by Taylor Hart
Shay's jawline flexed. "Your father … he crossed a line."
“It was real. You and I were real,” she whispered.
Shay stepped closer to her, and it was like the words she said didn’t matter, like they fell in the cracks of the space between them. This force of nature was the only thing that did any talking. “Do you remember how I made you ask if you could kiss me?”
More memories forced their way to the front of her mind like two worlds were crashing, colliding, peaking in full force. “I remember.”
He bent, turning his head so their lips would fit together. “Now I'm asking, can I kiss you? Can I give you a real kiss?”
Nothing else mattered. There was only one truth—them. Right here. Right now. Together. “Yes,” she whispered.
The softness of his lips against hers warmed her like liquid fire and brought it all full circle. She found herself unable to do anything except kiss him back, hold him, and yield to the deepening of the kiss and long for more. She wrapped her arms around his waist and couldn’t get close enough to him.
She touched his rough five-o’clock shadow. For the past year, she’d deluded herself into thinking that this had all been a dream, that this type of thing couldn’t exist.
He pulled back and lovingly wiped a tear off her face with his thumb. “I can't believe you’re really here.”
For a moment they only stared into each other's eyes.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she tugged it out, seeing a text from her brother. "I'm coming for you, sis. You can't run away like that."
Jaycee trembled. "Shay…"
"What? Who was that?"
Jaycee put her phone down. "It's my brother. He's been a sort of bodyguard to me this past year. He's discovered I'm gone. But … that's the second reason I'm here …"
"What?"
"I need your help. I have to go and I need…"
Shay looked confused; then his brows deepened. “No, you’re not leaving again. Your brother will have to get through me first.” He held her tightly.
"I honestly just feel like I’m waking up. The past year, my father and therapist had me on some bad drugs. I …” She blinked. “There was shock therapy.”
Shay's face darkened. “I can't believe it."
“But I just kept being so drawn to you. To your music.”
“To our song.”
She nodded and wiped her face. “I was told for months that there was no way I could’ve written that song with you.” She sniffed. “But the music brought me back to you. That memory." She looked around and then grinned. "I’m so happy it's all worked out for you and your family.”
“Nothing has felt right without you. All the fame and success of the music, pretty much getting what my siblings and I had always dreamed about …” A tear fell down his cheek. “None of it mattered without you.” He brushed his lips against hers, placed his hands back on her hips, and deepened the kiss.
For the second time in her life, his touch ignited her world with fire, flames, burning passion. This time, it was no mysterious vision. The fire was inside of her, the passion yearning for him.
His hair was long and a bit gritty in her hands. She knew he’d just done a concert. How many hours had she spent staring at YouTube at the Summerville concerts? Too many to count. She’d been watching them with Tauni for the past couple of weeks as Tauni helped her see that it was all true. She pulled back. “I missed you so much.”
Shay touched her face as though she might disappear. “You came back to me. That’s all that matters and we'll face it all together now."
Her heart hammered, and she leaned into him. “I don’t think I have much time. I want to expose my father for so many things, but I need help. Tauni and I have a plan.”
"Tauni?"
She nodded. "Tauni saved me this past year."
He tensed, holding her more tightly in his arms. “I’ll do everything I can to protect you from your father. We’ll call the media and expose everything if we have to.” He kissed her cheeks, then trailed his lips to her ear, sending a chill through her as he whispered, “What can we do?”
“Shay!” someone said loudly from outside their little world.
He ignored the voice, pulling her closer, one of his hands still in her hair, the other on her hip. He kissed her again, less careful this time. His mouth went to work, moving from her lips down her jawline and to her neck.
Jaycee was suspended, floating, lost in a dream. She might wake at any moment, and she didn’t want to. “Shay,” she whispered, finally allowing herself to fully remember it all. “You can’t tell anyone yet. I just need you to play along. I'm sorry…"
“Duke’s here!” Mason called out. "With his own security guys."
Duke rushed into the room. “Get your hands off of her. You shouldn’t be here, Jaycee.”
Tauni had thought that a tracker might have been planted on her and Duke’s appearance clearly confirmed it.
“Wait,” Shay said, putting himself between them. “What’s up, old buddy?” He flashed him a fake smile. “C’mon, Duke. You guys are here. Why don’t you join the other VIPs? Have some down time. We could get dinner, the three of us, just to catch up.” Shay linked his fingers through hers possessively.
Her heart thumped wildly, and she wished so much that she could stay. But Duke wouldn’t give up that easy.
“Hahaha!” Duke laughed obnoxiously loudly. He cast a glare at each of them.
“Wait. Just give us a couple more minutes,” Shay whispered to Duke. “Please, man, I’m begging you.”
Duke got to her side, then grabbed her arm. “Either I can do this, or the bodyguards Dad sent with me can do it. You see, the past year has been hard, Summerville.” He spit the word like it was bad food. “My sister was in a fire on your property. And she almost died because of your family. It messed her up. It messed up some of her memories, too.”
Jaycee yanked free of both of them. She didn’t care to be stretched and torn like the taffy that her mother had made every Fourth of July back in Rutherford. “Stop it, Duke!”
Duke turned to face her. “You can’t be here, remember? You’re engaged to Kurt." He nodded to Shay. "Dad will ruin him. You know he will.” He waved a hand at Shay, then back at the other Summerville siblings, who had swarmed into the room during the commotion. “He’ll ruin all of them.”
Ruin the Summervilles. The words echoed inside her mind, reverberated off of the walls, and ping-ponged back inside of her head.
For the past year, Kurt had 'helped' her through the therapy. Pretty much been another one of her father's spies.
Tauni had helped her come up with the idea to use their engagement as a ploy to get back some freedom.
A ploy to get out of the watchful eyes of her father and brother. “Kurt knows I’m here,” she said condescendingly to her brother. “I told him I would stop in Vegas before meeting going to Rutherford."
Duke snickered. “Does he know you’re making out with your old boyfriend?” He maneuvered to her side and seized her arm.
“Let her go!” Shay said.
Duke puffed out his chest, blocking Shay. “Do not touch me or her, or I swear I’ll do what I should have done the first day she met you—drag her away kicking and screaming.”
Jaycee schooled her temper, composing herself. “Relax, I only came to Shay for a favor,” she told Duke.
“What favor?” Duke demanded.
Jaycee stuck her chin into the air. This might be her only hope to see Shay again. She turned to Shay. “I wanted to ask if you would play at my engagement party next week in Rutherford.”
Someone cursed. "No way."
She turned back and saw Shay's brother, Noah, moving into the room, followed by his other siblings.
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Shar called out.
The rest of his siblings let out noises of protest.
Jaycee’s heart raced. “Kurt and I agreed it would be good publicity for Daddy's upcoming presiden
tial run." She turned to Duke, trying to act calm. "It would give dad some hometown fame on our side for the public.”
Duke's eyes narrowed. "No one has said anything to me."
“You’ve got some nerve,” Liam said, moving to Shay’s side. "There's no way we're doing that."
Shay narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between her and Duke.
She wished she could talk to him, explain everything, beg for forgiveness, but …
Duke grunted. “Guess that’s a no.” He began pulling her away.
“Yes, we’ll be there,” Shay said.
She turned back.
Shay’s eyes were fixed on hers.
Tears fell down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
Duke and the other bodyguards ushered her out the door and away from the only man she’d ever loved.
Chapter 3
In the early hours of the morning, Shay paced in his hotel room. There had been no sleeping last night for him. Luckily, they had another show tonight in Vegas, so they didn’t have to get back on the bus.
He’d been able to have some alone time.
Since Jaycee had been dragged out by Duke, he’d been consumed by her.
Where had Duke taken her? Where they still in town?
He stared at the burner phone she'd given him. Would she call him soon?
Anger surged inside of him. Shock therapy? Her father had drugged her and given her shock therapy to forget their time together?
To forget him?
He stood, pacing. He cursed. He kicked the couch and didn’t even feel his foot throbbing.
What the heck was going on? He thought about everything he knew about her. Her father was a powerful man, and last summer had just been a glimpse of freedom for her—freedom that had clearly been taken away.
He'd known she hadn't willing left him.
He'd known it.
On impulse, Shay took his real phone from the side table by the bed and called Jack, his Navy SEAL brother. He didn’t know if Jack would answer. At one point in their lives Jack had been the epicenter of the whole family.
Then he and Tauni had … broken up. Jack had become a SEAL and things had never been the same.
There’d been a time when the Summerville family had believed he was dead, but Jack was a survivor. After all, didn’t all SEALs have to be survivors?
“This had better be important,” Jack grumbled when he picked up.
Shay grinned. Grumpiness was just part of the Jack package. “It is.”
“Shay.” Jack’s voice softened. “Ack.” There was a creaking sound—likely he was rolling out of his bunk. “Are Mom and Dad okay?”
“Yes.”
Jack cleared his throat. “What’s going on?”
“Last Christmas, when you were home, I told you about Jaycee.”
“Right.”
“The senator’s daughter.”
“McCade, I know.”
Shay marched to the window and threw back the curtains to reveal a glorious view of the Strip. He wasn’t impressed. In the morning, the Strip tended to be just a mirage of something great.
“Spit it out, bro.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “She showed up last night. She needs help."
"What kind of help?"
He thought of what Jaycee had told him and didn't know how to explain it all to Jack. "It's complicated, but her father has deluded her the past year, told her that I didn't want her, he gave her shock therapy." Shay's hand trembled. "She showed up today and she didn't know if what we had was even real." Tears threatened but he blinked them back.
"Okay, bro. Take a deep breath," Jack said. "Tell me what is going on."
Shay threw up a hand. "I don't know. I … She's in trouble. She told me she and Tauni came up with a plan to—"
"Tauni? My Tauni?" Jack's voice was suddenly more intense.
"Yes." Shay sucked in a long breath. "They met at Harvard. According to Jaycee, Tauni helped her come up with a plan to get away from her father."
"What's the plan?" Jack asked.
Shay sighed. "Well, Jaycee is engaged to one of her father’s old interns. She asked us to play at her engagement party next week in Rutherford. She gave me a burner phone and told me she'd be in touch.”
"Uh-hmm." It sounded like Jack was typing on something. "What else?"
"Nothing," Shay said. "Her brother, Duke came and swooped her away with a bunch of bodyguards before we could talk anymore."
Sudden laughter came from Jack's side of the line. “Oh my gosh.” The laughter got louder. "You are such an idiot."
“Stop.” Shay said, his hackles rising. Jack was acting like this was already a lost cause. "Why are you saying this?"
“What are you doing, boy? The senator’s daughter. The senator appointed over special ops. I just looked him up. What are you doing?”
His pulse rumbled in his ears, and he clenched his hand into a fist. “I love her,” he said plainly. “That’s what I’m doing, bro. And she never wanted to leave me. Did you hear me? Her father has given her shock therapy and heavy meds the past year.”
“You’re doing stupid, that’s what you’re doing.” Jack was suddenly serious. "A man like this, a man about to run for president is not going to be easy to touch. And his daughter will be impossible."
His heart grew heavy as he imagined how scared Jaycee had been last summer. As he imagined how scared she was now. "We have to do something."
“What are you asking me to do, bro? ”
Shay didn’t really know what he was asking, but he needed to do something. “I want to protect her, take her away from all of it. I need help."
Jack guffawed. “Yes you do. Do you know how idiotic you sound right now? She belongs to a world that you and I don’t belong to, bro.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Shay cursed and closed his eyes. “Listen, she’s trapped. She’s a prisoner of her father’s. Did you hear the part about shock therapy? Last summer, her father had this guy all set for her, and now she’s engaged to him.”
“Of course she is.”
He discarded his brother’s cynicism. “She needs my help.” Shay wished he could explain it. Why couldn’t his brother be more helpful?
His brother let out a loud sigh. “Fine, tell me what you know.”
“Her mother …” he whispered, though he didn’t know why. “Jaycee’s mother was killed in a fire. Jaycee told me how her mother would have these visions, and then Jaycee was having them. About fires. Then …”
“And then we had a fire on the ranch."
“Yes.”
His brother let out a breath. “I’m looking up all the footage on Jaycee from the past year, and yeah, she has been under some kind of mental health facility in London. But, she looks pretty happy with her fiancé on instagram."
“You don’t know her,” Shay said flatly.
His brother was quiet.
“I need your help, Jack.”
“Man, you must be desperate to call me.”
Shay threw a hand up into the air. “You’re right; this was stupid. I gotta go.”
“Wait.” There was a pause and he let out a low whistle. “You’d have to know someone who could help you get the girl off-grid. Somewhere that had its own security and somewhere that was untraceable.”
“That’s why I’m talking to you.”
After a moment of silence, Jack said, “I’ll be in touch.”
“Wait!”
“Yeah?” his brother asked.
“What now?”
“I figure stuff out, that’s what.”
The pit of Shay’s stomach twisted. Waiting had never been his strong suit, but the past year had been a really great teacher. “O-kay.”
Jack sighed. “Are you willing to give everything up to help her?”
“Of course,” he said.
“That’s good, because from what I’m seeing, you just might have to.” His brother hung up.
Shay stared
at the phone in his hands and felt himself tremble. His mind flitted to his siblings and what all of this would mean to them if … what? He left? He exposed the senator? The threat level could be high, and the fact that his life wasn’t just his own was a problem.
A text popped up from his brother, Mason. Sound check in two hours.
Shay would have to tell his siblings, but not until they went to Rutherford next week and not until Jack helped him figure out what to do.
Suddenly the burner phone in his hand buzzed. He stared at a text from Jaycee.
I’m so sorry, Shay. I didn’t know what else to do.
He texted her back. We’ll figure this out. And … His heart raced. I love you.
The phone buzzed again. This phone isn’t safe. I’m destroying it. Meet me at our spot at the cliffs, midnight, the night before the party.
Wait! he texted back. His message came back undelivered.
His determination hardened like a stone wall. He would see Jaycee next week, and he would figure out a way to save her from it all. Forever.
He had to.
Chapter 4
Jaycee stood on the wraparound porch of the manor by the lake, feeling like last year belonged to a completely different life.
“You alright?” Millie, the longtime housekeeper and maid, came out onto the porch.
Jaycee turned, giving Millie a half smile. “Fine, thank you. I just wanted to have some time to think about Mama before everything tomorrow."
“Makes sense.” Millie handed her a glass of lemonade.
Jaycee accepted it with delight. She sipped at it, relishing the sweet taste.
“You know your mother loved lemonade days with Ms. Fairbanks.” Millie nodded across the lake. “I see her light on, if you want to go say hello.”
It surprised Jaycee to hear that. Millie never encouraged her to do much; Jaycee’s father had Millie under his thumb.
Jaycee stared across the lake at the Fairbanks house. She remembered running into Ms. Fairbanks at the party last year. The night of the party had been the last time she’d been with Shay, before the fire.
Millie winked at her. “Go say hello.” She took her lemonade glass. “I’m sure she has more lemonade.”
