The Best Man's Bride

by Jamie Dallas

  Evan was selling.

  Hailey ducked back into the bathroom and pressed her back against the door.

  Jace had worked so hard to get Sun Tech off the ground and make it successful. She had seen the blood and sweat he poured into his work.

  And now over half of his company was changing hands.

  It was her fault. If she hadn’t ran from her wedding or the networking event, this never would have happened.

  A knock at the door startled her.

  “Everything okay?” Jace asked.

  Hailey pulled open the door and tried to look as normal as possible. “Yes, fine. My stomach was bothering me.”

  Jace smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’s probably my fault for heaping thirds onto your plate.”

  “I’m more than happy to blame you.”

  “Ha ha.” Jace jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. “Want to see my room?”

  “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

  The tension in Jace’s shoulders eased, and she followed him up the stairs. “If a line works, you should stick to it.”

  “If it worked in high school, maybe it’s time to find a new line,” she teased.

  Jace’s room was painted dark blue, making his small room feel smaller.

  “So this is it,” she said, looking around. The walls were covered with photos and posters. The bookshelf was filled with guitar books.

  “This is where it all happened.” He pointed out some photos of him with high school friends.

  A photo in a tarnished metal frame sat on the bookcase by the twin bed. Picking it up, Hailey studied the older man who had his arm slung around a younger version of Jace. Jace’s little face glowed. The older man’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  “Who is this?”

  Silence.

  She ran her finger over the image of little Jace. Then it hit her.

  Jace moved behind her. Wrapping one arm around her shoulders, he pressed her against his chest. With his free hand, he grabbed the photo and held it out in front of them. He ran his thumb over the image of the man, and then pressed his cheek against hers as they gazed at the two smiling faces.

  “That’s my dad.” Jace leaned into her, settling his weight onto her shoulders. She braced herself against him, supporting him.

  “It was the year before my mom left,” he added.

  Jace still had a photo of his dad. A quick scan of the room showed that he didn’t have a single photo of his mom.

  “What happened to him?”

  He pulled her tighter against him. “From what I understand, he was depressed. After Mom left, he was on a bunch of medication to try to keep himself stable, but he didn’t like being on pills.”

  “That must have been hard.” She couldn’t imagine a young Jace trying to process his mom running off and his dad’s moods. No wonder he lived high up in an empty building and avoided relationships. She twisted in his embrace and wrapped her arms around him, wishing she could comfort the child as much as she could comfort the man.

  “He’d freak out anytime someone mentioned my mom. He’d go into days of silence. He’d sit on the couch, staring at the wall with no motivation to move forward or take care of me. He couldn’t help it. Depression had a grip on him, and he couldn’t see past his despair.”

  “So what happened?”

  Jace wrapped his arm tighter around her. “Mia caught wind of what was going on and convinced him to let me stay with her until he got his life back together.”

  The words hung heavy at the unspoken fact that he never returned. She tried to imagine Jace, so young and losing both parents. “You must have felt so lost.”

  “It was hard. I was so angry. Neither of my parents wanted me, and I thought there was something wrong with me. But it was also the first time my life was stable. Aunt Mia gave me everything she could, and after a while, I realized that if Dad wanted me back, I couldn’t leave my aunt.

  “He loved technology.” Jace set the photo down. “He’d buy every new gadget that came out and spend days and months playing with them. Adapting his life to it.”

  Her breath caught. That’s why Jace started a company based around technology. If he lost Sun Tech, he’d lose more than the company.

  “I’ve never told anyone that,” Jace whispered.

  Reaching up, she pulled his head down and kissed him, soft at first, sweet. A thank you for sharing a piece of himself with her.

  Then the kiss turned harder. A kiss to remind him that she was there for him. That she never found him lacking. That if he asked, she would never leave his side.

  His hands were in her hair, his thumbs cradling her face. He kissed her as though she was the first and last woman he ever wanted to kiss.

  And that’s what made her pull back.

  Their breathing was loud in the quiet space.

  She kept her eyes carefully trained on Jace’s chest, avoiding eye contact. The last thing she wanted was for Jace to see the havoc he created in her.

  “I’m sure I’m not the first girl you kissed in here.” Her attempt to lighten the mood fell flat.

  “No.” There was no missing the gravel in his voice. “But you’ll probably be the last.”

  When she finally looked at him, his face was hopeful and vulnerable. He brushed his hand over her cheek, pausing as he reached her jawline.

  “Hailey—”

  “Jace, are you upstairs?” Mia called.

  Jace broke the contact. Before he could answer, Hailey turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

  Her face felt hot and her lips swollen, but Mia didn’t comment.

  They spent another half hour chatting and catching up, but her mind never left Jace and Sun Tech. She needed to do something.

  It was time to talk with Evan.

  When it was time to go, Hailey picked up the dessert dishes and carried them into the kitchen. Mia followed with glasses.

  “It’s lovely to meet you,” Mia said as she set the dishes in the sink. “I want you to know that I love my nephew with all my heart, but he is a stubborn one.”

  “Tell me about it. He has fought tooth and nail to keep me on this project.” Even at the risk of his business.

  “I hope he realized what a good thing he has with you.”

  Her shoulders sagged. No, he never would.

  “It’s never going to be more than casual.”

  Mia shook her head. “Nonsense. I see that Jace loves you. I can see it in his eyes. Now it’s up to you two to decide what to do with it.”

  Hailey pulled back, unsure of what to say. Her first impulse was to deny Mia’s statement. Jace loved her? That couldn’t be possible.

  She’d never forget the relief in Jace’s eyes when she suggested a no-strings-attached option.

  Hailey lowered her eyes. It was easier than speaking the truth.

  “I hope I see you again soon,” Mia said, taking her hand and squeezing.

  “Me too,” she said even though she knew she never would.

  But that didn’t stop her from wishing.

  *

  The ride home from Aunt Mia’s was silent and traffic-riddled. Jace tapped his thumb against the steering wheel to the beat of the music as they headed back to the city.

  His chest was swollen with the gut-wrenching, heated, needy desire that he hadn’t been able to escape since the conversation in his bedroom.

  Though to be honest, he was thankful for his aunt’s interruption. The words that had been on the tip of his tongue—what was he thinking?

  Hailey sighed and pressed her forehead against the passenger window. Industrial tracks and buildings kept to the outskirts of town passed by.

  His mother used to do that—get lost in thought and turn silent. Then she’d become tense and dark, and her mood would make the house miserable. His father would do everything he could to keep her happy. And he still lost her.

  Like with Sun Tech. No matter how hard he tried to save the company,
it would still slip through his fingers.

  He reached out for Hailey’s free hand and squeezed her fingers. He needed the contact, the reminder that they both were here and nothing was gone yet.

  “I overheard about Evan selling Sun Tech.”

  Jace gripped the steering wheel harder. Just one more point of pressure added to his straining stress levels.

  “When did you find out?” she asked, her voice soft.

  “This morning.”

  “I can go talk with Evan,” she offered.

  This was why he didn’t say anything—he didn’t want her to think this was her mess to fix. It wasn’t her doing, it was Evan trying to take the upper hand.

  His head ached, and he pressed his fingers against his temples. “Let’s not talk about this tonight. I need a break from Sun Tech. Evan won’t transfer his shares over until after the launch.”

  “What happens after?”

  “I’ll worry about that later.” Or tonight, after Hailey had fallen asleep.

  It felt like he was losing everything. In a matter of days, Hailey would be gone, and Evan would be leaving Sun Tech. After more than half the business was sold, who knew where Sun Tech would be?

  By the time they got home, all he wanted was an escape. It had been pure torture keeping his hands off Hailey at his aunt’s house, and he was tired of resisting.

  “I want you to know…” He paused. A thank you sounded dumb. “What I mean to say is that…” Nope, lines on friendship sounded ridiculous as well.

  She moved toward him and leaned up on her tiptoes. Her hands pressed against his chest. “Yes?”

  “I’m glad you’re here.” He wrapped his arm around the small of her back and hauled her tight against him. Then he dropped his head and kissed her. Her lips parted under his, and with long, delicious strokes, he mated his tongue with hers.

  Even if he could never speak the words, he wanted to show her what she meant to him. When she walked away, he wanted her to have no doubt his feelings for her. Even if he could never follow through.

  She yanked his shirt free from his jeans, and he ducked so she could pull the clothing off. She paused, her eyes running appreciatively over his body as she bunched his shirt in her hands then dropped it to the floor.

  “You’re gorgeous,” she whispered, her voice husky. Her hands moved to his shoulders, down his chest, and over his stomach. The movements were slow, her fingers tracing every line and plane of his body. He could feel his muscles swell under her touch, setting his body on fire, hardening him with each stroke of her palms.

  “Hailey.”

  Her dark eyes met his, open and vulnerable. Her emotions laid bare for him to see. He could read it in her face the words he wanted to say.

  Words he could never say.

  His body was on edge, and his cock so rigid, it ached.

  “I want you,” she whispered.

  He didn’t waste another moment. Her dress was on the floor within seconds. His jeans followed.

  He ran his hands over her, loving how her small breasts fit so easily in his hand, how her waist curved in below her ribs before flaring out to her hips. The taste of her skin on his tongue was sweet and earthy, matching her scent that drove him so wild.

  He dragged his lips back to hers, tasting her, savoring her. Each kiss a mark on his skin that would remain branded on him forever.

  It was too much. And at the same time, exactly what he needed. No other woman would ever have the impact Hailey did.

  Their bodies and limbs tangled, desperate for more, each touch enough and not enough at the same time. Walking backward, never breaking his kiss or his touch, he led her farther into the living room until his calves hit the couch.

  He fell back onto the cushions, the suede fabric cool against his back. Then with a small tug, he pulled her down with him. Her legs straddled his body, her hot core aligned with his cock for the barest of seconds before she shifted teasingly away.

  He needed her. Now.

  With one smooth motion, he flipped her so her back was on the couch and she was trapped under his body.

  Hailey let out a short gasp that was quickly swallowed on his lips.

  He could feel the fluttery rhythm of her heart against his chest. It sang out to him, and his heart responded in kind.

  Pressing his face against her neck, he breathed her in before licking the spot where her pulse beat. If this woman could heal every wound in his body, he’d let her.

  But as much as he wanted that to be possible, he knew it would never happen. He’d always be wondering, worrying, when she’d get bored and walk out that door.

  She deserved better than that.

  Her hips arched under him, edging him on.

  Then, unable to hold out any longer, he aligned his cock with her wet, ready entrance, and drove himself to the hilt, seating himself deep inside her.

  It felt like coming home.

  Her eyes, hot and hazy with lust, held his.

  “I want to be on top,” she said.

  In all his years, with all the woman he’d been with, he’d never let a woman be on top. He preferred to take the lead. It kept him in control of the situation, and in control of his emotions. The women he’d been with never complained or requested anything else.

  But Hailey was different. He flipped them over, so Hailey caged his body between her thighs, and the couch cushions pressed against his back.

  Her pale fingers wrapped boldly around his dark, solid cock, and she positioned him at her entrance.

  Then with one, long seductive move that nearly toppled him, Hailey seated him deep inside her.

  Pressing her hands against his chest, she started the rhythm. Her flame hair spilled wild over her shoulders and her dark eyes were hooded with lust.

  She was enchanting—this pale, freckled goddess who turned his life upside down. Her hips rocked against him, keeping him grounded to the here and now as she lifted up to the very tip of him before she drove him deep inside her again.

  He gripped her hips, trying to control the rhythm, to get control over himself, but she was having none of it. She leaned over him, her hair brushing his chest and lighting all his nerve endings on fire. Her tongue traced his jaw and throat before her lips finally met his, and she swallowed his moan.

  She was running the show.

  “Give in to it,” Hailey whispered. “Let me give you this.”

  His balls tightened with the need to release. He was right on the edge, and he wanted Hailey there with him. He reached for her swollen clit, determined to bring her to the top with him. Then Hailey twisted her hips, and his world exploded in a flash of blinding white as he fell over the edge.

  He could feel Hailey follow behind him, her core gripping him tight before she collapsed on his chest, her body rocking in the aftershock of her climax.

  Wanting to keep her with him, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

  I love you.

  His heart pounded out the rhythm of the words that echoed in his brain.

  He had almost said them aloud.

  Her face pressed against his chest, as she lightly ran her hand over his chest and sighed.

  It would be so easy to fall into the trap of loving her. He could see her lighting up his life and making each day worth living.

  Until the day she left.

  Where had love gotten his father?

  Where had love ever gotten him?

  But it was too late, and he knew it. He knew it by the satisfaction of holding her in his arms, and the desire to be with her and to make her happy. He knew it by the simple fact she was the one person he wanted to talk to every day since she arrived.

  Her breath stirred against his chest.

  He needed to get out of here. Succumbing to this feeling wasn’t an option. She was leaving. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was when. There was no way he could handle the pain of losing her. Not if he loved her. He refused to become a shell of himself who no longer cared who or what was
going on in the world around him.

  He refused to become his father. He refused to be left.

  No, this time he’d be leaving.

  He eased out from under her.

  “Jace?” Hailey sat up as he got to his feet. “Is everything okay?”

  She wrapped her arms over her breasts and belly, as though trying to cover as much of her beautiful body as possible.

  It was like a shot to his heart.

  “It’s fine,” he pushed his hair off his forehead.

  “You don’t look fine. You look panicked.” Concern laced her words.

  “Panicked” was an understatement.

  “I need to go for a walk.”

  Hailey didn’t speak as he pulled on his jeans, tee, and jacket. He felt like a complete jackass as she pulled a large sofa pillow over her naked body, waiting for him to leave. And that was exactly what he was—a complete and utter jackass. Better she learned that now, so she’d know to stay away.

  He couldn’t make himself meet her eyes before he walked away.

  “Maybe we could talk about what’s wrong,” she offered in a soft voice as he headed to the foyer.

  “We can talk when I get back,” he lied.

  He was the biggest jerk on the planet. But that didn’t stop him from walking out the door and leaving the woman he knew he loved naked and alone upstairs.

  The evening breeze was sharp and cold, instantly clearing his mind.

  He started walking until the need to escape finally ebbed.

  What was wrong with him? He was alone, in the middle of Houston running from the warm comfort of a beautiful woman he loved.

  He really was messed up.

  By the time he got back, Hailey’s door was closed, and the light off.

  And, damn if he wasn’t exactly the same as his father. He wanted her close, even though he knew the pain down the road.

  He knocked on the door.

  No answer.

  He scrubbed his hand down his face as he headed to his room. This was for the best. They could start the break early, and Hailey could spend her last few nights on the futon.