace had on his innocent little boy face, but my lips tingled with full awareness that he wasn’t as innocent as he looked. That boy could kiss.
I gave him a flirty smile. “I could stop by in the morning and bring you breakfast. Just in case you forgot to eat again. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for you starving.”
“I like the sound of that.” With a grin, Jace pulled open the door.
I tore my eyes from his and turned to brave the cold but was met with more than that. It looked like there was at least a foot of fresh snow covering the ground, and it was still coming down in fat lazy flakes.
Jace stuck his head outside, looking up and down the street. He pulled me back in and shut the door.
“You really shouldn’t drive in that until the roads are cleared. I have four wheel drive I can take you home if you want. Or. . .” He tilted his head to the side.
“Or what?” I asked, pretty sure I knew the answer.
“Or.” He shrugged. “You can stay here. I have a guest room you can sleep in,” he quickly added with an adorable blush grazing his cheeks.
I bit my lip. I had no reason to go home, no pets or little sisters—thank the good Lord—waiting for me to come take care of them. I nodded. “If you’re sure you don’t mind. That would be great.”
A slow smile spread across Jace’s face until he was grinning from ear to ear. “How about I start a movie?”
Jace put another log on the fire and started a comedy. “Want some popcorn?” He called over his shoulder as he headed to the kitchen.
“Sure. Can I help?”
“Nope,” Jace called. “Just give me a sec.”
I walked around the living room, seeing it differently now that I knew this was Jace’s home and not his parents. I slowly roamed to the bookcase, picking up a framed picture of Jace and his family.
Jace looked a little younger in the photo than he did now. He wore his innocent smile, but his eyes looked like he was about to laugh. He looked a lot like his dad I noticed. His sister was easy to match to the girl I saw earlier. As much as Jace looked like his dad, Jana looked like their mom. They were both blond and very pretty with dainty features.
I set the photo back down and glanced at the titles on his shelves. He had a lot of fantasy books, but there were several mysteries and thrillers and even some horror. My eyes landed on the sparkly pink diary I’d given him, and I let out a laugh.
It was hard to believe only days ago Jace and I had been virtually strangers in the diner. I was so glad I didn’t turn down his invitation to get a hot chocolate. I was glad about a lot of things where Jace was concerned.
“Okay.” Jace walked into the room holding a large yellow bowl filled with popcorn in one hand and a couple of bottles of water in the other. He set everything on the coffee table, and I walked over to sit beside him on the couch. “I hope you like plenty of salt and butter on your popcorn,” he said, “because that’s the only way I make it.”
“That sounds perfect.” I took a big handful and popped it into my mouth, enjoying the buttery flavor. “Yum,” I said.
Jace draped an arm around my shoulders, at ease as always, and munched on some popcorn. We watched the movie for a few minutes. Or at least I tried to watch the movie for a few minutes, but with Jace so close to me I couldn’t think about anything other than him.
Pretty soon he leaned over and kissed me, slowly maneuvering us with each kiss until I was lying back on the couch, and he was lying right beside me.
Yep, master chess player he was. A contented grin curved my lips. I wasn’t complaining.
His lips moved back to my neck, and I ran my fingers through his thick hair. I heard a phone ring and at first thought it was on the movie but quickly realized it was mine.
I rolled off the couch with a groan. “Sorry,” I said, digging through my purse. “I need to get it in case it’s my mom. Or dad,” I added with a frown thinking how strange it felt to say that.
“Hello?” I said lightly, but my stomach quickly fell when I found out it was the hospital calling. “I’ll be right there,” I think I said before I hung up.
My chest felt so tight I couldn’t breathe. I gave Jace a panic-stricken look, and he shot up off the couch and put his hands on my shoulders. “What happened?”
“My mom,” I choked out as my throat constricted around the words.
Jace didn’t ask any more questions. He bundled me up in my coat since I didn’t seem to be able to function. He slipped his own on before grabbing his keys. “I’ll drive,” he said.
I knew the polite thing to do was tell him he didn’t have to do that, but I couldn’t think straight much less operate a vehicle in the heavy snow. All the woman on the other line had said was that something had happened to my mom, and I needed to come to the hospital right away.
Jace drove as fast as he carefully could through the uncleared streets. There wasn’t another track in the snow so far, and I appreciated even more that he was doing this for me. He reached over and turned the heater to high, but I didn’t feel the cold.
My mind spun on overdrive going through every scenario I could possibly imagine. From the most minor possibility that mom had a hangnail and they need me to sign a consent form so they could trim it to the deepest darkest fear I could imagine.
“Do you think she’s dead?” I stared straight out the window without blinking. “Wouldn’t they tell me that on the phone?” I clasped my hands together so hard I felt my knuckles crack. I hated even voicing the thought, but I needed him to reassure me that death wasn’t a possibility.
“No!” Jace said, reaching over to put his hand on my arm without taking his eyes off the road. “Don’t let yourself go there. We’ll be at the hospital in just a few minutes. There’s no good reason to worry yourself sick about every ter
rible possibility.”
I nodded but didn’t look away from the bleak white world outside. It wasn’t the firm reassurance that I hoped for, but what he said made sense. There was just no way I could rein in my thoughts. I prayed we’d get to the hospital before the worst of those thoughts caused me to have a nervous breakdown.
Chapter 33
Instead of the answers I expected to get at the hospital, Jace and I were led to a family waiting room and told the doctor was with Mom now and would update us on her condition when he could.
I sat on the firm couch and fought back the scream that filled my throat. Something bad had to be happening, and I just wanted someone to tell me what it was. Jace wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side. He didn’t say anything, but the warmth of his body cocooned me, keeping me from losing whatever self-control I still had.
I lost track of time as we waited in the otherwise empty room for any word of my mom. I fingered the shiny rose on my bracelet. I briefly considered calling Drake, but I didn’t know what I’d even tell him yet.
Plus, I didn’t want to take a risk of him showing up here. Possibly with Leigh Ann. I rolled my eyes and shook my head slightly against Jace’s chest. Drake might be a nice guy like Mom believed, but this wasn’t the scenario where I wanted us to get to know each other.
After what seemed like hours but was probably less than twenty minutes, Dr. Jackson’s weary face appeared in the doorway. My heart stuttered over a beat and my breath caught. I wanted to stand. To ask what was wrong with Mom, but I was frozen.
When he saw us, he walked into the room and sat on the arm of the chair closest to me. He gave a small nod. “Your mother’s going to be okay,” he said.”
Blood roared through my ears. I slumped against Jace in relief, and he squeezed me tight. It didn’t matter that I was legally an adult. I didn’t know how I’d survive if something happened to Mom.
Dr. Jackson took a deep breath and exhaled it loudly. “She had a bad reaction to one of the pain medications she was given.” His lips almost disappeared as he pressed them together. “It was touch and go for a while there.” He tried to add lightness to his words, but exhaustion and worry lingered on his face.
