“It’s pointless right now. Might as well let her cool down.”
I shake my head softly. “I can at least try. I’m a woman, and I’m a stranger. Maybe that’s exactly who she’ll listen to.”
He looks in my eyes for a moment before he nods. “Her room is down the hall, second door on the left.”
I walk down the hall and stop in front of her bedroom door. Even if Jake hadn’t told me, I would have known it was Sophie’s. She’s got a pink My Little Pony on the door.
My palms are sweating and I’m nervous. I’m sticking my foot in deep, and this could be a minefield. I take a deep breath and knock on the door.
“Leave me alone! I don’t wanna talk to you!” a harsh voice calls from inside.
“It’s not Jake. It’s his girlfriend, Roxy,” I say quietly before I pause. It feels weird to say that, but wonderful too. His girlfriend. I like the sound of it. “Will you please let me in?”
Silence greets me, and my nervousness increases. I stand there for what feels like forever, shifting from side to side as my feet start to ache like they always do after a concert. I’m just about to give up when I hear a small, “Come in.”
I open the door and go inside. Sophie is perched on the bed, her eyes red. Moonlight streams through the window, and there’s only a soft bedside lamp on as I sit down and the bed creaks. Sophie stares at me for a moment, and I reach out, stroking her hair. “You’re so pretty,” I tell her softly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you and your brother are both beautiful people. You share a lot in common.”
She looks over at me and sniffs. “Thank you.”
Her voice is so small, like she’s disappearing. She reminds me of me when I was younger. “Your brother really loves you.”
She’s quiet, but she nods her head slowly.
“He’s not trying to be an asshole by taking your phone. He just wants to protect and look out for you.”
“But Jax isn’t a bad guy. I mean, he really likes me.”
I shelve that comment. I think Jake’s right. If he’s got her using a fake ID, what’s next? “That might be true, but he’s a few years older than you,” I say instead.
“So? Age ain’t nothing but a number,” Sophie says defensively. “I’ve heard it plenty of times.”
Did I sound this idiotic when I was sixteen? I was probably worse. “That’s true, but sometimes, numbers do count. I know a little over two years doesn’t seem like a lot, but you’re at that age where you do a lot of growing up fast. Besides, you guys were in a place you shouldn’t be. If Jax were really concerned about you, he wouldn’t have brought you there.”
“We just wanted to have fun,” Sophie says, and I can see her struggle with tears again. “Is that so bad?”
“Nope,” I agree, forcing a smile. “Honestly, I did a lot of stupid shit back when I was a teenager. I’m surprised my big sister didn’t kill me a few times. I’ll tell you something that I was reminded of tonight. The Bobby Gardner Rule.”
“The what rule?” Sophie asks, and I laugh quietly.
“Bobby Gardner. He was this big stud jock when I was a freshman in high school. He was a senior when I was a freshman, and my sister kept telling me not to get with him. She said he was bad news. Our age gap is just right so she knew him when she was in school too. Of course, I didn’t listen to her. So when Bobby asked me out, I accepted.”
“What happened?” Sophie asks, and I chuckle.
“He picked me up in a stinky as hell beat-up Camaro, we go to the winter formal, and during the second slow dance, he tries to cop a feel. I busted him in the nose with an elbow, and he cried in front of the whole school.”
“I don’t get it. What’s the Bobby Gardner Rule?” Sophie asks.
“Elbow in the nose trumps hand on ass,” I say, and Sophie laughs. It’s a good sign. “There you go. Feeling a bit better?”
Sophie nods. “A little. Um . . . girlfriend?”
I nod. “It’s my first time saying that, but yes. Listen, Jake feels like shit, too. He thinks he’s been ignoring you because he’s been spending so much time with the club and with me.”
“I guess Jake deserves it,” Sophie admits, but I don’t know if she’s just saying that.
“Don’t worry, you guys will work it out. Men are stubborn pains in the ass most of the time,” I say, trying to loosen her up. If I were Jake, I’d be worked up too.
Sophie smiles. “Can’t argue with that. I don’t have anyone but Jake, though.”
“I’ll come around more if you’d like,” I say. “I’d like to get to know you. Jake talks about you a lot, actually. He’s proud of you.”
“Okay . . . if you can teach me how to shake your ass like that?” she says, referring to what I was doing on stage.
I laugh. “I’m pretty sure your brother would kill me if I did that. Listen, you get some sleep, and try to talk to Jake about this, okay?”
“I’ll try.” Sophie nods. “I’m kind of tired anyway.”
I give her a hug and go back out to the living room, where Jake’s sitting on the couch, wringing his hands. The worried look on his face tells me everything I need to know, and I feel my heart swell as I sit down.
“How’d it go?” Jake asks.
“She’ll live,” I say. “At least she’s not wanting to take your head off. Anymore.”
“Good,” he says, relief flooding his body and making him collapse back into the couch, leaning his head back as he closes his eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome,” I reply, putting a hand on his knee.
“Was I too hard on her?” Jake asks, opening his eyes and looking at me. “You must think I’m terrible.”
I shake my head. “Not at all. I understand that you’re trying to protect her. Just give her time, and no, I don’t think you’re terrible. She’ll come around. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”
He sighs, putting his hand over mine. “I’ve never had to deal with anything like this. We’ve always been close and she told me everything. She’s been perfect.”
I can understand his concern, and it touches me how much he cares for his sister. In a way, it turns me on to see a man who is so caring and kind. It sets my ovaries ablaze, talking to the deepest primal instincts. Here’s a man who would fight for me, protect me and his children . . .
Is he the one? I ask myself. Is he the man I’ve been waiting for? They talk about them in romance novels and I’ve sung about them hundreds of times, but I never really thought one existed. They’ve always been like unicorns, nonexistent.
Watching him, I see in him a father figure, a man who will be everything I could ever hope for. God knows, if I ever have kids, they’re going to need a strong father because they’re sure as hell going to inherit some of the Price hell-raising DNA.
“Jake?” I murmur, reaching over and taking his hand. He turns his head, looking at me with loving eyes.
“Yes, Roxy?”
“I have something I need to give you,” I whisper, my heart thudding in my chest.
“What?” Jake asks, and I shake my head.
“Not here. Take me back to the club.”
Chapter 20
Jake
It looks different, pulling in after everything’s closed up. The sun’s just lightening the sky in the east, and I feel a little strange shutting down the engine on my Maserati, the silence deafening.
For the first time, I can say that Club Jasmine doesn’t look like a museum or a temple, with trash littering the parking lot. There are napkins, a few cigarette butts, and I see some glass from smashed beer bottles. I comfort myself by knowing that the cleaning crew will come in a few hours, making Club Jasmine a jewel again.
I don’t say anything, my head still swirling. After losing my temper a little with Sophie, and then the tension of watching Roxy somehow put a bandage over things, then now . . . what is it she wants to give me?
I turn to her, trying to figure things out. “You couldn’t have given me this back a
t my place?”
There’s something reassuring in her smile. “Nope. Plus, I didn’t want your sister to hear.”
I arch my eyebrow inquisitively. Now I’m really curious. “Okay, you got me. Let's go inside.”
She gives me a secretive smile that only increases my intrigue, and as I lead her up the steps and unlock the door, I feel like I’m being drawn into something that will change my life forever.
Hitting the lights, I see that the club’s mostly cleaned up. The early crew can get the last of the tables wiped down as they restock the bar. Roxy looks around, her eyes still wide. “It must be wonderful to have all of this,” she says with a sigh. “To know that this place is yours.”
“Half mine,” I remind her. “We’re off to a good start, but I’ve seen clubs do well at first and then fall flat. We can’t get complacent.”
“I have faith in this place,” Roxy says, walking up on stage. It’s dark up there. I can barely see her except the glint of sparkles from her outfit. “Where are the lights?”
“Off to the side. To your left.”
Roxy disappears, and I can hear her fumbling around in the darkness. “Found it!” she yells. There’s a click, and the LED floodlights come on, illuminating the stage. Roxy comes out, a pleased look on her face. “That’s better. Now, can you come stand over here please?”
I see where she’s pointing, and I climb up, chuckling. “What are we doing, reenacting a play? I’m telling you now, I’m horrible at remembering lines.”
“No,” Roxy says, going backstage again before returning with one of the microphones. “I know this isn’t turned on, but I just can’t do this without one.”
She points to a chair that’s in the middle of the dance floor, and I grab it, sitting down. “Okay, okay . . . so what’s all this about?”
“I’m calling this Heartstopper,” Roxy says as she lifts the microphone to her lips, and what comes out is . . . angelic. “It’s been too long, gotta get out, hittin up the new spot with my girl. Lookin’ sexy as hell, workin’ the floor, hoping to give this place a whirl . . .”
There’s no backing track, no instruments or sound system. Just the purity of Roxy’s voice as she sings for me. It’s slow, and I can tell that the song’s supposed to be faster, but as she starts the second verse, realization sets in . . . she’s singing about me.
“Your touch is electric, has been from the start. Give it to me, baby, or I’ma stop your heart . . .”
I’m grinning as Roxy finishes, smiling as she lowers the useless microphone away from her lips. “Well, now.”
Roxy’s face falls, and she blushes as she begins rambling. “It’s crap, isn’t it? I just wanted to write a song for you, and in my head, it sounds good. I just have to get everything right. I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t want to come off as a fucking cheeseball. I should have waited and prepared more. I’m sorry, every time I try and write something myself, it ends up coming out sounding like eighties shit-schlock . . .”
“I think it’s amazing.”
My quiet declaration cuts off her self-defeating rant before she can even get warmed up, and she looks up at me, her eyes full of hope. “You think so?”
I nod, getting out of my seat and walking up on stage. I reach out, taking her hand. “Roxy, it’s not a ballad, but I heard it. I heard the beat. I can see you singing that in front of like, fifty thousand people. It’s great. Two things, though.”
“What?” Roxy asks, and I chuckle.
“Let’s get a drink first. I feel like a good one right now.”
Roxy nods, and I lead her over to the bar, going behind to start mixing. “I’m not a bartender, but I know my way around a kitchen or bar.”
“I’ve noticed that,” Roxy says, her eyes full of curiosity. “What are you making?”
“The evil version of the Little Mermaid,” I say, adding in a second shot of Curacao. “When Nathan first tried it, it knocked him on his ass.”
I add a splash of maraschino cherry juice, and Roxy hums. “That’s not gonna be blue.”
“Nope,” I agree, shaking up the mix and pouring it into two martini glasses. It comes out just the right shade of purple, and I grin. “We call it The Ursula.”
Roxy laughs and lifts the glass. “So I was so bad that you need to get me wasted to numb the pain?”
I shake my head and raise my own glass. “No, a toast. To you and to Heartstopper.”
We clink glasses and sip, and the drink is just as strong as I remember. Roxy gasps, setting her glass down. “Shit, now I know why you only give a martini size. Whooo!”
“Yeah, I’m not trying to get you sloppy drunk,” I agree, setting my glass down. I come around the bar, sitting down on the stool next to her. “So, about the song . . .”
“Yeah?” she asks, and I reach out, putting my hand on her warm, smooth thigh, my body thrilling as the feeling of having her so close sweeps over me.
I pull her closer, taking her hand and putting it over my heart. “You have to know something. You’ve stopped my heart, too. In fact, you’ve captured it.”
Watching Roxy’s face, I can tell when it hits her what I’m saying. “You mean . . .”
“I mean I’ve fallen in love with you, Roxy. You want my heart? It’s yours.”
I place my hand on Roxy’s chest, just like in her song, and I feel the rapid thrumming of her heart. She feels as fragile as a hummingbird. Roxy steps closer, pressing her body up against me. “Jake . . . I love you too.”
I stroke my hand over Roxy’s breast through her top, her nipple quickly hardening as I lower my head, kissing her soft lips. There’s a hint of the curacao and cherry on her breath as our tongues wrap sinuously around each other, Roxy moaning into my mouth as I stroke her nipple through her dress, her body pressing against me as our hunger rises.
“Oh, God, Jake . . . I need you,” Roxy whispers, and I can hear in her tone that she means more than just for a good fucking. I lift her up. She’s so light that putting her on the bar is easy. “What are you . . .?”
“Having dessert,” I tease, kissing along her neck. I find the zipper on Roxy’s dress, and I love the tension that builds with every click of the tiny teeth as I ease it down her back, my fingers exploring and stroking her sensitive skin. “Mmm, never done this before.”
“Done what?” she half moans, sighing as I suck on the hollow at the base of her throat.
“Sex on a bar,” I joke, pulling her dress down her body. As soon as her breasts are exposed to the soft light, I devour them, sucking hard on her right nipple as I pinch and tug on its twin, Roxy gasping and clutching my head to her as I feast upon her curves. “Lie back.”
Roxy looks at me in wonder as she leans back, but it’s not quite wide enough, so I twist her body, glad we’re on a corner of the bar. Laying her back, I lift her skirt, enveloping my head in shadows as I kiss up the inside of her thighs. Roxy trembles, and I love that she can’t see anything, just feel, as my tongue traces over her skin, moving higher and higher until I’m licking the edges of her panties.
She groans as I trace around them, moving closer and closer to where she wants “Jake . . .”
The first touch of my tongue to her pussy makes her jump, and I’m ravenous as I taste her, my cock throbbing in my pants as I pull the cloth to the side and slide my tongue inside her.
Her hips are shaking, thrusting against my quick tongue as I trace up and down her slit, sucking in between. I slip my tongue as deep as I can inside her, wiggling it and feeling her pussy clench around me before I pull out to flick the tip of my tongue over her clit. Roxy reaches down, grabbing my head again as she grinds her pussy against my mouth, pulling my hair. It’s another thing I love about her. She’s a woman who knows what she wants when it comes to sex, and she isn’t going to just lie there for me.
“That’s it, baby, that’s how I like it,” Roxy moans as I nibble and lick her clit. “Oh, Jake, oh, fuck, right there . . . oh, fuck, right there . . .”
&nb
sp; I find the spot that she’s looking for and lick faster, but with feather light strokes I devour her, my body aching as my cock presses against the fabric of my pants. I want to fuck her so badly.
Suddenly, Roxy’s hips lift off the bar, her thighs clamping around my ears as she comes. I hold her close, my hands reaching up to take hers as her body shakes like a leaf in the wind.
When she comes down, she’s still gasping, her face covered in sweat as I pull my head out from under her skirt and she strokes my face. “You sure do like going down on me, don’t you?”
“It’s a gift,” I tease, pulling her closer. “Now . . .”
“Your turn,” she says, glancing around. “This is way too high for you to fuck me though.”
I look and realize Roxy’s right. I pick her up off the bar, looking at a nearby table before she squirms and turns around, bending over one of the barstools as she grabs the thin chrome railing that goes around the whole thing. I can’t help it, I grin. “You know just how to look sexier every time.”
Roxy looks back, giving me a saucy grin. “Well, are you going to fuck me or compliment me?”
I growl lightly, lifting her skirt before smacking the upturned curve of her ass, Roxy gasping at the flat crack of my hand on her skin. I can just see her glistening pussy lips from behind the way she’s bent over, and my cock pulses to my heartbeat as I pull my shirt off and reach into my pants pocket, taking out a condom.
“No,” Roxy whispers as she sees the package. “Please, Jake. I love you. I want to feel you. All of you. No condom.”
I nod and let the condom tumble from my fingers to the ground, instead running my hands over Roxy’s ass. I undo my pants the rest of the way and take my cock out, letting it bob to my heartbeat as I line myself up. I take her hips in my hand as I thrust my hips slowly, letting her juices coat my cock as I slide between her lips, my cockhead rubbing over her clit as she moans.
I line up my cock with her pussy, pausing. “You sure?”
“I am,” she says softly, looking over her shoulder. “Never been surer.”
I nod, pushing forward. My cock stretches Roxy open, and the feeling as I thrust into her in one long, deep stroke sweeps away all thought in a wave of static. I can’t think. I can only feel as I grab her by the waist and pull back, thrusting harder and deeper into her.
Heartstopper Page 15