Damaged Love

by Riann C. Miller

  Jet pulls me tight against his chest before his lips find mine. Our kiss starts out sweet, but Jet quickly deepens it while he grinds his desire for me into my leg. If Eric weren’t waiting on him, I might actually beg him to take me back upstairs and satisfy the ache he’s caused between my legs. But, he is, and I really do need to get home. I pull back, look into his greedy dark eyes, and smile.

  “Come by my place tomorrow when you’re done with work?”

  “If you’re offering, then I’m taking. I wish I could take you now,” he adds with a smirk.

  “I can tell.” I laugh. “Tomorrow.” I softly smile as I get in my car and drive home to hopefully see my beautiful daughter before the night is over.

  * * * *

  JET

  I’m about to knock on Rachel’s door when Max’s door opens. Unlike the last time, I’m not nearly as bothered when I see him.

  “Yo,” he says as he locks the deadbolt. “Are you having dinner with the girls?” My stomach starts to settle when he said the girls and not his girls. I know Alana is his and always will be, but I’m not okay with, and probably never will be, him referring to Rachel as his.

  When Rachel first mentioned she had a daughter, I was instantly jealous. Our lives went separate ways, and neither of us were making plans for a future together, but knowing she had a child with someone else hit a nerve and damaged a little bit of my confidence. However, it wasn’t enough to make me consider walking way, not even for a second.

  “Yep, Rachel invited me over,” I add.

  “Have fun. Alana was in a cranky mood earlier thanks to skipping her nap,” he laughs. “I need to get going, or I’ll be late for my date.” He overstates the word date and again I’m thankful for him making a point to reassure me. Max walks off as I knock loudly, only to wait seconds to be greeted by two sets of blue eyes.

  “Jet,” Alana screams, not sounding the least bit cranky.

  “Hello, beautiful,” I say, greeting them both at the same time.

  “Mommy, I want Jet to come to my room.”

  Rachel starts to say no, but I cut her off. I want Alana to not only like me but to be comfortable around me. “Lead the way, little, lady.” Alana latches on to my hand and walks us to her very pink room. “Nice room.”

  “My room at Daddy’s is purple. I couldn’t decide which color I liked best, so I got both.” I could hear the excitement in her voice. My chest tightens as I process her sweet little words. Her wall colors could have been a metaphor for choosing a parent. Damn...the more my mind opens up to Max and Rachel’s arrangement, the more I see the positive effects they’ve had on their child.

  “I have a surprise for you,” Alana says in a singsong voice, causing me to laugh.

  “You do?”

  She runs over to her pillow and pulls something out but keeps it behind her back as she walks over to me. “You can’t tell Mommy or I will be in trouble.” Her voice is soft but serious, and I’m at a loss as to what to say. I can’t keep secrets from Rachel, especially regarding her daughter, but my heart doesn’t have it in me to tell this little girl no.

  “What do you have?” I say instead of promising anything. Slowly, she brings her arms around and hands me a framed picture. I was expecting to see the picture Max told me about, but it’s not. It’s yet another picture Rachel took of the two of us. We’re locked in a kiss. This picture was taken the day we spent on the beach. The last solid day we had together.

  When it comes to my memories with Rachel, I have a lot that stand out, but our day in Solstice Canyon is probably my favorite. Not only did we make our own memories there, but I also share many memories there with my dad, making it my favorite place in the world. Our day at the beach is bittersweet. I’m glad I dropped everything and spent the day with Rachel, but knowing the fear she was feeling, the fear she kept from me, taints my memories. If only...

  “Jet.” Alana tugs on my arms, bringing my thoughts back to her.

  “I thought your mommy said you couldn’t walk around with pictures?”

  Alana’s eyes widen. “Shh, that’s why it’s a secret. This is Mommy’s favorite.” I look back down at the picture. Damn we look young and very much in love. I’m not positive if I knew I loved her when this picture was taken, but I see it now. Fuck. I wished I allowed her to defend herself that day. So many things might be different if I had.

  “What’s going on?” I hear Rachel question as she walks into Alana’s room.

  “Nothing,” we both, unfortunately, say at the same time, making us look guilty as hell.

  “Well, if you’re done doing nothing, I have dinner ready.” I can see the questions in her eyes.

  I wrap my arm around Rachel’s shoulder and walk the two of us back to her kitchen, hoping like hell that Alana takes that as her cue to put the picture back before her mom discovers it’s missing.

  “What were you two up to?”

  I sigh, not wanting to throw Alana under the bus. “Nothing, really. She just wanted to show me something. I think she might be in favor of us being together.” I grin.

  “I’m sure she is. Alana has known about you from the time she could remember.” My eyes quickly lock with hers.

  “That’s one of the reasons why I’m struggling to go slow. All this time you’ve kept me with you. For years I told myself I was missing closure, but now I know I was just missing you.” She wipes a lone tear off her cheek.

  “Can we eat now?” We both turn and see Alana climbing up into her seat at the table.

  “Sure, baby,” Rachel says, grabbing a plate and walking it toward her. When the two of us sit down, Alana starts rambling on about a kid in the park that wasn’t taking turns when it hits me how much I want them to be a part of my daily life. If I weren’t here, I would either be in my office working a longer day than necessary, or I would be alone in my apartment. Going back to those options isn’t something I’m willing to do.

  Dinner passes all too fast, and what seems like only seconds later, Rachel has Alana in bed for the night. “Sorry, she didn’t take a nap today. She’s demonstrating her independence, and usually, by the end of the night, she’s a bear to be around.”

  “I didn’t mind at all,” I reply from the couch, where I’ve been waiting on Rachel while she put Alana to bed. Instead of sitting in one of the empty chairs, Rachel sits down next to me with a sexy grin on her face.

  God, I love this woman...Going slow might actually kill me. I bring my hand up and brush some hair out of her face when an idea hits me. “You haven’t told me, but I’ve heard and seen from the other two people in your life that you’ve framed some of the pictures you took of us.”

  Rachel wears a shocked expression, clearly not expecting me to change the conversation. “Did they now?” I can hear the smirk in her tone.

  “Yes. I remember you taking the one of us at Solstice Canyon. I was thinking, maybe we could go back there. I haven’t been there in years, and we could take Alana.” Rachel’s entire body locks tight with tension. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she shakes her head no with a panicked look on her face.

  “No!” she shouts. “I mean, no. I left California and all the memories that come with it behind.” My heart starts racing from her strange reaction.

  “Clearly not if you have a framed picture of the two of us.”

  Her hard eyes begin to soften. “I brought what I needed with me. I have no desire to go back to California.”

  I pull her tight against me, rubbing my hand up and down her back as I softly whisper okay in her ear. I figured she would have loved to make new memories at Solstice Canyon, ones that include Alana and maybe even visit Russ and her mother’s graves. I sure as shit wouldn’t mind stopping at my parents’ graves, but the fear I saw in her eyes tells me I need to stop questioning her. After a few long minutes, she pulls away, trying to blow off her behavior.

  “Do you want to watch a movie?” I look over at the clock. It’s still early...even earlier in California, which is why I turn her d
own. “Not tonight. I need to get home and check on a few things. But tomorrow, I want to see you and Alana.”

  Rachel wraps her arms around my neck and places her soft lips on mine. She nips at me a few times until I open up and give her what she wants, but all too soon I pull away before I’m any more tempted to take her back to her room where I won’t ever want to leave.

  “Tomorrow,” I promise. Her eyes remain on mine until I’m finally pulling her door shut and heading to my big empty apartment.

  JET

  “HOW THE HELL DID YOU get hooked up with this chick again?” Matt questions through the phone.

  “We both live in New York. Our paths crossed.” I’m leaving out the part where I had to chase her down and practically beg her to give me the time of day because Matt would never let me live that down.

  “This chick’s family, or should I say what’s left of them, are shady fuckers.” There was a time when I would have rolled my eyes when I heard Matt say something like this, but considering his line of business, I know he’s serious.

  “Why, what did you find?”

  “Dennis Scott died just a little less than a year ago, and his douchebag son didn’t even have a funeral for him. No write up in the paper, nothing.”

  “Then how do you know he’s dead?” I ask.

  “When I went digging around, I found a copy of his death certificate. I dug a little deeper and found a medical record that claims he died of a heart attack. Either way, his son Calvin Scott went on about his life like nothing changed, except for the fact that he inherited his father’s production company, which has been extremely profitable in the last few years.”

  “I don’t think Rachel knows he’s dead. She said something about her dad and brother still living in California.”

  “If she’s not close to them, then she probably doesn’t know, but she might be happy to learn that she owns half of Scott Media Productions.”

  “What?” Instantly my attention is piqued.

  “I searched public records, and I couldn’t find anything, but I went in through Scott’s back door on his computer, and I found a copy of his father’s will. Everything Dennis Scott owned at the time of his death was to be divided among his three children. That would rule out Russ, obviously, but not Rachel. Fifteen years ago, Scott Productions was on the verge of bankruptcy, but in the last ten years, the company turned around and went from making a small profit to making millions a year. As of today, the company’s net worth is close to thirty million dollars.”

  “And half of that belongs to Rachel?” I question.

  “Legally speaking, yes, but she can’t go into a courtroom with the proof I have seeing as I did not legally obtain it. Give me time and I can get you something you can use.”

  “I’m not sure she wants anything to do with her brother or her family’s money.”

  “Who in their right mind doesn’t want to collect on close to fifteen million dollars?” he scolds.

  Not many people would, and I think if Rachel were being cheated out of money she earned, she’d fight to the bitter end to take what’s hers. But this money comes from her father, a man she clearly hates.

  “I hear you, but she hates her family.”

  “Let me sniff around and quietly check things out, then you can take the information to this chick and see what she wants to do.”

  “Rachel. Her name is Rachel, not this chick.”

  We both start laughing, but seconds later Matt turns serious. “Be careful. I saw what this girl did to you. You tried to hide it, but I watched you shut down before you moved.” This is probably the most serious I’ve ever heard him before.

  “You don’t need to worry. The past isn’t going to repeat itself.”

  “I hope not, man. I’ll check around and let you know what I find out.” Matt disconnects the call, leaving me to wonder if I should say anything to Rachel about her dad and the money Matt claims belongs to her.

  * * * *

  I knock on Rachel’s door only to be greeted by Max. “Come in, she’s not home yet,” he says as he walks away from the door and back into the living room.

  I won’t lie, at least not to myself, and say I’m a hundred percent okay with how relaxed Max is in Rachel’s apartment or how he seems to be here all the time, but I’m learning to let it bounce off me. “Rachel just called me and said she’s stuck in traffic.”

  I give him a fake smile while I’m grinding my teeth—nope, doesn’t bother me at all.

  “She said she called you first, but her call went straight to voicemail.” I dig my phone out of my pocket, and sure enough, I have a missed call from Rachel. Okay. I’m once again glad I kept myself from reacting and making a fool out of myself.

  “Alana and I were over at my place when Rach called and said she’d be late, but you’d more than likely be here soon so we came over here.” Again...thank God I didn’t allow my earlier reaction to show.

  “However, I have a favor to ask,” Max says with a smirk on his face.

  “Yes?”

  “I have a date tonight. When I told Rach, she said it wasn’t a problem for the princess to hang with you two, but now I’m thinking Rach won’t make it back before I need to leave. Is there any way if she’s not home in the next thirty minutes I could leave her with you?”

  The excitement on his face once he said date has me beyond grateful that I didn’t tell him what I originally thought about him being here. “Yeah, it’s not a problem at all.” Truthfully, I’m pleased that Max thinks enough of me that he’d leave me alone with his daughter.

  “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”

  “No, you don’t. I’m happy to help. Anytime you or Rachel need help, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

  Another smirk crosses his face. “She didn’t nap again today. I won’t hold it against you if you change your mind.” Max laughs as Alana walks in the room.

  “Jet!” Like normal, she excitedly yells my name.

  “Princess, Daddy is going to leave, and you’re going to stay here with Jet until Mommy gets home.”

  “Where are you going?” she questions.

  “I have a date with Katelynn.”

  Alana turns her nose up. “Yuck. She smells gross, Daddy.” Immediately. I turn my face to avoid Alana seeing me laugh.

  “Daddy thinks she smells yummy,” Max admits without any shame. I glance back at Alana to see her fanning her nose. This time I do laugh.

  “Thanks again, man. If tonight goes as planned. I’ll owe you big time.” He wags his eyebrows, clearly telling me what he has planned.

  “Bye, princess,” Max says, and he picks up Alana and kisses all over her neck while she’s laughing up a storm.

  “Bye, Daddy.” She giggles.

  Max leaves and Alana turns back around toward me. “Let’s go to my room and play.” She didn’t ask, she stated, and I end up following right behind her like a dog with my tail tucked between my legs.

  * * * *

  RACHEL

  “I’m sorry,” I state for at least the tenth time.

  “And I told you not to worry about it. I wouldn’t have changed tonight for anything. Well, except that you were stuck in your car for two hours,” Jet adds.

  An accident happened right outside the tunnel, and it completely shut down traffic. Fortunately, I wasn’t involved in the accident. Unfortunately, I was close enough that I was stuck in stand-still traffic for hours. Tonight was one of the thousands of times I wish I didn’t own a car, but again, it’s unavoidable with my job.

  By the time I got home, Jet had already fed Alana, and she had long since been asleep. Max text me earlier in the day to tell me Alana didn’t take a nap and that her mood was dropping fast, which added stress to my already crappy night. However, when I made it home, Alana was curled around Jet on my couch, fast asleep. Jet somehow managed to get her into her pajamas, and once I made it home, he helped me tuck her into her bed.

  “How was your day? I hope it was better than your evening,”
he jokes.

  “Yeah, the shoot went great. Like always, Zanie was a huge help.” I start to grin as Jet’s stare turns hungry. His eyes go up and down the length of my body as his hungry look turns almost greedy, but I’m almost certain that’s not appropriate with a set of little eyes and ears in the next room.”

  My body heats the second he confirms the need I see in his eyes. “This is a new step for me, but I’m guessing parents have sex with their kids in the house all the time or the world would have a lot less children than it does. However, I think making me scream would cause our night to end before we are both given a happy ending.” Jet smirks then attacks my mouth while his hand finds my breast. He circles my nipple with his finger, causing the throb between my legs to increase.

  “My bedroom,” I say before he walks me backward into my room, never once taking his mouth off mine.

  When I feel my knees hit the bed, I fall back, and Jet comes straight down with me. He only stops long enough to pull my shirt up and over my head, then he forcefully pulls my bra down before his mouth latches onto my breast.

  “Oh God. I want you, now,” I say under my breath, not willing to do anything to cause Alana to wake up.

  “Oh, baby, believe me. You’re going to get me.” Jet pushes up off the bed and starts unbuttoning his pants, making my mouth water. He doesn’t waste any time getting himself completely naked. I lift my ass up to push my jeans down, and Jet pulls them the rest of the way off.

  “You look hot as fuck, but I want the rest of this off.” I’m laying here in my panties and my bra only half on, but I quickly push my panties down my legs. When I reach around to unclasp my bra, I pause when Jet’s mouth closes around my clit.

  “Yes. Yes. Yes,” I chant just above a whisper. Jet sucks me into his mouth as he adds two fingers, pumping them in and out. My hips lift, and I start grinding myself into his mouth. I can feel my climax starting to take over, and seconds later, I start coming.