Heart's Secret

by Adrianne Byrd

  “Very funny.”

  “It’s not funny,” Dale said. “It’s serious—too damn serious if you ask me. The last thing you need to be doing is falling in love.”

  “What?” Jaxon jerked his head around as if afraid that anyone had overheard the L word. “Keep your voice down.”

  “Uh-huh.” Dale nodded as if he already knew the truth. “No offense, Jaxon, but uh…you’re not exactly the marrying type.”

  Jaxon drew up his chin. “Offense taken.”

  “What—I’m wrong? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “What I’m saying is…” Jaxon lowered his voice. “Is…that I think I’ve finally found the one.”

  Dale shook his head. “Don’t do it, man. Don’t do it.”

  Jaxon’s irritation started to take hold.

  “There’s a reason why you hang out with an old cat like me.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah—for the wisdom.”

  Jaxon’s laughter returned. “Oh, is that right?”

  “Exactamundo.” Dale pushed his drink aside. “The lifestyle we lead—with all the money, power and beautiful women?” He shook his head. “The game is too strong and the temptation is too much. I know. I love my wife and it breaks my heart every time I cheat on her.”

  Jaxon rolled his eyes. “No offense, you and I are two different people.”

  “Offense taken,” Dale volleyed. “Have you really thought about this—a relationship with a celebrity? I mean, you’re somebody in the financial world, that’ll get you on the cover of three, four magazines tops! Dating somebody like Zora Campbell will mean photographers in the garbage can. Hell, in just the couple of weeks since you two have been an item, I’ve read some stuff that I never knew before. Like why didn’t you tell me that you like Cocoa Puffs for breakfast?”

  “What?” Jaxon rolled his eyes. “I’ve never touched the stuff.”

  Dale snapped his fingers. “See what I mean? If these people can’t find anything, they’ll make things up.”

  Jaxon waved off that nonsense. “Since when have you known me to care about what other people think?”

  “You’re missing the point.”

  “Maybe it’s a ridiculous point,” he countered.

  “Even if people are talking about the rift between you and your grandfather?”

  Jaxon stiffened and then returned to again waving off the comment. “So what? Who cares?” But he did care a little bit. True it hadn’t been a great secret that he and the old man struggled to get along, but it did feel a little weird to think the whole matter would be splashed across the papers like a public drama.

  “Uh-huh.”

  Their lunch arrived and for a few seconds, their thoughts returned to their respective corners. However, no sooner had the waiter stepped away, Dale opened his mouth.

  “Dating a model every now and again is fine, but—”

  “Stop.” Jaxon held up a lone finger and impaled Dale with a sharp look. “Look, I know that we’re boyz and all, but I’m going to have to ask you to shut up.”

  Dale snapped his mouth shut.

  “Now, I’ll admit that life in the fast lane means fast money, lots of power and a different woman every night. But there comes a time when boyz put away their toys in order to become men. I’ve made my money. I’ve wielded power and yes, I’ve had my share of women, but something is missing. It has been missing for a long time. I just didn’t know it. And now that I’ve found it, I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit here and let you try and convince me to throw it all away. I already have my own list scrolling through my head about why this can’t work out, but what you need to understand is that despite that list, I’m going to do everything I can to make it work. She’s different. I’ve only known her for a short while, but in that time I feel more alive now than I have in a very long time.

  “Now, Dale, I consider you a good friend. We have had plenty of laughs together, but if you’re not on board with where I’m headed with this relationship, then I’m going to have to ask you to get off the damn train.”

  Jaxon and Dale’s gazes locked for a long minute.

  Dale eased all the way back into his chair. “So it is like that?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  After a few more seconds, Dale’s lips split into a large grin. “Well, it’s about damn time.”

  Chapter 19

  Jaxon wouldn’t tell her where they were going for their first official date. He just told her to be dressed and ready to go by seven. Their date would have been sooner, but Zora had been self-conscious about her injuries and the strange places cameras would pop up. So for the past three weeks they elected to stay hidden at either her or his place.

  Not to say that they didn’t have some terrific evenings. Jaxon had the best of everything catered to wherever they were—complete with a waitstaff, flowers and once even a violinist. Turns out, Jaxon was a secret romantic.

  And in the bedroom, he was ten stars—off the charts.

  He was a great listener. When she talked about her childhood, college or even her old modeling heydays, he truly listened and asked questions. One thing she shouldn’t have done was tell him her childhood nickname: Frog Legs.

  Now, he teased her about it.

  In return, Zora returned the favor. She listened to fun and wonderful stories about his parents. It sounded to her like Jaxon suffered from survivor’s guilt. He hadn’t been there when the criminals had broken into his parents’ home; ordinarily he would’ve been. Maybe—just maybe he’d picked up his father’s battles as his own. The battle that never had a chance to end between Carlton and his son.

  But Zora sensed that he wasn’t ready to hear that—not yet anyway.

  “You should forgive him,” she had told him one night, lying in his arms.

  Jaxon stiffened and fell silent.

  Zora took a chance and continued. “The fighting is not going to get you anywhere. If it could, you’d be there by now. Look at it from Carlton’s point of view.”

  “Oh, God, not you, too.”

  “No. Listen. Even if you’re right and your grandfather drove your father away. Think about what his death is doing to Carlton. Don’t you think he’s beating himself up just as much?”

  Jaxon didn’t respond.

  “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. We’re all learning that there’s no manual to life—therefore we’re all going to make mistakes. We’re all going along, trying to do the best we can in the little time that we have.”

  Silence.

  “Just think about it.”

  Jaxon finally smiled, kissed her and then made sweet love to her. And they hadn’t spoken about him and his grandfather since.

  Zora’s doorbell rang, jarring her out of the memory. She had been ready a full hour early and literally raced to answer her front door. Her expectations were rewarded at the sight of Jaxon standing on the other side of the door, holding a single white lily.

  She gasped. “My favorite. Aww. You remembered.”

  “Of course. I remember everything about you.” He took a moment to drink in her profile. The black one-shoulder Versace dress hugged her curves like nobody’s business. “I must say, Ms. Campbell, that dress sure does know how to wear you.”

  Zora laughed. “So now can you tell me where we’re going?”

  “Sorry.” He shook his head. “It’s going to be a surprise.”

  Jaxon escorted her down to the limousine with Kwan standing at the ready.

  “Good evening, Ms. Campbell,” the young driver gushed.

  “Evening.” She climbed into the limo.

  Jaxon climbed in after her and then swung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “Are you excited? Our very first date.”

  “Extremely.” Zora laughed. “It was a long time coming.”

  “Hey, it’s not my fault. I asked you out six weeks ago.”

  “Yeah, but we were supposed to go out two months ago.”

  Jaxon frowned. �
�What do you mean?”

  Zora suddenly remembered herself. She had never told Jaxon that he was supposed to have been her date the night they met because she’d promised Melanie. Given what she knew now, she wasn’t too sure how he would take the news. He didn’t like his grandparents meddling in his affairs and somehow paying fifty thousand dollars for a matchmaking service sounded like big-time meddling.

  “Oh, nothing.” She waved off his question. “Forget it.”

  “Getting your men confused?”

  “Hardly.”

  Jaxon’s frown deepened as if he detected she was hiding something from him. “I guess it doesn’t matter.” He tried to smile again. “We’re together now.” He leaned down and pressed his hot mouth against hers.

  And just like that, whatever the hell they were talking about was forgotten.

  However, the date was a disaster.

  At first Jaxon tried his best to keep their destination a secret. An hour later, when he finally pulled his attention from Zora’s delicious lips and lush curves, he decided to check in with his driver. “Kwan, is there a problem?” he asked as the tinted glass partition slid down.

  “Uh, no, um…” Kwan’s head started darting around. “I think we’re finally back on the right road.”

  “You think?” Jaxon’s buttery baritone dipped lower.

  “No. No. I’m pretty sure now, boss.”

  But he didn’t sound sure.

  Clearly Jaxon didn’t buy it, either, because he quickly extracted his arm from Zora’s shoulder and decided to look around, but whatever “right” road they were on was too dark for him to distinguish for himself. “Kwan, what did you do?”

  The young driver cringed and then launched into a long, rambling almost incoherent explanation that amounted to him not following the specific directions Jaxon had given.

  Jaxon was heated and he was trying his best not to just curse the boy out.

  Zora pressed a hand to Jaxon’s shoulder and encouraged him to calm down.

  “It’s ruined,” Jaxon hissed under his breath, glancing at his watch. “By the time we reach the airport…if we get to the airport…” He cut himself off and shook his head. “I knew I should have been paying attention. That boy can get lost in a broom closet.”

  Zora sympathized with him. Clearly Jaxon had put a lot into whatever he’d planned and he was taking Kwan’s incompetence hard. Minutes later, and to no one’s surprise, they weren’t on the right road—that became clear when the pavement ended and the trees thickened and multiplied.

  Jaxon barked for the driver to pull over. On the side of the road, he apologized to Zora and then went to climb behind the driver’s wheel himself. Next clue that told them that they were good and lost came at the discovery that the limousine’s GPS system wasn’t working or couldn’t find a signal.

  Jaxon’s mood turned black and Kwan, perhaps in fear for his life, stopped rambling endless excuses.

  Torn between feeling sorry for the boy and concerned about their surroundings, Zora thought it was best for her to just let Jaxon handle whatever mess they were in. However, there was very little that he could do since right about that time the limo ran out of gas.

  “I don’t believe it,” Jaxon decried.

  Zora had to agree, especially when she realized that it had been a long time since she’d seen another car. Everyone checked their cell phone and found that just like the GPS, none of their cell phones were picking up a signal.

  A thousand knots looped and tightened in the pit of Zora’s stomach. This whole evening had all the hallmark signs of a bad horror movie. The next plan was to sit it out and wait for a car to show up on the horizon. Jaxon apologized again and then hopped out of the vehicle, giving Kwan the order to stay with Zora.

  An hour later, Jaxon returned—without help.

  The next and only plan left to them was for all of them to walk and try to find a gas station, a store or something. The problem with that great big idea was that Zora was hardly wearing the type of shoes to go hiking in.

  But what choice did she really have?

  Jaxon tried to help by offering her his shoes, but what good would it really do for her to slide her size-nine foot into a men’s shoe size fourteen?

  “Maybe I should just go alone and leave you and the kid here?” Jaxon suggested. “It would be faster.”

  Zora didn’t like that idea. She had very little confidence that Kwan, bless his heart, could protect her out there in the boondocks if something was to happen. “No,” she insisted. “We’ll all go together.”

  Thirty minutes later, Zora wished that she could just chop off her feet and be done with it. Her feet may have looked cute, but her dogs were barking like nobody’s business. Jaxon picked up on her misery and surprised her by reaching over and swooping her up into his arms. She wanted to protest and insist that he didn’t need to carry her, but she was too thankful and relieved to utter such nonsense.

  But soon her bladder started protesting. She tried to hold it in and then told herself to try not to think about it, but her bladder refused to be ignored. “Jaxon, I—I gotta pee.”

  “Come again?”

  “I—I’m sorry, but I gotta pee.”

  Jaxon and Kwan stopped. Everyone looked around. There wasn’t much around, but what was around didn’t exactly look safe for a woman to go traipsing through to go tinkle.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I don’t have a choice,” she informed while trying to squeeze her thighs together. “I gotta go.”

  Jaxon sighed and set her back down. They both looked at the tall, dead grass off on the side of the road with trepidation. But unless Zora wanted to embarrass herself and ruin her dress, she needed to get moving. Gathering her courage, she took a deep breath and raced into the grass. However, at the sound of it crunching and scratching up against her legs, she ran right back out.

  “Come with me.”

  Jaxon’s black mood cleared a bit at watching her hop from one leg to the other.

  “Please?”

  “As you wish, ma’am.” He glanced at Kwan. “You think you can manage to stay put?”

  Kwan hung his head. “Yes, sir.”

  Zora grabbed Jaxon by the hand and pulled him with her into the tall, brown grass. She didn’t go too far, just far enough to do what she had to do. “Turn around.”

  Jaxon chuckled. “What?”

  She was hopping and hiking up her dress. “You heard me. Turn around.”

  “Why? I’ve already seen you naked,” he complained, but did as she asked.

  “It’s not the same thing and you know it.” She rolled her panties down and then held them by the crotch when she squatted. The relief she felt was like its own kind of orgasm and she couldn’t help but moan.

  Jaxon laughed and rocked on his heels.

  “Stop laughing. It’s not funny,” she pouted, but she was unable to keep the bemusement out of her own voice.

  “It’s a little funny,” he said.

  “Uh-huh.” She kept peeing. “So do you think now that you can tell me where you were taking me this evening or is it still some big secret?”

  He hesitated while his shoulders deflated. “I was taking you to Quench.”

  “Aww. That place is fabulous.” She sighed. “And I haven’t been there in ages.” She paused. “But isn’t that in Sag Habor?”

  “Yeah. I should’ve known better than to take my eye off Kwan’s driving. The man is direction-challenged.”

  “So why does he work for you?”

  “Tell me and we’ll both know.” He rolled his eyes and then asked, “Damn, what all did you have to drink?”

  “Ha-ha. Very funny. I— What was that?” Zora jumped and snatched her panties up, thinking she heard something rustling in the grass.

  Jaxon turned around. “What was what?”

  Zora didn’t know and didn’t care to stick around to find out. She wiggled her dress down, snatched Jaxon’s hand and took off running damn near all at the
same time. At the sight of them hauling tail, Kwan’s eyes bugged out and he started running himself.

  “Whoa, hold up, Kwan,” Jaxon barked.

  The young man kept going, but he slowed down a bit as he glanced over his shoulder.

  “Where in the hell are you going?” Jaxon thundered, trying to suppress a laugh.

  Since they were now back on the main road, Zora had also slowed down—though her heart still raced like a thoroughbred. “Oh, my God,” she kept repeating until she finally stopped and bent over at the waist to catch her breath. “I almost died back there.”

  Jaxon laughed. “I highly doubt that.”

  “You don’t know. You didn’t see it,” she said defensively.

  “Did you see it?” he asked. His eyes sparkled and danced beneath the full moon.

  “Well…not exactly,” she admitted grudgingly.

  Jaxon’s laughter roared through the night. When he saw that his reaction bruised her feelings, he quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Aww, sweetie. I’m sorry.” He kissed the top of her head to try and make it better, however, his chest still rumbled with a few extra chuckles. “Don’t worry, baby. I got you.”

  Kwan, finally sensing that there was no danger, stopped running. Yet, he was too embarrassed to walk back toward the couple so he decided to just wait until they caught up with him.

  Their walk resumed. Two minutes later, Jaxon swept Zora back into his arms and carried her as if she weighed nothing. Unfortunately, it was another hour before they reached something that looked as if there was remotely any life in it: a run-down motel that probably hadn’t had a customer since the early 1980s.

  “Under no circumstances are we staying here,” Zora said firmly.

  Kwan’s wide eyes agreed with Zora, but he didn’t dare say anything.

  “Don’t worry, baby. We’re just going to use the phone.”

  The reassurance did little to calm her anxiety. The moment Jaxon pulled the door open to the motel’s office, Zora swore that she could see the asbestos leaping into her lungs. When the bell above the door jingled, an elderly white man who looked as though he’d been blessed to see almost an entire century pass, jumped and threw his hands up.