RECKLESS - Part 5 (The RECKLESS Series)

by Ward, Alice

  I knew the feeling well.

  “J—J—Jace,” she finally said, her cheeks a little more flushed than usual. “Nice to meet you. I’ve—heard so much about you.”

  Jace’s lips curled into that sexy grin that I had once hated but now absolutely adored. “Nice to meet you, too, Amy. I could say the same. Seems you helped my Andrea through a pretty rough time.”

  Amy squirmed in her seat a little and then looked at me. As soon as she did, a smile started to pull at the edges of her mouth, and although I couldn’t tell, I thought I noticed tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. “Just glad I could help,” she said, softly, directing the comment more to me than at Jace.

  I reached out, grabbed her hand, which was now resting on the table in front of her, and squeezed. What I wouldn’t have given for her to have the same happy ending with her rock god. I could only hope that maybe, someday, she’d find the man that was right for her, one that would own her in a way that only someone who truly loved you could. Or maybe she already had, maybe that new boyfriend of hers would eventually give her exactly what she needed.

  After that, lunch became pretty laid back. Amy finally got over her temporary stuttering problem. Jace made both of us laugh until our sides hurt with stories about the band. And we talked band politics—where to go in Seattle, how to get started, what places to avoid, and, most of all, how to break through in the industry out there. Because that’s what they’d come for, and if there was anyone that knew the answer, it was Amy. She’d watched countless bands make it to the top, and had been responsible for helping a good share of them. Because, as it turns out, that magazine was a hell of a lot more than trivial woman shit; it was a damn empire focused around music and the women that loved it.

  “At the end of the day, you’ve got to go with your gut,” Amy said, bouncing her gaze back and forth between Jace and me. “But if you’re ever not sure, you are more than welcome to come and ask my advice.”

  “I honestly can’t tell you how much that means to me, Amy. Especially after all you’ve done for my girl,” Jace said, squeezing my hand beneath the table. “And, if you guys ever need a press pass back into any of the events that we’re at, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’ll get you guys back there.”

  We all finally parted ways—Amy looking happy for me, but also a little sad, Jace and me ready to go and talk to my parents. I was sure they probably knew by now what had happened, given my rampage the day before and Becca’s big mouth, but we figured it might be a good idea to fill them in on the details ourselves anyway.

  ***

  The second Jace walked through the front door of my parent’s house, he was met with warm hugs and words of encouragement and excitement. I just stood back and watched them all. My dad, slapping Jace’s back as he told some geeky joke that I wasn’t sure anyone understood, even him. My mom holding him tight and whispering something in his ear. Cole sitting with Jace on the sofa, showing him footage from the last Seahawks game. I couldn’t think of anything better than that moment . . .

  Until Becca and Zane walked through the door a little while later. They, too, found themselves bombarded with probably more human contact than they were used to, but they both took it all in stride. Becca even sat down and talked with my mother for a while on how to cook. Then she got a full demonstration on how to do it when my mother invited her into the kitchen to help make meatloaf for dinner.

  Turned out, the little spiel about her and Zane having problems had been nothing more than a ploy to get me to the concert—a fact that Jace had filled me in on earlier that day when I asked how they were doing. I’d have to take that up with her later, but at least there wasn’t any real trouble in paradise; that’s exactly what this felt like—paradise—and I couldn’t even begin to imagine how I’d made it the last six months without it. Without my best friend and the man I loved.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Six weeks since Becca, Zane, Jace, and the rest of the band had relocated. The beginning of fall classes had come and gone, and rather than enroll, I had decided to stay with the magazine. The days were getting darker sooner, and the rain came more often and heavier. The holidays were just around the corner, evidenced by the lights and holiday fare on store shelves.

  And Jace had an early Christmas present for me.

  Sitting in the passenger seat of his truck, I had my hands over my eyes. I could hardly sit still with all the excitement coursing through my veins. I had no idea what he was up to, but I just knew it had to be something big.

  I felt the truck turn another corner. “No peeking,” he warned, gently squeezing my thigh.

  “I’m not,” I replied, turning my head in the direction of his voice, still unable to see him.

  Seconds ticked by like minutes. Minutes ticked by like hours. Where in the world could he possibly be taking me?! Finally, right about the time that I thought I might spontaneously combust from all the anticipation and excitement, the truck came to a standstill.

  “Can I look now?” I asked, now so anxious I was bouncing in my seat.

  “Nope, not yet,” he said. “I’m coming around to get you.”

  Oh, the temptation to look was killing me, but I forced myself to keep my hands over my eyes anyway and sat in the truck, waiting for him to come around to the other side. When the door opened, he reached in, helped me down from the seat, and carefully made sure my feet were firmly planted on the concrete before taking my arm and directing me to walk.

  “Stay right here.” Even he was getting excited; I could hear it in his voice. A few moments later, he was back at my side, directing me once again. “Alright, watch your step,” he said, patting my right knee after we’d made a few steps.

  I lifted my foot and searched for flat ground again. After a few more steps, he stopped me, circled his way around behind me, and then placed his hands over mine.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, whispering into my ear.

  “Yes.”

  He pulled my hands away from my face and my eyes opened to a beautiful hardwood foyer. We were standing just outside the door of a house. Mouth hanging open, I turned my head to look at him. “Jace . . . ?”

  His lips tilted into that irresistible grin, and, in the very next second, he was lifting me off the ground, carrying me in his arms through the front door. The second we made it inside, he brought his lips to mine, swallowing up my excitement with a long, deep kiss, before finally setting me back down on the ground again.

  “W-where are we?” I asked, slowly taking in the space around me.

  Just outside the foyer was a large, carpeted sitting room. Just off of that, I could see the dining room and a sliding glass door out onto the back patio. The dining room connected to a fully open kitchen with granite counters, an island, and a window, right above the kitchen sink. Down the hall to my right were four doors, two on each side—I assumed bedrooms and bathrooms.

  “Home,” Jace said, again wrapping his arms around my waist from behind, his chin resting against my shoulder.

  Twisting the entire top half of my body and leaning over to the side, I looked back at him, looked for any sign that he was joking. “You’re kidding, right?” I asked, my mouth hanging open. “Like, home, home?”

  His smile was the biggest I’d ever seen as he nodded his head. “Home, home.”

  “But . . . how?”

  Jace lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug. “Well, your parents helped out with the down payment a bit—on loan—but the rest is coming from the deal we just signed.”

  Now I was clamoring to get out of his arms so that I could face him. “Wait? Deal? What deal?” I asked, hands on my hips, face scrunched in confusion.

  “The deal we just signed at lunch,” he said. I wouldn’t have thought that grin could get any bigger, but it did.

  “Baby!” I threw my arms around him and squeezed his neck, brought my smiling lips to his. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I wanted to surprise you,” he said, re
sting his forehead against mine and pushing a bit of hair away from my face. “Did it work?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Do you like it?” he asked, his brow creasing a little as he lifted his chin, indicating the house.

  “It’s absolutely perfect.”

  “Just like you.” He placed a soft kiss on my nose, and then over each of my eyelids. “Now, what do you say we initiate our new home?” Grabbing my ass, he pulled me into him.

  “Right now?” I asked, pulling away a little to look around at the empty house. Where in the world would we have sex when there wasn’t even a stitch of furniture, not even a blanket? I wasn’t even sure if the place had electricity or running water yet.

  “No better time, baby,” he said, lifting me up, wrapping my legs around his waist and claiming my mouth as he made his way down the hallway to one of the unopened doors. He crashed us into the furthest one on the right and then fumbled with the doorknob for a bit, all the while, holding our passionate kiss.

  I yelped and then giggled when he finally managed to open the door and then sent us both flying through the room, almost sending us both crashing to the carpeted floor. “That was close,” he said, pinning my body between him and the wall just inside the room, his hips moving, pushing into me, rubbing at my heated core through my jeans.

  “Which room is this?” I asked, my breath hitching a bit as he took a bite out of the sensitive flesh of my neck.

  “Ours,” he said, peering at me through hooded eyes. “Now shut up and kiss me.”

  With deft hands, he undid the button of my jeans and made a space for his hand. His fingers swirled in my wetness, kneaded away at my throbbing clit, and then, just before I peaked, he pulled his hand away and stopped.

  “Turn around, baby,” he said, setting me down on the ground.

  When I did, he pulled my pants down around my ankles and then tapped each foot, silently indicating that I should lift. On his way back up, he licked my legs, the back of my knees, the inner portion of my thighs, and then along the crevice of my ass. I shuddered as he moved his way from there, up my lower back, and then to my shoulder.

  “Kneel down,” he said, gently running the back of his hand along my arm.

  Again, I did as he asked. The carpet bit into my knees and elbows, but as he lowered himself, situated himself behind me, it was the last thing on my mind. All I could think about was him rubbing his hard cock along the crack of my ass, teasing my entrance, pushing it in until he filled me to the brink, and his hands, holding my hips, pulling my body so that it crashed against his. And how, as he brought us both to climax, our moans became forever etched into the walls, the walls that would be our home.

  ***

  Moving day came just a week later and I couldn’t have been more stressed. Not only had the furniture I’d ordered failed to show up, Robert was there, helping to haul stuff inside. I knew that the band had talked it all out, and that he’d apologized for everything he’d done, but I still wasn’t convinced.

  Who was to say he wouldn’t pull some stunt like that again? They couldn’t afford another hit like that after the band had just signed a three year contract with one of the top Indie labels in the city.

  So, I avoided him most of the day. When he came through the door, I busied myself in the farthest location from him as possible. I didn’t need his snooty attitude, his judgment, or his overprotectiveness when he was the one that had damn near cost the band everything.

  But as the day wore on, as my anger started to subside a little, I couldn’t help but remember that I had my own issues. Honestly, I was starting to feel a bit like a grade A bitch for not at least trying to give him a chance to talk or defend himself.

  When everything was inside, as we sat around waiting for the pizza I’d ordered to come, I decided that maybe I needed to at least try and cut him some slack. Everyone else had, maybe I could, too. “Hey, Robert, you got a second?” I asked, standing and heading out onto the front patio without even bothering to see if he would follow. He did, thankfully, which saved me from looking like a complete bitch.

  “What’s up?” he asked, lighting a cigarette.

  I inhaled through my nose, summoned every ounce of venom I had and then pointed my finger so that it sat just inches from his nose. “If you hurt him again, screw this band over again, I’ll chop your testicles off and feed them to the sea lions,” I said, my lips pursing tightly.

  Rather than back down, he just quirked an eyebrow at me. “Says the chick that took off on him, actually thinking that Jace Richardson would ever cheat.”

  I tried to hold my stance, my menacing glare and angry lips . . . but I couldn’t. “You’re right.” I sighed and my shoulders fell forward in defeat. “Just . . . look, please don’t screw him over? He’s worked hard for this.”

  One side of his mouth quirked up, not in a smile, but it was the closest thing to one I’d ever seen on him. “You really do love him?” he asked, studying me through narrowed eyes.

  I nodded.

  “Then let’s call a truce,” he said, trapping the lit cigarette in his mouth so he could extend his hand to me. “I promise to not be a douche, and you promise not to be a bitch. We don’t have to like each other, but he’s like a brother to me, and he obviously loves you something crazy, so I figure we should at least try and be civil.”

  I started at his tattooed hand for a few seconds, weighing how much sincerity there might be behind his words. In the end, I figured it couldn’t hurt to try.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Brushing my teeth in our new home, I tried to decide how I’d talk to Jace. We’d been in the house almost two weeks. I should have started my period right about that time but I hadn’t. Yep, I was late—by about two weeks—and I was about to ruin both our careers with an unplanned pregnancy.

  I wasn’t sure how or when it had happened, all I knew was that I felt a lot more tired than usual, and that particular day, I wasn’t feeling very good. We weren’t ready. I wasn’t ready. Just a few more months and I’d have been at my job for a year. Reckless was pulling concerts left and right and their first official CD was flying off the shelves.

  How could I have let this happen? What were we going to do? How would he take the news?

  Right then, the door to the bathroom swung open. Jace grumbled a groggy good morning to me and then placed a quick kiss on my shoulder before heading for the shower. “Want to join me?” he asked, giving me a quick wink as he turned the water on.

  “Already took one,” I said, pointing to my wet hair.

  He gave me a pouty face but got in the shower anyway. I finished up my own bathroom duties and then headed out into the living room. After making us a pot of coffee and pouring myself a cup, I sat down on our sofa and waited for him to come out of the bathroom. No matter how nervous I was, we had to talk about it; we’d promised each other communication. I wasn’t about to fail at that after all that we’d been through.

  When he came out of the bathroom, I inhaled a deep breath, prepared myself as he poured a cup of coffee and began to make us breakfast. But as he hummed away, scrambling eggs and sipping at his mug, I couldn’t find the courage. I couldn’t find the words. Hell, I didn’t even know how to start.

  He looked so damn happy—and he had a good reason to be; his sister and his niece were in town. We were to spend the day with them at the aquarium. It would be my first time meeting them, and his first time seeing them since leaving Texas.

  I couldn’t tell him. Not yet. Not that day.

  It would just have to wait.

  ***

  Just as Jace and I had finished eating, the doorbell rang. Jace practically jumped out of his seat to answer the door; he was either really excited or really nervous. My guess was a little of both, and that certainly made two of us. But, as I walked up behind him, as the dark-haired beauty I’d only seen from afar and in pictures, gave her brother a quick peck on the cheek and then turned those sparkling brown eyes on me, I felt some of that anx
iousness slip away.

  It melted away completely as she extended her arms, reaching for me to pull me into a warm hug. A few seconds later, as Brandy continued to hug me, my right leg felt like it’d been placed in a vice. I looked down to find a blue-eyed, dark-haired cutie with the most adorable dimples smiling up at me, squeezing my leg like her life depended on it.

  Jace chuckled and then pried the little arms off my leg. “This—“ Jace said, throwing the tiny body up in the air and then catching it back in his arms. “—is Carly.”

  I extended my hand to her, offering it for her to shake. “It’s really nice to meet you, Carly.”

  “You’re pretty,” she said, smiling and placing her small hand inside of mine. “Are you going to marry my uncle?”

  Carly giggled as Jace attacked her side with his fingers, tickling her. “Uncie, Jace!” she exclaimed. “Stop! I want to hug you. I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too, bug,” he said, letting her cut his air supply off as he squeezed her back. Finally, when I was sure we had to be just seconds from one of them passing out from lack of air, Jace set the little girl back down on the ground and then opened the front door. “So, how about we go see some sea lions and whales?”

  “Yes!” she exclaimed, skipping out the front door and down the sidewalk.

  “Are they always like this?” I asked Brandy, chuckling lightly as we all followed behind.

  She nodded, smiling after her daughter with an absolute love and adoration that only a mother could possess. “Since the day she was born.”

  ***

  On our way to the aquarium, I learned more about Brandy and Carly—how, despite growing up in two different households, Brandy and Jace had always been inseparable. Even when their dad and Jace’s mom fought, the two found ways to see each other at school functions or at the arcade located halfway between their houses. Then Brandy had met Paul, Carly’s father.