The nausea was starting to pass now, and I pulled my head up and leaned back against the bench, nodding for Sadie to continue her story.
"When she went into remission, she told everyone who would listen that Jack was the one who saved her, that he helped her through some of the loneliest, most depressing hours of her life."
"That's a really sweet story," I said.
She smiled. "It is, but it's sad too. The cancer came back a couple of years later, and Jack did the same thing again. He put his whole life on hold so he could move home with us, and after she died, he took me in as his own kid without ever raising a single complaint. I think he still feels a little guilty that whatever he did the second time around wasn't good enough somehow, that if he'd actually been doing his best he could have saved her again."
"How could he think that though? He was young but old enough to know how cancer works."
Sadie laughed. "I never said he consciously thinks it. I think it's just one of those things that rattles around in his head, you know? I wasn't surprised to hear he'd gotten together with a girl whose past was maybe not so cut and dry as most, and I'll be honest, I worried about what you would be like."
This chat had gotten much deeper than I expected it to, but it had accomplished the job of chasing away my nausea. I was too distracted by the whirring gears in my head to notice it, anyway.
"I hope I didn't disappoint you," I replied. "I care about him."
She smiled brightly. "I can tell. And no, you didn't disappoint me.” She waved a hand. “I was just going through that whole long-winded story so you'd know how much it means when I say that I think he's finally found someone who will take care of him as much as he will take care of them."
My stupid overemotional eyes stung with tears, and I blinked them away as an overjoyed smile dominated my face. Then, surprising both of us, I pulled Sadie into a tight hug.
"All this because the Tilt-a-Whirl made me sick?" I joked.
We pulled apart, and Sadie grinned. "It seemed like a good moment." She shrugged. "I'm better with numbers than I am with people."
We both laughed and rose from the bench to dive back into the fair.
The hours flew by, providing plenty of opportunities to laugh and get to know each other, but also plenty of time for me to digest everything Sadie had told me. Jack was a good guy. A really good guy. I'd never thought any different, but having confirmation was still reassuring. I was beginning to accept that in this situation, perhaps it wasn't too good to be true that I was happy. Maybe, even, I deserved that happiness. I deserved something good. And I couldn't ask for that goodness to come from any better source.
As it got later in the evening and the fair started to wind down around us, Sadie decided it was finally time for her cotton candy, and we agreed that after that we'd head back to the motel.
I caught sight of a familiar set of tattoos as we approached the cotton candy stand and stopped. "That's my friend Naomi from work," I said. "Mind if I go say hi while you get your fix?"
"Not at all. You sure you don't want any?" Sadie replied.
I laughed. "I'm good but thank you."
I walked over to Naomi, whose face lit up with enthusiasm the moment she saw me. Her girls, Bridget and Veronica, were just at the age where hanging out with their mom at the fair was lame as hell, and they gladly stepped away for a moment while the two of us caught up.
It was good to see Naomi outside of work and it reminded me that I could have a life outside of work if I wanted. Donnie always whined if I spent too much time with anyone else. With Jack, so far I just hadn't wanted to spend time with anyone else. Nevertheless, it was a good catch up and put me in an even better mood than I was in before as I strutted back over to the cotton candy stand.
Then my mood fell.
Sadie was no longer alone. There were three guys hanging around her like flies—none other than Matt, Andre, and Donnie. I expected that Derek was probably around somewhere too since the group seemed never to go anywhere incomplete, but thankfully he was missing in action.
Sadie's expression and body language showed she was not interested in any of the guys, but they had her backed against the stall. I knew from experience that getting past them would mean physically pushing them away.
"Everything okay?" I asked, pushing past Matt to stand beside my friend.
Sadie snorted. "I was just explaining to these lovely gentlemen that I'm not interested in their attentions and would very much like for them to leave me alone. Evidently, the men here speak a different language than I'm used to since they have yet to vacate my personal space."
"Not all the men," I replied. "Just these ones. Do you speak Neanderthal?"
"Get out of here, Melissa," Donnie snapped. "Don't you have some greasy construction worker you need to go bend over for?"
"Very original," Sadie said dryly. "Did you come up with that yourself or was it more of a group effort?"
Donnie glared at both of us. Matt stepped up to the plate.
"We're just trying to have a good time. No need to be so uptight."
"Uptight?" Sadie repeated. "So a girl has to be uptight not to want to spend time with you? You must meet a lot of uptight women."
I laughed, watching as Matt's pale skin bloomed cherry pink. It was about time somebody told him off, and he was not happy about it.
"Sadie, meet my ex-boyfriend Donnie and his lovely friends," I said by way of introduction.
She guffawed. "This is your ex-boyfriend? No wonder my brother kicked your ass so easily. Was there even any competition?" She cocked her head to the side and squinted at him appraisingly.
Donnie immediately backed up a few paces. "Disgusting. You're related to that loser?" He tapped his friends on the back. "Let's go. We're wasting our time. I wouldn't want to touch her with a twenty-foot pole."
"Let's not get too ambitious about the size of your pole," Sadie called after them.
I couldn't help it anymore. I broke down into a fit of laughter, and Sadie soon followed. We must have looked mad, laughing so hard next to the cotton candy stand that we couldn't breathe, but it felt good.
"You're officially my new favorite person," I told her. "Honestly, I've never seen them turn tail so quickly."
"What can I say?" Sadie said with a grin. "You don't have a brother like mine without picking up a few things."
Chapter 22
Melissa
I was upset to find that Jack still wasn't back by the time we got to the room. I had no idea how long he was going to be or what kind of mood he was going to be in when he got home, but I was on cloud nine. Today was exactly what I needed.
Sadie and I had a couple glasses of wine in the room together, but I got her another room to sleep in for the night. I wouldn't have minded her sleeping on the sofa at all but I wanted to do something nice for both Paxtons. The youngest, a nice sleep on a fairly nice bed. The eldest, a mind-blowing lay. Whenever he came home, anyway.
Jack shuffled through the door just after eleven, covered in dirt and sweat. He looked like he'd had a long day and I wondered if maybe my sexy plan should be put on hold.
"Hey baby," I said, rising from the couch to go greet him. "How was it?"
I kissed him on the mouth, letting my touch linger on his shoulders before backing away. He rustled up a small smile and stroked his thumb over my cheek softly.
"It was fine. Neil and another guy and me had our work cut out for us though. There was a lot of damage."
"Do they know who did it?"
Jack shook his head and stepped around me, already stripping off his shirt. "Neil's looking into it, but there's no security other than a few floodlights and some fencing. Not much he can do at this point."
Jack stretched his arms behind his back, and I watched his muscles ripple deliciously under his skin. I licked my lips.
"Did you and Sadie have a nice time?" He turned, and his expression changed when he saw the look of pure hunger on my face.
I bit my
lower lip, nodding as I walked toward him. "Had a run in with Donnie," I said, reaching for the button of his jeans.
Jack stood immobile as I continued undressing him, but his cock was already hard by the time I worked his jeans over his hips.
"Your sister gave him a lesson in talking to women that he won't soon forget. She's a real chip off the old block."
I pulled down Jack's boxers, and he stepped out of them, finally reaching for my hips and pulling me tight against his chest. I leaned forward, inhaling the smell of cologne and male sweat. I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off him if he was covered in garbage, and a little sweat here and there didn't bother me at all.
He ran his hands up my sides. "I'm glad you guys had a good time," he murmured. "I missed you."
"Missed you too." I leaned up for a kiss, smiling as he wrapped me in his arms and pulled me up toward his lips.
We kissed soft and slow, a tired, sleepy kiss. We'd both had exhausting days, Jack more so than I, so it was nice to take things slow while we settled in for the night.
"A shower?" I asked.
He grinned and pulled back, staring down at me with a glint of mischief in his eyes. "Only if you come in with me."
"Of course." I stepped away, stripping off my shirt slowly, taking care to stretch my arms far above my head as I did to show off my smooth stomach. I was braless underneath, and I barely had the shirt off before Jack palmed my breasts and started pinching at my nipples.
"You're so fucking beautiful. Have I told you that?"
I laughed. "Once or twice."
He told me every day without fail. It was just another one of those things he did that made me feel like the most special girl in the world.
I shimmied off my pajama shorts, and Jack groaned when he saw I was naked underneath those as well.
"Naughty girl." He reached around to smack my ass. "Have you just been sitting here waiting for me all night?"
"Not all night," I answered with a flirty wink.
Jack gently nudged me toward the bathroom. He wrapped his arms around my waist while I walked and kissed my neck as his hands explored the plane of my belly and my aching breasts.
My body came alive, itching to feel more of him. To feel all of him. I reached back and ran a hand up the side of his thigh while I waited for the water to warm, loving how taut his muscles felt under my fingers. How could this powerful, mighty man also be the kindest and sweetest I'd ever met? How could the same guy who fucked me senseless on a daily basis be the same person from Sadie's story? He was so good on the inside, but all that was wrapped up in a delectable bad boy package. I was powerless to resist him.
That was good since I had no intentions of doing so.
We stepped into the shower together, the hot water cascading over us like a mountain stream. I closed my eyes. We weren't in a motel bathroom anymore—we were in a private penthouse, one that was just for the two of us and nobody else. It was an easy fantasy since being with Jack made me feel so disconnected from reality. Everything was just a little brighter, a little warmer, a little better.
He turned me so my back was to the water, pushing my hair out of my face and running his thumbs over my cheeks. I rested my hands on his hard chest. God, he felt good. The man was cut, and I mean cut. Two weeks of being together and I still could not get used to how sexy he was without his clothes. His tattoos wrapped all the way around his chest, and I traced them with my fingers as he looked me deeply in the eyes. Then Jack kissed me, and the world slipped further away than ever.
Our need had grown since our first soft kiss in the bedroom, and with it, our fire. He consumed me, devouring my mouth with a ferocity only my Jack could compose. I battled against him, lips and tongue, seeking to show him how much I wanted him in the same way he was showing me. I grabbed his cock and began to stroke it. I couldn't hold back anymore. Hell, I'd been waiting for him to get home for hours. I needed his dick, and I needed it now.
"I want you," I told him. "Fuck, I want you so bad. Waiting for you has been killing me."
Jack grinned, droplets of water dripping from his chin. "Oh yeah?" he drawled. "Did you touch yourself while you waited?"
I shook my head. "I wanted to wait. I only wanted your hands on me."
He groaned and leaned forward, pulling my lower lip between his teeth and sucking hard. I cried out from the sudden pain, and he released me, licking my lip and replacing that pain with pure pleasure.
"Touch yourself now," he instructed. "Show me how much you want me."
Easy. My hand dropped to my mound, and I started rubbing at the tender nub of flesh, letting the pleasure wash over me just like the water. Jack kissed my neck, biting and sucking as his hands traveled over my body. He groped my ass and breasts, which only added to the pleasure building between my legs. I moaned and leaned into him, holding myself steady with my free hand and not being able to do much else. It felt too damn good.
Jack's lips trailed up to the shell of my ear. "Are you nice and wet for me, sweetheart?"
I moaned again. Before I could find the wherewithal to answer, he covered my hand with his own and slipped a finger between my lips.
"Fuck," he grunted. "You're soaked."
"All for you," I managed to rasp.
"What am I going to do with you?"
The question had a dark undertone that made my spine tingle with anticipation.
"What do you want to do?" I asked.
In an instant, Jack pressed me face first into the tiled wall. It was cold against my breasts and cheek, and I let out a startled squeal and instinctively tried to back away. He didn't let me, only hooked an arm under my belly to pull my ass up higher.
"This," he hissed, slamming up to the hilt in one smooth motion.
I saw stars. It took a moment for my body to adjust to the sudden intrusion, but the moment was so hot that I didn't even notice. Jack kept me pressed tight against the cold tile as he ravaged me, pumping in and out with more energy than I would have thought he could muster after such a long day. Thank god he could. And hell, thank god I was on birth control and we didn't have to use condoms anymore. Getting tested together was a bit of a pain in the ass, but it was worth it for moments like this.
"All I could think about all day was how much I wanted to come back here and fuck you," Jack whispered into my ear. "I can't leave you or your sweet pussy alone."
"Good." I began thrusting back against him, moaning louder and louder as the pleasurable sensations swam through me. "Me and my pussy don't want to be left alone."
Jack laughed, but it turned more into a moan when I reached down and began to play with my clit. He dug his nails into my hips and thrust harder. His panting breaths blasted against the back of my neck, making my hairs stand on end.
"Baby," I cooed. "Fuck, baby I'm coming."
Jack leaned closer, pressing his chest against my back and bringing his hands around to massage my breasts.
"That's right, sweetheart. Come for me. Come on my cock."
I loved his dirty mouth.
My orgasm ripped through me, sending shockwaves of ecstasy from my core to the tips of my hair. I cried out in rapture, letting my weight sink into the cold tile like a rag doll. Jack held me up, still pounding into me, though I could feel him tense up as his orgasm approached. With a final roar, he slammed home and stayed there, pressing sloppy kisses into my neck as we both recovered.
"That has got to be the filthiest shower I've ever taken," I remarked a moment later.
Jack slowly eased back and turned me, guiding me back under the warm water and reaching for the soap.
"Well, you're a very dirty girl." He smirked and began running the soap over my body.
"Only where you're concerned."
Jack kissed my forehead and, even though it was already so full, my heart continued to swell in my chest.
Chapter 23
Jack
Being with Melissa was an adventure full of surprises, but one of the things I found most unexpec
ted about our relationship was how easy it was. After a long day of work, I could come home and relax, just be myself, and that was something I’d never had with a woman before. Something about her very presence soothed me, and I was content to wile away my downtime reading on our crappy little sofa while she got ready for her shift, did a crossword at the table, or watched one of the stupid home and garden shows she was addicted to.
I flipped the page of my book, a cheap collection of local history, and listened to Melissa hum as she painted her fingernails at the table. I was completely content. It was so domestic. So calm. It was the kind of life I never thought I’d find satisfying, but all I wanted to do now was give Melissa the beautiful house and yard she wanted so she could fill it to the brim with her positive energy.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see a new email from Sadie. I smiled. She left a week ago, and I already missed the little brat. We'd had a great weekend together, and she left on the Sunday with a promise to visit again soon.
I opened the email and, after scanning it, looked up at Melissa.
She glanced over. “What? What’re you smiling about?”
“I just got some good news,” I replied, setting my book down and rising from the couch. I strolled over to the table and stood behind her, rubbing her shoulders while she finished her pinkie.
“What kind of good news?”
Melissa was going to be ecstatic. I was bursting to tell her.
"I sent a couple of your drawings back with Sadie since her roommate is in the fine arts program. Her friend loved them and showed them to a couple professors, and they all agreed that you're very talented."
Melissa’s shoulders tensed. “You’re joking.”
I walked around the other side of the table, wanting to get a better look at her face. I didn’t understand. I thought she would be happy to have a little outside validation, but her eyes were hard as she waited for my answer.
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