Questionable Love (A Love Beyond Labels #2)

by Danielle Rocco

  “Daddy said we’re too little,” Scarlett tells her, pulling on one of Stella’s long dark curls.

  “Don’t do that, Scar,” she demands with a pouty face, pushing Scarlett’s hand away. They make me laugh. They are so sweet.

  Jace says Stella acts just like me. The girls are not identical, and everyone says they are the perfect combination of Jace and me. All of our babies share Jace’s eyes and hair color. Little Jace definitely looks just like my boy. He can’t argue that at all, but the girls, I think he would agree look like both of us.

  “Is Daddy coming in our room before he makes music with you?” Stella says, causing me to laugh. She’s very observant. “It’s time to go to sleep so Mommy and I can make music,” Jace always tells them when he leaves their room. The girls giggle and shake their heads fast, letting him know they’ll go to sleep. They hang on to his every word.

  Jace is the best daddy ever. The girls know that Jace and I make music for movies, but he and I know what kind of music he’s really talking about when he tells them that. My boy is sneaky like that, but he’s right. We make the best music together.

  I take one more look at our daughters and press a soft kiss to my little boy’s forehead. I’m just so thankful. Our love has only deepened, and just like first beginnings, we keep building upon our fairy tale. My perfect boy, with the sweetest boyish smile, never lets me forget how he feels with pink paper and a bold black pen in his best handwriting, making me the sweetest love notes. Jace reminds me that our life together is his everything, and every day is a calendar-worthy moment, heart-shaped, captured, and framed, and just so perfectly perfect.

  I FELL HARD, FAST, AND I LOVED HER

  SLOWLY FROM THE MOMENT I MET HER

  I DRIVE AROUND THE corner and turn off Pacific Coast Highway onto the little street where my entire life waits for me. We are preparing for the third soundtrack for the movie trilogy we’ve been working on since I got out of prison and back to my life with Shay.

  As I pull into our little beach-style cottage, I can’t help but smile. I’m just a boy raised in the pits of Los Angeles. I had nothing, and only ever wanted her. We were worlds apart, but just one look and I was so fucking in love. Nothing else mattered in that moment but her, and nothing ever will. She is everything to me.

  I park my bike, get off, and stare at our home. Butterfly bushes for my girl stare back at me. Shay watched me the entire weekend, shirtless, sweaty, and dirty, plant the hummingbird and butterfly attracting plant she pointed out to me in the botanical garden at the zoo. We took our picture next to that bush that she told me her dad planted for her mom so she could enjoy them every day. I had never seen a hummingbird until that moment, but I made a mental note that day, that one day, I would plant one for her, and I did. Three of them, one for each of my girls. I bring our babies out here all the time and watch them get excited when a hummingbird comes up with its wings moving a hundred miles an hour. I want my children to have everything I didn’t. Shay likes to watch us from the porch, and my heart always flutters just as fast when I look at her.

  Our house. It’s the smallest one on the beach block, and still needs a lot of work. But, Shay fell in love with it the moment we pulled up, and before we even got out of the car to check it out, she was already in tears. I knew when she looked at me and told me she could already see us twenty years from now with all our kids and their friends over, full of beach days, I had to buy it for her.

  I will never forget the moment I signed the papers on our first home. After sealing the deal, I carried Shay through the front door, set her down in the home we would raise our family, and gifted her a little house charm on her bracelet, placed right next to her little baby charms. She cried and cried. I did it. Everything I ever wanted for us I’ve done. I wrote our names in the sand the day we got the key, and my girl’s pretty pink toes have been sand-filled ever since. I had nothing as a kid but a hand for her to hold, and I’m one lucky man because she’s never let go of that hand.

  I walk up to the front porch that I will probably work on this weekend. Landon plans on helping me. The girls love their Uncle Landon. Moving sand buckets to the side of the door, I stare at flip-flops and three sets of white Converse lined up perfectly. Shay and Stella have plain white, and Scarlett likes glittery things, so Shay puts sparkles on hers. Stella is just like Shay.

  Unlocking the door, I walk into a quiet house. Sunshine and happiness fill me from the inside out whenever I step foot in our home. It smells like Shay. White walls and earthy tones, as Shay would say, is her theme. Jules says it’s super beachy. What the hell do I know? All I care about are the pictures that line our walls and furniture, of Shay and me growing up, our wedding pictures, and, of course, our sweet babies. They are the prettiest girls ever created, and my boy, well, let’s just say my girl got her mini Jace, and he is one good-looking boy. I head down the hall and right into my girls’ room.

  “Daddy?” they both say in unison with a giggle. My heart fucking swells with how much love I have for my family.

  “I can’t see you,” I tell them. All those damn pillows. They start laughing and throw their pink pillows off their bed.

  “Here we are!” they yell. Seriously, they have Shay’s exact voice. So soft and sweet. Literally, I don’t know what I’m going to do when boys start coming around. I’m either going to lose my hair my girl loves or go gray really quickly. They are just too pretty and sweet, and the boys… God, I don’t even want to think about it. My boy is going to watch his sisters. But, shit, I can’t have him do that. Dammit, I’m screwed. No boy of mine is going to end up in prison for fighting. I guess I’m going fucking bald.

  I walk up to my girls and fall onto their bed. They share a room and have two beds, but they always start in the same one. They crawl on top of me, and Stella pushes my hair out of my face just like Shay does.

  “Aren’t you pretty little girls supposed to be asleep?”

  They giggle, shaking their heads back and forth, smacking me in the face with their bouncy waves.

  “Daddy, can I ride on your motorcycle tomorrow?” Stella asks. This one for sure is going to make me go bald.

  “No, you can’t, Stella,” Scarlett says before I can answer. I think she spends too much time with Auntie Jules. She’s very demanding. I laugh when Scarlett runs her little chubby hand on my face. “You need to shave, Daddy.”

  “Yeah, I know. I love you girls so much.”

  “You always tell us that.”

  “I know, because I always want you to know how I feel about you. Tomorrow Daddy is going to play on the beach all day with you.”

  “Can we make heart-shaped sandwiches? That’s our favorite!” they say at the same time.

  “Daddy’s, too,” I say, tickling them. They have pink nightgowns on and little pink painted fingernails with a tiny white flower on their pinkie, just like Shay did the day I met her. “Your nails look pretty.”

  “Auntie Jules and Mommy played beauty shop with us today,” Stella says. They hold up their little hands.

  “Beauty shop? I bet that was fun.”

  “We like beauty shop.” They nod their heads quickly. I smile at their excitement. They’re the happiest girls. “Do you know what else we did today, Daddy?”

  “What pretty girls?” I ask them both at the same time. When they’re excited, they always talk at the same time.

  “Auntie Jules made us marshmallow ballerinas, and Mommy let us put the pink sprinkles on them.”

  “How fun. Let me see one,” I tell them. They both jump off the bed and go over to their dresser and grab a little plate.

  “I want to hold it, Scar,” Stella says with a pout, trying to grab the plate out of Scarlett’s hands.

  “Daddy!” Scarlett yells. “I want to carry it.” She pouts along with Stella.

  “Don’t be sassy, little girls. Both of you hold the plate and come show Daddy.”

  “Okay,” they say at the same time. Damn, they seriously sound just like Shay.
They walk over, holding the plate, and I look down and see pink sprinkles everywhere.

  “They really do look like little ballerinas.”

  “Yup, they do, and Auntie Jules says we made them so pretty that we can help her make dresses,” Scarlett says.

  “That will be lots of fun,” I tell them, taking the plate out of their hands. “Okay, time for bed. Daddy needs to make music with Mommy.”

  “Can we hear the song?” Stella asks, making me chuckle.

  “Not this song. But maybe we’ll bring Mommy’s guitar out on the beach for our picnic tomorrow.”

  “Yay!” they both scream. I kiss them both and tuck them in.

  “Daddy?” Scarlett says softly.

  “Yeah, sweet girl?”

  “I just want you to know I love you, and I think you’re a handsome daddy.”

  “Yeah, me, too, Daddy,” Stella says, laughing on her fluffy pink pillow.

  “We just want you to know how we feel,” Scarlett says for the both of them. My eyes fill with tears. It’s the one thing I’ve always said to Shay, and I must say it a lot because my girls say it to us now, too. I walk back over and kiss their chubby little sun-kissed faces.

  “Thank you for telling me that. I love knowing you love me.” Then I give them both a quick tickle. “And, Mommy thinks I’m handsome, too.”

  “The handsome-ist daddy ever,” they say together, touching my face. You don’t have to guess how cute Shay is as a mom. All you have to do is hear our girls talk, and you know Shay is so damn perfect with them. “Goodnight, my sweet girls.”

  They smile, close their matching pale blue eyes, and then I make a quick stop in Jace’s room to kiss my boy. I tiptoe in and look down into his crib. He’s in little blue pajamas with black motorcycles all over them. I smile and kiss my thumb, then run it against his cheek. We really do look alike; my dad’s side of the family has some strong ass genes. I stare at my son, thinking of the life I had growing up that he will never know. He is glued to Shay just like I am, and she loves her boys so damn hard. My son has so much love around him. He gets smothered in sweetness, and it’s the best feeling knowing my children will have everything I dreamed about as a kid. I fix his blanket, tell him I love him, and go find Shay. She’s not in our room, and I know the only other place she will be. The door is wide open to the back deck. Every single thing falls away when I see long, dark, wavy hair curled up under our beach blanket. I walk up behind her and sit down. She leans against me.

  “Were they still awake?”

  “Yup. How’s my girl?”

  “I’m perfect. I’m with my boy,” she says over her shoulder. I smile, placing a kiss on her shoulder.

  “Baby, would you still love me without all this jet-black hair?” I ask her. She turns around, straddles me, and runs her fingers through it.

  “Give me your lips,” she tells me. I kiss her softly, and she opens up for me, letting me make quickie love to her mouth. “I missed you,” she whispers against only hers.

  “I missed you, too, pretty girl,” I tell her as she pulls my hair back.

  “You want to cut it?” She frowns.

  “No, I think I’m going bald,” I answer, making her laugh. She grabs a handful of hair in her pretty hands.

  “Jace, your dad has a full head of hair, and so does your mom. I don’t think you’re going to go bald. Why do you think that?”

  “Our girls are so beautiful, and boys are going to be relentless trying to get their attention. All this beauty surrounds me, and I don’t want any boys near my girls. I already can’t stand anyone looking at you.”

  “Once Jace gets older, you’ll have someone to help you scare the boys away.”

  “We only have one son, and we have two daughters.” I smile devilishly at her. “You need to give me more boys.” I cup her face. “Let’s make another baby, Shay,” I whisper, taking my straddled girl softly to her back into the sand.

  “You’re ready for another? Jace is still a baby.”

  “And, the cutest baby, ever,” I say like she does without the air quotes, placing my hands above her head with our fingers interwoven. “We make really pretty kids, and I thought you wanted a lot of mini Jaces?” She bites down on her coconut-filled sexy pout and looks up to the stars. When she looks back down at me, her eyes are filled with so much love.

  “It still feels like a dream, doesn’t it?”

  “Our life will always be a dream.” I look into my girl’s eyes.

  “Best dream ever.”

  “Do you love me, Shay James?”

  “More than anything, Jace James.”

  “I know you do,” I say, looking out into the ocean from our beach blanket. I lift off her and pull her up next to me, holding her close as we watch the waves slowly make their way into shore. I gaze over at my girl as the moon casts a glow around her. With the light salty breeze around us, I tell her how I feel, “You are the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. I love you, Shay.”

  “I love you so much, sexy boy,” she says. I love when she calls me all her sweet names she has only ever given me. She snuggles up next to me, and we look back out into the calm waters, taking in the peacefulness that surrounds us. Her touch and her scent overwhelm me with how much I feel for her as she lays her head on my shoulder.

  “My love for you is unending.” She looks up at me and smiles just like the day I met her, and that rush of warmth I felt inside me all those years ago burns so damn strong. “Be my girl,” I tell her with a sly grin.

  “I thought I was,” she replies, reminding me of first kisses against our tree.

  “I just want to hear you say it.”

  “I’m always going to be your girl, and your wife—”

  “And, my everything,” I cut her off.

  “You’re so swoony.” She giggles.

  “Your voice makes me crazy. I kind of need to be inside you now,” I say, giving her the sexy grin she loves.

  “Does my boy want me reckless?”

  “Not this time. I want you nice and slow.” Her face lights up, and I stare at her. She lifts my white T-shirt over my head and runs her fingernails on my face, over our reminder of time apart, and down my chest to the zipper of my jeans. I press my lips to hers and whisper, “I love you.” Standing up, I take off my pants while she lifts the sexiest pale pink nightgown off the prettiest body.

  She lies down before me with her hair flowing endlessly around her beautiful face. I stand over her for just a minute as she smiles at me—the same smile that I prayed every Wednesday for years that I would be lucky enough to see walk through that community center door, the same smile that greeted me lovingly, longingly behind concrete walls as she stood strong by me when I was away, the same smile our two beautiful daughters give me every time they look at me.

  With her scent around me, and the promise to write our names in the sand when I was just a teen fulfilled with my girl, for a brief moment I see myself in a ratty apartment with a room full of dust and a dream of a life I thought I would never have. Shay changed my world when she walked into it. She became everything to me, and looking at her now, all these years later at the life and family she has given me, I’m overwhelmed, thankful, and so blissfully content.

  “What are you thinking about, perfect boy?”

  “You. I’m always thinking about you.”

  “Come here,” she says full of childhood sass. “Come make love to your girl.” Oh, damn, when she talks like that. I throw my hair back as only hers begs to make its way inside only mine. Then I lean down, grabbing first time blankets to cover us, and press my lips to hers. She drops those perfect hips, and I slip right into her warmth. She grips my back tight like she always does, reminding me she will always hold on to me. I thrust slowly in and out of her, dragging my lips over her soft neck that smells like tropical paradise and coconut.

  She talks to me sweetly, in little whispered tones of how much she loves me, with each roll of her hips. We are true love, passion, soul binding, forever
kind of loves, fated to be together from the moment we looked into each other’s eyes.

  I fell hard, fast, and I loved her slowly from the moment I met her. And, with her pretty pink painted fingers gliding through my hair, both of us ready to come undone, we kiss and kiss and kiss so gently, just the way we like it, soft and slow. That’s what we do, what we’ve always done, and we’ve done everything so fucking perfect.

  THE END

  This was the beginning of our fairy tale perfectly perfect happily ever after…

  Dear Readers,

  Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking this journey with me! I never in my life thought I would be a writer, but when this story came to me, I was on a mission to write it. I wouldn’t change a single word, a scene, or a character. Jace and Shay’s entire journey and everyone who was a part of it are so perfectly perfect!

  I’m incredibly proud of my first fictional babies, Jace James and his girl Shay Stark. (Shay James) So damn sweet!

  I wanted to create a young adult story that I could be proud of. A story that inspired teens to find true love and not settle for anything less. I wanted love and respect at its best, and for you to feel that love and appreciation for a loving relationship within these characters. I’m truly proud of the Stark family and the James family for showing all that families should be, can be, and what true love, first love, only love can achieve when you have love and support.

  To all you teens out there who embrace this story, I want you to know that it’s out there. There is a Jace James who will love you, who will cherish you, and you are worth all that and more. And to all of us that embraced this journey who are not ‘teens’ anymore but ‘teens’ at heart, thank you for loving young love. We only have one time in our life we get all those first-time feels, and I wanted Jace and Shay to give you the best of them. Let’s teach our young girls to strive for the perfect boy to give her all of her sweet memories.