Unwrapping Jade

by Melanie Shawn

  With every centimeter that I moved my mouth, the ache deep inside my belly grew just a little bit. Conflict raged within me—the want to surrender to my feelings for Hayden and be done with it, and the want to let my pride win out and escape with the upper hand.

  For now, I was holding strong to that upper hand. But the more time that I spent with Hayden’s hands on my body, the less I cared about my pride.

  That was why we were here in the first place. I wanted to even the score. I knew I didn’t owe him anything just because of what he’d done. It was more of a one-upmanship that I was worried about. But, now that I was well into it, I had to admit to myself that there was a better than even chance that I’d just craved the taste of him and had been using that whole “even the score” justification to give myself a reason to do it.

  Whatever my true motivation was, the action itself was incredible. I loved having his hard member throbbing against my tongue as I moved my head up and down. I loved tasting the little drops of his arousal that leaked out at the tip every time I drew my head back and swirled my tongue around it.

  I was trying to live in the moment, but a little voice in the back of my head whispered, “Wouldn’t it be nice if it was like this all the time? Wouldn’t it be great to just be with Hayden again? This could be happening every single night, except even better, because you’d be comfortable in a bed. Naked. What could be wrong with that?”

  I did my very best to grab that little voice by the throat and strangle it, but it just kept on with its damned whispering no matter what I did.

  My head bobbed up and down, up and down, again and again in a hypnotic rhythm. It started to fool me into thinking that I could stay there like that forever, just giving Hayden pleasure. That this bubble that we were living in would never pop.

  “Oh, yeah. Jade, that’s so good. It feels so good.”

  I wasn’t used to hearing Hayden’s voice so drawn and desperate, and it caused an earthquake of pleasure to erupt in my belly, traveling south and settling as a heavy, low heat between my legs.

  God, that man. His body was hot, but his voice. His voice would do me in every single time.

  I slid my free hand onto his thigh and gripped him tightly. Feeling his muscles constrict and ripple under my palm was thrill-inducing. I knew in that moment, even if I wasn’t yet ready to admit it to myself, that I was toast. All of my tough talk about keeping feelings out of it was on its last legs. Sooner or later, it was going to go up in a puff of smoke. It was just a matter of when.

  “Fuck, Jade. This is so damn good.”

  I sensed that Hayden was about to come before he said anything, and moved my hand around to grasp his shaft just underneath my lips so that I could increase my speed and maintain even more coverage on his sensitive skin. I knew that he’d try to push my shoulders back, just out of courtesy, if nothing else. And I wasn’t about to let that happen.

  “Oh, shit, I’m gonna—”

  His words were cut off by a strangled cry as he exploded. It was hot and satisfying as it hit the back of my throat, and I gulped greedily as I swallowed down every drop.

  His fists tightened in my hair, sending tingles shivering down my scalp.

  God, I loved the possessive tinge to those fists, the way they made me feel as if his hands were not just tangling into my hair, but instead were claiming me as his own.

  Even though, you know…you don’t want to be “his own.” Right?

  Damn, that little voice! It just wouldn’t shut the hell up.

  I sat up in the seat of the truck, wiped my mouth on the back of my hand, and waited for him to open his eyes.

  When he did, his face was still flushed and his eyes a little bleary, as if he weren’t quite sure if what had just happened between us was real or some kind of dream.

  I wanted to tell him that it was real. That it wasn’t some kind of dream. I wanted to tell him that what I felt was real. That I loved him, that I’ve always loved him, and that I always would.

  I might talk a big game but the truth was I was terrified of my feelings for Hayden. Losing him had devastated me. I was wrecked. Demolished. All this time later and I was still dealing with the aftermath.

  Thinking that I could keep him at arm’s length while doing this was crazy. There was no way.

  “Jade.” He reached up and ran his fingers through my hair before running his thumb along my jaw. “That was…”

  I knew that I couldn’t talk to him about what that was. Or anything else for that matter.

  So instead of facing the situation like a mature adult, I grinned. “That was great. Now we’re even.”

  And with that flippant statement, I opened the door and hopped down from the truck, waving to him over my shoulder as I walked to the front door, and never looked back.

  As soon as I was inside I shut the door and fell back against it, panting as my hand pressed against my chest. Tears began falling down my cheek. It had been years since I’d cried over Hayden.

  But as I slid down the door and my butt hit the floor I became that scared, sixteen-year-old girl again that lost a baby and the love of her life and had no one to talk to about it. I’d kept it all bottled up.

  My phone buzzed in my purse. I pulled it out and saw a message from Hayden.

  Are you OK? We need to talk.

  I shook my head as I stared at it. No, we didn’t. Not if I was going to feel like this.

  I’d dropped my guard and now I was sobbing on the floor. We didn’t need to talk. Because I knew something now that I didn’t know even a week ago. Nothing he could say could change the past. And that past is still painful and real to me. I just didn’t see the point in me reliving it so he could get something off his chest.

  Hayden was my past, and that’s where he needed to stay.

  Chapter 18

  Jade

  “All things pass, the good and the bad.”

  ~ Nora O’Sullivan

  “One more date,” I whispered to myself. That was all I had to get through.

  Technically, it was two but my final date was with Cooper, so it didn’t really count.

  I stared up at the twenty-story building toward the top floor restaurant where I was supposed to meet the man that the matchmaker had set me up with. My consultation with her lasted several hours. I had filled out a personality profile and completed a one-on-one interview that consisted of a seemingly endless game of Would You Rather?

  I understood why she was asking me if I’d rather have one meal for the rest of my life and it could be any meal I chose, or if I’d rather have a different meal each time I ate for the rest of my life but I wouldn’t have any control over what it was.

  I was aware that it was to find out if I was adventurous or a control freak. Spoiler alert: I was a control freak. There was no way I was going to let someone else decide what I could eat. Then she asked the same question, but this time the different meal was decided by the man that I chose to marry.

  Instantly Hayden’s face popped into my mind and I switched my answer. I said that I would let my fictitious husband pick my meals because I’d imagined marrying Hayden and the truth was, I trusted him.

  I trusted Hayden on a very elemental level.

  That was a surprise. Before this interview, if anyone would’ve asked me if I trusted him, I would’ve automatically said no. No way. Uh-uh. Not even a little. But a matchmaker’s test told me different.

  I hadn’t seen him in four days. Well, technically I’d seen him, I just avoided him each time. At the grocery store, I’d left my cart and bailed out the emergency exit, thankfully the alarm hadn’t worked for years. Two days ago, I rushed out the back door of the Tipsy Cow when I saw him come in and then when he stopped by my house with flowers, I pretended like I wasn’t home. I’m sure he knew I was home since my Jeep was parked out front. But I didn’t answer the door.

  He’d texted, called, and emailed me every day. I’d answered his emails that pertained to Hero Rescue and the grand opening tomorro
w night, but I’d ignored everything else. Every day I thought it would get easier, that I wouldn’t think about him as much, but it wasn’t easier and I was thinking about him more than ever. If anything, it was getting harder and harder to stay away from him.

  After my mini-meltdown the other day, I had actually felt better. It was cleansing, and I’d felt lighter. I was going to be really upset if all this time all I’d needed to do was sob uncontrollably for a few hours.

  I took a deep breath and shook out my arms. This was not the time to be thinking about Hayden or thinking about my mini-meltdown. I had a complete stranger to meet.

  As the sliding glass doors parted and I stepped into the lobby of the building, I was impressed by the gorgeous décor. It had a rustic-meets-industrial motif and my mind immediately went to the Tipsy Cow. It badly needed a renovation, and although this wouldn’t exactly work, it was a good starting point. I took out my phone to snap some pics and saw that I’d missed a text from Hayden.

  It was short, sweet, and to the point.

  I miss you. Hope you’re having a great day.

  Ignoring the message, I took the pics and put my phone back in my purse. Someday, probably someday soon, I would need to deal with that situation, but today was not that day.

  Taking another deep breath I crossed to the elevator bay and my heart raced as I pushed the button. I hadn’t been nervous on any of my other dates. Somehow this one seemed more serious. Probably because it had required a three hour interrogation first.

  As I entered the elevator I glanced down at my plain black dress. I wondered if I was going to be over or underdressed. I’d heard good things about this restaurant but I’d never been.

  The ride up was short and before I knew it the doors were opening. I walked out and was struck by the panoramic view of downtown Dallas at night. Two sides of the restaurant were floor to ceiling glass.

  “Hi, welcome to The Glass Orchid.” The attractive hostess who reminded me of a young Heather Locklear greeted me with a bright smile.

  “Hi, I’m Jade O’Sullivan. I’m supposed to mee—”

  “Oh yes.” The girl’s face lit up. “He’s here. I’ll take you back.”

  She started to turn but I stopped her, whispering, “Does he look…normal?”

  “I’m sorry?” She tilted her head toward me.

  “I’m on a blind date,” I explained keeping my voice as quiet as a church mouse. “Does he seem crazy or anything?”

  “Oh.” Her eyes widened slightly and a flush crept up her cheeks. She licked her lips in what looked like a nervous twitch and shook her head. “No. Not crazy. And Yes, he looks…I think you’re going to be very happy.”

  “Good.” I was relieved and intrigued as I followed behind her.

  We stopped at sliding barn doors. She opened them and held her hand out, inviting me to go in. After taking one step I froze and all of the oxygen in the room was sucked out. My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe who sat at the table in the center of the room.

  “Hi.” His deep voice filled the space as he stood to greet me.

  “Hi.” My voice was still in church-mouse mode.

  I blinked in disbelief, but when I opened my eyes again he was still standing there. Hot Tie-Guy was standing right in front of me.

  “I don’t know if you remember meeting me?”

  “I do.” My words came out so soft I wasn’t even sure if they were audible. I took in a breath and realized that my mouth was still open, I mentally slapped myself and shut it. This was it. The second chance I’d said I’d wanted. Time to snap out of it. “Sorry, I’m Jade.”

  Shit. Why was I always apologizing around this guy?

  “I know.” He grinned.

  “Oh right, the matchmaker.”

  “Actually, I have a confession to make.” He pulled out a chair at the table.

  I stepped farther inside and saw that this was a private room. We were the only diners in it.

  He held out my chair for me as I sat. “Is this all for us?”

  “Yes. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Yeah.” The smile that spread on my face reached from ear to ear. “It’s okay.”

  He circled back to his chair and as he sat I joked, “Unless your confession is that you’re a serial killer or something.”

  “Damn,” he looked disappointed. “Okay, I’ll go see if they have something else.”

  He started to get up and I laughed. This guy didn’t need any cards to break the ice. He sat back down and the easy smile on his face had my heart pitter-pattering against my ribs.

  “So, what is this confession?” My hands were shaking and I folded them on my lap so he couldn’t see.

  “First, let me introduce myself.” His tone turned more serious. “My name is Brent Pearce.”

  The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. “Hi, Brent.”

  “Hi.” That smile was back and if he hadn’t considered being a spokesmodel for a toothpaste company, I felt like he was wasting his talent. “And I am CEO of Crackle Media.”

  “Oh.” I recognized the name immediately. They were the media group that produced Vanessa’s podcast and who I was hired to put on the gala for. The puzzle of why his name sounded familiar also clicked into place. “Weren’t you just named Dallas’s most-eligible millionaire bachelor?”

  “No.” He shook his head.

  My forehead creased. I was sure that I’d read an article about him. In it they called him one of the youngest media moguls in Texas.

  “I was one of Dallas’s top five most-eligible millionaire bachelors under thirty,” he clarified.

  “Say that ten times fast.” A nervous laugh escaped from me. I normally didn’t laugh at my own jokes, especially one as pedestrian as that, but my nerves were on a whole other level.

  He chuckled.

  As much as I was happy at my second chance I was a little confused as to what he was doing here. Why would a young, rich, media mogul that looked like he did use a matchmaker? Unless, he wasn’t my date. Maybe my date didn’t show up and he was here to confess that I got stood up. That didn’t make sense so I figured I’d just cut to the chase. “So what is this confession, Brent Pearce, one of Dallas’s top five most-eligible millionaire bachelors under thirty?”

  A waiter appeared beside our table just as I got the question out. “Here you are, sir.”

  I looked and saw that he was holding a bottle of sparkling apple cider.

  The waiter poured Brent a glass and then offered it to me. I nodded. I thought sparkling apple cider was a strange choice for an under thirty media mogul, but it sounded great to me.

  “Have you had a chance to look at the menu?”

  “No, I think we’re going to need a few minutes, Jeff.” Brent answered using the server’s name.

  Jeff nodded but explained the specials before exiting.

  This entire experience was a little overwhelming. I lifted my glass and took a sip. Brent did the same.

  “I ordered apple cider just in case you were still dealing with migraine issues.”

  “Oh,” I was surprised that he knew about my migraines. Had Vanessa told him? Had he listened to my segments? Either way, it was a very sweet gesture. “Thanks, I’m feeling better but this hit the spot.”

  “So. My confession,” he began as he set down his champagne flute. “After meeting you on the elevator, I reached out to the matchmaking service I knew that we were going to be using and threw my name in the hat.”

  “You threw your name in the hat?”

  He smiled. “I filled out a personality profile and had a consultation. I made it clear that I didn’t want preferential treatment, but that I was only interested in being matched with you.”

  “You did?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You could’ve just asked me out.”

  “To be honest, I was a little nervous.” The lopsided grin that rose on his lips was as endearing as it was sexy.

  “You were nervous to ask me o
ut?” I couldn’t imagine this Tom Hardy look alike being nervous about anything.

  He took a deep breath in through his nose. “You’re a little intimidating.”

  It wasn’t the first time that I’d been told that. In fact, I’d been told that by every boyfriend that I’d ever had…except Hayden.

  He’d never said that to me. My heart ached in my chest and it took me a second to recognize why. I missed him.

  I was sitting in an incredible restaurant, overlooking an incredible city, with an incredible date, and I missed Hayden.

  As much as I’d talked a big game about what I would do if I got another chance with Hot Tie-Guy, the truth was, in that moment I realized that the only second chance I really wanted was with Hayden.

  The waiter came back to check on us and we ordered our meals, which were delicious. Our conversation flowed easily as we ate and drank apple cider. He flirted, but not so much that it was obnoxious, just enough to show that he was interested.

  I tried my best not to let my mind wander to Hayden but he was like a computer virus that had infected my brain. Every time I’d close one pop up, fifty more would appear.

  Brent was charming. Successful. Witty. Intelligent. Hawt and he seemed to be into me. There was just one thing he wasn’t.

  He wasn’t Hayden.

  But I was determined not to let that get in my way. I was not going to let Hayden hijack yet another date…that was the plan, anyway.

  Chapter 19

  Hayden

  “Sometimes wounds heal faster when you take the Band-Aid off.”

  ~ Nora O’Sullivan

  As I walked into the warehouse I was in complete and total awe. I’d listened to Jade when she’d talked about her vision for the party and I’d been impressed, but seeing it in real life was so incredible.

  There were party lights hung from the rafters. Tables of six covered in white cloth and impressive floral arrangements lined the walls. A DJ was set up in the corner and pictures of soldiers with their service dogs and quotes of what having their animals meant to them were projected onto the walls. In the center there were three pictures of me. One with my platoon, one with Ranger the day that I adopted him, and one at his service dog certification with a quote that read, “Ranger gave me my life back.”