Before she could form a retort, Zee’s voice punctured the air. “She was personally hand-picked by Mac for Harley.” What was this? Zee was defending her? Or he might have been defending Mac’s decision. “As he picked me to work with you, Jax.” It was a fact. Most assignments were posted on the board and agents either took them or enlisted. When Mac felt the client warranted a special type of handling, he would pick the right person. Nobody questioned his decisions as far as Cade knew.
“All right then. That settles it.” Jax’s eyes stayed on Cade the whole time. “Tina, call Harley down so she can meet her new protector.”
Cade’s eyes lifted to see Tina Joyce roll her eyes, swipe on the tablet she held, and barked an order to it. “Harley, come down. Your father wants you.”
It didn’t take a second for a girl to pop her head out and walk down the stairs. Cade wasn’t sure what she had expected, but the careful, prim, and quiet steps of a petite girl, dressed in preppy chic—most likely a designer outfit—with pig tails wasn’t it. This was the daughter of seemingly bad boy Jax Clark? The girl hesitated on the final step. Cade guessed that she had been listening the whole time. Cade made eye contact with the girl and that gave her courage to move forward. Harley stopped beside the sofa where Jax was seated.
“Hello, Father.” Such a formal greeting in such a sweet little voice. A small smile tickled Cade’s lips.
Something didn’t add up. The file said Harley was eight but she couldn’t have been more than six by the looks of her. Jax shifted forward, reached for his daughter’s hand, and wrapped his small finger around hers.
“You’re sticking with that, huh?” The girl nodded. “Well, if you must. Harley, meet Zee and Cade. Zee is the gentle giant here.” Harley released her father’s finger to shake hands with the big guy. It was comical to see their difference but Harley proudly lifted her chin up when she greeted Zee. “And Miss Cadence Williams, she goes by Cade. Isn’t that just wicked?”
Cade wrapped her hands around the girl’s. Harley had a firm handshake. Staid and formal. “It’s a pleasure to meet both of you.” Cade’s smile brightened her face. The girl was nothing but sweetness.
“Pleasure to meet you as well, Harley.”
“You must forgive my darling daughter. She is an old soul. She definitely makes me look badass in front of others while she’s all neat and formal.” There was humor in Jax’s voice. “Cade will be watching over you when we’re out, Harley. What she says goes.”
Harley, still facing Cade, turned around to face her father. “I understand.”
“Jax, I’ve got Bruno,” Tina Joyce’s voice interrupted. She was holding out a phone to Jax.
“Finally. I’ve gotta take this, folks.” Jax twisted his frame to reach behind him. His shirt lifted to expose a peek of taut ab muscles and a curve of a hipbone. When Cade peeked, her mouth dried up. “Tin, why don’t you show them around the place?” His PA nodded once.
“May I give Miss Williams a tour?” the little girl quipped, surprising all of them.
Jax’s face brightened. Cade’s heart hitched upon witnessing his killer smile. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard so far! Go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”
Harley turned back to face Cade, with a bright smile and an excitement that Cade couldn’t understand. Cade was happy that the girl seemed to take to her well. Her hand held the girl’s as they proceeded to walk up the stairs, leaving Zee with the surly Tina. Without looking back, Cade knew Jax was watching her every move. The little hairs on the back of her neck stood as though Jax himself had blown a warm breath of air onto her skin. The thought sent magical tingles all over her body.
What had she gotten herself into?
Chapter Two
Neither one of Harley’s parents were present in her first happy memories. Au pairs, nannies, sitters, whatever they were called…they had shared those memories with her. Her mother had been wary of their presence, always finding each one lacking. Harley hoped that it was for her sake but that had never been the case. Fiona had always been a selfish woman. Having Harley had never been part of her plans and a fact that Fiona never forgot to impart on Harley. “The rubber broke and the pill made me feel loopy,” she constantly told Harley. Parties and men were Fiona’s current favourite hobbies. There was always plenty of both.
As soon as she heard Cade’s voice in the living room, she had been drawn to the woman. Peeking over the staircase, she wondered how someone like her ended up in the bodyguard business. She didn’t look tough enough, unlike that big man who came with her. He didn’t look friendly at all. Harley thanked her lucky stars Cade was chosen for her.
She brought Cade right away to her bedroom. An overly sweet room, it reminded her of a pink cotton candy explosion. Harley didn’t have the heart to tell her father that she’d grown out of pink everything. She hadn’t liked the colour since she was four. Cade had a sweet smile on her face once Harley drew her in.
“My father thinks all girls like pink.” Harley waved her hand around—pink chandelier, pink linens, pink side table, pink padded headboard.
Cade nodded. “I gather you’re not a fan.”
“Oh, I don’t mind it. I think I might get used to it somehow. One day…hopefully.” Harley bounced on her bed. “It’s comfortable.” She waited for Cade to sit beside her, but she seemed to be following a certain protocol: don’t move until you’re told, don’t talk until you’re spoken to. Much like what Fiona had taught Harley.
“It’s okay. I won’t tell if you don’t want me to.” Cade smiled and winked.
Harley felt she had to defend her father. “It’s just that…he hasn’t been around me much. I’ve only started living with him full time three months ago. My mother finally got married but she didn’t want me dragging her and her new husband down so I’ve been sent off to live with my father.”
Cade knitted her eyebrows. She casually leaned against a light pink linen wing chair in the corner of the room. “Why are you so formal with him?”
“Do you mean why do I speak the way I do?” It was a question people often asked Harley. Oftentimes she never bothered to answer. Shrugging made people think she was stupid, an explanation made them think she was a smartass, and keeping quiet meant defiance. Cade was different. Harley wanted to open up to the woman, a stranger. She wondered what Dr. Herring, her current shrink, would think of that.
Before Harley could answer, Cade guessed, “Is it because you want him to treat you like you’re older?” The woman looked at Harley with intensity. “You’re smaller than I thought.”
Like Harley had never heard that before. “I am. I have a congenital heart defect. It has affected my growth.”
Cade didn’t appear shocked, or sympathetic, like she had seen from other people. Cade simply understood. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
No adult had apologized to her before. Most of the time she was put aside, forgotten by her mother, made fun of by other children, and treated like a delicate porcelain doll by her father. None had ever apologized to her for not having known a completely hidden fact. Fiona made sure her condition never surfaced. Fiona wanted to be free to party and have fun—not be judged because of a daughter born with a hole in her heart. Like her own child was born incomplete. Thankfully, Harley had a wonderful grandmother. Along with a slew of nannies, Harley was well cared for by her maternal grandmother. Unfortunately, Nan’s age and ailing health took a hold of her. The feisty and lovable Nan passed away too soon.
“It’s usually my job to know things. I kind of dropped the ball on this one.” Cade took a step forward and slowly approached the pink bed. She tilted her head to the side when she spotted another pink item by the windows. “I like your dollhouse.”
“Thank you.” Harley jumped off the bed, and walked towards the dollhouse. Cade followed. “My father gave it to me for Christmas. Be careful with the stairs and the balcony though, I think someone was careless during the move. Father tried to fix it but he isn’t very good at fixing thin
gs.” Remembering the frustrating night for her father had caused her to smile.
“Perhaps I can help you fix it one day. I used to have something like it. My grandmother gave it to my mom and it was passed down to me. She said I should give it to my daughter one day. I guess she won’t know if I do or don’t.”
“Why not?” Harley noticed a slight frown on Cade’s mouth.
“She passed away five years ago. She had cancer.”
How sad. Cade obviously loved her mother, who had surely taken care of her daughter. It was sad that a loving mother would be taken away from her child.
“My Nan died too.” Harley reached for Cade’s hand and squeezed it tenderly. Cade squeezed back.
“Oh, thankfully my grandma is still alive and kicking. She’s pretty much all I have right now. You’d love her. She taught me everything I know and the things she didn’t know she encouraged me to learn on my own.” She looked relieved. “We’d better look at the rest of the house before Tina and Zee start looking for us.”
Harley nodded, her hand still clasped in Cade’s warm hand. If her hand was this warm, Harley could imagine how warm her heart would be.
***
The place was bigger than it seemed, a veritable mansion in the sky. Jax had seen photos of it before signing. His favourite part was the 180-degree ocean view. He stood in front of a floor to ceiling window in his office, laughing to himself at what he dubbed the room. Rock stars didn’t have offices. They had studios. His own personal studio was tucked in one of the corners of the penthouse, it had been his second priority. The first was Harley’s bedroom. He consulted a designer for it, and the woman had convinced him that every girl wanted a pink bedroom. When Harley saw her bedroom for the first time, Jax didn’t see the elation he had expected, nor did Harley throw a fit of rage. She just acted like…Harley, his darling little girl.
Before Nan passed away, she had made Jax promise to take care of her great-granddaughter, knowing full well that her own granddaughter, Fiona, was—and would always be—incapable of caring for a child, much less herself. Nan had been a constant strength for Harley, and Nan was Jax’s conscience in the flesh.
Jax had been ready to look the other way when Fiona told him of the pregnancy. They were too immature too young, and too thirsty for success and stardom. Nan had insisted that the baby should at least be born and she herself would care for the child. When it came time for Fiona’s scheduled C-section, Jax had just signed a record deal that paved the way for his current celebrity status.
“Come to the hospital now,” was all Nan had said over the phone. Still drunk from all the champagne he’d chugged during the celebratory party, he sauntered into the room with the bright lights and beeping sounds. The sight of the small baby with tubes passing in and out of the incubator sobered him up. He couldn’t understand what he was seeing. How could his full-term infant be that small? And why was she blue? As he pressed his hand on the chamber’s surface, Nan came in with a doctor. As the doctor explained the situation, Nan had placed her hand beside Jax. She had found the best surgeon for the needed procedure. Jax had wanted to hold his child. He wanted to tell his daughter that everything would be fine.
But everything wasn’t fine. Not then and not now. “I’m fixing it,” he whispered to himself, only slightly aware of the other two people in the room.
“I’ve set appointments for Harley’s new school but Bruno has to let us know when he wants us in L.A.” Tina jarred him out of his thoughts. “That is, if you want to go with her.”
Jax sighed out loud. He knew what Tina was insinuating. He wasn’t the fatherly type, no matter what he tried to do before. Some had even accused him of buying his daughter’s love. More often than not, he had sent Tina to buy whatever it was that his daughter would enjoy. That had to stop. For Christmas last year, he personally picked his present for Harley—a pink Victorian dollhouse. What more could a girl want? But when Harley unwrapped it (and Jax took at least another hour to wrap the damn thing after having already spent four hours painstakingly putting it together), he saw the same type of enthusiasm, or lack thereof, that she displayed upon seeing her bedroom for the first time. Not happy, not sad. Not elated, not disappointed either. Just stoicism, the one thing Harley had perfected.
The curious thing was she seemed to show a bit more interest in Cadence Williams. Not that Harley could be blamed. The woman had definitely caught his attention in more ways than one. An idea hit him.
“Why not send her with Miss Williams?” He glanced at Tina, then at Zee, waiting for either one to agree or convince him it was the worst idea ever.
“That’s a good plan. It would be a way to test out Cade…with Harley,” Zee agreed.
“Perfect. I think I hear them now.” They waited until Harley and Cade’s footsteps neared the room. “Harley, could you come in here please?” Jax called out.
The two were getting along quite well, enough to share a joke between them. Harley had a big smile on her face, something Jax had only seen a few times, and Cade’s face lightened with a soft smile playing on her lips. Why was it the first thing Jax noticed? Even during their introductions, as soon as Jax saw those sensuous lips, his world had tilted. There was a slight lilt in his voice when he spoke to her that he hoped no one had noticed.
He addressed Cade and Harley. “I was just telling Tina that it would be a good idea for you to go with Miss Williams to check out Collingwood. You have a meeting tomorrow.” Jax smiled at his daughter.
Upon hearing the suggestion, Harley’s bright smile dimmed, but she didn’t protest. She only nodded.
Cade, on the other hand, was disappointed. Her eyebrows drew together. “Collingwood?” Her question echoed in the room. She turned to Harley. “You didn’t tell me you’re going to a new school.”
Harley tilted her head, not saying anything, but an understanding seemed to pass between the two. Jax was amazed and alerted by this. How could she garner trust from Harley in such a short time, while he had been unsuccessful for eight years?
“And you’re not going with her? To her new school?”
It took a second for Jax to realize that the question was directed toward him. It had been too long since anyone had questioned his actions.
Before he could reply, Zee spoke, “Cade, Jax has business in LA. It would be an excellent idea for you to attend the meeting with Harley and get to know Collingwood as well, if Harley decides to choose it.” Zee sounded powerful, authoritative.
Cade crossed her arms over her chest. Defiance. Boy, did she know how beautiful she looked even with that attitude? When was the last time a woman had challenged him? Jax’s thoughts had him feeling primal. He leaned on the back of a club chair, copying her stance. “Would you all give Miss Williams and me a moment?”
Tina smirked as she left the room. Harley paused for a brief moment, her head bowed as she turned around and walked out after Tina. Zee showed no other emotion. Clearly, he knew Jax was the boss. He glared at Cade as he passed her by but said nothing else before leaving and closing the door behind him.
Now that the two of them were alone, other thoughts filled Jax’s mind. A surreal crackling in the air made his body shiver, and the hair on his arms stand. Would he falter first in this standoff with the sexy bodyguard?
“I have to fly to LA,” he started, not changing his stance, and neither did she. “My manager and agent made new arrangements for a possible international tour. Harley knew things like this would happen. I would take her with me normally, however, I believe she would be safe with you as she checks out a possible new school.”
Would that do it? His voice was cool and calm but radiated sex. It had worked on so many women before, but would it work on Cade?
She sighed heavily, unlocking her arms. Her hands remained fisted on her sides. “A new school is a big step. It wasn’t mentioned to me that she would no longer be homeschooled. Wouldn’t it be a good idea for her father to be present for this new introduction?”
He
defended himself. “Of course you’re right. I have already met with the head of Collingwood before moving to Vancouver. Well, Collingwood and a few other schools. Harley asked to attend a co-ed. Why she wants to change schools at this moment is something only Harley can answer.”
Jax shifted his weight forward, uncrossing his arms. He was drawn to Cade, something not entirely new or foreign to him but it was stronger than he had ever felt before. Taking his time, he sauntered to where she stood, defiance set on her countenance, hands fisted at her sides, chin lifted with challenge but her eyes…her eyes were kind and soft, unsure, and if he wasn’t wrong, slightly afraid.
“You have a certain connection with my daughter which I have only seen once before and you’ve known her less than an hour. And you…intrigue me.” He was but a few inches away from her. He couldn’t tell which one of them emanated more heat than the other. The air thickened between them until it was hard for Jax to breathe.
When he saw the slight change in her eyes, the want, the need, he closed off the gap and covered her mouth with his.
Chapter Three
Exhaustion was never a part of Cade’s vocabulary. Her mother used to say that she never ran out of energy as a little kid. She was always getting into mischief with the new friends she met along the way. It must be the new emotions rallying in her head which caused her fatigue she had never known before.
Cade had no one to come home to. No husband, boyfriend, an annoying roommate, a needy dog or indifferent cat, not even a goldfish. The afternoon’s interactions with Harley, Jax, and even Tina made her wish she had someone to come home to with whom she could share her thoughts. She peeled out of the oversized suit and threw it in the laundry basket. Zee had told her to wear comfortable but professional clothes the next day. What the heck did that mean?
Harley (West Coast Rock Star #1) Page 2
