Cover Me (Jaded Ivory Book 3)

by Rebecca Brooke

  “Sounds like it might take her time to accept your help anyway,” Jackson chimed in.

  “Probably.”

  The growling of a stomach hit my ears and all eyes turned to Monty. He shrugged. “What? I’m fucking starving.”

  Mari wrapped her arm around his shoulder. “All right, let’s get you fed before you get hangry.”

  Mari blew me a kiss. “We’ll talk more when you get back. For now do whatever makes her happy. And don’t worry about screwing up. You’re great at helping others even when they can’t see it at first.” She winked and turned to face Monty. “Let’s go grab a table.”

  Jackson gestured his head toward the door. “Wait up,” he called out. “I’ll check on your bus before we get back on the road. We’ll see you in a few days.”

  Soon, I was left with only Reagan and Sawyer.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Reagan asked, sitting down in front of the computer. Sawyer took the spot next to him.

  “She’s at work now. So, I might go look at apartments near her place.”

  Sawyer’s eyes grew wide. “You’re moving out?”

  “No, but I want a close place to stay when she needs me there.” I linked my hands on the top of my head. “Hell, man, you know, something about her called to me from the very beginning. Maybe there’s a chance that someday I can move them both into our place.”

  “Is there anything we can do?”

  “Nah, but thanks for asking. As much as she intrigues me, I know right now what’s best for her and the baby is us becoming friends. I need to show her she can trust me.”

  “Smart move.”

  “Although, I might need help securing the apartment under an alias if I find one.”

  “That I can do,” Reagan said.

  “Thanks. Go grab food, you two. I have to figure out what she wants for dinner.”

  Sawyer nodded. “Okay. Keep us in the loop.”

  “Don’t worry, I will.” I disconnected the call and kicked my feet up onto the couch.

  I hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep, worried about what the morning would bring. I closed my eyes and drifted off for about an hour, then spent the rest of the afternoon looking through possible apartments online.

  By the time it came to pick up dinner and head back to Jenna’s house, I’d found a handful of places for her to look at. She would know better than me which places were worth renting and which weren’t. After that I’d let Reagan deal with all the paperwork to rent it.

  Unsure of what she’d be able to keep down, I grabbed takeout from a few different places, then she could decide what she felt like eating.

  If I’d known where the diner was that she worked at, I would have gone there to pick her up, but from her reaction earlier to me taking her to work, I wasn’t sure that would have been such a good idea. Instead, I parked out front of her place and waited for her to get home. There were no lights on inside when I arrived. It was still twenty minutes to seven.

  I flipped on the radio. It still surprised me every time I listened to a station and they played one of our songs. The feeling was absolutely surreal. I happened to be lost in one of those moments when there was a knock on my passenger side window. I glanced up and found Jenna standing there with a smirk on her lips.

  “Spend much time stalking peoples’ houses?”

  I laughed. “Nope, just waiting for you to get home.”

  I stepped out of the truck, multiple bags of food in hand. Her eyes widened when she saw them all.

  “Who the hell is eating all that?”

  I shrugged. “I wasn’t sure what you’d be able to keep down, so I got a little bit of everything.”

  “That’s an understatement. It looks like you’re ready to create your own buffet with all that food.”

  I followed her as she walked up the path. “At least we know you’ll be able to eat something tonight.”

  She opened the door and led me directly into the kitchen. “Hopefully. Just let me change first.”

  Now that we were in the light of the kitchen, I could see the fatigue in her eyes, dark circles beneath them.

  “You change and I’ll set everything out.”

  She pointed out where I might find everything I needed in the kitchen, then disappeared down the hall. I took all the containers out, basically doing exactly what she said—I set up a buffet on her kitchen counter. I glanced around and realized I might have gone overboard with the food, but if Jenna was happy that was all that mattered.

  “Holy shit.” I glanced over my shoulder at where she was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. “That’s even more than I thought.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, it didn’t look like that much in the car. But at least you have choices.”

  She shook her head laughing and grabbed one of the plates I set out. “Well, let’s see what they baby is willing to let me eat.”

  I let Jenna scan the options, filling up her plate with whatever she wanted before I went back in for mine. Jenna piled her plate with a smorgasbord of different options and carried it over to the small table that sat in the corner of the kitchen. I started spooning things onto my own plate when she asked, “Do you want anything to drink?”

  I set my own plate down. “I’ll get the drinks. You’ve been on your feet all day. What do you want?”

  “Water would be great. There might be some soda or iced tea in the fridge.”

  I grabbed two bottles of water and took my seat at the table. Since I hadn’t eaten since lunch, I was fucking starving. I picked up my fork and started in on my plate. It was a few minutes later that I noticed Jenna hadn’t eaten much.

  “Are you feeling okay?” I asked, concerned that the baby was making her feel sick again.

  She set her fork down and leaned her arms on the table. I noticed it took a moment for her eyes to connect with mine. “I think we need to set some ground rules.”

  “Ground rules for what?”

  She gestured around the kitchen. “For this.”

  My brows drew together. “For bringing you dinner?”

  “No.” She looked down and shook her head. “Not just that. I thought about this all day and now I’m not explaining it right.”

  I laid my hand on her arm to comfort her, but she pulled her arm away.

  “That,” she said. “That right there is what I’m talking about. We need to set some ground rules for how much helping you need to do.”

  “You don’t want my help?”

  “No.” Her words were like a punch to the gut. “I mean yes. Hell, I don’t know what I mean. Here you are bending over backward to do things for me when I’m sure you have other things to worry about.”

  “Right now, the only thing I have to worry about is you.”

  “And you’re not supposed to be on the road?”

  “I already told you, we have a week off.”

  “Then what happens?”

  “Unfortunately, then I have to fly back for our next show.”

  She lifted her hand in a gesture that said see, but I wasn’t getting it. “That’s what I’m talking about. Here you are doing all kinds of things for me, but in a few days you’ll be leaving and I’ll be on my own again.”

  “And that’s exactly why I need to pamper the hell out of you for the next week.”

  “You don’t need—”

  “Yes. I. Do. You keep wanting to play the martyr on this. Like it’s your fault and your fault alone that you got pregnant. I know that’s not the case. The condom broke. We could look at it two ways. It’s both of our faults or neither of our faults. Either way, it doesn’t really matter anymore. In seven months we’re going to be parents to a beautiful little baby and I want to know I did everything in my power to make sure he or she is born safe and healthy. And if that means spoiling you when I can be here, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Jenna

  How did he do it?

  The man certainly had a way with words. So much so that h
e obliterated every reason I’d come up with over the last nine hours to have some ground rules in place. Yet, there I sat, my tongue tied and my brain mush, unable to push away the gorgeous man before me.

  I wanted to argue with his words, to argue that I didn’t need help making sure the baby was healthy, but deep down I knew I did. I sucked at taking care of myself. I always had. It was easier to take care of others than to worry about myself.

  Somehow through it all, I needed to keep myself from getting hurt in all this. If Heath was only here for the rest of the week, then there was no reason I couldn’t enjoy the pampering and attention. Next week I could worry about how to do this on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I had no doubt Heath would help support the baby in any way, but I had my doubts about him being there especially with his career. No one wanted this kind of baggage thrown in their laps, especially when you had gorgeous women throwing themselves at your feet every night.

  “I talked to the rest of the band tonight.”

  I’d been so lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t really heard what he’d said.

  “What?” I asked, trying to snap out of my inner monologue.

  “I talked to the rest of the band tonight.”

  I cringed. “What did they say?”

  “Why do you always assume it’s going to be something bad?”

  “In my life, ninety-nine percent of the time it is. Besides, this isn’t the type of situation that doesn’t attract bad reactions.”

  He pointed his fork at me. “Well, this time, you’re wrong. They were worried about me for sure, but they know I’m doing the right thing. Plus, they laughed at me.”

  My eyebrows hit my hairline. “They actually laughed? They think having a baby is funny?”

  He lifted both hands. “No, no. That’s not what I was saying. Obviously, they don’t think that’s funny. What they do think is funny is that I met my match.”

  I picked my fork up and tapped it on the table. “Met your match in what?”

  “In someone who’s not good at accepting help.”

  “So you’re not good at accepting help either.”

  He shrugged. “Apparently not. Guess that’s what happens when you’re used to helping everyone else but yourself.”

  “Ain’t that the truth.”

  My stomach rumbled and Heath looked at it pointedly. “And now, I think it might be time for you to eat.”

  I pierced a piece of chicken with my fork and made a show of putting it in my mouth. If I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn I saw a flare of heat in his eyes. Pushing the ridiculous thought out of my head, I focused on my food.

  I let the piece of chicken sit for a few minutes before I braved another piece.

  “Is the food okay?” I noticed Heath watching me.

  “Yeah. Yeah, it’s great. I’m just making sure my stomach decides it likes it before tempting another piece.”

  “Hopefully. But if not there are other choices.”

  Suddenly the food court buffet made sense. Heath wanted to make sure there was something I could eat without getting sick.

  I glanced up at him through my lashes, trying to hide the emotion in my eyes. It had been a long time since anyone looked out for me. And it felt nice. “Thank you.”

  He smiled, the small dimple on his right cheek appearing. “You’re welcome.”

  We didn’t talk much more through the rest of dinner, but I did notice him peeking at me every so often, probably trying to make sure I was eating enough.

  Filled to capacity, I set my fork down. “Do you want anything else?” he asked.

  “No, I don’t think I could fit another bite.”

  He reached over to grab my plate. “Let me get that for you.”

  “You don’t have to clean up my dishes. I’m perfectly capable of cleaning up after myself.”

  “You are, but the good thing about me being here is that you don’t have to.”

  He smirked and whisked my plate away. I thought he’d just drop them in the sink. Instead, he washed all the dishes and put the leftover food away before he came back to the table.

  “You really didn’t have to.”

  He reached a hand out to me. “Are you ever going to stop arguing over my help?”

  I placed my hand in his. And his warm fingers closed around mine. “Probably not. But you’ll get used to it.”

  I clamped my mouth shut. Heat raced to my cheek. Unbelievable. The things that came out of my mouth around him.

  “I’m sure I will.”

  I still felt ridiculous while he led me to the living room. As we sat on the couch, I put as much space between us as I could. Silence stretched on and the tension in the room amplified my already shattered nerves. Heath didn’t seem affected by the quiet and angled his body to face me.

  “I’d hate to ask, but what happened with your grandmother after I left? Marcus told us she passed away.”

  I swallowed past the sudden lump in my throat. Code Blue ran through my head over and over again.

  A large hand landed on my thigh. “Jenna?” The second I looked over at him, he slid across the couch and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

  I brushed away a tear as it tracked down my cheek. “No, it’s fine. I just haven’t really talked about that day to anyone.”

  “No one? Not even your friend Rachel?”

  I shook my head. “No one. I didn’t want to burden her with all the details. She has enough on her plate.”

  “Then tell me.”

  “You don’t want—”

  “Yes, I do. I was there with you. I know it’s not easy, but it might help.”

  He was right, I wanted to tell someone. To let them tell me it was okay. That I’d done all I could. To hold me while I cried.

  I sucked in a deep breath. “After you left, I went to the hospital. The doctors thought that weening her off the ventilator was the best option. It would give her a chance to breathe on her own with assistance.” My heart started pounding in my chest. “They started pulling back on the machine slowly. Everything seemed to be going well. She started breathing, making up for what the machine was no longer doing. The doctors and nurses seemed so pleased.” It started getting harder to breathe. “I thought we were out of the woods. I thought in a few more hours I’d get to see her green eyes again. I started telling her about you bringing me to the hospital the night before when alarm bells went off all around me.”

  “Jenna,” he whispered into my hair and squeezed me tighter. I fisted my hand into his T-shirt.

  “The next thing I knew I was being pushed into the hall.” A sob escaped as I thought about the next few minutes. “I stood on the other side of that glass and watched as they worked and worked, trying to bring her back to me. But…”

  My shoulders shook.

  “Tell me,” he coaxed.

  I sucked in breath after breath, trying to get myself to calm down. “But there was nothing they could do. Her heart couldn’t handle the stress.”

  I let the anguish take me over.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered into my hair, still holding me while I finally let my emotions get the best of me. “Let it all out.”

  I had no idea how long we sat there, but eventually the tears slowed. When I was finally able to pull in a deep breath, Heath lifted my chin and brush the tears from my face with his thumb.

  My gaze connected with his and for a moment we sat there staring at each other. Everything became too real and I broke our gazes and laid my head back onto his chest.

  Eventually, Heath leaned down and pulled my feet up into his lap.

  “What are you doing?”

  He pulled down my socks and tossed them to the floor. “Rubbing your feet.”

  “No, you don’t…” I tried to wiggle free of his grasp, but he held on tight.

  “Don’t even think about it.” He pushed his thumb into the sole of my foot. “You worked all day.”

  I almost let the mo
an slip from the back of my throat. God, it felt so good. “Yes,” I groaned as he continued up and down my foot.

  My lids slid closed.

  “Feel good?”

  “You have no idea…” I trailed off.

  Who was I to complain about a little pampering? Heath was different from anything I expected. I opened my eyes. Watching his side profile, long hair, and strong jaw, I was curious about the man beneath the gorgeous face and body.

  “Tell me about your band.”

  He looked over at me and his eyes lit up. Like one of his favorite topics to discuss.

  “What do you want to know?”

  I shrugged. “Don’t know. How did you meet?”

  He looked over and then back to what his was doing. “Sawyer and I were roommates in college. We got along from the moment we met. We both had our own struggles when we arrived freshman year, but somehow we found a way to be there for each other.”

  “What about everyone else?”

  “As music majors we had a lot of the same classes together. Weekends together for recitals. Neither of us were sure what we wanted to do with our degrees, but we knew it wasn’t any kind of formal orchestra or musical pit.” He laughed, like he was reliving the memory. “One day sophomore year Sawyer came back to the apartment with Jackson and Monty in tow. They were talking over lunch about starting a band. Their idea was perfect. We all played different instruments and Jackson had a great voice.”

  I adjusted in my seat to sit up straighter. “I thought your lead singer was a woman?’

  He nodded. “It is. Mari came later. We were playing all types of clubs in the area and one day we were able to get a gig at a pretty big spot for musicians looking to make it big. The day before the show, Jackson lost his voice.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  He chuckled. “That’s what we thought too, but somehow, Sawyer convinced Mari to sing with us. Sawyer and Mari were inseparable throughout college. He spent a lot of freshman year avoiding his own problems and helping her out of her shell.”

  “I never would have imagined her as shy.”

  He moved his hands to my other foot and it was all I could do not to groan. A frown marred his brow. “Yeah, she dealt with some pretty nasty bullies in high school. But this was senior year. Sawyer worked his magic and the rest is history. The crowd fucking loved her. She’s been singing with us since.”