by Morgan Fox
“I’m not sure you’d call us a couple, but we like being together.”
Her good mood eased. Could she call him her boyfriend? She was never good at labels and hadn’t referred to herself as his girlfriend, even though her heart was ready. I never would’ve guessed I could feel this way.
Jeremy smirked. “As much time as the two of you spend together, you’re dating. You’re a couple.” When she wasn’t with him, she was dreaming about him. When they were together, she was silently desiring forever. Who would’ve thought that less than two months with Jace would’ve melted her heart and made her do exactly the opposite of what she’d always said. Things between them were only getting better. To tempt her even more, Jace often had her spend the night. He didn’t seem to want her anywhere, except where he was, and she liked that.
She pressed her hip to the counter. “I guess so. I just don’t think of us like that.”
“How do you want things to be?”
She paused a moment, thinking about all the times she’d pictured her and Jace in a relationship where love was exchanged, not just sex and a good time, but a full blown romance. “As a couple.” She shrugged. “I shouldn’t, but I do.”
“That’s great,” he cheered. “How does Jace feel about a more committed relationship? I know he’s always protested against them, but I’ve also never seen him with anyone the way he is with you.”
Hearing that tugged at her heart strings. It also saddened her. “I wouldn’t know,” she answered honestly. “He hasn’t said.”
“Maybe you need to ask him?”
The alarms blasted in the firehouse and the dispatcher’s voice came over the intercom. They had a call. In a flash, they were running to put on their gear and saddle up on the firetruck. Another traffic accident. If she was lucky she’d get to see Jace. If not, she’d planned to see him after her shift ended in the morning.
There was no time to worry about how to ask Jace about a possible future. She had a job to do. Her feelings would have to wait. With any hope, he’d surprise her with the words that echoed in her heart. Words that could also destroy everything, if she were the only one feeling them.
Chapter 9
Jace texted Sage first thing to let her know he was not going to be able to meet her as planned. His department had scheduled a meeting he couldn’t miss. Once he was done with that, he was supposed to work up at Iron Horse. The day was not starting out as he had hoped. Everything was getting in his way and making it more of a challenge to spend time with her.
He rushed home, took care of his laundry and cleaned up his house, dressed for work at the bar, and headed there. Iron Horse Bar & Grill was already hopping with early lunch customers. He moved around the large chestnut colored bar and started bringing out drink orders—iced teas, sodas, and waters.
One of the rewards of being busy was that the time went by quickly. Before he had time to glance at his watch, the lunch rush was over and a calm had settled over the restaurant. His thoughts moved straight to Sage. Smiling, he hoped she was thinking about him, too.
He began wiping down the bar and spotted some of the girls he’d once flirted with, but had never closed the deal with. They didn’t seem as appealing as they once had. Now when he looked at them, he compared them to Sage and noted all the ways she was better than them and all the qualities that he admired about Sage. He was well aware of the strange sensation in his chest that arose when he thought about her. He wasn’t afraid of it. Not like he had been in the past.
He chuckled, thinking about all the times he’d argued that he’d never get caught up with one woman. He’d been a fool to think he and Sage could remain dating as friends with benefits. Not when he liked her so much, admired her to a fault, and desired her above all others. As hard as he’d tried in the beginning to keep it casual, he was always doomed to fail.
The two blondes he’d seen playing pool were now approaching the bar. He smiled. “What can I get you?” he asked, leaning against the counter.
“Your number,” the taller of the two blondes said, swirling her finger across the bar in a path toward him.
He paused, wondering if he’d heard her correctly, then pulled his hand back enough to keep distance between them.
“I’ve seen you in here when we come in. I’ve watched you looking at us,” the other blonde told him.
He arched a brow. That was before Sage.
The tall blonde placed her elbows on the bar, pressing her breasts outward. His eyes couldn’t help but wander to the crease between each mound. They were massive breasts that even a blind man could see.
“I was hoping you were available tonight.”
He swallowed his tongue and prepared to answer, but the other blonde wouldn’t let him.
“By the way, I don’t take no for an answer.”
He eyed them both. “Do you two always tag team?”
“Only if we find a man that could handle the two of us.”
“And we’re pretty sure you’re the man for the job.”
He chuckled. Talk about stroking someone’s ego.
These chicks were brazen and he couldn’t believe they were offering him a chance to fuck them both. That shit never happened when he was single. The word single replayed in his mind and his brow furrowed as he realized just how not available he was. His body belonged to Sage. More still, so did his heart.
I’m in love with Sage.
Smiling, he grabbed two glasses, filled them with ice and cold water, and then slid the glasses to each blonde. “Sorry ladies, but I’m off the market.”
Each one stuck out their lower lip in a mock pout. The taller blonde dug something out of her shirt from between her full breasts and slid it over the counter toward him. “In case you change your mind.”
He didn’t take it, just glanced at it. It was her number. He felt a quiver of something strange in his chest and a wall of irritation surged upward. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m in a relationship. Can I get you anything from the grill?”
Was that true? Was he in a relationship with Sage? A real relationship? Could he convince her to take the next step with him? To love him as he loved her?
Shit, what’s the next step?
“I don’t believe it,” Janie muttered, her eyes wide. “You just blew off those two busty chicks for Sage Nixon?” She pulled out a barstool and sat down. “I must be mistaken.”
Jace shook his head. “No you’re not.”
She gaped at him. “Who would’ve guessed someone had the power to make you give up your wilder ways.”
A devilish grin teased his lips. “That’s just it, Janie, I don’t have to give them up. Sage brings them out of me and I—” The words locked in his throat, he almost couldn’t believe he was not only thinking them, but prepared to say it.
“You what?” Janie repeated, encouraging him to finish his thought.
He locked eyes with her, his heart galloping in his chest, preparing to bust through his ribs. The moisture in his mouth was gone. He grabbed a beer from the cooler and chugged it. His mind overcome with awareness.
“What’s wrong with you?” Janie asked, curling her lip.
He trusted Janie. She was like a sister to him. Inhaling a deep breath, he spilled his thoughts. “I’m in love with Sage.”
“Well, if that’s the case,” Sam said, moving up to the counter. “You’re screwed. I just saw Sage in the parking lot and she told me she wants nothing to do with your two timing ass.” She raised her hands to stop him from speaking. “Her words. Not mine.”
Jace’s world moved to a crawl as he slid a cold glance to the two blondes eyeing him like a morsel they’d planned to devour. One sucked on her middle finger like she was taking his cock into her mouth. The beer bottle slipped from his fingers and dropped to the floor, glass scattering like the pieces of his heart.
* * * *
“Jace Burnette is an asshole and I never want to see him again.”
“What the hell happened,” Zerina asked, ope
ning the door further to let Sage inside the home she shared with Jeremy.
“He’s a player. I should’ve known better.” She plopped down onto the sofa, rested her elbows on her knees, and covered her face with her hands. “He never really wanted me. He only wanted to fuck me. Well, I guess he’s bored and moving on to the next thing. Make that two things.”
“Whoa, what? Slow down. Take a breath and tell me what happened.”
She brushed her fingers over her face, wiping away her fallen tears. “I went up to Iron Horse to see him. When I walked in, I saw him talking with two blondes. They were flirting with him. God, they were practically throwing their tits in his face and he was ogling them, staring at them like he’d never seen boobs before. They asked him out.”
“And he said yes?” Zerina asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.
She hadn’t heard. She was too upset to listen anymore. After she’d seen one of the blondes slide something across the counter to him, she’d seen enough. It was probably a condom so they could go fuck in the bathroom. Bile coated her throat. “He didn’t say no.”
“So you didn’t see what happened?”
“What, did you want me to stand there while he nailed them? Did you want specific details on if he enjoyed screwing them?”
Zerina furrowed her brow. “No. I expected you to stick around long enough to see if he sent them packing.”
She gasped for breath. “It didn’t seem like that was his intensions.”
“So you’re assuming the worst then? Without evidence.”
Sage grimaced, pursing her lips together as sadness turned into fury. “Whose side are you on, damn it? I came here so I could vent. Not so you could take cheating jackass’s side.”
Zerina sighed. “I know from my own personal experience that overhearing something might not always be what it seems. I almost lost Jeremy because of that very thing. I thought the firefighter wives were talking about me. I thought they were saying horrible things about me. I let my imagination run away with it. I was wrong. I overreacted, assuming the worst.”
How could she even compare her situation with mine? “You and Jeremy are different. You two have something special. He’s always wanted you. You always wanted him. I’ve heard the story a dozen times. Jace and I aren’t you and Jeremy. We don’t have some magical fate pulling us together.”
“How do you know?” Zerina’s tone grew sharp, jagged like she was trying to dig her point home.
“Fucking is not fate,” she said adamantly. “What we have is sex and we eat together. We don’t have an everlasting love.” She paused. “At least he doesn’t.”
Zerina’s breath caught, her eyes welling with emotions as she slid over to hug Sage. “Ah, honey, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were in love with him. I thought you might be, but you never said for sure.”
Her lower lip quivered as tears threatened her eyes. “I didn’t want to fall for him. It just sort of happened.”
“That’s how it normally works. Love can’t be forced. No matter how much we want or don’t want it. It just happens and that’s fate, babe.”
Tears streaked down her face and she didn’t bother holding them back. She’d just watched the one man she’d ever loved sabotage her chance at happiness. He didn’t want her after all. He truly did only want sex. Their time was over and it was her time to grieve.
There was a hole in her heart, one that sank to the pit of her stomach. Her entire body was overcome with uncontrollable jitters, a cold chill saturating the flesh of her body. She was sick, wrecked with nerves and sorrow. Something was dying, the love she found with Jace smashed into oblivion.
“Oh, Zerina,” she cried out. “What am I going to do?”
The front door opened and in walked Jeremy. “What happened?” he asked, rushing to Sage.
“Jace,” Zerina replied and that one word said it all.
Hearing his name only crushed her heart more, stopping her from speaking.
Jeremy stood, fists clenched at his sides. “I’ll kill him.”
* * * *
A repetition of thunderous knocks landed on Jace’s front door and he rushed to open it to find out who was assaulting the hard wood. When he opened the door, he’d expected to discover one of his obnoxious cop friends, or even a frantic neighbor. Not Jeremy Lawrence.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jeremy asked, shoving past him.
He fanned his hand to the side as if Jeremy hadn’t just barged into his home uninvited. “Please come in.”
“How could you do this to Sage? Of all the women in the world you could screw over, why her?”
That got his attention. “Do what to Sage? I’ve been trying to call her all day. I’ve even driven to her home. Where is she?”
“What do you care? You apparently don’t know a good thing when you’ve got it. You were never good enough for her. She deserved to be treated like a queen not a whore.” Jeremy closed in on him. “You got what you wanted and then moved on to the next best thing. You didn’t even have the balls to be honest with her to tell her it was over.”
Jace bumped his chest against him. “Watch your tone, Jeremy.”
“Why? It’s the truth. You got what you wanted from Sage and dumped her.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t dump her.”
Jeremy’s jaw ticked. “That makes me want to beat the shit out of you even more.”
The hair stood up on the back of Jace’s neck as he balled his fists at his sides. “You can try, asshole.”
“Asshole? I’m not the one who got busted picking up two chicks at the bar today. I’m not the one who didn’t have the decency—”
Two timing asshole. That’s what Sam said Sage had called him. It all made sense now. “So that’s why she left the bar without talking to me today. Why she won’t take my calls.”
“Sage saw you. Watched you picking up on those two blondes. The ones with their tits in your face apparently.”
Jace backed up, rubbing a stiff hand over his face. The fury that had consumed his parents’ lives and led to their failed marriage was so vivid in his mind. He could hear the cheating accusations of his mother, the fear of what his father’s job required. He and Sage never stood a chance. They weren’t even official and they were acting like his parents. Why had he even bothered to take a chance?
“Did she happen to see me tell them to go away? Tell them that I was in a relationship? Did she happen to see any of that? No, she just assumed. Fuck me, I knew this kind of shit would happen.” He began to pace. “I knew I never should’ve gotten involved with her. What’s the point of being with someone if they don’t trust you? If they just assume the worst of you? If they give you ultimatums.”
His throat constricted as his heart dropped from his chest. He cared so much for Sage, but the mirror of his childhood memories was too much to bare, too hard to forget. What destroyed him the most was the idea of losing the one person that had cracked his shell enough to allow him to fall in love?
“What’s the point of being with someone when they can’t even see how much you’re in love with them?” Jace muttered.
He was reliving the mistakes of his parents. Something he’d tried so damn hard to avoid. All it took to land in hell was falling for Sage.
“Ah, man, are you serious? Did I just screw everything up?”
He shook his head and scoffed. “I respect you, Jeremy. I’m glad Sage has you in her life. It’s important to be around people who will look out for you.”
“Why…what—”
“It’s for the best. As much as I wanted things to work with Sage, I have to be honest, I’m not the kind of person who deserves someone like her. She needs someone like you, Jeremy. She needs someone who doesn’t have a reputation and can keep from letting her insecurities get the better of her. I fear she’ll always be worried that I’m not faithful to her, that she’s not pretty enough or some shit like that. I don’t want to put her through hell and I certainly d
on’t want things between us to turn ugly.”
“Now wait just a damn second. This can be fixed. She’s hurt right now. She assumed—”
A cold chill rocked him to the core. “My mom assumed a lot too and she and my father had the ugliest divorce because of it. They couldn’t stand each other in the end. It was all he said she said bullshit, and neither were ever happy. Twenty plus years later and they’re still miserable.” He sat down hard on the sofa. “I don’t want that for Sage. I want her happy. I want her to remember how beautiful she is and how much I admire her. How much she deserves to be loved and cherished. Not made to worry that things are going to come crashing down around her.” He swallowed hard. “I couldn’t take it if she hated me.”
“I’m not sure giving up is the answer,” Jeremy said, sitting across from him in the recliner. “You guys were good together. She’s been so happy lately.”
“And now? How happy was she when you last saw her? She must’ve really said some wonderful things about me to get you fired up to come barreling over here to try and beat the shit out of me.”
“No, she wasn’t happy, but it was all a misunderstanding.”
Jace couldn’t change the way he felt. He was wrong to want more. He never should’ve assumed he could try with Sage. As wonderful as she was, he was still the same person with the same career as his father. He had a list of women that would only make her wonder if he was faithful and question if she was good enough. She was more than good enough. He just wished she’d figured that out sooner. Knowing what he now knew, he would only doom them if they stayed together.
“It’s best this way. She’ll be happy without me messing up her life.”
An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Jeremy’s glare intensified. “I never thought I’d say this, but you’re a coward.”