The Maxwell Series Boxed Set - Books 4-6

by Alexander, S. B.

  I lifted her easily. “Kiss me, Jess. Kiss me like you mean it.”

  Her brown eyes met mine. “I won’t stop if I do.”

  “Kody,” Kade called at my back. “I need to get back to Boston. Don’t forget. You have a gig at the club tonight.”

  She pressed her forehead to mine, her chest rising. “I don’t want you to go.”

  Fuck. I didn’t either. “I’ll be right there,” I said, not turning around to face my brother. “I’m sorry, baby doll. I’m playing at Rumors this weekend.” I needed to keep adding to my bank account.

  Jessie slid down until she was on two feet. “Where do we go from here?”

  To a faraway place where the ocean meets the sand. “I’m not sure. But come to Boston with me.”

  She frowned. “I can’t. I have a shift in the morning.”

  I cupped her face and kissed her lightly on the lips. “How about tomorrow night?”

  She nodded as she twined her fingers in mine. “I’ll be there.”

  She walked Kade and me out to my truck. Lowell was in the shop on his cell phone. He waved as I opened the driver’s side door and planted another quick kiss on Jessie’s lips.

  As I moved to get in the truck, she grabbed my arm. “Kody, please work things out with Mack. You two can’t keep fighting.” Her tone was sweet with an undercurrent of firmness.

  I almost said, “he started it,” but I realized who had thrown the first punch didn’t matter. She saw both of us trying to draw blood, and I wanted badly to make Donovan hurt like I had all those years ago. “Agreed. But he’s got to want to put the past aside too. I won’t even entertain the idea until he apologizes to my mom.”

  “He will,” she said with surety.

  Then the ball was in his court.

  After I gave Jessie a quick kiss on her forehead, Kade and I left. About a mile down the road, I let out a huge sigh as my pulse pounded in my ears.

  “Want to talk about it?” Kade asked.

  I turned right at a stop sign. “I just spilled my guts to Jessie. Fuck. I haven’t done that to another girl since Mandy.”

  Kade grinned so wide, I could almost feel his happiness. “Awesome. That means you’ve made progress. I’m proud of you, bro. She’s a beautiful woman, and you two would be good together. But”—he lost his smile—“are you cool with Donovan in her life? Do you really think he will tell Mom he’s sorry?”

  Those were the million-dollar questions.

  “I don’t know.” I really didn’t. What I did know was I wanted Jessie, and for that, I might have to make the first move with Donovan. As Lowell had said, “It’s time someone acts like an adult.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jessie

  The closer I got to Rumors, the more my stomach fluttered. I’d been on a roller coaster of emotions all day. One minute, I was smiling as though nothing could make me cry. The next minute, I dove into a dark place. I kept replaying my conversation with Kody from the day before. The man was beyond sweet. Then somehow, Linda Harold’s story overshadowed everything else. She’d said her boyfriend had been completely on board with her decision to have her breasts removed. Then he’d left her. I couldn’t help but think that Kody would do the same. I didn’t want to invest my feelings with him only to have him rip out my insides.

  My intuition told me he wasn’t that type of guy, especially after meeting the rest of his family—his brothers, his dad, the way they doted on their family. The Maxwells cared deeply for those they loved.

  Cars passed as Roxanne and I waited for the walk sign to illuminate on the busy Boston street.

  “I can’t believe you told Kody about your mutated gene.” Roxanne clutched her purse. “I think that’s good.”

  “Telling him felt right.” A heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. “I didn’t want him to believe I’d been crying over Mack.”

  The walk sign lit up, and Roxanne and I crossed the street along with other pedestrians.

  “Linda Harold said that you don’t have to make a decision right away. I told you that you should wait a couple of years at least. But I’m thinking if you did make a decision to have the surgery now, you might relax. I will support you with whatever you do.”

  A driver hit his horn. Beep. Beep.

  I’d done a lot of thinking. Mr. Maxwell, Roxanne, and Linda had all said the same thing—not to rush into anything. I understood that being intimate with someone wasn’t all about breasts. Not to mention, I was ahead of the game. I wasn’t ignoring the stats, and I was doing my homework. For that, I could breathe a little better. I believed my mom would be proud of me. If she were alive, she would have counseled me with the same advice that Mr. Maxwell, Roxanne, and Linda had given me. A large part of me would have bet my mom wouldn’t have wanted me to go through with the surgery. She would probably have said, “Jess, you’re too young. You might fall into that column where you would never get breast cancer.” Still, I’d been checking my breasts every morning before getting out of bed.

  I caught Roxanne’s arm when we reached the main entrance of Rumors. “What would you do if you had the breast cancer gene? Would you take your own advice and wait?”

  She slid out of the way of a pedestrian. “I don’t know what I would do if the tables were turned. So it’s hard for me to say ‘yeah, do it’ or ‘no, don’t do it.’”

  I hooked my arm in hers. “I do love you.”

  “So is Mack going to apologize to Mrs. Maxwell?”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Mack. I will, though. But I can’t force him. He has to own up to what he did. Besides, the more I push him to do the right thing, the more he won’t. That’s how he is.” I wanted more than anything for Kody and Mack to work out their differences.

  “Jessie?” A familiar male voice called my name.

  I zeroed in on Mr. Robinson walking toward us with a young woman at his side. My heart sped up a little, hoping he had good news about my song.

  The beautiful young woman with long brown hair and green eyes that reminded me of a lush field of grass stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Lacey. Kade and my dad have told me a lot about you.”

  Kade was one lucky guy.

  “This is my dear friend, Roxanne.”

  Roxanne waved.

  “Are you singing with Kody tonight?” Lacey asked.

  Mr. Robinson tilted his head. “Do you want to?”

  “She does,” Roxanne answered for me, excited as always when it came to me singing.

  I hadn’t planned on it. A crowd of people still made me queasy. But the more I sang, the more I felt comfortable with my own voice.

  Lacey snickered. “I see that you have a big fan. I would love to hear you. My dad tells me that he’s putting together a contract for you.”

  Another spark of excitement ribboned through my veins.

  “Lace.” Mr. Robinson’s tone was cautious. “I haven’t finalized anything yet.”

  “Come on, Dad. You said yourself she’ll be a huge star.”

  My jaw came unhinged.

  Roxanne poked a finger in my arm. “See, I told you.”

  “I’m still discussing things with my business partner,” Mr. Robinson said. “He’s not due back from his trip for two weeks. So I need more time. But things do look promising. Let’s get you up on stage tonight. I want to see what the crowd thinks of the song. This will be a good temperature gauge. Sound good?”

  I couldn’t exactly force him to speed up the process, but if singing tonight helped push things along, I was all for it. “Sure.”

  Lowell and I had gone over our finances together last night after Kade and Kody had left, and the numbers didn’t look great. Since Mr. Maxwell hadn’t charged me for our session, I put that extra money toward the mortgage. Still, a singing contract wasn’t a sure thing, but my job was. So starting on Monday, I would be working extra shifts in the ER at night to help bring in some extra money and Lowell and Mack would take care of customers in the shop. At lea
st I hoped Mack would show up for work on Monday.

  Roxanne clapped. Her excitement helped to ease some of my nerves.

  “Good. Let’s go in. I’m dying to see Kade,” Lacey said. “It’s been a long drive from Maine, and I could use a big hug from my man and to freshen up.”

  Since Mr. Robinson was with us, we didn’t need to pay or stop so the bouncers could check our IDs. The two big men just nodded at Mr. Robinson. After all, he did own the club.

  As soon as we entered, Lacey took off and ran to Kade, who was behind the bar. When he saw her, he dropped the towel he was holding and almost vaulted over the bar top. It was a side of Kade I hadn’t seen, and the love in his eyes was so freaking strong. I longed for that look from a man—Kody to be exact.

  Roxanne leaned in. “Those two take love to a whole new level.”

  Understatement of the century. It was as though I was watching a love story unfold.

  I tore my gaze away from Kade and Lacey to check out the club. Unlike The Cave, Rumors didn’t give me that cozy feeling. Wooden booths instead of plush couches lined the back wall. The atmosphere seemed cold, maybe because the place was larger than The Cave and rather empty. But for a Saturday night, nine p.m. was rather early, and clubs in Boston didn’t get busy until eleven or so, although Kody, who I didn’t see anywhere, was scheduled to go on at ten with me.

  Mr. Robinson said something to Kade as he went behind the bar then stuck his head in a ledger.

  “Exciting news, huh?” Roxanne asked at my side. “You’re going to be a star.”

  “That’s not certain.” I was nowhere near becoming famous, and that possibility was a long shot in my book. Besides, I wanted the money more than the fame.

  Kade and Lacey were now in a tight embrace as he peppered kisses all over her face.

  Roxanne sighed. “You’ll have the same as her if you and Kody get serious.”

  I felt as though the time I’d spent with Kody in my backyard the day before and the conversation we’d had bordered on serious. I’d been analyzing his words. I want you, Jess. I can’t keep telling myself we won’t work because of Donovan. I will fight for you if I have to. He didn’t have to fight for me. I believed he was fighting his inner demons. Sure, I would love for Mack and Kody to get along. But I wasn’t about to let Mack squash my feelings for Kody because of their feud.

  A beefy and handsome man got up from a barstool and went over to hug Lacey.

  “Yum,” Roxanne cooed. “Blond, buff, and beautiful.”

  “I think that scar over his eyebrow gives him an edge,” I added.

  Someone blew on my neck from behind before I registered his woodsy pine scent. “I don’t like when my girl drools over other men.” Kody’s husky voice at my ear gave me tingles, and all kinds of heat traveled south when he said I was his girl.

  “She was helping me out,” Roxanne said.

  Kody sandwiched in between Roxanne and me. “You mean you like Hunt?”

  Hunt was now talking with Kade and Lacey.

  Roxanne’s cheeks reddened. “He does stand out. I like a man who stands out in a crowd.”

  Kody tugged me with him. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Kade’s best bud.”

  Roxanne was right on our heels.

  “Kody.” Lacey threw her arms around him. “I see you found your girl.”

  Hunt tilted his head at Kody then me. “Kody has a girlfriend? Since when?”

  Kody draped one arm around me and one arm around Roxanne. “Hunt, meet Jessie and her friend, Roxanne.”

  Hunt dipped his chin at me then Roxanne. When he met Roxanne’s eyes, he lingered.

  “I’m going to steal my girl for a few before I go on stage,” Kody said.

  “You mean before you and Jessie go on stage,” Roxanne added.

  Kody beamed.

  “Mr. Robinson thinks it would be a good idea to see what the club-goers think of your song,” I said.

  Kody leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Our song.”

  Again, tingles popped quick and fast over my entire body. I liked that he referred to his lyrics as our song.

  He led the way with me in tow before I had a chance to say anything to Roxanne.

  When I tossed a look over my shoulder, Roxanne was engrossed in a conversation with Hunt. Maybe they would hit it off. Roxanne did like beefy men like Hunt.

  We dodged a few people who were standing and chatting with drinks in their hands. One guy called Kody’s name, but Kody only waved as we trekked through the club, an office and into a private bathroom. When he clicked the door shut, I jumped. But when he locked the door, heat bloomed hot and urgent all over my body then ignited between my legs.

  He stalked the short distance over to me with a sense of purpose and way more than lust in his vivid blue eyes. He imprisoned me, planting his hands on the counter on either side of me. Then he lowered his lips until they barely touched mine. “I missed you.”

  My brain disconnected from reality. To have a man who was gentle, magnetic, imposing, and caring was too much to handle. I couldn’t believe that a woman hadn’t snagged him already.

  But Kody wasn’t about gentle at the moment. Power coiled in his biceps as he gripped my nape and held me steady. Then he shoved his tongue into my mouth as though he owned me, and a delicious shiver racked my body. Our kiss became rough, wet, sloppy, and oh, so freaking good. A growl rumbled deep in his throat as his hands traveled down my neck. Then when he touched my breasts, he froze.

  I broke the kiss, hoping he wasn’t about to sever my heart, hoping he wasn’t having second thoughts about us because of what I’d shared with him.

  He pinned me with a loving look. “I don’t ever want you to feel less of a woman with me because you might not have the real thing.” He smoothed a gentle hand over one of my breasts.

  I covered my mouth with my hand so I wouldn’t start bawling my eyes out at his tenderness. “We’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks. What if you decide later on that being with a woman who doesn’t have the real thing isn’t for you?” I swallowed a lump in my throat. “You hardly know me.” There wasn’t any timeline on when a person fell in love. My dad had known the minute he met my mom that he would marry her someday.

  “What I know,” Kody said, his gaze unwavering, “is that you make me forget about my past. You’ve made me feel things I hadn’t felt in years. You give me a purpose that I can love someone again. I can’t stop thinking of you.”

  I willed my stomach to stop spinning. “Are you saying you’re in love with me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The handle jiggled. Then someone rapped on the door. “Kody,” Lacey called. “Are you in there? I want to freshen up.”

  “Yeah. I’ll be right out,” Kody said.

  My cheeks heated.

  He kissed me on the forehead. “No need to be embarrassed. My brother locks himself in here with Lacey all the time.”

  It wasn’t that I was embarrassed. I was regretting that I’d put him on the spot. “Before we go, I’m not trying to corner you into anything. I feel all those things about you as well, but I’m frightened out of my mind.”

  He gave me one of his sultry grins. “Then let’s be frightened together.”

  I melted into a puddle of water. I could do frightened with him. So I answered with a slow and heated kiss. After a long minute, we walked out to find Kade with one of his eyebrows winged high, leaning against a desk, and Lacey at his side.

  Lacey swatted at him. “Don’t judge. You and I have had some wild times in that bathroom.”

  All four of us laughed, and more weight fell off my shoulders. Then Kody ushered me out of the office and into the club. The stage was slightly bigger than the one at The Cave with a setup of a piano, guitar, large speakers, and a microphone. I stared at the mic while Kody picked up his guitar.

  The place had filled up with more people, who were mingling and sipping on their drinks at tables and around the bar. My nerves fired on all cylinders.<
br />
  “There are more people here than that night at The Cave,” I said to Kody. “Maybe you should just sing.”

  “Tell you what,” Kody said. “Why don’t you play the piano while I play the guitar?”

  When I first heard him singing “Dare to Live,” he was on the piano. Since then, Jake, Kody, and Mr. Robinson had suggested adding a guitar to the mix. But my role had been singing, not playing.

  Kody must’ve seen the alarm on my face. He inched over to me, grabbed my hand, and escorted me to the piano. “Playing will keep you in the song rather than alone at the mic, looking out at the crowd. Besides, Jake isn’t here to help, and the song does need the piano and the guitar.”

  With his large, steady hand in mine, all those nerves stopped as though someone had slammed on the brakes at the last minute. I eased down on the bench, when Roxanne emerged out of nowhere.

  Her smile was blinding. “Are you ready?”

  I let out a nervous laugh. “Hell no.”

  Kody kissed me on the head. “You will be. I’ll be right back.” He left the stage and disappeared into the crowd.

  Roxanne sat down at the piano with me and bumped my shoulder with hers. “Hunt is dreamy.”

  I laughed again, but this time, it felt good. “So, did he ask you out?”

  She ran a finger over a key. “Not yet. But we did swap phone numbers.”

  It was my turn to bump her shoulder. “That’s great.”

  She blushed and smiled as Kody returned with Mr. Robinson.

  Mr. Robinson’s green gaze searched mine. “Are you okay with playing the piano?”

  I hadn’t practiced the song on the piano, but I knew the chords. “I should be.”

  Roxanne got up. “She’ll be great.” Then she sashayed off the stage and took a seat at the table directly in front.

  Kody and Mr. Robinson started to check the mic at the piano and the one near the guitar. The crowd drew closer to the stage along with Lacey, who sat down with Roxanne. I should have been helping or doing something, but all I could do was will the piranhas in my belly to go away. I can do this. I have to do this. I sifted through the lyrics and the chords as I positioned my hands over the keys.