ALMOST PARADISE

by Williams, Mary J.

  Unnamed sources— Exasperated, Skye looked up.

  “Unnamed? Come on.”

  “Read,” her father commanded.

  Skye rubbed her temples. Five more minutes and she was out of here, she promised herself, her eyes dropping to the page.

  We’ve learned some juicy information about the much-anticipated big screen adaptation of The End of Rainbows. As confirmed last week, superstar Jaxon Cross will write and perform the soundtrack. Exciting, yes?

  Even better, we have an exclusive tidbit guaranteed to keep fandom buzzing. Seems years ago, long before producer Wyatt Landis came onboard, the sneaky Mr. Cross purchased the film rights to the bestselling book.

  Jax owned the rights to The End of Rainbows? As she read the news, a feeling of dread settled over Skye. She wanted to throw the piece of paper in her father’s face and run. But no matter where she hid, the truth was bound to find her.

  Drawing a shaky breath, Skye continued reading.

  Ready for the kicker? None other than Skye Monroe, once a member along with Jaxon Cross, of the now-defunct rock group, Razor’s Edge, is rumored to be up for the lead in Rainbows.

  We’re sure everyone remembers the hot and heavy romance Ms. Monroe and Mr. Cross shared back in the day. Well, hold onto your hats. The love affair is back on!

  Squealing yet? We are!!!

  In case you just crawled out from under a rock, the video of their recent surprise duet is burning up the internet.

  If Skye Monroe didn’t have the fast track to the part of Laurel before, the fact she’s sleeping with the movie’s executive producer should seal the deal.

  Where the ultra-sexy Jaxon Cross is concerned, no one can blame the lady for mixing business with her pleasure. Yum, yum.

  Stay tuned for all the sizzling hot updates.

  Skye wanted to cry. No, she wanted to scream, then cry, then crawl into bed, turn out the lights and pull the covers over her head. Except Jax was already in her bed. Damn him.

  Refusing to give Gabi and her father the satisfaction of watching her fall apart, Skye raised her head, her eyes dry as a bone After today, anyone who witnessed her performance would have to agree, she was a great actress.

  “Rumors and speculation,” she shrugged. “Nothing more.”

  “Jaxon Cross is a hunk. But selling your body to get what you want?” Gabi taunted. “Big sister is a—"

  “Don’t be crude,” Todd Monroe admonished before Gabi could finish.

  Skye didn’t expect her father to come to her defense. He stopped Gabi short of slut-shaming, but the expression on his face gave away his feelings. Obviously, he believed what he had read and agreed with his youngest daughter’s assessment.

  “I auditioned,” she told them, proud of her casual tone. “I don’t have the part. Not yet.”

  “Nothing in writing? What a fool!”

  Ignoring Gabi, Skye turned to her father. As the anger and outrage drained away, all she felt was sorrow.

  “The years I spent caring for both of you. The money from my afterschool jobs you took without a single thank you. The loyalty, the love. What did I get in return?”

  “A family,” her father countered, his chin held high.

  Skye almost laughed. She spent many wasted years clinging to an illusion. They weren’t a family; they were a train wreck.

  The truth was, she didn’t know her father any more than he knew her. The time had come for Skye to stop trying, and failing, to live up to the expectations set by a stranger.

  Standing, she took some money from her wallet, tossing the bills onto the table.

  “Where are you going?” her father demanded. “We aren’t finished.”

  “Yes. We are.”

  With one final look, one last reminder of what she didn’t want and wouldn’t miss, Skye turned and walked away.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  ♫~♫~♫

  SKYE KNEW SHE’D boarded a bus, paid her fare, and took a seat near the back. But she couldn’t remember where or when. She lost track of place and time as she tried to come to terms with everything.

  Telling Todd Monroe goodbye was one thing, figuring out what to do next was another. Skye couldn’t think of a time when she hadn’t felt a weighing obligation to someone else. Her father, Gabi, Razor’s Edge.

  Seemed all her life, she worried what would happen if she put a step wrong, how her actions would affect another person, always putting her needs and wants last.

  If Skye expected a sense of freedom, she quickly discovered she was wrong. Later, as she grew accustomed to the jumble of feelings, she would attempt to analyze and understand. For now, more than anything, she was numb.

  An idea out of nowhere popped into her head. What if she left? Skye’s passport was tucked inside her purse. Her phone was turned off. At the airport, she could buy a ticket on the first available flight out of town. Whether her destination turned out to be Hong Kong or Hoboken, no one had to know.

  Skye Monroe, wanderer. Sounded good. When she grew tired of the unknown, she could get a job, settle down, make a new beginning.

  Trouble was, new didn’t hold any real appeal. She realized more was right with her life than wrong. Why should she throw away the years spent building toward her dream simply because she’d hit a few bumps?

  And if she did start over, what then? She could run, but she couldn’t hide from who she was inside.

  As Skye rode through the city, as minutes and hours passed, she tried to reconcile the information she’d learned with what she felt in her heart.

  From an outsider’s perspective, the gossip column made everyone involved with The End of Rainbows sound sleazy, oversexed, or both. Skye didn’t care. Let people speculate. All she wanted was the true story and a little clarity as to where exactly she fit inside the narrative.

  Exiting the bus, Skye found herself a block from her apartment. She’d traveled in a circle, back where she had begun.

  How appropriate. She had questions, and Jax was the person to provide the answers. But, could she trust him to tell the truth?

  ~ ~ ~

  SKYE BARELY HAD time to toss her purse and keys on the counter before Jax pulled her close. Because her feelings weren’t regulated by a thermostat—the temperature easily controlled by flipping a switch—she hugged him back.

  “You’re up,” she said, stating the obvious.

  “And you’re back. Finally.” Jax frowned when Skye shrugged out of his arms. “You leave to pick up a few groceries. Four hours later, you come home empty-handed. Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

  Shoving her hands into her pockets, Skye’s fingers closed around a wadded-up piece of paper. The gossip column.

  “I was distracted. Jax, I—” She searched for the right way to start. Her mind went blank. “How do you feel?”

  “Better. The magic trifecta of sleep, pain relievers, and water did wonders.” A deep, thoughtful frown furrowed his brow. “If you’d joined me, I would have slept longer.”

  When they were on tour with Razor’s Edge, his inability to find a solid eight hours of continuous sleep was a running joke between him and the guys. She didn’t find insomnia a joking matter, but he refused to take a pill for the problem—hardly surprising considering Kane’s chemical dependencies and he shrugged off homeopathic solutions as ineffective new-age crap.

  “You sleep better with me beside you?”

  “You relax me,” Jax nodded and Skye felt a flutter near her heart. “You also excite me more than any woman I’ve ever known. Stimulating one second, calming the next. A perfect combination. Perfect for me.”

  Don’t turn to mush, Skye cautioned her insides—and her spine. Jax, slightly rumpled but still the sexiest man alive, couldn’t make her forget the past few hours of soul-searching angst.

  “Jax—"

  “Before you say anything, sit with me? Please?”

  With a nod, Skye removed her jacket but kept the p
aper clenched in her fist. Moving to the sofa, she automatically lay the crocheted blanket over Jax’s legs, tucking the edges around his bare feet. She met his amused gaze and shrugged.

  “Just because you feel better doesn’t mean you are.” Skye slouched into the cushioned corner. “What did you want?”

  “I have something to tell you.” Clearing his throat, Jax rolled his head in a circle. “The time never seemed right. First in Los Angeles, then Australia, the plane trip home, the car ride from the airport. Every time I started, something interrupted, rather, I let something stop me.”

  The truth? Finally? Skye licked her lips, hoping, praying.

  “Nothing to get in the way now,” she reminded him.

  Jax nodded. Taking a deep breath, the words burst from his lips like water over a breached dam.

  “I own film rights to The End of Rainbows, not Wyatt Landis. I planned to block anyone who wanted to make the movie.”

  Scrubbing a hand over his face, Jax shot her a worried look.

  “Before you respond, remember everything was different four years ago. I was angry, bitter.”

  “A jackass.”

  “Probably,” he sighed. “Definitely. In my defense, I believed the jackassery was justified.”

  Skye maintained a neutral expression. Inside, she wept with relief. If Jax tried to justify his actions with a cocky arrogance, her heart would have broken. How could she trust a man who didn’t understand the need for humility? But he was humble—humbled. A side of him she found hopeful.

  Jax was nervous, unsure, a little rattled. Also, believable, endearing, and utterly adorable.

  The messy hair and puppy dog blue eyes didn’t hurt his cause. Still, Skye wasn’t ready to let him off the hook quite yet. After what she went through today, she deserved all the answers.

  “What changed your mind? Why make the movie now?”

  “Anger can become a habit as ugly and harmful as any drug.” Jax sighed. “When Wyatt called, said he wanted to buy the rights, I was finally ready to move on. He asked me to co-produce. Much to my surprise. I was excited at the prospect.”

  “And me?” Skye's stomach clenched at the final hurdle. “How did I get involved?”

  “Simple,” Jax explained. “Your agent wrangled an audition. I didn’t know until the day before.”

  Unable to let go just yet, Skye floated one more theory.

  “Or, you arranged everything, let me get my hopes up, only to pull the rug out from under me at the last second.”

  “And had sex with you?”

  Skye shrugged, held her breath, and waited.

  “I will own the title of jackass. But, do you honestly believe I’m the kind of man, a stone-cold bastard, who could hold you in my arms one second, then rip your heart out the next?”

  No, she didn’t. Still, hearing the words, believing every single one, didn’t hurt. Skye tucked the crumpled gossip site article into her pocket, out of sight. She would shred the stupid thing first chance.

  Now, all she wanted was to throw herself into Jax’s arms, beg him to hold tight and never let her go. Okay, Skye amended, she wanted one other thing. Brilliant man that he was, he read her mind.

  “I love you, Skye.” Jax, his eyes a breathtaking blue, ran his thumb along the curve of her lower lip. “Through the misunderstandings, and the years apart, the hate and the bitterness, you held my heart. Now, then, always.”

  Always. Skye didn’t want to cry, but what the heck. How many times did a woman hear I love you for the first time from the lips of her one and only love?

  “Six years ago, I fell in love with a brilliant young musician. Love at first sight.” Smiling at the memory, she slid her fingers through Jax’s hair and laughed when he wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Five years ago, he broke my heart—I broke his.”

  “And now?” Jax whispered the question, his gaze locked with hers.

  “I love you, Jaxon Cross, more than ever.” The words, the emotion, filled Skye’s soul. “Tomorrow, the day after, and all the days to come, I’ll love you even more.”

  “Promise?”

  Remembering his opinion on the subject, how easily promises were broken, Skye shook her head.

  “The words I speak are the truth. I love you, Jax. Forever.”

  EPILOGUE

  ♫~♫~♫

  SKYE, NAKED AS the day she was born, wiggled her toes and watched with amused delight as the bed sheets bounced in response.

  “Want to hear a secret?”

  Chuckling, Jax lifted the near-empty bottle of champagne, pouring the last few drops into her glass.

  “From you? Always.”

  “I may be the teeniest bit tipsy.”

  “No!” Jax set aside the bottle. “What was your first clue?”

  “Feel all warm and tingly.” She drained her glass and frowned. “All gone. Open another, and I might let you have your way with me. Again.”

  Lord, drunk Skye was adorable, Jax decided.

  “Any more wine and I might not be able to rise to the occasion,” he warned.

  “Oh. Oh.” Skye’s gaze widened as the implication of his words sank in. “No more for you.”

  She tossed his glass, and hers, across the room, shrugging off the sound of crystal smashing against the wall.

  “The maid can take care of the mess.”

  “You don’t have a maid,” Jax reminded her.

  “Need one. All movie stars have maids.” Skye bounced up and down, her blond hair falling unchecked across her grinning face. “I’m a movie star!”

  Jax watched Skye’s silly escapades with an indulgent smile. She was entitled to go a little off the rails. After all, they had a lot to celebrate. Their love and limitless future topped the list.

  A close second was the phone call Skye received an hour earlier from Wyatt Landis. The part of Laurel in The End of Rainbows belonged to her.

  “Swear you didn’t pull any strings?” Skye pouted. “Cross your heart?”

  “Your talent won you the part, not me.”

  “Yay.” Laughing, Skye jumped into his arms. “You know, Wyatt hasn’t cast the male lead yet. You’d be perfect.”

  “Oh, no.” The thought sent a shiver of horror down Jax’s spine. “One actor in the family is plenty.”

  “Family.” She sobered. “You’re it now.”

  Jax supported Skye’s decision to cut her father and sister from her life. He would stand beside her if she ever changed her mind. And he was here to help her through the inevitable sadness either choice would bring.

  “You have me—always. But don’t forget, I come with a mother and father, two brothers, countless aunts and uncles, not to mention the endless nieces, nephews, and cousins.” Jax placed a kiss on her lips and felt his heart swell when her mouth curved into a smile. “You, my love, will never be alone.”

  Snuggling close, Skye sighed.

  “You forgot a few people.”

  “Did I?” Jax frowned. “Who?”

  “The rest of our family. Razor’s Edge.”

  Taking a deep breath, Jax rubbed his eyes. Until now, they hadn’t discussed Joplin, or her proposed reunion.

  “Do you want to go?”

  Skye rubbed her cheek against Jax’s shoulder, her hand settling on his hip.

  “Maybe. What do you think?”

  “I don’t know.” Jax wished the answer would come to him without the need to debate or rehash the past. “We still have a few weeks to decide.”

  Understanding better than anyone could, Skye nodded.

  “We’ll figure everything out. Together.”

  Jax covered Skye’s lips with his. Sweet, filled with love, the kiss grew passionate, as their kisses tended to do. He pulled her close, his legs tangling with hers. She was his, and he refused to waste a single second worrying about the future.

  Love wasn’t easy. Nothing worth having ever was. After all the ups and downs, the pain and heart
ache, they’d finally found their slice of paradise.

  ♫ ♫ ♫

  Look for ALMOST BLUE, the second book in the Rock & Roll Forever series, coming in July.

  Click here for an exclusive sneak peek at Beck’s story.

  http://www.maryjwilliams.net/almost-blue.html

  And coming later this year, Morgan’s story—ALMOST EVERYTHING. And the series concludes with Kane and Joplin—ALMOST HOME.

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  You met The Ryder Hard Band in ALMOST PARADISE. Curious about their love stories? The Hart of Rock and Roll series, all five books, in one amazing boxset, are only one click away. Grab your copy now.

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