ALMOST PARADISE

by Williams, Mary J.

  “I’m sure you set her straight.”

  “Persistent little darling,” Kane grumbled. “Told her the choice is up to you. Come if you want, or don’t.”

  What? Flabbergasted, Jax caught himself before he fell over.

  “What?” Skye’s voice rose several octaves. “Why would you want me around when you can barely stand the sight of me?”

  Holy shit, another revelation. Not sure he could handle much more, Jax gripped the metal drainpipe.

  “Wrong,” Kane corrected. “I made a pass, obviously I like what I see. You turned me down flat. No hard feelings. Besides, once Jax expressed interest, you were officially off limits.”

  “Mr. Rebel Without a Cause follows a bro-code?” Skye scoffed.

  “You can doubt my sincerity and my sobriety. Hell, you can doubt if the sun will rise in the east for all I care.” Kane’s tone turned serious. “But never doubt my loyalty to Jax.”

  “Okay.” Skye took a deep breath. “Music is your dream, Jax’s dream. Not mine.”

  “Chance to travel the world and make more in one year than you could slinging drinks for the next ten? Worth considering.” Kane ground what was left of his joint under the toe of his boot then pinned a peeking Jax with his knowing gaze. “I set the table, my friend. The rest is up to you.”

  Nowhere to run without looking more of a fool, Jax moved from his hiding place.

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “Same way I always know.” Kane tapped his temple and winked. “I was born with the gift.”

  “You were born a pain in my ass.”

  “That, too.” His friend grinned. “I didn’t lie about Joplin. She thinks you two are dynamite. Beck and Morgan will jump on board, and I already gave my opinion. Rest is up to Skye.”

  “Doesn’t my opinion count?”

  “Come on,” Kane snickered. “Your mind was made up the second you laid eyes on her. Her voice is a nice bonus for the rest of us.”

  “A nice bonus?” An angry red suffused Sky’s cheeks. “What are you, Jax’s friend, or his pimp?”

  Kane never walked away from a fight, and Skye looked in the mood for an outright donnybrook. Whatever the reason, because she was a woman, or he knew she had a valid point, for the first time in his life, he chose to retreat.

  When Skye would have followed, Jax grabbed her arm.

  “Let him go.”

  “Screw you.”

  Skye pulled away with a sharp jerk. Without a backward glance, she disappeared around the side of the building.

  Jax’s pride said, let her go, enough was enough. Seemed like since they met, he’d done nothing but chase after her, usually to no avail. Unfortunately for his pride, his heart didn’t want their last meeting to end in anger.

  Damn heart. Damn her. Most of all, damn Kane.

  Running, Jax couldn’t think of anyone else to curse, except himself. He came to a stop when all he found in the parking lot was the rusty Toyota, but no Skye.

  “Over here.”

  The heat gone from her cheeks, the ridged anger drained from her body, Skye waited, slumped against the motel room door. Relieved, Jax took the key from his jeans.

  “Kane didn’t call you a whore. He can be an arrogant ass, but—”

  “Forget Kane.” Skye followed him into the room. “I overreacted. Something I tend to do when scared.”

  “Kane frightened you?”

  The idea went against everything Jax knew about Kane. Big and intimidating, one look from his friend’s dark eyes could make any sane man shake in his boots. Yet for all his reckless, hotheaded ways, he never used his size or strength against a woman.

  Understanding Jax’s concern, Skye shook her head.

  “Kane’s words left me petrified.” She took a deep breath. “Me? Join Razor’s Edge? Impossible.”

  “Why?” The idea was new, but Jax liked the idea more and more. “You have to admit, we sounded good together.”

  “One song.” Skye paced, stopping when she came up against a bass drum and flopped onto a chair. “I haven’t done anything to earn a spot on a world tour with you. Or, my God, with The Ryder Hart Band.”

  Jax could relate to the wide-eyed wonder he saw in Skye’s coffee-colored eyes. Eventually, when the entirety of the situation finally sank in, he might have a nervous breakdown. For now, he was blissfully cocooned in a bubble of euphoria.

  “Until a few hours ago, Razor’s Edge was nothing but four fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants musicians. Now, we’ve been handed the world on a freaking silver platter.”

  Skye read Jax’s expression, her eyes widening in surprise.

  “The thought frightens you?”

  “Damn straight.” Jax would be a fool if he weren’t a little trepidatious. “How can I prepare for a leap I didn’t see coming?”

  “Close your eyes and jump?”

  “You’re half right,” Jax chuckled. “I plan to keep my eyes wide open, so I don’t miss a second.”

  Envy and hope flashed across Skye’s face, only to be chased away by a cold dose of despair.

  “Wouldn’t be fair for me to piggyback on your dream.”

  Jax had a soft spot for Skye, but where the band was concerned, he was a tough taskmaster.

  “Piggyback, hell. You’ll earn your way.”

  “I’m not afraid of hard work. But…”

  One guess was all Jax needed to understand why Skye hesitated.

  “Your father wouldn’t approve.”

  “You see everything, don’t you?” Her half smile was quickly replaced by a frown. “He’d go ballistic.”

  Skye wasn’t afraid. Jax could tell, he knew the signs. Still, something about the relationship felt off. Her father’s hold was tight, controlling, and, though she’d undoubtedly argue, unhealthy.

  He was in no position to tell her how to live her life. However, if anyone needed a year away from her family, it was Skye.

  “We won’t hit the road right away. Los Angeles first.” Fresh in his mind, Jax outlined the band’s schedule. “Danny Graham—he’ll be our manager—wants us to record a few songs, get some airplay before the tour begins. Hopefully get a buzz started around the band—his words, not mine.”

  “Makes sense, I guess.”

  “Plus, we need to rehearse, get new equipment—the stuff we have is fine for small bars, not sold out, seventy-thousand seat arenas.”

  Seventy-thousand screaming fans. Jax felt lightheaded at the thought.

  “You okay?” Concerned, Skye placed her hand on his. “Your face lost all color.”

  “Forgot to breathe.” Jax collapsed onto the bed before his legs gave out.

  “I thought all your talk about nerves was to make me feel better.” Skye sat next to him, still holding his hand. “You are scared.”

  “Just between us?” Jax swallowed. “I’m freaking terrified.”

  “Kane knows how you feel, doesn’t he?” When Jax nodded, Skye’s lips curved into a smile. “I wondered why he asked me to join Razor’s Edge.”

  The same question occurred to Jax.

  “What’s your theory?”

  “Maybe he thinks if you’re focused on me, you won’t worry about other things, about everyone else.”

  “You could be right,” Jax conceded. “Or completely off base. I’ve known Kane most of my life. Yet the way his mind works can still be a mystery.”

  “Kane may be brusque, ego-driven, and self-destructive, but one thing’s certain. The only thing he loves more than himself is you.”

  Like most young men, Jax wasn’t comfortable labeling his feelings for another man. Kane was his brother, his friend. But love? The word made him squirm.

  “Relax.” Skye shook her head, reading his mind. “Loving another man doesn’t make you gay. Though if you were, so what?”

  Jax brushed a stray hair from Skye’s forehead. Holding her gaze, he looked deep into her eyes.

  “You kno
w exactly why. Better than anyone.”

  “Yes,” she nodded.

  “I want you, Skye.” For both their sakes, Jax felt he should spell out the obvious. “When you come with us on tour, I—”

  “If I come.” Changing one very important word, Skye reminded him nothing was settled. “I have a lot to think about, a lot to talk over with my father.”

  Her father again. Jax appreciated family loyalty, but Skye needed, deserved, a life of her own.

  “Daddy can’t make your decisions forever.”

  The angry flush returned to her cheeks. Not as deep a red, but unmistakable.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Pretty sure I do.”

  Skye rose to her feet, shoulders back, spine ridged, anger turning her dark eyes almost black. Shit, Jax groaned. Didn’t matter if he was right, which he was. For once, he should have kept his opinion to himself.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry because you’re wrong?” She asked over her shoulder as she marched from the room toward her car. “Or because you made me angry?”

  Trailing after her, again, Jax shrugged, unwilling to lie.

  “I need to get home.”

  “Without giving me your answer?” He refused to believe Skye would throw away the chance of a lifetime over a few careless but well-intentioned words.

  “When do you leave for Los Angeles?” she asked.

  “Tomorrow morning.”

  “So soon?”

  Jax recognized the surprise mixed with panic in her eyes. He saw the same expression every time he looked in the mirror, or the faces of his bandmates.

  “We’ve been caught up in a magical whirlwind.” When he took her hand, Skye didn’t protest. “Come along for the ride.”

  “My head is spinning.”

  “Join the club.”

  Skye’s warm smile lifted a weight from Jax’s chest.

  “Get Beck and Morgan’s okay. If they don’t want me—”

  “They will.”

  “Ask them, don’t tell them.”

  Jax clutched at his heart as if wounded by her inference.

  “Razor’s Edge is a democracy, not a dictatorship.”

  “Good to know.” Biting her lip, Skye traced a random pattern on the dusty car window. “I can’t leave without my father’s blessing.”

  Jax bit his tongue, trapping the curse behind his closed lips.

  “I don’t understand,” his sighed. “However, I’m not in your shoes.”

  “Be grateful.” Skye frowned. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my father. I wouldn’t trade him for anything. But too often…”

  “You feel like the parent, not the child?”

  “How do you always know what I’m thinking?” She let out an exasperated laugh.

  “Not always,” Jax assured her. “I don’t know if you plan to say yes.”

  He could practically hear the wheels turning in her brain.

  “My dad won’t be happy, he rarely is. The promise of more money will help.”

  “Always does.”

  “Mm.” Skye took a set of keys from her pocket. “Have you seen a contract?”

  “Seems pretty standard,” Jax nodded. “Not that I’m an expert.”

  “Don’t sign anything until you have a lawyer read the fine print. Not someone recommended by Danny Graham,” Skye warned. “A neutral party who will make your best interests his or her priority. Someone you can trust.”

  Beauty, brains, and common sense? Skye was the whole package and more. Surreptitiously, Jax checked his chin for drool.

  “Beck’s uncle is a bigshot Chicago attorney. We sent him the papers first thing this morning.” He slapped a palm to his forehead. “Wait here.”

  Jax ran to the motel room. Once inside, he began a frantic search. He tripped over Beck’s duffel then cursed a blue streak as his knee banged into the case holding Morgan’s bass. Finally, under Kane’s dirty t-shirt, he hit pay dirt.

  Grabbing the two items he needed, one tucked in the small of his back, the other clutched in his hand, Jax raced back the way he came, skidding to a halt inches from the bumper of Skye’s battered Toyota, out of breath but triumphant.

  “For you.” He handed over his copy of the contract. “Do you know a lawyer? Someone you trust.”

  “Yes.” Skye hugged the papers to her chest. “I’ll let you know when I have an answer.”

  Theoretically, she could follow them to Los Angeles in a day or two. But if he left town without Skye, he was afraid she would be lost to him forever.

  “You’ll call before tomorrow morning?”

  “You have my word.”

  “Before you go…” Jax held out his hand. “Here.”

  “My book.” Skye's eyes lit up. “Thank you. Did you finish it?”

  “Read every word.” Much to his surprise.

  “And?”

  “Loved every word.”

  Air rushed from Skye’s lungs, relief and joy lighting her face.

  “Really? Don’t lie to spare my feelings.”

  “Truthfully, my expectations weren’t great. Once I started, I couldn’t stop.” Jax finished the book in one night. He saw Skye on every page. “You would be the perfect Laurel.”

  Tears filled her eyes. A crying woman didn’t send Jax into a panic. Skye, in every way. was different. His gut clenched, sorry he didn’t have a handkerchief to offer. Wiping her cheeks, she laughed. Like most women when faced with a problem, she found her own solution.

  “I’ll be in touch,” she promised again and jumped into her car.

  Jax stood in the empty parking lot long after Skye was gone. The future of Razor’s Edge didn’t depend on her decision. He’d leave if she said yes, or no. But something changed the first time he looked into her eyes and when he finally figured out what, he wanted her around.

  One thing was crystal clear. Wherever he went, no matter how many years passed, a part of him now belonged to Skye. And always would.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ♫~♫~♫

  JAX CHECKED HIS phone. One hundred percent charged, no new messages. Skye had the number; she knew where to find him. Nothing to stop her from getting in touch.

  Yet, as the clock ticked closer and closer toward midnight, he continued to wait, his anxiety on the rise, but well concealed. Or so he thought.

  “No woman is worth an ulcer.”

  “Worth enough for you to hit on her.”

  “Wondered when you’d call me out,” Kane chuckled, unconcerned. “Name a beautiful woman I haven’t hit on.”

  “True. You’re worse than Pavlov’s freaking dogs. The mere mention of the opposite sex and your dick stands at attention.”

  Taking Jax’s rebuke as a compliment, Kane grinned. Head down, he strummed a tune on his precious acoustic guitar, fingers caressing the strings with more care than he showed any lover. The monetary worth didn’t matter, though the classic Gibson Hummingbird, won in a poker game, would fetch a pretty penny on any market.

  A true work of art, Kane would walk over broken glass, starving and near death, before he parted with his baby. Even then, he would put the guitar first.

  “New song?”

  “Mm.”

  Jax closed his eyes. Good tune, he decided, reaching for his twenty-nine-dollar eBay special. The instrument didn’t possess a fancy pedigree, and he sure as hell would never take the guitar on stage before an audience. But the sound was true, a good companion as he composed some of his best songs to date.

  “Came to me this morning.” Kane picked up the tempo by half a beat. “Green eyes, all innocence. Shot me down without consequence.”

  “Interesting,” Jax snorted. “Joplin Ashford really got under your skin.”

  “The lyrics aren’t about anyone in particular.”

  Green eyes? Innocence? Kane could deny all he wanted. No one who’d witnessed his barbed exchanges with Jopli
n would be fooled.

  “Got a title for your newest masterwork?”

  “Unfortunately, Barracuda is taken.” Kane stowed his guitar with proper reverence, shut the case, stretching his arms over his head. “I’ll think of something equally suitable.”

  “I shouldn’t need to warn you.”

  “But you will.” The song aside, Kane was in a mellow mood, open to Jax’s advice.

  “All I ask is for a bit of restraint where Joplin is concerned.”

  “Because she’s a woman?”

  “Because her job means she’ll be our constant companion. She’ll go with us on tour, take care of the details, be our liaison. Plus…”

  “What?”

  Jax knew Kane was bound to find out, better now than later.

  “Joplin is Danny’s niece.”

  “Fucking nepotism.” Kane whipped his guitar pick across the room. “How’d you find out?”

  “Overheard him talking on the phone to his sister, Joplin’s mother.”

  “No matter how perfect something seems, there’s always a flaw.”

  “Joplin’s worked by Danny’s side since she was a kid,” Jax rushed to explain before Kane went completely off the rails. “Every summer vacation, every school break. He says she’s ready to take on the responsibility.”

  “What will he do if she screws up? Kick her out of the family? Her mistakes will screw us, but she’ll walk away golden,” Kane scoffed. “Just once, I’d like to reach for something and not get the shitty end of the stick.”

  “Way to embrace the positive thinking, bro.”

  “Rather leave the new age guru crap to you and Morgan.”

  Kane took a brown paper bag from under the bed. Removing the contents, he broke the seal on the bottle, taking two long gulps.

  Well, shit. Jax sighed, rubbing his temples when he read the label. Tequila, especially the cheap stuff, was Kane’s sink into oblivion booze of choice.

  Jax’s stomach sank further when Kane reached for his jacket.

  “Stay. Beckett and Morgan will be back any second. We’ll help you polish off the bottle.”

  Kane shook his head.

  “As we speak, a couple of eager co-eds are polishing our friends’ shillelaghs. Shouldn’t expect them back anytime soon.”