Roped In (Strings Book 2)

by J. C. Hayden

  He wrapped his arms around my waist and dragged me impossibly closer to him. When I pulled my face back, Jack wasn’t smiling and his eyes had cleared. He didn’t look like he was riding a wave of sex and alcohol. He looked like the genuine, honest, sincere Jack that I’d fallen in love with.

  “Are you being serious?”

  Jack nodded. Marry me, he mouthed, and then brought me closer still as he whispered, “Be mine. Like you always have been. Like you always will be. Be mine forever. Marry me, Talia.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but just as I did, Brody rushed over, yelling my name. He and Catrina had been on the dance floor, grinding despite her huge, pregnant belly. They’d come to the show with Gabe, Callum, Carver, and Michael, all four of whom had left shortly after my set finished, while Brody and Catrina stayed with Jack and me.

  “What’s wrong?” Jack asked when I looked up at Brody’s frantic face.

  “Where’s Catrina?”

  “She’s standing at the bar. She told me to come get you.”

  I clambered off Jack’s lap and looked over to see Catrina leaning against the bar heavily, clutching her stomach. She smiled up at me, but it looked more like a grimace.

  Brody looked at me when I looked back at him, and said, “Her water broke.”

  The four of us rushed to the hospital, Brody in the front seat and Jack in the passenger seat, while Catrina and I sat in the back. She was turned with both her feet up on the door, her head against my chest while I tried to murmur words of comfort as she held onto both my hands. Every time she had a contraction she squeezed both my hands so hard I thought they were going to break.

  “How’re you doing?” Jack looked back at us. He was exuding calm, unlike Brody who was clutching the steering wheel and staring straight ahead, his jaw clenched tight.

  Catrina was deep breathing, so I said, “Okay, I think,” and gave him a soft smile.

  He wanted to marry me. Jack Harding had asked me to marry him. Talia from six months ago would have been shaking with fear and worry, but Jack had changed me. Fundamentally. I wasn’t scared of him anymore. I wasn’t scared of us. I knew he loved me as much as he said he did, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wanted a life with me. And I knew I wanted one with him. Jack had helped me open my heart again. With him, I didn’t need to be afraid. I was ready to build something with him even more than we already had. I was ready for whatever was in store, just as long as he was with me every step of the way.

  ◆◆◆

  Jack

  When we got to the hospital, Catrina was rushed to a room so that a doctor could check on her. She was still contracting pretty badly, but Talia had sent me a text from the room to let know she wasn’t dilated enough to start delivery. I could see down the hall Brody pacing outside the room on the phone, running a stressed hand through his blonde hair.

  I was staring down at my phone, playing a random game, when I looked up and saw Talia walking toward me.

  Goddamn, she was gorgeous. And mine.

  Sometimes, I would catch myself looking at her and it would almost steal my breath. I was a lucky son of bitch, and I knew it.

  Over the past few months, she’d gone back to looking like the Talia I’d fallen in love with so long ago. She’d cut her hair into a long bob and let the natural dark color come through, though it wasn’t the black she’d had in college. I loved whatever clothes she wore and however her hair looked, but this was the Talia of my dreams—the one I’d seen when I closed my eyes in the six years we were apart and let the memories of her wash over me.

  I’d fallen in love with her on a Sunday morning our senior year of college. I’d taken her out for brunch after a night out of drinking, dancing, and fucking. I was telling her a story, and she was laughing until she snorted so hard chocolate milk almost came up her nose, which only made her laugh even harder. I knew I loved her then—seeing her so happy and carefree and open in a way she so rarely was.

  I knew even then that there had to be a reason why she wouldn’t let herself be in relationships. I knew she dated Vincent Cunningham, but I never knew how badly he’d broken her heart. And I’d known nothing about her father. But knowing what I knew now and seeing that after all that she was finally willing to give her heart to me made me want to guard and protect it even more. I couldn’t promise I would never hurt her, but I could damn sure try.

  I’d meant what I said to her earlier that night. I had a ring in my underwear drawer at home that I’d bought two months ago. I knew how hard it was for Talia to even say I was her boyfriend months ago, so I was scared shitless of giving her a ring and seeing her run for the hills. But tonight…

  The words were out before I knew they were. And when they were out, they just felt so right. So necessary. I wanted to spend my life with the girl I’d loved since I was twenty-one. I loved her even more now than I did then. Seeing her walk toward me now, her petite curvy body still in the clothes she’d worn to her show made my cock stand at attention.

  She was wearing a short, tight, sleeveless, black leather dress that I knew she wasn’t wearing panties underneath. The V at her chest dipped sinfully low showing a significant amount of the round mounds of her stellar tits. She was also wearing very high-heeled thigh-high boots that still didn’t bring her to my eye level. She was desire personified, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

  “Hey,” she said as she plopped on the waiting room chair next to me. There were wooden chair arms between us, but she still angled her body toward mine, hooking one of her boot-covered ankles under my calf and wrapping her arms around my bicep.

  She yawned widely and sunk as far into me as the chair would allow, resting her head on my shoulder. It was after two a.m. now and I was exhausted and still fucking horny from earlier, but there was no place I’d rather be than right here with her.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” she said through another yawn. I put my hand closest to her on her inner thigh in between her crossed legs.

  “Me, too.”

  “Guess who’s here?” she said.

  “Who?”

  “Holly. She’s a nurse here on this floor, did I tell you that?”

  I shook my head. Talia and Catrina had slowly started trying to become friends with Holly over the past few months. From what I knew, Holly was very guarded and really unlike the person they used to know, and Catrina was determined to befriend her. And because Talia was her best friend, she was just along for the ride.

  “You don’t have to stay,” Talia murmured sleepily. “Emily and Amos just got here. Derek’s on his way,” she said, referring to Catrina’s parents and brother.

  “Are you staying?” I looked down at her. Her sleepy, sexy, caramel-colored eyes did things to my insides when she looked up at me. God, I was crazy for her.

  She nodded. “Cat wants me to. We always talked about it, us being in each other’s rooms when we had kids. It’ll be me, Brody, and Emily in the room when the time comes.”

  “I’ll stay.”

  She looked at me with a smile before she leaned up and pressed her lips to mine.

  “I love you.” She breathed the words into my mouth and gave me life along with them.

  “I love you so much,” I whispered back.

  When she pulled away just a bit, she looked down at the floor.

  “Did you mean it? What you said at the club?”

  I turned toward her and touched her chin to gently tilt her head up toward me. Her eyes were slightly wide and she looked nervous and vulnerable. I didn’t know which of my answers she feared more, but I could only tell her the truth.

  “I’ve loved you for eight years. I’ll love you for eight hundred more. Yes, I meant it. I want to marry you, Talia. I want you to be with me for the rest of our lives.” As subtly as I could—because I knew she would hate the attention it drew—I shifted so I could move down to one knee in front of her. Tears filled her eyes as I grabbed both of her hands in mine.

  “I p
romise I’ll stay. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” she gasped, a cry falling from her lips. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  We were both on our feet a moment later, and she was kissing me like she wanted to crawl inside me. I wanted her to. I wanted her to be a part of me in every way.

  Behind us, a throat cleared. When I turned I saw Holly Goldsmith standing there in pink scrubs.

  “Talia, Catrina is asking for you.”

  Talia gave me one last, lingering kiss before she followed Holly away. I watched her go, and when she was almost down the hall she looked over her shoulder and gave me a look that was full of promise. Promises of love and forever. The promise of everything she would let me do to her as soon as we got home.

  She was my everything. The only love I had ever truly known. I had roped her in and she had done the same to me, wrapping that rope around and between both our hearts that would tether us together forever. All we both had to do was stay.

  Acknowledgements

  Talia and Jack’s story was a true joy to write. The experience was made even better by the following people. Thank you to Josh who helped guide this story to where it ended up with his thoughtful editing/review. Josh, thank you for encouraging me and convincing me I’m a real writer. Big thanks to Sam, for always being down for a brainstorming session and for your help with the paperback cover. I would be hopeless without you. As always, thank you to my mom (who is now allowed to read my stories), for pushing me to put myself out there.

  And of course, thank you to every single person who read No Strings and who read this book, too. Sharing my work with you all is one of the greatest joys of my life.

  About the Author

  J.C. is a writer from St. Louis, Missouri. When she's not writing she's spending time with her cat and doing her full time job as an advocate.

  Your feedback is so important to indie authors! Please leave a review wherever you like to leave reviews. You can always shoot me an email at jchaydenwrites@gmail.com

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