Page 61 of Undeniable Love
Hugging her closer and placing a kiss on the top of her head, he explained, “But we’ve got all night. I’m not going to sneak out of here in the middle of the night, Lucy. I wouldn’t.”
Lifting her head, she stared at him oddly. “What does that mean?”
“Um…you just sounded disappointed and I just thought…”
“That wasn’t what I was thinking at all,” she quickly interrupted. “I just kind of felt a little guilty that you’re missing out on time with your brothers—especially with this whole drama unfolding—because you’re here with me.” She shrugged. “And it also bothered me that Noah and Simon would go and hang out together and not invite you. I mean…is it because they’re both in relationships? Or is this about them just being closer in age and purposely not including you?”
That last one kind of amused him, and he figured he owed her an explanation.
“There’s honestly nothing nefarious about any of this,” he explained softly. “But…to be fair, there were a lot of years where there was a sort of an…. imbalance in our family. I was an athlete and my dad definitely favored me because of it.”
She made a quiet little snort of disgust, but Jax understood. After all, Lucy clearly still harbored a lot of anger toward his father.
“He was completely indifferent to Noah, and he was outright antagonistic and cruel to Simon. It took me a while to realize that his favor of me wasn’t a good thing. There were a lot of years where the two of them just sort of distanced themselves, but they knew it wasn’t anything I was doing on purpose.” He let out a long breath. “Believe me, even until a few years ago, there were times when it still came between us. My father would reach out to me for money and if I didn’t give it to him, he’d threaten to go after Simon and just mess around with him.”
“So you’d pay him,” she whispered, and he heard the disappointment in her voice.
“It was either that or know that I was the reason my brother was getting harassed. Then I came to find out that he was doing it to Simon anyway.”
“You realize your father’s a monster, right? He’s a narcissistic sociopath who deserves nothing but bad things.”
Hugging her, Jax nodded. “I fully agree. My brothers and I have come a long way and we’re all united on how we deal with him. This call tonight just…” He groaned. “It’s like we’re never going to ever be fully free of him.”
They both grew quiet for several long moments, and Jax realized this wasn’t how he wanted to spend his time with Lucy. If anything, he hated that this nonsense had intruded on the little bit of time they had together.
Now he fully intended to get their night back on track.
Slowly, he maneuvered them until Lucy was on her back and he was braced above her. “We’ve had pancakes and we’ve had a little rest,” he said gruffly before leaning down and trailing a line of kisses along her jaw. “I can’t think of a better way to spend the rest of the night than right here in bed.” More kisses. “Minus all the clothes.”
Her laugh was more of a breathy sigh as she arched beneath him. “I’m totally in favor of fewer clothes.”
“That’s my girl.”
And just like that, they were moving together to get where they wanted to go. Clothes slipped off, kisses lingered, touches ignited. Her smooth hands on his skin felt better than anything ever had before, and when her legs wrapped around his waist and she smiled up at him, Jax resented the fact that stolen moments seemed to be all they had. She deserved so much more and he silently swore that he was going to do better by her.
Soon.
But for tonight, they were back in their own little world and he vowed to make it everything for her.
Tomorrow was going to bring a whole new set of worries and responsibilities to his life. So maybe this night wasn’t just for her, but for him as well.
Either way, he was going to enjoy the hell out of it.
Chapter Ten
It wasn’t really a surprise when Lucy found Gemma waiting for her when she got home the following day. Still…it had been a long day and she was exhausted from her lack of sleep the night before.
“Totally worth it,” she murmured as she grabbed her purse and climbed from the car.
“Finally!” Gemma called out as she got out of her own car. “Chinese food is on the way and I brought the wine.” She was grinning from ear to ear as she walked closer. “I figured if the food didn’t win you over and convince you to tell me who your super-secret sexy guest was, the wine might.”
“Good plan,” Lucy said with a laugh. Opening the front door, they went in and went directly to the kitchen. “And while I appreciate the food and wine, we both know I was going to tell you anyway.”
Placing her purse down on the kitchen island, Gemma pulled out one of the stools and sat. “I wasn’t willing to take that chance. We talk all the time and last I heard, you weren’t interested in dating! I was genuinely shocked when you just casually threw it out there like it was no big deal.”
Quickly opening the bottle of wine, she poured them each a glass. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure it was even going to be a thing. Or…maybe I should say I wasn’t sure it was going to be more than a one-time thing.”
Gemma frowned as she accepted the glass. “So…it was a one-night stand and now it’s more?” Then she shook her head. “I’m totally getting ahead of myself. Who is it? Do I know him?” Pausing, her eyes went wide. “Is it Blake? Please tell me you didn’t get back with Blake!”