by Christi Snow
I shook my head of my morose thoughts. Whatever was to come tonight, Elle had planned the night for my enjoyment I needed to focus on that and only that. For once, I could live in the moment and enjoy it without worrying about the job or repercussions to come.
With one last look in the mirror, I decided this was as good as I got and opened the door to step into the living room. Just as I did so, Elle alighted on the stairs above. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe.
She wore a simple, black, off-the-shoulder, long-sleeved dress. Short, it hugged high on her toned thighs as she stepped down the stairs, giving me a tantalizing glimpse of her upper thigh through the slit at the side of the skirt. She wore her dark hair down and wavy, tucked behind one ear. On her ears she wore big, sparkly earring that matched the stone-encrusted, high-heeled silver sandals she wore.
“You look amazing.” I caught her in my arms as she stepped down the final two stairs. “I’m thinking we’d be much better off staying home tonight.” My erection sure had other ideas of how we could spend this evening.
She laughed as she shook her head. “Thank you. You clean up pretty nice yourself, Mr. Sutton.” She slipped her hand under my jacket and ran it up my chest.
That simple touch wasn’t doing much to convince me that we needed to still go out tonight.
“But you aren’t going to tempt me into ruining tonight’s surprise, so get that look out of your eye. We’re going out.” She winked at me.
I’d never been so tempted to pout about something in my entire life. I tilted my head at her. “You better hope this surprise of yours lives up to what you’re promising, because I can’t think of a single thing that could be better than taking you back upstairs and peeling that dress off you right now.”
Her eyes darkened with interest, but she shook her head at me. “I promise you will get to do that. Just not yet. My surprise first.”
“You are a cruel, heartless woman, but I’m going to hold you to that promise. When we get home, all bets are off...just like that sexy as hell dress will be.” My groin tightened more with the promise.
“Deal.” She glanced at the clock. “But now we need to go before we’re late.”
Late to what? I still didn’t have a clue where we were going.
Thirty minutes later, Dillon pulled the Rav4 under a portico of a restaurant called Aperitif. Upon Dillon’s insistence that he act as chauffeur tonight, I sat in the backseat with Elle and had enjoyed inching my palm higher and higher up her thigh as we travelled. I didn’t care what she thought; there truly wasn’t any surprise that could be better than having sex with her. But I bit my tongue and didn’t complain.
The valet opened the door, and I stepped out, assessed the area, and reached back for Elle. Besides the valet and someone who looked like a manager waiting just outside the door of the restaurant, we appeared to be the only ones here. That was odd and didn’t bode well for the quality of our dining experience. But if it were truly bad, that would just mean that I could get Elle back home quicker, so it worked for me.
When Elle exited from the car, the manager rushed forward to embrace her. “Illumination, it’s so good of you to visit Aperitif tonight. I am Jacques Montblanc, the manager. Everything has been taken care of to your specifications, but if there is anything even slightly subpar, I need you to let me know immediately.”
“Thank you, Jacques. We’re very excited to be here.” She smiled uncomfortably at him. She hated being fawned over like this, so it meant even more that she’d put herself in this position for me.
“Has our other party arrived yet?” she asked.
The manager glanced over at me with a twinkle in his eye, but he shook his head. “No, not yet.”
Elle nodded excitedly. “Good.” Then she grabbed my hand. “Are you ready?”
“I guess.” What was she up to? Someone else planned to join us? That seemed odd. But she’d worked through tonight’s plan with Dillon, so I assumed he’d already screened whomever was coming.
We followed the manager inside the restaurant—the completely empty restaurant besides the staff and us. Curiouser and curiouser.
It was a small restaurant with a cozy feel, because of the intimate seating of less than ten tables within the stone walls and exposed timber ceiling. The manager led us to the corner table beside the roaring fireplace. Three place settings were set at the round tabletop as well as a cluster of lit pillar candles.
“Will this work for you, Ms. Wilcox?”
Elle nodded. “It looks beautiful. Thank you.”
“Excellent. Have a seat, and May will be over to take your drink order while you’re waiting for your other guest.”
I pulled out Elle’s chair for her and leaned over her as I pushed her in. “I really think I need some explanation now,” I whispered.
She brushed a kiss across my cheek. “It will all be clearer in a few minutes.”
I hesitated a moment, debating whether to push the subject, but then decided to let her continue with her fun. I started to sit beside her, but then the staff began to murmur, and I glanced up.
Oh, holy fucking hell.
My childhood hero, Kennedy Aaron, strode into the restaurant, walking directly to us. I was still standing, but suddenly my knees were shaking. I wasn’t normally the type to get star struck, but holy hell...this was Kennedy-fucking-Aaron.
Elle giggled and stood from her chair again to go. “Surprise,” she whispered and then she ran and embraced the guy.
I went from “Oh my god, every wish has come true” to “Oh, hell no” in five seconds flat. He may be Kennedy Aaron, but he wasn’t allowed to touch my girl.
Kennedy glanced at me over her head and must have seen something in my expression, because he lifted his hands. “Elle, honey, it’s good to see you, too, but I think your boyfriend is about to tear into my pretty face, so maybe you should let go now.”
“No, Jonah is one of your biggest fa—.”She stepped out of his arms and got a look at my face. Her eyes widened, and she reached for me. “Jonah, come here so I can introduce you to my friend. This is Kennedy Aaron, who I’ve known since I was three years old.”
Those emphasized words slowly sank into my jealousy-soaked brain. “Since you were three?”
She nodded at me like I was a little slow. “Kennedy and VA dated for a while when I was little. He was basically my parent for a time period—much more than VA ever was—and we’ve always kept in touch.”
“In other words”—Kennedy stepped forward and reached a hand out to me—“you have nothing to worry about from me. If I had a daughter, Elle would be her. It’s good to meet you. Did she say your name is Jonah?”
“Yeah, sorry.” I shook his hand. “Jonah Sutton.” Embarrassment swamped me. I’d been behaving like a caveman...and this guy was my idol. I wanted to sink under the table and slither away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any offense, but damn...” I shook my head at what an idiot I could be. “I may not be entirely reasonable when I see another guy around her.”
Kennedy turned to Elle and winked at her. “I think I like this one. He’s protective of you.”
Unlike what everyone else thought of me. Elle must have explained that ruse to him when she set this all up.
Elle laughed. “Well, it’s kind of his job.”
Kennedy tilted his head at her and frowned. “What do you mean? I thought the other guy was your protection.” He gestured to where Dillon stood at the doorway of the restaurant to guard Elle from anyone who may want to intrude.
“He is. That’s Dillon.” Elle waved at him, not even trying to hide we were talking about him. “Dillon and Jonah work for the same company, and they’re both here to protect me.”
We all sat down at the table, and Kennedy ordered a Scotch neat from the waitress, who had discreetly stepped up to the table.
As she left, Kennedy turned to frown at Elle. “Your bodyguard is also your boyfriend? Are you pulling a Whitney Houston?”
Elle showed her age by
laughing. “I’m not sure what that means, but yeah, I’m involved with Jonah, but I didn’t meet him until VA hired him to protect me.”
Suddenly, Kennedy’s warm attitude seemed to cool a little bit. “Oh, really?” He scowled at me.
Elle tilted her head at Kennedy. “Whatever you’re thinking—stop. He’s not taking advantage of me. I’m twenty-one now and have been fooled too many times to count, but I’ve learned my lesson. Jonah’s one of the good guys. Trust me to know my mind.”
Kennedy tilted his head morosely at Elle. “How did you get to be a full-grown, grownup? You look good, Elle, but how are you doing really?” He grabbed her hand, and suddenly, I could see the parental figure in him.
And that just reminded me that oh my fucking god, I was sitting here at a table with Kennedy Aaron. People talked about how different it was to meet movie stars and over the years, I’d definitely found that to be true. In real life, they just looked like normal people you’d see at the grocery store. That was not the case with Kennedy Aaron.
He looked exactly like he did on the big screen. He was tall, a bit taller than me so probably six-two or six-three. He wore casual dress clothes—nice pants, a white button down shirt and a brown, beaten-down leather jacket that fit his tough-guy persona. A tattoo peeked from under his collar and he had another on his hand just below his wrist. He had a couple days of salt-and-pepper scruff on his face. For movies, he must color it to make him look younger, because I didn’t realize he had so much gray. His voice sounded super deep.
He just had that whole alpha male thing going on that every guy wanted to have, because it made girls completely swoon. Although a glance over at Dillon proved that he wasn’t immune to the charm, either.
How had I not known about Elle’s relationship with Kennedy Aaron? Just another little detail about her that hadn’t been in her file and went to prove how much I had to learn about her. I couldn’t wait to learn more about her. Suddenly, a whole world, a whole lifetime opened up in front of me along with a realization. I could happily spend the rest of my life learning something new about her everyday.
“Jonah?”
I glanced up at Elle and Kennedy. “I’m sorry. I must have zoned out. That’s what happens when my best girl surprises me with something I never imagined could even happen. It’s all a little overwhelming.” God, I sounded like a sap even if it was completely true. I gave them both a weak smile. “So, what did I miss?”
Kennedy cleared his throat and gave me a kind smile. “Elle mentioned that you’re trained in the Aaron Wuxia.” Aaron Wuxia was the system Kennedy had developed for his unique combination of training that mixed Taekwondo, Krav Maga, and Judo. “Tell me about your training.”
“My mom was the one who got me involved.” I went on to explain how rough it had been in school before I’d hit my growth spurt and how my mom had encouraged me. The system had gotten me through school, and eventually, my skills had landed me in spec ops, where it was very useful. We talked for a good hour about how I’d used different techniques over the years both in the army and as a bodyguard.
“That’s incredible, Jonah,” Kennedy said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card and began to write on the back of it. “I’m going to give you my personal number as well as the number for my stunt coordinator. He’s in charge of choreographing the fight scenes in my movies. Your real-life experiences in using the moves could be invaluable to him. I’d be honored if you’d consider acting as a consultant on some of our projects.” He handed the card to me.
I stared down at it, flabbergasted. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I am. Although I’m totally gonna kick your ass at the gym tonight, but yeah, I think you could offer invaluable insight to add more realism to my movies.”
Stunned was too small of a word for how overwhelmed I felt in that moment, but then what he said sunk in. “Kick my ass at the gym?”
No. Way.
I glanced over to Elle in question, and she beamed.
“Didn’t I mention that, honey?” She winked at me, her glee about totally shocking me. “We’re headed to the gym after this so you can show him your moves.”
My heartbeat pounded inside my chest. This might just be the thing that killed me...too much perfection in my life at this single moment in time. “Seriously?” I glanced down with a scowl at my completely cleaned plate that had been filled with a huge steak and a heavy rice dish. I could feel the weight of it in my gut. This work out was not going to be pretty. On the other hand, Kennedy had eaten a salad with a good dose of protein in it. “You totally set this up so you’d have an advantage.”
He shrugged like it was nothing. “Hey, I’m in my mid-forties, and you’re in your twenties. I have to gain the upper hand however I can, especially if you’ve earned all your certification levels in the Wuxia.”
I shook my head mournfully. “And there went that pedestal I’ve had you on my entire life.” I flung my fingers out from a fist. “Just blew it completely away, better than C4 could have done.”
“Aww, poor Jonah,” Elle crooned as she wrapped her arm around mine. “Maybe you should kick his ass for that.”
“I think you’re right.” I nodded.
“Hey,” Kennedy whined. “I practically raised you, and now, you’re throwing me aside for a bright, shiny, young model. I don’t know about this.” He pouted at Elle, but she wasn’t swayed.
“I’ve seen your moves, old man,” she said. “I’m on my boyfriend’s side just because I want him to come home whole to me tonight.”
Home with her. Yeah, that sounded just about perfect. But first I got to match skills with Kennedy-fucking-Aaron. Hot damn, this was the best night of my life.
Chapter Fourteen
Elle
I winced as Kennedy landed a vicious kick upside Jonah’s jaw. They had on protective gear, but that didn’t stop Jonah’s skull from whipping to the side. Why had I ever thought introducing the two of them was a good idea?
They’d only been at it for fifteen minutes in the same police gym where Jonah had been training me, but they both dripped with sweat, blood, and had the beginnings of way too many bruises. The growing crowd of policemen loved it. They cheered and whistled as the guys exchanged blows.
Jonah shook off the blow like it had been a simple pat and came back at Kennedy with a series of open and closed fist hits and kicks that had the gathered crowd gasping in empathized pain.
I buried my face in my hands and moaned. “I can’t watch this anymore. They’re going to kill each other.”
Dillon chuckled beside me. “They’re both going to be bruised, but they’re actually pulling back quite a bit so there’s no real damage.”
I turned to him with wide eyes, but when another round of groans arose from the crowd, my attention swung back to the ring. This time, Kennedy was whaling on Jonah.
I gaped in horror. “That’s not full strength?” Oh my god, how much damage would they be doing if they had been going at it full strength? My stomach turned over at the thought.
Nate, the guy who’d been running the reception desk the first day we came in, sat on the other side of me, and he practically bounced in his seat in excitement. “This is amazing. Letting you guys join our gym was the best thing the Gran Colina PD ever did.”
I nodded weakly. I couldn’t even enjoy his flash of dimples, not when two men that I loved were up there beating the hell out of one another.
I stilled. Two men that I loved? It was no secret that I loved Kennedy like the surrogate father he’d always been, but did I love Jonah? I prodded at the idea as I studied my hands, because I couldn’t handle watching them whale on one another anymore.
Oh, hell.
I’d fallen in love Jonah.
Now, I felt nauseated for an entirely different reason. This thing between Jonah and me was supposed to be temporary...just sex. I’m the one that had pushed for that. Emotions weren’t supposed to get involved.
But beyo
nd all that, even if Jonah did want the same thing in a relationship—maybe a future—it was impossible. Jonah had a life in Austin completely different from mine. I had international travel plans with EDAC after graduation. Our lives would never line up. Our goals and ambitions were nothing alike.
While my mother had never been a good role model for healthy relationships, I had learned one major lesson by watching her all these years. There had been a few men—like Kennedy—where I’d truly believed they’d been in love. But they’d been unable to make it work because their lives were too separate. Some couples were able to survive that for short amounts of time but long-term...no.
It would never work.
My heart shattered a little as the realizations hit. I’d fallen for Jonah, but we could never have anything more than this moment.
JONAH
As the gathered crowd cheered the end of the match, I crossed the ring to meet Kennedy. “That was incredible. Thank you for doing this.” I shook hands with him. We were both still panting and dripping with sweat, but it had been an amazing match-up.
Of course, we’d just been testing one another’s skills, but I was happy to say that I’d landed more blows than he had. Even if he was twenty years older than me, that hadn’t been an easy feat. The man had incredible skills, balance, and the ability to twist away from pretty much any series of hits.
Kennedy shook his head. “I feel like I’ve been schooled. Honestly, you’re the first person to truly challenge my skills in quite a few years. It was fun, but I think I’m gonna need you to share some of the modifications you’ve made to the moves—like that last kick sequence. I had nowhere to go. It was like you grew an extra set of legs and arms.”
I laughed. “I am seriously up for that anytime.”
He was probably only saying that to be nice like guys do when they say they’ll call after a date at the end of the night, even when it’s been awful. The idea of being the girl waiting by the phone in this scenario sucked.