Now that Jace had stood up to her—for me—I knew that he’d just landed himself on the top of her shit list.
We stepped inside my bedroom and Jace shut the door with a tad more effort than it had needed. The walls in my room shook from the force of the slam. I turned around and saw him scrubbing his hands over his face.
“Cat, darling, could you please close your door more quietly? Jerry and I are discussing something important down here.” My mother’s voice, as saccharine-sweet as overripe fruit, drifted into my room through the intercom. A cold chill ran down my spine.
Oh God. That voice was only used when she was at her deadliest. I was in a state I could not remember ever having been in before—complete, unadulterated fear. I trembled with it. It made my knees weak. I thought it might knock me down altogether.
Jace’s expression was tortured as his eyes bored into mine. All of the anger and frustration that had just been etched in his face melted into concern and sadness. And in that moment, the impossible happened—I fell in love with him even more. Seeing his gaze transform from rage-filled anger to caring about me, filled me with so much love that I felt like I could burst with it. I had never before in my life been under the influence of such rampaging, strong, and competing emotions crashing over me like waves. So I reacted the way I usually reacted to strong emotions—I burst into tears.
Immediately, I felt myself wrapped up in Jace’s strong arms. I melted against him, and he held me as the tears poured out of my eyes. He whispered words of love and encouragement, and after several moments, he picked me up and sat down on my bed with me tucked on his lap.
“I’m sorry.” I sniffed against his neck, my head resting on his shoulder as tears continued falling down my cheek. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t stop crying.”
“I think that was a long time coming,” he said seriously as he ran fingers through my hair.
After the waterworks stopped I knew that I needed to tell him, warn him, about what my mother was capable of. Lifting my head, I stared up at him, and even though I knew what I had to say, I was at a loss for words. His bright-blue eyes were striking on their own, but add to that the thick, inky lashes that framed them and it was almost too much. His olive skin, strong jaw, full lips, and jet-black hair reminded me of how I always pictured Elvis looking in person. Jace definitely had that James Dean, Elvis, old-soul, bad-boy thing going on, and he was just so unbelievably sexy that, sometimes, just looking at him made me speechless.
“Cat?” His questioning tone snapped me out of my momentary Jace-lust fog.
Shaking my head, I took a steadying breath before launching into a speech I wasn’t even sure how to start. “I’m not upset because of the things my mom said in the car or even over the fact that I made an idiot of myself on national television. I mean, I am upset about those things, but that’s not why I cried. I cried because I’m scared.”
Jace’s fingers tightened around my waist and I felt his biceps bulge against my back. He pulled me even closer to him, his face just a sliver away as he said with conviction, “No one is going to hurt you. I promise.”
Tears began building once again at his words. He was just so…protective. I’d never had anyone take care of me like that. Definitely not by standing up to my mother. Which was exactly why I was scared.
I placed my hand on his cheek and he leaned into my touch as he closed his eyes his face relaxed as he did. I loved seeing how I affected him. I loved knowing that I brought him peace, and it tore me up inside to think about anyone hurting him, which was why I needed to open my mouth and speak.
“I’m not scared for me. I’m scared for you. I love and appreciate what you did in the car, but I don’t think you have a clue what my mother is capable of. At her whim, she has an army of people that will work around the clock to destroy your life.”
Jace seemed completely unconvinced. Or unimpressed—I wasn’t sure which. Either way, I didn’t really think that he understood the full scope of what I was trying to tell him.
So I tried a different tactic. “Think about how she treats me and I’m her daughter. And even though she puts on a good show, I know that, deep down, she knows I’ve never done anything to her. But what you did, in her world? You just declared war. You standing up for me doesn’t mean anything to her. She hates me.”
“I don’t think she hates you,” Jace said comfortingly.
I let out a forced breath. “She certainly doesn’t love me.”
“No, you’re absolutely right about that. I don’t think she loves you,” Jace agreed readily.
I felt myself smile. How Jace could make me smile at a time like this was beyond me, but he did. “You didn’t have to agree quite so quickly?” I joked.
Jace grinned, and it felt like a little bit of the weight I was carrying around eased.
He shook his head. “Sorry. That came out kind of shitty. I didn’t mean that she doesn’t love you because it has anything to do with you. I don’t think she has the ability to love. Not anyone. I don’t think she has, like, the mental capacity. Or…emotional…or however it works. But I don’t think it’s because she hates you. I think her brain’s just fucked up.”
I nodded and tightened my arms around him, soaking in his solid strength. “Yeah, I guess thinking of it that way is better than the alternative. But the point I’m trying to make is that she is ruthless, and now that you’ve gotten on her radar in a bad way, she will retaliate.” I swallowed hard over the knot that had formed in my throat. I couldn’t believe that these words were about to come out of my mouth, but I knew I had to say them, “I think you should probably go…back to Arcata. You know—out of sight, out of mind. If you leave, then hopefully she’ll just move on and focus her attention elsewhere.”
Jace’s eyes grew hard. “Elsewhere, meaning focus on you.”
I shrugged and forced myself to smile. “Eh, I can take it. One tends to develop quite a thick skin growing up with Angelica James as their mother.”
Jace was quiet, so I took a page out of his book and searched his eyes, trying to see what he might be thinking. He was angry, obviously, but he also looked very sad. He kissed my forehead and held me tighter.
“Damn, Cat. I get it now. It all makes sense. Our intense connection. Why we both felt like we fit together like puzzle pieces immediately. Why I felt so drawn to you. Why I felt like you saw me, like your soul knew mine. Our childhoods, from the outside, they couldn’t look more different. But once you get past the surface, it’s freaky to see how similar they actually were.”
A new swell of love grew in me at Jace’s words. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but now that Jace had pointed it out, it made me feel even closer to him. Like he was the one person in the world who really got me, and I was the one person in the world who really got him. My fingers played with the soft hair at the base of his neck as I leaned even closer to him, resting my forehead against his, inhaling the musky, masculine scent as I said in a whisper, “I know. I think so, too. I never really believed in soul mates, but I think that you really are mine.”
Jace inhaled sharply and drew back, staring fervently into my eyes. “There is no way that I am going to leave you. I don’t care what your mother does. How she tries to ruin my life. I don’t have anything except you. You are my life. The only way she could hurt me is by hurting you, which is exactly what would happen if I left.”
I saw fierce determination shining in his clear-blue eyes. I knew that there was no chance I could change his mind. Part of me was still scared, but I had to admit that another part of me, the purely selfish part, was relieved that Jace wasn’t leaving.
Jace continued. “Babe, why don’t we just leave? Right now. Let’s put our stuff in our bags, say goodbye to Don and Rachel, get in the car and go home. Let’s get out of here and not look back.”
I closed my eyes and pictured how wonderful that would be. I let the feeling wash over me for a moment and enjoyed reveling in it until I allowed reality to sink in and take hold a
gain. Then I shook my head.
“We can’t. After the show, Jerry was nice enough to let me know that if I decided to ‘run away with my tail between my legs,’ then he and Angelica would just have to come to Arcata to make sure that I was okay.” I sighed, thinking about the sinister tone he’d taken on to deliver the message. “It wasn’t even that veiled of a threat. He ended it by informing me that if I didn’t stay here and clean up the shitstorm I’d created, then they would bring the shitstorm to me.”
Jace stayed quiet for a minute. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but I hoped that, now that he’d had a small taste of how crazy the cameras, the reporters, the fans here could be, he understood why there was no way I wanted to bring that back home.
When he took a deep breath, I felt his strong chest push against me as air filled his lungs. “I hate to be the one to bring this up, but Byron’s show is pretty popular and I already got a message from Elijah that the clip is up on YouTube. The ‘shitstorm’ may already be brewing up there.”
I bit the inside of my lip as I felt myself nod. I had figured that my anonymity might have been compromised now, so it wasn’t a complete shock, but it was still disappointing. “I know. But reporters, or paparazzi are one thing. If my mother and her entourage go up there, it just takes it to a whole new level.”
“Makes sense. I get where you’re coming from. And obviously it’s up to you. But, babe, please just promise me that you’re not just gonna stubbornly say, ‘Oh, we’re staying a few more days no matter what.’ If it gets too bad, too hard on you…just please promise that you’re gonna be thinking about at what point it really becomes not worth it anymore.”
I let out a forced laugh. “Oh, believe me. That’s a calculation I’m making on a minute-by-minute basis.”
Jace smiled. “Good. But just because we have to be down here doesn’t mean we have to stay in this house. Right?”
“Right,” I agreed easily.
Jace grinned wider and wiggled his eyebrows as he playfully slapped me on my backside. “Then let’s get out of here. Let’s go have some fun.”
I furrowed my brow. “Fun?”
Jace teasingly spoke slowly to me, as if he were explaining something to a child. “Fun. It’s this thing that people have when they are trying to enjoy themselves.”
I laughed and smacked him on the shoulder. “Shut up. I know what fun is. I meant what fun did you have in mind?”
“Anything you want. It’s your call.”
I thought for a moment, and then my face lit up. “There is something, actually. It’s called The Writer’s Room. It’s hosted by Reza Aslan, and he interviews writers and they talk about the business, their writing process, and stuff like that.”
Jace tilted his head slightly to the right. “Ummmmm, maybe you are unfamiliar with the concept of fun…”
I laughed. “I’m not explaining it right. I mean, it’s funny and irreverent. I always watch the clips on YouTube, and I’ve been wanting to go since it started!”
Jace stood up, picking up the keys from my dresser. “Then that’s where we’ll go.”
I clapped my hands in front of me, feeling like an excited kid. Maybe I had been unfamiliar with the concept of fun before. But with Jace, I could make up for lost time.
Chapter 15
Cat
Jace and I stood on the sidewalk in front of the West Hollywood club where The Writer’s Room was held as I watched the bouncer at the front of the line in disbelief. Embarrassment and frustration flooded through me and I shook my head. I was such an idiot. In all my excitement, I hadn’t even considered one small, but crucial, detail. The Writer’s Room was held in a nightclub. So, of course, it was twenty-one and over. That hadn’t even occurred to me when I had thought of the idea to come here. All of the times I had read the notices on Facebook about who the next guest was going to be and daydreamed about attending something so witty and sophisticated, it had never even entered my mind to start sorting out the logistics. My image of myself was as someone who was very far removed from the type of girl who went to cool places and did cool things. So much so that I had never thought that I might actually one day attend.
Now, here I was, and I wasn’t going to be able to get in. Great.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think about the whole club thing before,” I said with a sigh. “I guess we can just figure something else out. We’ll just go somewhere else.”
“Nope, not gonna happen,” Jace said with a small smile on his face that reminded me of the bad-boy image I had first labeled him with.
I stood in place on the sidewalk as Jace strode confidently up to the bouncer, who was checking IDs. He chatted with the guy for a minute, and they both looked over at me at one point. Then Jace did a very odd thing. He pulled out his phone and held it out for the man to examine.
After a moment, the bouncer’s face scrunched into an expression of amused pity and he waved me over, gesturing that both Jace and I could enter. When I opened my purse to get out some cash to pay my cover, he shook his head.
“On the house,” he said, sympathy in his voice, and then he took the very unexpected action of patting my shoulder.
Jace wrapped his arm around my waist and quickly pulled me inside, barely giving me time to thank the bouncer before I was being whisked away to an empty table Jace had spotted.
When we were seated, I said, “How did you do that? What did you show him?”
Jace grinned with a shrug. “The YouTube video that Elijah sent me. I figured, fuck it. If you have to deal with the shitty experience, you may as well get some mileage out of it.”
I shook my head and closed my eyes in embarrassment, but I couldn’t help but laugh. Somehow, Jace had this way of putting my experiences into perspective. He helped me laugh at myself and my crazy life, and that was something I really, truly treasured about him.
Jace ordered us a couple of Cokes, which I thought was a good idea. Getting us in here was one thing, but flaunting it by drinking would have been another. Still, even though I was sipping on Coca-Cola, I felt extremely sophisticated sitting at the table, waiting for an event to start where writers discussed their craft. I would never go so far, of course, as to call myself a “writer” (a spiral-bound notebook full of poems doesn’t count), but I had always loved words, and I loved to listen to people talk about how they used them and what their process was.
After the show started, I knew right away that it was going to live up to everything I had dreamed it would be. It was more stand-up comedy than an interview show, and the reactions of the crowd mirrored that sensibility. The energy in the room was raucous yet attentive and (dare I say) fun.
Standing on the sidewalk after the show was over, Jace could not stop grinning at me. Finally, I asked him why that wide smile was plastered across his face. He brushed my hair back from my forehead and said softly, love burning bright in his eyes, “You’re glowing right now. Your cheeks, your skin, your eyes, your…I don’t know…spirit. Everything about you is glowing.”
I smiled. “Usually, you saying something like that would make me really uncomfortable, because I’m horrible at taking compliments, but right now, I can accept it because I think you’re actually right. I feel myself glowing. I think it’s from being intellectually stimulated at the same time as being entertained. I wish they could bottle something that mimics this feeling, whatever chemicals are bouncing around in my brain right now, because it’s fucking awesome.”
Jace laughed. “I think they do. It’s called drugs.”
I chuckled as I let my head fall back. Taking a deep breath I lifted my gaze back to Jace. “I really don’t feel like going home right now. I’m too amped up. How about you? Are you still up for doing something else?”
“Babe, this night is all about you. I’ll stay out till dawn if that’s what you want to do.”
“Awesome, because I’m also starving. You want to go eat?”
“Sounds great. I could definitely eat. Where do you want t
o go?”
I gave him a sly smile. “Now, don’t veto this idea before hearing me out, okay?”
He put his hands up in mock surrender. “I have no veto power, remember? This night is all about you.”
I grinned. “Good. Because one of my favorite restaurants is here in West Hollywood. And I’m pretty sure it’s open late. It’s called Raw, because all the food is…well…raw.”
Jace wrinkled his forehead. “How does that work? I mean, can’t you get salmonella or something?”
“No, no! It’s all vegan! There’s no meat.”
Jace’s face crinkled, he drew back in horror. “So…it’s basically, like, just chopped vegetables on a plate?”
“No, not at all. They have pasta and chocolate shakes and nachos… It’s so delicious! Come on!”
His eyes narrowed, but he nodded reluctantly. “Well, all I’ll say is that it’s lucky for you that I already said I’d do whatever you wanted before you told me we’d be eating plants.”
I grinned. “Think I don’t know that?”
When we started walking towards the car, Jace muttered, “I wonder what they’ll even have that I can order…”
I said, “Get the Cheesy Kelp. Trust me.”
His head tilted to the side and he shook his head, clearly communicating that he thought I was trying to put one over on him. “You’re soooo not helping your case.”
I laughed again. I couldn’t believe I was having this much fun trying to convince Jace to try Raw. “I tell you what. If you don’t like it or you don’t feel full afterward and we’ll run through In-and-Out Burger. Deal?”
Jace breathed out a sigh of relief. “Deal.”
After we got into his truck, I searched for the address on my phone so that we could put it into the GPS.
He turned to me, his brow wrinkling. “I thought you said this was one of your favorite restaurants? Don’t you know where it is?”
“Well, the food is my favorite. We always got it delivered or one of the assistants would pick it up. I’ve never actually been there. I just know it’s in West Hollywood. I’m actually pretty excited to go there in person, to tell you the truth.”
One Day His (The Someday Series Book 2) Page 11