The Next Play: Part Three Read online

  “Hell,” he said with a husky laugh, “I intend to spoil you rotten, woman. So when we fly down to San Diego, you’re not going to worry about how much our tickets or the hotel or anything else we do costs. You’re just going to smile and have a good time, and know that I’m fucking honored that you’re with me and that I’m the man who gets to make sure you don’t have to worry about one goddamn thing. That you just get to relax and enjoy yourself.”

  “Jonah,” she whispered, hoping he could see just how in awe she was of him, and how amazing she thought he was, written all over her flushed face as she stared up at him. “What you just said, that’s one of the sweetest things that anyone’s ever said to me, and I’m really trying not to cry right now. But I should warn you that I’m used to worrying.”

  “Then, baby, you’re gonna have to get unused to it. Because I’m already in so fucking deep with you, and now that I’ve got my woman, I intend to make her happy.” He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “No matter what the universe tries to throw at us, Jace, we’re gonna make it. And I swear on everything that I have, and on all that I am, that I will never take you for granted.”

  Davey came running into the kitchen then, and they all sat down to eat together, laughing and talking about everything from when they could all go sailing together on Jonah’s boat, to what their favorite desserts were.

  Once they were finished, and every bit of the food had been destroyed by their appetites, she went to give Davey his bath while Jonah cleared the table and washed up, and then she read Davey his bedtime story and tucked him in. After he’d crashed, she went back out into the living room and found Jonah lounging on the sofa, reading one of her favorite, dog-eared Dean Koontz thrillers.

  Without a word, he set the book aside and moved to his feet, lifting her into his strong arms and carrying her back into her bedroom. “Do you mind if I stay here tonight?” he asked, stretching out beside her after he’d laid her down on her bed.

  “I’d love that,” she told him, as he braced himself on an elbow, his other hand settling on the curve of her belly as she lay on her back. “But you’d need to leave before Davey woke up.”

  He nodded as he started to stroke her stomach with his thumb. “If I set my alarm and am out by six, will that work?”

  “Yeah.” She reached up and brushed his silky hair back from his face, sifting the beautiful auburn strands through her fingers. “It’s only for a little while. We won’t wait forever to tell him. I just…”

  “I know, baby. I get it.”

  His words were smooth and easy, but she could see in his shuttered gaze that what he really got was that she still had fears, and so she was playing it safe.

  “Do you need me to do anything?” he murmured, resting his head in his hand as he stared down at her, the soft glow of light from her bedroom lamp making the tips of his hair shine like a flame.

  Trailing her fingertips along the soft stubble on his rugged jaw, she asked, “Like what?”

  “Rub your back? Your feet?” A frown started to settle between his brows. “Are you feeling all right? Do you need any pain meds for cramps or anything?”

  “I’m good, but thank you,” she said with a warm smile. “And just so you know, I think you’re being a big ol’ sweetie and completely adorable.”

  “That’s me. Sweet as pie and fucking adorable,” he rumbled with a sexy smirk. “But the way I see it, I need to give you lots of good reasons to keep me around.”

  “I’ll always keep my guy around,” she told him, rolling onto her side to face him, one arm curled up under her head on her pillow, her other hand resting on the bed between them.

  “It makes me fucking hard as hell when you say things like that,” he groaned, mirroring her pose, only his arm and head were resting on the other pillow, and he’d placed his big hand over hers. “Then again, everything that comes out of your mouth makes me hard.”

  Her shoulders shook as she quietly laughed. “You’re going to need to control that or the business meetings we have this week with the Fillmore team are going to be incredibly awkward.”

  He grinned, his blue eyes shining with humor—but before he could say anything in response, she blurted, “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about the texts sooner. I wanted to, because I hated keeping it from you. I just… I wasn’t sure how to talk about what I’d learned.”

  “I know,” he said with a heavy sigh, the laughter in his beautiful eyes fading, replaced by a look of sharp regret, “and I get it. I mean, I hate that you didn’t tell me, because it’s my job to keep you protected from shit like that, but I understand where you were coming from.”

  “Protected how?” she asked, as she turned her hand over and threaded her fingers with his.

  “For one, no one gets to mess with your head. They also don’t get to try to cause problems for us. And they sure as fuck don’t get to scare you.” She could tell by the way he was looking at her that he meant every word. “And you should know that I’ve hired a private security firm to watch this building. You won’t ever see them, but there are going to be two guards on this place at all times, until this crap is cleared up.”

  Shock, and a frisson of unease, had her eyes going wide. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”

  “So far this asshole is just trying to scare you away from me,” he muttered, tightening his grip on her hand. “But I’m not taking any chances with your and Davey’s safety. So they’ll also be watching his preschool when he’s there, and Rey’s house as well.”

  “Jonah, that’s going to cost you a fortune!”

  “And I don’t give a shit, angel. It’s money well spent if it gives us both some peace of mind.”

  “I feel like such an idiot,” she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. “I didn’t even think about whoever’s behind this trying to do anything beyond just sending their stupid messages.”

  “Hey,” he husked, lifting his hand to the side of her face and gently stroking her cheek with his thumb until she opened her eyes to look at him. “They probably won’t do a goddamn thing, Jace. But like I said, I’m not taking any chances.”

  Placing her hand against his chest, she asked, “Do you have any idea who it might be?”

  He shook his head. “No. I mean, I don’t have any jealous exes running around, looking to cause problems. And no bunny-boilers either, as far as I know. But there’s someone, either at the club or maybe even through work, who wants to make trouble for us. And it creeps the shit out of me that they’ve been watching me for so long.”

  “I think that would creep anyone out.”

  “And just so you know,” he told her, his blue gaze hard with conviction, “that first text might have been true, but the one you got last night was total bullshit. The last damn thing in the world I’m ever gonna do is screw-up and ruin what we’ve got.”

  “I believe you. Whoever it is, they’re just trying to make me run. But that’s not what I want. Not at all.”

  His dark eyes gleamed. “Good. Because I would chase after you, sweetheart. For fucking ever.”

  She started to smile again, loving the way it felt to be lying there with him in her cozy little bedroom. Loving him a little more with every moment that she spent with him. But her smile fell the instant he said, “So about the dinner on Thursday night.”

  She groaned, but had known he was going to want to talk about it. And she knew they needed to talk about it, no matter how badly she wished it were something they could just forget and pretend had never happened.

  When she’d realized she was being unfair by refusing to talk to him that afternoon, she’d called Denny, wanting to know if he’d confronted her and Gabe. Denny had told her what had happened, and that Jonah had left work, so Jocelyn had asked for his address, since she still hadn’t known exactly where he lived—only that he was just a few miles from her building.

  There was a part of her that’d been terrified she’d sent him running back to his club, which she�
��d begun to suspect had served as a sort of coping mechanism for him for a long time now, though she still didn’t understand why. But she’d honestly believed in her heart that he wouldn’t do it, and she’d been right. Instead, she’d found him in that immaculate gym, his ripped body in nothing but shorts and trainers, golden skin slick with sweat, and all those powerful muscles bulging as he bench-pressed what had looked like a ton of weight. God, she’d nearly come just from watching him.

  And now they were here, lying side by side in her bed, and she could hear the raw emotion in his deep voice as he stroked her cheek again and said, “I know it’s fucked that it happened, Jace, and I swear to God that I would change it if I could. If the situation were reversed, and I found out that you’d done something similar to help Lucas, I have no doubt in my mind that I’d be sick with jealousy. But I would get the fuck over it, because being with you now is the only thing that matters. And how we go forward from here. Not where we came from.”

  “Are you saying that I just need to get the fuck over it?”

  “No! Shit, that didn’t come out right,” he muttered, and despite the heavy subject matter, it was kinda cute to see the big, sexy-as-hell alpha so flustered. “I just… I need you to understand that it honestly wasn’t about me or what I wanted. I mean, I ended up being the biggest third wheel you’ve ever seen, and I was happy as fuck about it, because it meant that my man Gabe had finally pulled his head out of his ass and admitted that he loves Den. I was with them for an hour or so, and then I left, and it honestly creeps me out now to think about it, because she’s like a part of my family. Well, the family I’ve made for myself with Gabe and the guys.”

  He shifted closer, draping his powerful arm over her waist, his big hand gently stroking up her spine as his blue eyes started to smolder with heat and hunger, and his voice dropped to a deliciously sexy rumble. “And now you and Davey are a part of that family too. The most important part, and I want everyone to see that on Thursday. I want them to see how happy we are together, because that’s something I’ve never had. I’ve never stood in front of my friends with a woman and been genuinely—down to my fucking bones—happy,” he told her, the hand on her back sliding down over her bottom and staying there. “I want to be able to crow like a fucking cock about it.”

  She couldn’t help but smirk as she gave a soft laugh. “A cock, huh? You’re definitely that.”

  He pushed up against her, grinding his thick erection into her belly. “And it’s yours, you know. Every hard-as-fuck inch of it.”

  “Well, if you’re going to sweet talk me like that,” she teased, “then how can I say no?”

  A boyish grin split his lips, and his eyes got bright. “So we can go?”

  “Yes, we can go,” she said, rolling over so she could turn out the light, and he immediately tugged her back against him, wrapping himself around her.

  “Thank you, sweetheart.” He kissed the side of her neck, and as she closed her eyes and snuggled up against him, she’d honestly never felt so safe. It was a feeling that she couldn’t ever remember having as an adult, and she slept harder than she had in years. She didn’t even wake up when his alarm went off. Instead, it was the soft brush of his lips across her forehead as he braced himself over her, from where he stood at the side of the bed, that had her slowly smiling as she tried to work up the energy to open her eyes. She figured she really needed to do it, because a sleepy-eyed, disheveled-looking Jonah Cartwright was no doubt an amazing sight to behold, and she didn’t want to miss it.

  Then she heard his phone make that telling little click sound, and her eyes immediately shot wide open.

  “What are you doing?” she gasped, staring up at the phone she was pretty sure he’d just used to take a photo of her, complete with messy braids and not a single bit of make-up on her face.

  Oh, God.

  “I promised I would leave before Davey wakes up. But you look so fucking beautiful lying there,” he husked, snapping another photo, “that I need to take a few seconds to immortalize this moment.”

  “You’re crazy,” she muttered, rolling over and burrowing under her pillow, the delicious sound of his laughter making her smile.

  “About you,” he whispered into her ear, after tugging the pillow away and bracing himself on one arm as he leaned over her again. He used his other hand to brush her braids aside, and then ran his lips over the sensitive skin at her nape. “I am completely fucking crazy over you, baby girl.”

  “Oh, God,” she moaned out loud that time, finding it freaking sexy as hell when he called her that.

  “It’s Jonah, sweetheart. You really need to learn my name.” He rolled her over then, gently cupping the side of her face in his hand as he gave her one of his smoldering, greedy stares. “I slept so good last night, Jace. You’re like my own personal sleeping potion.”

  “I put you to sleep?” she asked with a laugh.

  “Only after you’ve wrung me out.” He lowered his thick lashes, and his sinfully-sculpted lips twitched with a smile. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to hit the gym again without thinking about yesterday and getting hard as a fucking rock.”

  “Hah! Something tells me we haven’t even gotten close to wringing you out yet.”

  “That could be true.” He reached down and cupped her between her legs, rubbing her sex through her leggings and panties. “I’m saving it all up for you though, angel. So when the time comes, you’d better be ready.”

  If the way she shivered didn’t make it obvious to him how much she loved the sound of that, then her hard nipples probably did.

  “But when you were all snuggled up in my arms last night,” he murmured, sliding his hand up over her hip. “God, I don’t even know how to describe it. I felt more at…more at peace than I ever have before. Like I’ve finally gotten something right.”

  “Jonah,” she whispered, ready to pull him down on top of her and beg him to take her right then and there, even though she knew it was still too soon. Knew she still had to work through some of her emotional baggage before she would finally be ready.

  “Shit, I’ve gotta go,” he muttered, glancing over at the clock on her bedside table.

  “But you don’t have your car.”

  “I’ve got an Uber waiting for me downstairs,” he said, straightening to his full height as she sat up in the bed.

  “Oh, okay. But be careful.”

  He grinned, probably thinking she was a total goofball. “I need you to come and lock up behind me, sweetheart.”

  “Ah, right,” she said, wondering how that hadn’t occurred to her. But then, it wasn’t like she was used to sexy alpha males—or any males, for the matter—climbing out of her bed in the morning.

  He grabbed the bag that he’d brought with him, and she walked beside him to the front door, thinking that she needed to start wearing some really high heels so that she didn’t always feel like such a runt around him. Then she shivered again, her heart melting as he leaned down and gave her a hot, toe-curling kiss just before he left, her thoughts consumed with him as she locked the door and wandered back through her quiet apartment.

  He’d said that every inch of his beautiful cock was hers, but what about the rest of him?

  Was this too good to be true? And even if the answer turned out to be yes, would she have the strength to walk away? She didn’t know, and it scared the ever-loving hell out of her.

  Because she wasn’t the only one falling for him.

  Yesterday, when Davey’s little face had lit up the moment he’d seen that Jonah was with her, she’d realized that her son was already starting to love him too.

  And on Thursday night, they were all going to dinner at Gabe and Denny’s, who he’d had a threesome with. God, was she crazy?

  As she climbed into the shower, Jocelyn realized that even if she were, she was still going to see this through. Some of the greatest things in the world came from crazy, follow-your-gut decisions, and she owed it to her heart to see where she a
nd Jonah could end up. She owed it to her son. And she owed it to Jonah too.

  She only hoped that this turned out to be one of those times where having a little faith paid off, because she knew he wasn’t the kind of man a girl could ever get over.

  And he was the only man she wanted to hold on to forever.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Thursday evening arrived so much faster than Jocelyn was ready for.

  After the emotional craziness of Monday, she’d hoped to have more time to mentally prepare herself for dinner with everyone. But Tuesday and Wednesday had been packed with meetings that had kept her and Jonah constantly on the go. And while she was usually off on Thursdays, she’d worked that day as well, since there were some maintenance updates being made on the Atlas building on Friday. Jonah and the other owners had decided to give everyone at the company a three-day weekend, rather than find another building to work at for the day.

  Tuesday morning had been the first time she was with him in a work environment since they’d decided to become a couple, and she’d told herself that she had to play it cool. But she knew she was doing a crap job at hiding her feelings when the woman she’d been talking to from Accounting, Sandy Wilcox, gawked at them when Jonah dropped by and asked her to come up to his office before their ten o’clock. Because their offices were on different floors, Jocelyn hadn’t expected to see him until she went upstairs, and the sight of him looking so freaking sexy in a blue suit with a darker waistcoat and gray tie had damn near made her drool. She’d definitely gone red in the face when the sexy stud had winked at her, and she’d had to get the hell away from her desk before Sandy started demanding all the juicy gossip.