by Winters, KB
Chapter Ten — Kat
“Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” I asked Jace. I knew it was the hundredth time I’d asked, but I had to make sure.
Jace laughed. “Yes. Kat, please, stop asking. I’ll be fine!”
I pulled on my jacket, and turned back to him. He was propped up in a sitting position, a mountain of pillows behind him. His laptop and phone were within arm’s reach, he had the sandwich I’d made him sitting on the bedside table, and was smirking at me as I made a mental checklist of what else he might need before I left the house. “What about—”
“Katherine…” he scolded, still smiling. “I’m fine. Please, get out of here before you end up being late. That would be pretty sad on your last day.”
I smiled back at him, a jolt of excitement pinging through me. It was my last day of interior design school. Each student would receive a comprehensive assessment of their final project, be presented with their grades, and by the end of the night, the entire class would be participating in a small graduation ceremony where we would receive our certificate of completion.
If we passed.
Jace had undergone surgery while I was working on my final project, and while everything had gone according to plan, and he was now back home and working through recovery, it had taken more emotional and mental energy to get through than I’d expected, and the fact that it had coincided with my final project—an extensive hotel lobby design—I wasn’t feeling as confident as I should’ve been about walking into my instructor’s office to get my assessment.
“Baby, I saw the pictures, they’re gonna love it,” Jace told me, studying my tight, worried expression. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m fine, Hilda’s right next door if I need anything, I’ll call her. You just go, get your kick ass report, and I’ll see you tonight at graduation.”
His confident words patched up my fragile, anxiety riddled mind, and I squared my shoulders, straightening my jacket, and fastening the buttons. “All right. How do I look?”
“Smoking hot. If I wasn’t worried about internal bleeding, I’d take ya right here, right now,” Jace replied, his voice light and teasing.
I rolled my eyes. “I was going for a professional, ready to take on the world, business woman look…”
“Right. Well, whenever I look at you, I just see you naked. Your professor probably won’t have the same issue.”
“You’re impossible.” I laughed and Jace winked at me. I went to the side of the bed and gave him a kiss. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Knock ‘em dead, baby girl.”
* * * *
As Jace had predicted, my instructor gave me top marks on my final project, and when I walked out of her office an hour later, I had a glowing letter of recommendation and the names of three design firms that had seen my final showcase and wanted to meet to discuss project consultations. Not only was I going to graduate, but within a few weeks time, I could potentially have enough work to keep me busy for months. My head was spinning, and my heart was pumping, by the time I got to the auditorium where the graduation was to take place. The course was offered through the community college, and although I wouldn’t have a new degree to show for my work, I had a certificate, and a portfolio bursting with examples of my work.
I scanned the parking lot as I walked in, looking for Hilda’s car. She was going to be bringing Jax and Jace to the ceremony, and although I knew it was too early for them to be there, I couldn’t help but look for them. It was hard not to text or call with the news of how my assessment had gone, but it was something I wanted to do in person. I went inside and followed the instructions on where to stand and where to go when my name was called. The instructions were all very simple, but I paid extra attention in order to keep my brain occupied.
Half an hour later, everyone was in place, and as we all filed out on stage, the small crowd erupted with cheers and applause. I looked out and spotted Jace immediately. I smiled when I saw Jax standing on the bench next to him, jumping up and down and clapping wildly. When the applause died down, I heard his little voice rise above the crowd, “That’s my mama!” The crowd chuckled and my eyes filled with happy tears.
After the ceremony, I rushed out to the foyer to find Jace, Jax, and Hilda in the crowd. Jax spotted me first and bolted across the room, flinging himself into my arms. “Mama! We have a surprise!”
“You do?” I pressed a kiss to his head and let him lead me back to where Jace and Hilda were. Jace was sitting in a chair and I knew he was probably feeling the effect of all the exertion. He hadn’t been out much since his surgery and the doctor had told him it would take at least a couple months before he would feel better and not need his pain medication anymore. I ran a hand up his back and rested it on his shoulder. “I hear you have a surprise.”
Jace shot a look at Jax, a flicker of panic in his eyes. “Jax, remember what I told you?” Jax nodded and put a finger to his lips. We all laughed at his sweet gesture and solemn expression. “As it so happens, we do have a little something up our sleeve, but you are just going to have to wait and see what it is.”
“All right, fine, but I better not have to wait too long. Otherwise, I’m going to have to tickle the answers out of this one,” I said, reaching out to tickle Jax’s neck.
Jace braced a hand on the back of the chair and pushed up. “You heard the woman, let’s get the party started!”
He led me out to the car and made me give my keys to Hilda. She drove my car back to town, leaving me with Jace and Jax. Jace made me put on a blindfold ten minutes into the drive. Jax thought it was hysterical and couldn’t stop cackling from the back seat. We rode on for another half an hour, and when the car came to a stop, Jace led me, not letting me take off the blindfold just yet. A few minutes later, Jax took my hand and led me the final steps.
“Okay,” Jace’s voice purred in my ear. “Now you can look.” He took the blindfold away and when I opened my eyes, a chorus of “Congratulations!” broke out. I blinked twice, taking in the crowd before me. We were standing in the main entrance of the diner, but it was packed wall to wall with people wearing party hats and cheering for me. There was a huge banner hanging from the ceiling and party streamers all over the place. I looked around at all the beaming faces and realized that practically the whole town was packed inside. All of the usual customers, Patrice, all the line cooks and hostesses, Hilda was among them, her daughter on her right. Even my parents were waiting for me, offering well wishes with everyone else.
I turned back to Jace, my mouth still dropped open in shock. “You did this?”
He nodded. “Well, with a little help,” he nodded down at Jax. “He was the decorator for the event.”
Jax jumped up and down and pointed out all the streamers and balloons.
“Thank you both.” I turned to the crowd. “Thank you all!”
I mingled with everyone, and had a few glasses of pricey champagne that Patrice had supplied. My parents even hugged me and told me they were proud of me—at which point, I completely lost it and started bawling. The night was full of laughter, love, and celebration. Jace hung back and let me enjoy the party, chatting with people and keeping Jax occupied and entertained.
It was the best party I’d been to in a long time, and the only surprise party that had ever been given in my honor. I thanked Jace at least a dozen times on the way back home after everyone had gone home.
“The real fun is gonna be getting this guy to go to sleep,” Jace joked when we pulled into the driveway. “He had a lot of cake tonight.”
I laughed. “I’ll put some extra lavender oil in the bath water.”
“We do have one more thing to show you. Right bud?”
“Yeah!” Jax cheered from his car seat.
I cocked an eyebrow at Jace but didn’t bother asking what it was. I knew he wouldn’t tell me. He liked teasing me too much to give it up that easily.
We got upstairs and Jace put Mickey out in the back yard. I was about to
round up Jax for his bath, when Jace stopped me. “Hold on. One minute.” He squatted down next to Jax. “Should we show her what we did? Our art project?”
I smiled as Jax started cheering again. A few weeks before Jace had flown to Texas for his surgery, Jax had informed him that he wanted to be an artist when he grew up, just like Jace, and they had begun working on little projects every day. I sat down on the couch and opened my hands. “I’d love to see it!”
Jace turned to Jax. “You wanna go get it, bud?”
Jax scampered off down the hall, and came back wearing his little backpack. He opened it and pulled out a piece of paper. He gave it to me, and I unfolded it. “This is beautiful!” I exclaimed. My eyes teared up as I traced the picture Jax had drawn, showing Jace, me, and him as rough, child-like stick figure scribbles. Jace’s handwriting was underneath each person, labeling it, and at the bottom it said “Our Family” in beautiful scroll lettering—like a fancy tattoo.
“You did this?”
“I’ve been practicing.” Jace replied, then he smiled and sat down next to me. “Well, Jax drew this on his own, and when I asked him what it was, he said it was family. His family.”
“That’s amazing.” I reached for Jax and drew him to me, pressing a kiss to the side of his face. I was still holding him in one arm, and pulled Jace in with the other, the tears falling as I held the two loves of my life in my arms.
“We had a conversation about family, and what it means, and came up with a question for you,” Jace continued. I released them and turned to look at him as he slid from the couch, kneeling before me.
“Oh my God…Jace?” My hands flew to cover my mouth.
“You got it, bud?” Jace asked, and Jax smiled as he produced a small velvet box from his backpack. “Good job! Thanks for holding onto it for me.” He turned his attention back to me. “Kat, you are the love of my life. I’ve spent most of my life wrestling with questions, looking for answers, but now, everything is simple, and I just have one question left. Will you marry me?”
I burst into tears, frantically nodding through the flood. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Jace popped open the box to reveal a solitaire diamond sparkler. He slipped it on my finger and I leaned over to kiss him.
Jax jumped around, whooping and hollering, and we all laughed. “Family!” He cheered.
Jace turned to look at me. “Family.”
I nodded and took his damaged hand in mine. “Yes. Family. Forever and always.”
~ THE END ~
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More from KB Winters
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Fate Interrupted
Timeless Passion
Hooked (Get it free!)
SEAL’d Perfection
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Acknowledgements
Thank you!
A million thanks to all my readers. Without you, my books wouldn’t need to exist. I truly appreciate each and every one of you!
Thanks to all of my beta readers, street team, ARC readers and Facebook fans. You girls are the best!
And a huge bazillion thanks to my PA, Shannon Hunt and Once Upon an Alpha. Without you, I’d be a hot mess! Thank you!
And a very special thanks to my editor, Tina. Thank you for making my words make sense.
About The Author
KB Winters has an addiction to caffeine, tattoos and hard-bodied alpha males. The men in her books are very sexy, protective and sometimes bossy, her ladies are…well…bossier!
Living in sunny Southern California, the embarrassingly hopeless romantic writes every chance she gets!
You can connect with KB on Facebook and Twitter!
Or stop by her website at KBWinters.com!
SEAL’d Perfection
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By
KB Winters
Copyright © 2016 BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC
Published By: BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC
Copyright and Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Chapter One
The club was—in a word—grungy. From the tacky vinyl coated booths, sticky laminate floor, and hints of dust picked up in the flashing spotlights, everything in sight was tinged with grime and filth. It was abandoned for the moment. The production team for my reality show, Inked by Jace, were outside, cattle wrangling everyone into place. In a handful of minutes, the crowd outside would fill the space, breathing life into the dismal warehouse setting.
Marty, the lead producer on set, wandered by, and I grabbed a handful of his thick, winter coat. “This is a joke, right?”
He spun to face me, ripping his thick wool coat free of my grasp. “A joke?”
“This place is fucking disgusting,” I started, gesturing at every dirt coated surface within reach for emphasis. “This is not a place my crew and I would ever willingly step foot in. So, I have to assume that this is a joke, and not some kind of subtle dig on me and my boys.”
Marty’s eyes drifted to the bar where twenty of my buddies were giving the two bartenders a hard time, shouting orders out in rapid fire. Sure, they were a little rough on the outside, most of them had shown up looking like they’d just gotten off work for the day. Some of them worked as mechanics over at Jem’s Bike and Bait, and were no doubt sporting grease blackened hands, the smell of oil and gas, and the kind of attire that wouldn’t pass for Sunday’s best in the hardest of towns. Still, that was no reason to stuff us into a scummy bar to shoot the scene for the show.
“It’s not a dig,” Marty replied, his lips forming a thin line. “But, the Four Seasons wasn’t available.”
His barb delivered, he spun on the heel of his loafer, and stalked back towards the doors. My stare followed after him as my mind bubbled over with insults I’d be sure to throw his way the next time he had the misfortune of our paths crossing.
“The Four Seasons,” I scoffed under my breath. “Fuck.” I scrubbed a hand down my face. “What am I even fucking doing here?” I asked, though there was no one within ear shot to answer me. My buddies though I was insane for doing a reality TV show, but for all their ribbing, they managed to show up tonight when there was the promise of unlimited free drinks and a quasi-famous DJ who was supposed to draw a crowd of people. Hot chicks were their hope.
“All set for your big night?” Gina, my flavor of the week, purred as she sidled up to me. Her breath already gave away the fact that she’d hit up the bar before the others had arrived. She held a martini glass with some kind of fruity looking contents in one hand, and wrapped her free hand around my waist, her hand sliding into my back pocket.
At least one thing was going my way.
I glanced down at her and nodded. She’d chased me down at some uptown bar where I’d been having a business dinner with my agent. She’d been decked out in a killer cocktail dress and as soon as I’d seen her walk through the front
doors, I’d been unable to concentrate on anything, Pete, my agent, had said. My mind had been fully locked on getting her home with me and getting her out of it.
She was a fashion buyer, and used to champagne and caviar, but hadn’t batted an eye when I’d invited her to the club in a far seedier part of Chicago than she was used to. I hadn’t yet decided if she honestly enjoyed slumming it, or if she was just eager to get her fifteen minutes of fame on the set of my show. Not that I really cared. She was a good time and an even better fuck, so I rolled with it.
“This wasn’t my idea of venue, but it’ll do,” I answered, realizing she was still waiting for my reply.
She looked around, her eyes glassy. “What’s wrong with it?”
I laughed and shook my head. Maybe that was the answer. A few drinks would wipe the trace of dirt and grunge out of my eyes. I rolled my shoulders back and relaxed. I’d take up my complaints with Pete the next time we met. I was wrapping the first season of my show, and while the ratings had blown up, shooting me to overnight fame, I didn’t have enough of a track record to really call the shots. Pete, on the other hand, had been an entertainment agent for over twenty years and could bulldoze his way through the roadblocks I kept running into.
“Jace, you have to try this,” Gina said, pushing the drink into my hand. “It’s amazing.”
I threw the drink back, grimacing at the sweet and sour tang that hit me in the back of my throat as I swallowed it down. “Good. What do you say we have a little fun tonight? Fuck all this bullshit!”
Gina giggled. “I have just the thing.” She dug into her little black clutch purse and produced two red and white capsules. “I was saving these for later…”
“What are they?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t remember what the guy called them, but he told me they are amazing!”
