The Complete Quake Series Boxset

by Jacob Chance

  Chapter Nine

  Janny

  Holy shit. I can’t believe he just fucked me on the kitchen table. That was without a doubt the hottest sex of my life.

  This is not my life. Janny Moore isn’t the girl guys want to fuck on the kitchen table. I smile to myself, my cheek still resting on the smooth wooden surface while Kyle kisses me right below my ear.

  “Come on, beautiful. Let me help you up.” He wraps his arm around my stomach as I begin to rise and pulls me toward him. I end up my back to his front, my head resting on his chest as he cradles me loosely in his arms. His mouth lowers until his lips are leaving a line of kisses along the top of my shoulder. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “No, not at all.” I shake my head and bite on my lip, suddenly feeling embarrassed about what we just did. I’m not used to getting so carried away in the heat of the moment.

  “Hey,” he says, his hands on my shoulders. He turns me around in his arms, leans down and peers into my eyes like he’s searching for my deepest, darkest secrets. Little does he know he wouldn’t need to look very far, all he’d have to do is ask. At this moment, I’m pretty sure I’d divulge anything he wanted to know. He’s become that important to me.

  I wonder if he knows how much I’ve grown to care for him. Can he see it in my eyes? Can he hear it in my voice? Is it written all over my face? I hope so, because I’m not ready to say those words, not yet. Those words haven’t escaped my lips since the night of the fire and the thought of saying them now, of having such depth of emotion for another person, scares the hell out of me.

  “No, you didn’t hurt me at all. I loved everything we did.”

  I’m falling in love with you.

  I can hear the words in my head, but knowing I mean them doesn’t make it any easier for me to speak them. Maybe someday—maybe someday soon, I’ll be able to look him in the eyes and tell him how I truly feel, but for now I’ll hope he can see beyond face value.

  I took a quick shower while Kyle cooked breakfast for us. I got dressed in my clothes from last night and put my wet hair up in a ponytail. Now, while I’m sitting here at the very same table he recently had me bent over, I can’t help the flush of embarrassment heating my cheeks. My eyes lower to my hands clenched tightly in my lap, my chin tucks into my chest when I think of the wanton way I acted, how I begged him to fuck me. Jesus. I’ve never behaved that way with anyone before.

  Sex with David was okay, but we were teenagers. Josh and I had hot sex, but not enough to make me beg for his cock. Sex with Kyle is indescribable—it surpasses mere words. Maybe this is the way it’s supposed to be and I’ve never experienced it before.

  “Do you want toast or a bagel?” His deep voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

  “Toast please,” I answer and he winks at me before turning back to his cooking. My eyes take in his rumpled hair and the way the muscles in his broad back flex as he cooks for me. He’s so sexy barefoot with those hot as fuck pajama pants hanging on his hips. His shoulders are wide and I can see the top of the memorial tattoo that wraps all the way around his bicep. It’s made up of two banners, one with each of his parent’s names and they’re done in black and gray shading.

  “Can I do anything to help?” I ask, realizing I should be lending a hand instead of overthinking what happened.

  “If you don’t mind, could you please grab the O.J. and two glasses. They’re in that cabinet over there,” he says, gesturing to the left with his head. I grab the juice from the double door stainless fridge and notice how neatly he has the inside arranged, before taking two glasses from the cabinet. As I’m placing them on the table he puts our plates down. He made bacon and scrambled eggs, which are my favorite kind. “Sit down,” he says, pulling out the chair next to his.

  “Thank you. This looks amazing. I’m starving this morning.” I pick up the knife and butter my toast.

  “We worked up an appetite.” I look up from my plate to Kyle as he smirks at me. My face flushes when I think about the things we did and how he worked me over on this very table.

  “I hope you cleaned the table.” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them and the moment they’re out there floating in the ether I wish I could take them back. Kyle lets out a laugh making me feel less self-conscious, as I take the first bite of eggs from my plate. The flavor of the seasoning and cheese he added makes them taste delicious.

  “Mm, these might be the best eggs I’ve ever had. What else can you cook?” I ask as I make a sandwich out of my toast, eggs and bacon.

  “I know how to make pretty much anything. I had to learn for Kenna when my parents passed away. Why? Are you going to use me for my cooking skills?” he asks before taking a bite of toast.

  “No,” I shake my head. “I’m going to use you for sex,” I say deadpan and he laughs, rubbing my thigh with his hand. “So, consider yourself warned.” I smile at him and he leans over to kiss me on the top of my head.

  “Thanks for the warning, but the idea of you using me doesn’t seem like much of a hardship. Feel free to use me and abuse me in any capacity you can think of.”

  I giggle at his reply, loving this lighter side of him. The awkwardness of the “morning after” is slipping away and it feels like we’re finding our footing while we navigate through this new territory.

  While I sit here and continue eating I can’t help but wonder what he wants this thing between us to be. Are we in a relationship? Does he want more than sex or am I just a piece of ass to him? This feels like so much more to me, but maybe I’m romanticizing the situation. God, I hope I’m not. I’m already falling in love with him and the idea of him not returning those same feelings has me losing my appetite. The sinking feeling in my stomach is overpowering.

  I put my fork down on my plate and take a sip of orange juice.

  Calm down.

  He wouldn’t go to all the trouble of cooking me breakfast if I was just a convenient lay, would he?

  “What are we doing?” I blurt out. He looks at me, looks down at his plate and back up at me again.

  “We’re eating breakfast,” he answers with a smirk. My lips quirk slightly, but I’m not really finding what he said funny. Now that I’ve put the question out there I need to know the answer.

  “That’s not what I meant. What do you want from me—from us?”

  He places his fork down and pushes his plate away before turning to face me in his seat. He pulls my chair closer to him, turning it so we’re facing each other. Maybe this conversation is the last thing he wants with me—maybe this is his way of saying goodbye. My stomach is in knots.

  “I really thought you could tell how crazy I am about you. I should’ve known you’d need to hear the words. I’m sorry, I’m not someone who usually does this—who has relationships. For the past two years I’ve been alone, no women in my life at all.” I’m surprised by this. It’s difficult to imagine any guy going that long without sex, but it only makes him more attractive to me.

  “I’m not the most romantic guy. I’ll probably suck at being a boyfriend, but Janny Moore, will you be my girlfriend?”

  The smile on my face couldn’t be any larger as I answer, “Yes.” I throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

  He pulls me into his lap and lightly kisses me on the lips. He stares intently into my eyes, our faces close as I take in all the various shades of gold and brown that make up his irises. His hands slide into the sides of my hair, gripping my head and holding it still.

  “I’m falling for you, Janny. I want to be with you and I don’t plan to let you go.”

  I bite on my lower lip as I fight the urge to cry tears of happiness. My nose stings and my vision blurs before I feel a single tear roll slowly down my cheek.

  “I hope this is a happy tear,” Kyle jokes and wipes my cheek with his thumb. I nod my head, still feeling too choked up to speak so I kiss him. I pour every bit of love I feel for him into the kiss and hope he can feel all the words I’m not ready to say
—words I may never be ready to say.

  We run by my place for clean clothes and a bag for tomorrow morning, before Kyle brings me to a park in South Boston for a picnic lunch. I’m not sure when he found the time between cleaning up the breakfast stuff and taking a shower, but he made us roast beef sandwiches and they’re delicious. He also packed Fritos, grapes and water—he thought of everything. We leisurely eat our lunch and then stretch out on the dark green blanket cuddled against one another. My full stomach, Kyle’s arms wrapped around me and the warmth of the sun lull me into a nap.

  I wake up cold and notice the dense clouds blocking out all the warmth from the sun. I stretch my arm out, tearing off a blade of grass from the overgrown lawn and use it to tickle the end of Kyle’s nose. He scrunches his nose up in his sleep, but doesn’t stir. I bite my bottom lip to hold in my laughter while I try again, this time being a bit bolder about it. He wiggles his nose and then his eyes open catching me in the act. He grabs my hand and rolls me over trapping my arm above my head. He steals the grass from my fingers and uses it to tickle the skin on my neck before his lips join in on the delicious torture. He releases his hold on my arm and my fingers move to play in the thickness of his dark hair. I wrap my other arm around him while he teases my lips with brief kisses, making me long for more, but we’re in a public park with other people around.

  “We should stop before I can’t. I don’t think this is the best place for me to rip your clothes off and have my wicked way with you.” He rolls over to his hip, sitting up and reaching into the bag he brought all the food in. He pulls out half a loaf of bread and I look at him questioningly.

  “We’re going to feed the ducks.” He gestures in the direction of the pond. I sit up next to him, smoothing the back of my hair down.

  “You’ve planned everything. I like a man who’s prepared,” I say as I lean into him. He wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me in close.

  “Well, I never told you this, but I used to be a boy scout.” He glances down at me.

  “So, you’re always prepared?” I question.

  He leans in and kisses me on the forehead before staring into my eyes, his expression now thoughtful.

  “I wasn’t prepared for you.”

  Chapter Ten

  Kyle

  Late April

  I’m on my way over to Sharon Moore’s house to discuss our lack of findings and collect the final payment for the work we did for her. With the initial surveillance and computer monitoring we didn’t find anything incriminating. Sharon then extended our contract for another two weeks. After all our investigating Bryan came up clean. The offshore account in the Cayman’s we found is in Bryan and Sharon’s names. They own a vacation home and use it whenever they stay there.

  It’s been eight weeks since Janny and I went on our first date and things couldn’t be better with us. We’ve been spending all our free time together and sleeping over each other’s places a few nights each week. She sleeps at my condo more often than not, since I live alone and she has Elle. I’ve met her ex-boyfriend Josh and I wanted to punch him in the face for the way he looked at Janny. I hate knowing there’s a history between them and they’re still friends. Anyone with eyes can see he still wants her, but it’s never going to happen, she belongs with me and I’m never letting her go.

  When I pull in the Moore’s driveway I take in the stately appearance of their large home. It’s a colonial style, like most in this well to do neighborhood, and there’s an attached three car garage where Bryan parks his vehicles. I know for sure he’s not here today, Sharon mentioned he would be golfing with some friends all afternoon when we scheduled this meeting.

  I walk up the gently curved brick pathway to the door, thinking about Janny and how I left her earlier this morning, sleeping in her bed. I kissed her forehead and whispered, “I love you,” but only because I knew she was sound asleep and couldn’t hear me. I’ve yet to say those three important words to her and I know it’s time for me to open and tell her how deeply my feelings run. I’m sure she needs to hear it and I want her to know she’s the best part of my life.

  I also must tell her about how Sharon hired me. If she somehow found out before I’ve had a chance to speak with her it would be disastrous and it would irreparably hurt her. Hurting her is the last thing I would ever want to do.

  Once I knock on the door it’s only a moment before Sharon invites me in. I follow her to the kitchen and we exchange pleasantries.

  “Here’s the final report. It details everything we did.” I hand her the folder.

  “Here’s your check. I really appreciate all you guys did and it’s a huge weight off my shoulders to know it was all in my imagination. I’m feeling a bit guilty I went behind his back and did this, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

  I’m just about to reply when I hear a voice I wasn’t expecting to hear right now.

  “Kyle, what are you doing here?” Janny asks, her brow furrowed.

  Before I can say anything Sharon cuts in. “How do you two know each other?”

  I open my mouth to answer, but Janny beats me to it.

  “We’re friends. I know him from the coffee shop near school.” Janny looks unsure, standing there with her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Sharon if there’s anything else you need, don’t hesitate to call,” I say while I move over toward Janny.

  “Walk out with me, please.”

  She hesitates for a moment and just when I think she’s not going to come with me, she takes a step in my direction. I wait until we’re outside and the door is closed before I say anything.

  “I wanted to tell you I was working for Sharon, but ethically I couldn’t.”

  Her arms are still crossed and she won’t look at me.

  “How long have you been working for Sharon?” she asks.

  Fuck.

  I don’t answer her.

  “How long?” she repeats the question her voice rising in volume.

  “Before we met.”

  Her eyes open wide and she laughs, but not in an amused way. She’s pissed and this is the only chance for me to come clean with her.

  “Will you come sit in my car with me so I can explain?”

  She looks as though she might say no.

  “Please,” I beg.

  She nods her head and walks beside me along the path. I open the passenger side door for her and head around to get in the driver side. She’s sitting stiffly in the seat, her back straight and eyes straight ahead.

  “Sharon hired me to watch your brother.” Her gasp of shock interrupts me. “He’d been acting suspiciously and she wanted to make sure he wasn’t doing anything wrong. We put cameras up in the house, I gave her a new phone that would track where he went and we monitored his online activities. We didn’t find anything questionable on your brother.”

  “Did you see me on those cameras?” she asks her voice a mere whisper.

  I close my eyes for a moment and brace myself for the force of her anger.

  “Yes. The first time I saw you was on a live video feed. You walked into your brother’s office to talk to him and I was immediately intrigued by you. I didn’t know who you were or why you were there, so I asked Sharon the next morning and she explained.”

  She looks over at me, a shimmer of tears in her eyes. “Did you see me in my bedroom?” she questions, her voice rising on the last word.

  Fuck. She’s not going to like this answer.

  “Yes, I did.”

  Why didn’t I tell her all of this sooner?

  It would’ve been so much better coming from me than having it sprung on her unexpectedly.

  “Oh my God.” Her head drops down and her hands come up to cover her face. “You saw private moments; moments you never should’ve seen.” She lowers her hands and her face is flushed with embarrassment. “Did you set up our first meeting?” She looks over and stares at me, willing me to answer.

  “No, that was all an accident and so was
our bumping into each other at the coffee shop, I had no idea you’d be there. I was so happy to see you again. It seemed like fate kept pushing us together. I knew I had to get to know you and someday I’d tell you how Sharon had hired me. I was planning on telling you soon, but I was afraid I’d lose you over it. I don’t want to lose you Janny. I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  The tears are falling down both her cheeks now and I want to hold her in my arms so much.

  “You don’t get to tell me that now. You’ve had plenty of time to say those words to me and you choose now? Those aren’t words you can just throw out there to manipulate me into forgiving you.” She shakes her head with disgust and wipes her eyes with her hands.

  “I meant what I said. I love you and I’m sorry I never told you before because I’ve felt this way for weeks now.” I reach my hand out to take hers and she stops me.

  “Don’t touch me. Our whole relationship was formed on lies. How could you possibly think this is something I’d be able to get over? I let you in—you’re the first person I’ve let in since David died and this is what I get. Maybe being with Josh is the way to go, he never hurt me like this.”

  I grimace when the arrow like meaning of her statement hits me dead on. My heart pounds with panic as she reaches for the door handle. “Janny, I meant it when I said I love you and I’m sorry I hurt you. It was never my intent and I hope you can see that.”

  She looks over her shoulder at me and the anguish in her blue eyes—her cerulean blue eyes that I might never see again, makes my heart ache.