Fabricating Jada

  "Who said I'm not willing to?"

  He pulled me on top of him, making me squeal.

  Even though we had to work the next day, we stayed up most of the night, learning about one another in any way we could.

  I woke up alone. Again. Only this time I wasn't in my own bed. When I reached across the bed to the spot Jesse had vacated, it was still warm. The twinge of disappointment eased a bit knowing I hadn't been alone for long, after the kind of night we'd spent together.

  Quickly, I grabbed his shirt from the floor and tiptoed to my own room to get ready for the day. When I walked into the kitchen, Jesse was in his usual spot against the counter, blocking the coffee pot. His eyes darted to mine, darkening with emotion. I wasn't quite sure how to process it, or where we stood.

  "Morning, Sleeping Beauty. I'm surprised you're up," he said gruffly.

  I watched him cautiously as I approached him and the coffee pot. "Why is that so surprising?" I asked reaching around him for a cup. Once again he didn't move.

  A sexy smirk tugged at the corners of his kissable lips. "Because when I slipped out earlier, you were mumbling in your sleep how much you love me."

  More frightened than I was surprised, my gaze darted back to his. "I did not!"

  Please tell me I didn’t.

  "You'll never really know, will you?" His eyes were alight with mischief, giving him away.

  Relieved he was full of crap, I smacked him across the stomach, which flexed under my touch.

  "It's too early to give me a heart attack. Now, move your hot butt to the side so I can get my morning fix."

  I'd expected him to turn it into an innuendo. But he caught me completely by surprise when he didn't. Jesse lifted his brow, watching me with uncertainty. "Would it be such a bad thing if you had?"

  His question hit me right in the gut. I didn't know how to answer him. Was he fishing to see how I felt about him, or was he trying to feed his ego? I wasn't sure, and I definitely wasn't ready to admit my feelings to him when I'd only just admitted them to myself.

  I shot him a secretive smile and lifted my shoulders in a shrug, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

  The look on his face was unreadable and made me feel uneasy. Yet, he stayed rooted in place, blocking the coffee pot. I reached up on my tiptoes to grab a mug from the cupboard, my chest pressing against his. Jesse's hand trailed down my side softly, making me tremor slightly at the memory of what his touch could do. "You know, I can give you a morning fix—" he said against my neck, planting a kiss just below my ear.

  And there it was. The statement I'd expected him to make before he threw me for a loop. I abandoned my mug on the counter behind him and skated my fingers over his well-developed chest. "We'll be late," I said.

  He wrapped his arms around me and nipped at my bottom lip. "I don't think the boss will mind."

  Before I could respond, the kitchen door opened and DeAnna walked in. My instinct was to pull away from Jesse and act like nothing was going on, but he tightened his grip around my waist.

  "Well, well … what do we have here?" she asked with an amused grin.

  "You're infringing on what was about to be a good morning. Why are you even here?" Jesse spat with a frown.

  My cheeks flushed pink from embarrassment as I tried to hide my face in his chest.

  "I happen to live here and I forgot something. But I have to admit I'm happy to see you two finally got out of your own way to realize you're perfect together."

  Jesse grunted as she left the room.

  "Well that was awkward." I shook my head back and forth.

  "Are you embarrassed of me now?" he asked in a low rumble.

  Lifting my eyes to meet his I sighed. "No. It's just—"

  "I get it," he said, cutting me off.

  "No, you don't." I raised on my tiptoes and pulled his face to mine, capturing his mouth.

  His lips parted, allowing my tongue to explore the recesses of his mouth. A low groan escaped his mouth as his hands trailed down my back to my bottom, lifting me effortlessly. I wrapped my legs around his waist, even after he set me on the edge of the adjacent counter, bringing me closer to his height.

  "Don't mind me," DeAnna said in a singsong voice as she breezed back through the kitchen.

  We didn't. The door shut behind her as Jesse's hard body pressed flush against mine. Any thoughts I had about him ignoring me or pretending nothing had happened were squashed.

  We were late for work.

  As soon as we walked into the shop Miguel was on us. "What the hell, Jess? I've been calling you for two hours. Where the hell have you been?"

  Jesse's mouth pulled into a hard line. "Don't worry about where I've been. What's the problem?"

  Miguel threw his arms in the air in an aggravated huff. "How am I supposed to get shit ready to start on this build with Valley here, if neither of you are here to give me directions?"

  His eyes darted between us assessing before widening with a knowing look.

  Heat crept up my guilty looking face.

  "Oh—"

  Jesse dropped his voice. "Keep your 'oh' to yourself, Nunez. We're here now, let's get this thing started." He stalked toward the jig I'd seen him working at the first day we met.

  Miguel's eyebrows were still raised in surprise as he nudged me with his elbow. "He's your sidepiece but I'm still your main squeeze, right?"

  I laughed, the embarrassment I'd felt a moment before evaporating. "As long as Dee is good with that agreement. She seemed perfectly content being your naughty mistress before she left last night."

  It was his turn to blush. His cheeky smile that I loved so much spread across his face. "She told you that?"

  Nodding, I nudged him back. "I won't tell if you won't," I whispered.

  "Deal," he laughed.

  "Jane!" Jesse bellowed from across the shop, causing butterflies to dance in my stomach at my nickname. I kind of loved the way he used it now, which is a stark contrast to how it used to irritate me.

  "Hold your horses, I'm coming!" I yelled and marched across the room.

  Miguel chuckled, trailing behind me. "Oh, this is going to be interesting."

  I turned and smacked him across the arm. "Zip it."

  "Are you two done flirting with each other or can we get to work?" Jesse snapped.

  With his mouth curved into a devastating grin, Miguel wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Oh, I'll never be done flirting with my wife."

  Jesse narrowed his eyes, clearly not amused with our antics, which made me want to laugh. It was going to be an interesting dynamic now.

  "Come on, honey—let's get to work before Jesse gets cranky," I said sweetly and winked up at Miguel.

  A low growl came from Jesse which made me laugh. I couldn't contain it. After all this time, I figured out how to press his buttons on purpose, and it was going to be fun. "Oh, get your panties out of a twist, Jess. What do we need to do?" I asked bravely.

  He arched his usually furrowed brow at me. "The only panties I plan on twisting are yours … Now go grab the sketch pad off my box and let's get to it. We've got a lot to do to make up for lost time."

  My face split into a stupid grin as I grabbed our design off his toolbox.

  For the rest of the day, the three of us worked together, measuring and cutting everything for the jig we'd need for the frame of our bike.

  I was beyond excited to work side by side with Jesse and Miguel together. They each had something to offer in ways of knowledge that I'd craved for so long. Jesse was more hands-on when it came to showing me how he wanted something done, which I didn't mind a bit even though he kept it professional.

  By seven o'clock Miguel had ducked out for the night, along with everyone else in the shop. I was busy welding the last piece of the jig together when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  I finished my bead and lifted my welding lid to find Jesse behind me. "Hey."

  "You about finished?" he asked in a raspy tone.

  I nodded and la
id everything down, turning off the welder. He pulled my helmet off and laid it on the floor next to the stool I was sitting on and pulled me to my feet.

  "Good."

  The grin on his face was mischievous as he tossed me over his shoulder in one fluid motion like a rag doll and crossed the shop to the stairs that led to his office.

  I pounded on his fabulous butt, laughing. "What are you doing, ya big ape?"

  "Getting you alone," he said and took the stairs two at a time, as if I were weightless.

  Need stirred low in my belly as he kicked the door shut and set me down in front of him, his eyes glowing with desire.

  "Did you really just call me a big ape?" he asked in a silky voice.

  My lips eased into a secret smile. "You did just act like Tarzan throwing me over your shoulder."

  He dropped his face to mine. "You know the difference between me and him?"

  "Hmmm?" I asked, getting lost in his intense gaze.

  "I love my Jane more than he could ever love his."

  My heart hammered in my chest as I processed what he'd just said. "You love me?"

  "Mmmhmmm," he hummed and nipped at my bottom lip, like he always did before he kissed me.

  "I love you too, ya big ape." My mouth split into a wide grin as I crushed my lips to his and basically climbed him like a tree.

  He was right, we did make a good team. In every aspect of our lives. I wasn't sure what the future would hold or if the media circus would die down, but I knew if we took it on together—everything would be just as it was meant to be.

  Epilogue

  We had a prime spot in the middle of SEMA. Valentine's SRF had a large booth set up next to the display of bikes we'd brought with us. My debut, the bike we'd called "Warhawk Infusion" was the main focal point of our booth, with black velvet ropes keeping it out of reach. People flocked to us, asking for autographs and pictures, not just from Jesse and Miguel, but from me, too.

  A tiny voice spoke from behind me. A voice I recognized as soon as I heard it, making my face spilt into a large grin. "Hey, lady! Can I get your autograph?"

  I spun around to face Quinten, with Toya running behind him, pushing a stroller with a sleeping little Emily in it, trying to catch up.

  "Hey, buddy!" I said and scooped him into a hug.

  "Quinten! You can't run off like that!" Toya said, trying to catch her breath. Her eyes met mine in excitement. "As soon as he saw you guys, he took off in a mad dash."

  "I'm so happy you were able to make it," Jesse said as he hugged Toya.

  Her smile was contagious. "We wouldn't have missed it for the world. Thank you again for giving us tickets and offering to pay for us to get here and stay. It means so much."

  I turned to look at him with open admiration. Just as I thought I had him figured out, he did something else to surprise me. "You're amazing," I whispered.

  Jesse shot me a wink and kneeled in front of Quinten. "Hey, bud, you ready to help us work the booth?"

  He nodded in excitement. "Yes, sir!"

  I hugged Toya hard—she gave the best hugs with the right amount of squeeze—as I glanced down at Emily.

  "She's gotten so big in the last couple of weeks!" I wanted to scoop her up and give her a hug, too, but I knew better than to wake a sleeping baby.

  "She has! Both of my girls are blossoming! I'm so proud of you, Jada."

  I beamed. I couldn't help it. "Thank you. I think I'm still kind of in shock I'm here."

  "Enjoy every minute of it. You've earned it." She hugged me again. Toya had become a big sister type figure in my life, and I adored her and the kids.

  One of the judges walked up to the booth with his clipboard in hand. "Excuse me, can I slip past the ropes to get a better look?"

  Before either Jesse or I could say anything, Quinten stepped forward. "May I see your credentials?"

  I covered my mouth to stifle my laugh as I glanced at Jesse, whose face was twisted into my favorite smirk. The judge cut his eyes to ours with a surprised expression before returning his gaze to Quinten.

  He held his badge up so Quinten could read it. "Sure, and you are?"

  "I'm Quinten James, a junior builder for Valentine SRF." He held his hand out to offer a handshake.

  Jesse wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. "That judge is the hardest to impress and from the look on his face, I think Quinten just melted the ice from his heart," he whispered into my hair.

  I snickered silently as we watched Quinten charm the pants off the judge and show him around the bike, pointing out things we'd let him help with when his mom had brought him by the shop. Judge Hardball left our booth twenty minutes later wearing a smile instead of a scowl.

  "Great job, bud. You're a natural," Jesse said as he high-fived our little buddy.

  The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur, until a photographer from Choppers and More Magazine came by. "Would you both be interested in doing a photo shoot for a featured article?"

  Before I could even process his question, Jesse answered. "Of course."

  "Great. I'll be back by after the awards are handed out later."

  My stomach rolled with anxiety at the thought of even being a contender for the “Hottest Bike” category. Only the best of the best won at a show this size, and even though I was extremely proud of our bike, I was still intimidated going up against people I'd looked up to my entire life.

  "I'm proud of you, Jane. No matter what happens, you earned this," Jesse said and kissed the side of my forehead.

  I nodded, too nervous to say anything else. Needing to stay busy, I joined Quinten passing out fliers and talking to other builders who stopped by the booth. Toya sat with DeAnna behind the table while she fed Emily.

  Three judges walked by and said something to Jesse. His mouth was pulled into a hard line, with his arms folded over his chest. He nodded as they spoke and I could see his mouth moving even though I couldn't hear what he was saying. It was too loud in the convention center to hear anything over the excited chatter in the air.

  One of them handed him a yellow slip of paper before they shook hands and walked away. If I'd had my wits about me, I would have darted to his side to see what they'd said, but I was frozen in place by fear.

  Jesse's face was as unreadable as always as he approached me and silently passed me the piece of paper.

  Top Ten Finalist for Overall Hottest Bike

  My eyes darted to his as I squealed and launched myself into his arms. "Oh my Gosh! How did this happen?"

  I was beside myself, overwhelmed with excitement. This was my dream, and it was coming true.

  "They see what I've seen from the very beginning," he said in a low rasp and kissed me.

  "Eww," Quinten said and covered his eyes.

  We laughed as Jesse lowered me to the ground. Toya, DeAnna, Miguel, and Quinten all celebrated being a part of the top ten with us.

  At five o'clock we headed to the Main Stage for the announcements of the winners for each category.

  Jesse laced his fingers through mine as we stood shoulder to shoulder—well more like shoulder to waist since I was vertically challenged and refused to wear anything other than work boots.

  "And the top three finalists are—Tangled Web by Jones and Son. Monster Bike by Alluring Cycles. And …"

  I sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed Jesse's hand in anticipation.

  "Warhawk Infusion by Valentine SRF."

  Jesse pulled me into his arms and planted a breath-stealing kiss on my lips as the crowd around us erupted into cheers and cameras flashed from every angle.

  "You did it, baby. Get your sweet ass up there where you belong," he whispered against my lips as his eyes danced with pride.

  "You're coming with me," I said and dragged him by his large hand to the podium.

  Jesse waved Quinten up along with us. His little smile could not be contained as he stood next to us.

  We shook hands with the other builders and judges once we were on the stag
e. Jesse had an air of calmness surrounding him, but I couldn't contain my nerves as I tapped my foot anxiously. He trailed his fingers up and down my spine. His touch was soothing and helped me breathe a bit better. Quinten stood next to us like he'd done this a million times.

  "In third place—Monster Bike by Alluring Cycles."

  We clapped as the builder claimed his trophy. The look on his face was not one of excitement for coming in third.

  Once the noise from the crowd quieted down, the second judge made his announcement. "Our runner-up for Hottest Bike was a great contender this year and there were only a few points separating the top two bikes. In second place we have WarHawk Infusion by Valentine SRF! That means our grand prize winner goes to Tangled Web by Jones and Son!"

  My mouth parted in surprise as Jesse twirled me around the stage. "Congratulations, baby. This is a huge honor! Enjoy every moment of it."

  The crowd roared with shouts, cheers, and a few boos. I accepted our second place trophy with shock and excitement. It was heavier than I thought it would be as I passed it to my little buddy who held it in the air with both hands and chanted, "Oh yeah! Second place, this is great!"

  Mr. Jones offered me his hand. "Great job, Jada. I can't wait to see what you come out with next!"

  I was beside myself, shaking the hand of one of my idols and the overall winner. "Thank you, sir. Congratulations on your win. Your bike was gorgeous."

  I could feel Jesse's presence behind me before I heard his voice. "Congratulations, Kev," Jesse said and shook his hand.

  Kevin Jones pointed at me. "Hold on to this one, dude. She's definitely one to watch."

  The growl I'd come to love, rumbled behind me as Kevin walked away.

  I turned to face him and threw my arms around his neck.

  "No one has to tell me what to hold on to. I'm never letting you go."

  The crowd erupted into cheers as he pulled me in for another toe-curling kiss.

  "Yeah, hooker!! Get your man!" Carter's voice cut through the cheers.

  Whipping around, I easily found her in the crowd bouncing up and down. Only, she wasn't alone. My parents were beside her with my mom crying and her hands clasped together over her chest.