by Marie Force
Jenny smiled at his attempt at levity, and her heart gave a happy leap when she heard Alex’s heavy footsteps on the metal stairs.
“Hey, baby,” he was saying as he arrived at the landing. “Are you ready?” He took one look at Jenny sitting on the sofa with Jared, and his smile became a scowl. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Nothing more than a visit with an old friend,” Jenny said with a pointed look. She wanted to say, Stand down, tiger.
“I should get going,” Jared said, probably sensing the tension pouring off Alex in nearly visible waves. “Thanks for the tour and the ear. I appreciate it.”
“We’re having a party out here later,” she said. “You should come. I’ll introduce you to some fun people and get your mind off your troubles for a little while.”
“Are you sure no one would mind?”
“Of course not. Our motto is the more the merrier.”
“That sounds like fun. I’ll stop by.”
“Great.” She walked him to the stairs, all the while ignoring Alex’s glare.
“Alex,” Jared said, extending a hand. “Nice to see you again.”
“Yeah, you, too.” He shook Jared’s hand reluctantly, or so it seemed to Jenny.
“I can see myself out,” Jared said. “Thanks again, Jenny.”
A heavy silence hung over the room until they heard the mudroom door close behind Jared.
Chapter 21
As soon as the door closed, Jenny turned to face Alex. “Ready to go?”
“Was he in your bedroom?”
Stunned by the angry tone of his voice, she said, “What?”
“You heard me. Did you take him upstairs?”
“I showed him the lighthouse, which includes the upstairs. We talked about Toby and the girlfriend who dumped Jared because she couldn’t deal with his wealth. That was about the extent of it. Should I have recorded the conversation so you could hear the full playback?”
“I can’t believe you took him into your bedroom.”
“I can’t believe you’re acting like a jealous fool when nothing happened.”
His shoulders slumped, and he shook his head. “I can’t believe it either. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me where you’re concerned, but seeing you sitting there with another guy… I wanted to beat the shit out of him.”
“I’m really glad you didn’t do that.”
“Sorry.” He ran his hands through his hair, his frustration nearly palpable.
Jenny went to him and flattened her hands on his chest. “What are we going to do about this little problem of yours? I’m not going to stand for you flipping out every time I talk to another guy.”
“I know.”
“Soooo…”
“I’m crazy about you,” he said gruffly, his hands falling from his hair to her shoulders. “And that’s making me crazy. If that makes any sense at all.”
Touched by the worry she heard in his voice, she said, “It does, but you have to know you’re the only one I want. You’re the only one I’ve truly wanted since I lost Toby. There’s no one else but you.”
“Will you keep telling me that and forgive me when I act like a jealous ass?”
“Sure. I can do that. It’s kind of cute when your dark-chocolate eyes go green, but make no mistake, it won’t be cute if you make a scene over me having guy friends. I had a nice time with Jared just now. He’s going through a tough time, and I plan to follow up with him in a few days to see how he’s doing. I enjoyed talking to someone who knew Toby and remembers him with affection. I refuse to apologize for that.”
“I get it. You shouldn’t have to apologize.”
“And I’m also not going to be happy if you can’t be nice to my friends because you think they shouldn’t be allowed to talk to me.”
“I won’t do that. I don’t know where this is coming from. I’ve never felt this way before. About all of it—you, other guys paying attention to you, the way I want to be with you all the time, the crazy way you make me feel. It’s new to me. I’m out of sorts over you.”
“I don’t want you out of sorts. I want you comfortable and secure that what we have is special and that I feel the same way you do.”
His hands traveled from her shoulders, down her back and below the hem of her cover-up. He cupped her bottom, drawing a sharp gasp from her.
“I thought we were going surfing.”
Tipping his head, he made her shiver with the light brush of his lips on her neck. “We are. Eventually. I need you so bad. So fucking bad. You have no idea. And not just like this.” He squeezed her ass for emphasis. “Everywhere. All the time. I need you.”
“Alex,” she said on a sigh. “You have me. I’m right here, and I’m all yours.”
“Yes, you’re mine.” He tugged on the ties to her bikini bottoms, and the fabric dropped between her feet. His fingers caressed her sex, sliding through the dampness, teasing and tormenting as his mouth came down on hers, hard and demanding.
In no time at all, he had her clinging to the edge of sanity as he completely dominated her senses. When he removed his fingers, she cried out from the loss until he freed himself from the board shorts he’d worn for the beach and lifted her onto his erection.
Jenny slid down on him, taking him in one deep thrust that made her head fall back and her mouth open in a silent scream. The pleasure was nearly unbearable. And then he leaned her against the wall and began to thrust into her.
“I was with someone,” he said against her ear without missing a beat on the pace of his possession. “For two years. She had guy friends. Lots of them, and I didn’t give a shit. I was never jealous, because I didn’t love her. I know that now. I didn’t love her.”
His words and actions made for a powerful combination.
“I love you,” he whispered.
Overcome with the emotion and swept away by desire, Jenny could barely think, let alone speak. But she knew he needed the words from her. “I love you, too.”
He pushed hard into her, coaxing her with his fingers. “Come with me.”
Jenny was so close that all he had to do was touch her once. She held on tight to him as he rode wave after wave of her release and then let himself go, too. It went on forever, or so it seemed.
“I’m sorry for being an ass.” His lips and whiskers rubbing on her collarbone ignited her all over again.
“I forgive you.”
“It’s your fault anyway.”
“How do you figure?”
“I was never this way until I met you.”
Laughing, Jenny tightened her arms around him, wanting to hold on to him forever. Was he perfect? Far from it, but it seemed he might be perfect for her. “How about this surfing you promised me?”
He withdrew from her slowly and settled her on her feet. Cupping her face in his big hands, he kissed her and gazed into her eyes for a long moment, seeming as dazed as she felt. “Let’s go.”
Grace was running late. The pharmacy had been unusually busy on that Saturday afternoon, and there went her plans to scoot out early to go help set up for the party.
She ran up the stairs to the apartment, planning to shower, change and get to the lighthouse. She’d been distracted all day, thinking about Evan, their wedding plans, the situation with Buddy and the album, the studio, the pharmacy she’d bought just over a year ago and how it now felt like an anchor around her neck.
If only she hadn’t invested so much to buy the place, she’d be able to travel with him while he promoted his music. But she was stuck on Gansett for the foreseeable future. It made her sad to feel “stuck” in a place she loved so much, but the idea of being left behind while he went out on tour for months on end made her feel sick. She missed him already, and he hadn’t even left yet.
Under the warm spray of the shower, she tried to let go of the anxiety and worries so she could focus on the evening with Evan and their friends. They had today together as well as tomorrow and the next day. There was no point
to obsessing about what might happen months down the road. But even as she told herself that, the knot of anxiety in her belly refused to let up.
The shower door opened, and Grace let out a squeak of surprise when Evan stepped in behind her, his arms encircling her waist as he brought her in close to him.
“Where did you come from?” she asked.
His hands and lips were all over her. “Work.” Against her back, Grace felt the hard pressure of his erection.
“Evan… I don’t have time. I have to get to Jenny’s.”
“I only need a minute.”
“It never takes you only a minute.”
“Why, thank you.”
Grace laughed at the male satisfaction she heard in his tone. She had absolutely nothing to compare him to, but she knew there was no comparing what she felt for him to anything else she’d ever known.
“I have good news for you.”
At that, her heart actually lurched. “What is it?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute.” He pressed gently on her shoulders, urging her to lean forward. When he had her arranged the way he wanted her, he grasped her hips and surged into her from behind.
Grace remembered the first time they’d done this, and the shock of how incredible it had felt then. It was no less incredible after all the time they’d spent together.
“God, nothing in the whole world feels this good,” he said.
She kept her hands flat against the shower wall as the water beat down upon them and he filled her to capacity. In all her wildest dreams, she never could’ve imagined Evan McCarthy and the joy he brought to her life. The reminder that he’d be leaving her brought tears to her eyes as he kept up the relentless pace.
He reached around her, rolled her clit between his fingers and did the same to her nipple. The combination set her off as it always did. He played her body with the same skill he played the guitar, and she was powerless to resist him.
“Grace,” he groaned as his hands returned to her hips to hold her still for his fierce thrusts. Still wedged inside her, he helped her to stand up straight and put his arms around her. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too. Now what’s the good news?”
Laughing as he withdrew from her and turned her to face him, he kissed her. “I talked to Buddy. I told him the situation, and we agreed to six separate weeks on the road over the next year—none of them in January.”
Still a bit sex drunk, it took Grace a second to process what he’d said. “And that’s it? Only six weeks?”
“Only six weeks.”
When his words finally registered, the flood of relief reduced her to tears.
“Aw, baby, don’t cry. You know I hate when you cry.”
“Good tears,” she said, clinging to him. “I was so afraid of what was going to happen to us if you were gone all the time.”
“So was I. That wasn’t what I wanted, and I told him so.”
“You actually said ‘no, thank you’ to Buddy Longstreet.”
“I did. I want you more than I wanted what he was offering. It’s that simple.”
Of course that only made her cry harder.
“Gracie… You’re killing me here. I thought you’d be happy.”
“I’m so happy,” she said between sobs.
“You don’t look happy.”
“I’ve never been happier in my whole life.”
He put his arms around her and held her as tight as he possibly could. “Me neither, baby. Me neither.”
Jenny couldn’t believe what Maddie, Grace, Stephanie, Abby, Laura and Sydney had accomplished at the lighthouse in only an hour. The lawn was littered with chairs, a fire pit, lanterns and long tables covered with tablecloths that were anchored by white rocks they’d gathered from the beach below. The girls had their guys working just as hard, hauling coolers and ice and taking orders like the well-trained husbands, fiancés and boyfriends that they were.
“You guys are amazing,” Jenny said. They’d told her she’d done her part by donating the place, but she’d also made two huge salads and one of her favorite desserts to lend to the cause. It was just as well that she didn’t have to do a lot of heavy lifting, because her arms and legs were dead from surfing—if you could call what she’d done “surfing.” It was more like falling with style, as Buzz Lightyear would say.
Alex had been a patient teacher, and she’d more or less gotten the hang of it. He told her it would take a lot more practice before she mastered it, and he promised to give her another lesson soon. He’d gone home to check on his mom before the party, and she expected him back any time. She had butterflies in her belly when she thought about taking their relationship fully public with her friends, but she knew they’d be thrilled for her.
She was pretty thrilled for herself, she thought as she cuddled with Thomas, Hailey, Ashleigh and Holden on a blanket spread over the grass. Jenny had volunteered to keep an eye on the kids during the setup. Hailey had crawled into Jenny’s lap, and Ashleigh had her head on Jenny’s leg as she took a look at Thomas’s new board book.
Jenny was so absorbed in the kids and their chatter that she didn’t notice Alex approaching her until he was right on top of them. “Oh, hey,” she said, her body tingling in delight at the very sight of him. “I didn’t see you coming.”
He raised a brow in that naughty, sexy way of his and made her laugh.
“Not in front of the children.”
“You’re a natural,” he said, squatting next to the blanket.
“I don’t know about that, but I do enjoy them as well as my own nieces and nephews.”
“Do you want your own?”
Jenny stared at him, the question arcing between them like a live wire. “I used to. I figured I’d be staring down the teenage years by now.” She shrugged off the stab of pain that came with remembering old dreams. “But I’m probably past all that.”
“Because you’re such an old hag.”
“Hey!”
“Come on, Jenny. You’re only what? Thirty-six?”
“Seven. And a half.”
“Jeez, I had no idea you were so much older than me.”
“How much older?” She couldn’t believe it hadn’t occurred to her to ask him how old he was.
“You’ve got three and a half years on me.”
“Oh my God! I’m a cradle robber.”
“What’s a cradle robber, Jenny?” Thomas asked.
Jenny bit her lip to keep from laughing. “It’s when an old lady like me goes out with a young guy like Alex.”
“You’re not old, Jenny,” Ashleigh said with an annoyed glance at Alex.
“You’re my new best friend, Ash,” Jenny said.
The dark-haired little girl, who was the spitting image of her gorgeous mother, smiled up at Jenny. “BFFs.”
“Forever,” Jenny said. “Do you think Mommy will be surprised to find out the party is for her?”
“Yep. Auntie Maddie told her it was a cookout. She lied, but it was a good lie.”
“That’s right. She lied so she could surprise Mommy, but Auntie Maddie wouldn’t lie to your mommy about something important.”
“I know. Can we go play with the horseshoes?”
“As long as you stay right there where I can see you, and don’t throw the horseshoes at each other.”
Holding hands, Thomas and Ashleigh scampered off, leaving Jenny and Alex with Hailey and Holden, who sat in a bouncy chair.
“Don’t tell me you’ve given up on the idea of having kids of your own,” Alex said as he took a seat on the blanket.
“Not entirely, but I’ve tried to be realistic about it. I’m getting older every day, and it’s not something I’d do by myself. I’d be a terrible single mom.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” Alex held out a finger to Holden, who curled his pudgy fist around it. “I want kids. I want a family of my own.”
As she listened to him and watched his interaction with Holden, Jenny held her breath, wa
iting to hear what else he would say.
“I bet we’d make really cute babies together.”
Okay, that was unexpected. She swallowed hard. “You do?”
Nodding, he reached across the blanket for her hand. “You don’t think so?”
“I haven’t really thought about it, but now that you mention it, they probably would be pretty cute.” Her eyes filled, and she looked away, desperately trying to rein in her emotions.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Tell me.”
“You make me want things I long ago gave up on hoping for.”
“You make me want things, too. The same things, I suspect.”
“We shouldn’t even be talking about this,” she said with a nervous laugh. “It’s far too soon.”
“No, it isn’t. We aren’t kids. We’ve both been around long enough to know when something special comes along. Who says we have to spend two years together before it’s acceptable to have this conversation?”
“I never said anything about two years, but two months might be practical.”
“Screw practical.”
“Don’t swear in front of the babies.”
“Don’t dodge the issue.”
“Maybe we could continue this conversation later?”
“Yes, I believe we will continue this later.”
Trying to hide her trembling hands from him, Jenny snuggled Hailey, her mind racing with the thoughts he’d planted in her brain. The two of them together long-term, having children together and watching them grow up… A powerful sense of yearning filled her, and she had a feeling he knew just how much his words had affected her.
“Hey, you guys,” Maddie called. “They’re coming.”
Alex stood and extended a hand to Jenny. She picked up Hailey, Alex took Holden, and Jenny called for Ashleigh and Thomas to come along with them.
Tiffany and Blaine arrived in his police-issued SUV.
“Are we late or something?” Tiffany asked as she took in the gathering that had grown and multiplied while Alex was rocking her world on the blanket.
“Surprise!” they all said in unison.