Chapter Six

Jase

The morning sun shines in from the window, and the sound of two low voices coming from down the hall has me waking against my will. Usually when you wake up in a foreign place, you have a lapse in memory, but not me—not this time anyway. Last night, I made love to Kayla, claimed her innocence, and got myself into deep water that I can’t surface from now. When Harmony told me she invited someone for me to meet, I didn’t think that someone would make me feel anything last night, but she did. Kayla and her mesmerizing eyes and sweet, innocent way lit a torch in my once dark, empty heart.

I haven’t felt this since before Lainey died. At the same time it warms me, it also makes me feel guilty. I never thought I could feel again, because Lainey deserved all my love—she was beyond perfection, and I was unworthy of her. Now, after barely getting to know each other, I have slept with an angel, and she has claimed something in me. What it is, I’m not sure yet. But does that mean Lainey is so easily replaceable?

No. I feel her here now, inside my heart, tearing apart the walls I built after her death and begging me to let someone else in. To feel again. I have to trust in her, because she never let me down; she never steered me wrong. In this moment, I choose to play this out, to let it consume me and hope for the fucking best.

I hear who I’m sure are Kayla’s girlfriends whispering in the kitchen, but I don’t listen in too closely. I’m more than a hundred percent sure they are talking about us. Shit, half of this part of Tennessee probably is.

I lie flat on my back and tilt my head down, taking in the beauty lost in slumber next to me. Fuck, she is beautiful. Lying on the soft, plush skin of her stomach, the curve of her spine is catching most of the morning sun. The side of her breast is playing peekaboo as it presses to my side. Her hand rests comfortably on my chest. Her hair covers the pillow on the other side of her, her makeup wiped away from hours of rolling around in bed and heated touches.

I see her in a different light, a better light—a more captivating one. Her lips pout, and it seems the sound of her soft breathing echoes in the room, bringing me all the way into her space. I’m consumed.

My ma used to say that you will find real love and true beauty in the early morning light, when an angel lies beside you and steals your very soul. And in this moment, I know I was stolen, and I know I’m completely fucked.

I want to wake her with my cock inside her snug heat, with me so deep inside she can feel me with each inhale and exhale. Climbing out of bed as smoothly as I can, making sure not to wake her, I move to the bedroom door and shut it, giving us some privacy. Turning to return to bed, Kayla is sitting up, the sheets pulled up close to her chest.

“Hi,” she whispers nervously.

“Good morning, gorgeous.” She eyes me up and down, taking in my completely naked body. I try not to smirk cockily, because I see she is really admiring me in a new way, the same way I did to her just minutes ago.

“You’re still here?” She tucks her hair behind her ear, finally letting her eyes leave me. She’s so nervous, and it’s both worrisome and adorable.

“I am, yes, and I plan to be here until I have to go meet Harlen in an hour.” I would call and cancel, but I promised him I would help him build and move furniture. Avery is still asleep, I’m sure, because Saturdays with my mom always means she sleeps in, so that gives me time before I have to give her our morning call.

“Oh, I just thought that you would be gone.” She peers up at me, those green eyes glistening.

“If this was a one-night stand, I would have been.”

“Isn’t it?” she questions, and I don’t like it. Grabbing the sheet at the end of the bed, I give it a brisk, effortless tug as she tries to save it from leaving her body. She’s no match, and the sheet clears, showing me the most perfect body. Dammit, the daylight makes her even more fucking irresistible. “Jase.” She sounds breathless, caught off guard.

Instantly, I’m fucking hard. I growl and her eyes widen, fear and fucking arousal eating her alive. “You’re so bad for me. I won’t be able to think straight today until I see you again. You’re going to make me crazy, Kayla.”

She blinks a few times, biting her lip. “Same. I don’t know what I’m doing, even sitting here in front of you, but I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

“Damn right.” I bend and grab her ankle, lazily pulling her to me as she slides onto her back.

“Jase, Sadie and Kate are right outside the door.”

Kayla blushes as I stand over her, watching her under me like a mirage. This woman isn’t real; there’s no possible way. “If you are really quiet, I can make it good for you, leave you waiting for me to come to you again.”

With a few moments of trepidation, she finally concedes. “Please.”

And I do as promised, leaving us both wanting more. And if I don’t get back to her soon, I may combust. She falls asleep instantly after our round of lazy fucking, and I leave her with a kiss on her forehead and a note on a magazine I find in one of her unpacked boxes.

§

“Daddy! Good morning!” Avery’s voice is welcomed. I hate whole weekends away from her. She’s my best friend, and I don’t like not being with her whenever I can. But she loves weekends with her grandma, and my mother would have my head if I didn’t let her have her.

“Morning, angel. You being good for Nana?” I ask, turning down Harlen’s street.

“Sure am! I even woke up early to help her cook breakfast.”

I feel guilty, suddenly, knowing I was with a woman who wasn’t her mother and missing out on calling her, regardless whether if I knew she was awake or not.

“You could’ve called me.” I pull up behind Harlen, who is cleaning his bike. He gives me a chin lift and gets back to it, while I finish up my call.

“I forgot. I was too excited. Nana made waffles, and I wanted to help!” She’s cheerful and carefree, and it lessens the guilt.

“I love her waffles. That was my favorite growing up.”

“That’s what Nana said. I guess we are just the same, Daddy.”

“I guess so, love bug. Well hey, listen, I can’t wait to see you tomorrow afternoon, but you make sure to call me in the morning, and don’t give Nana any hassle, okay?”

I hear her huff, and I swear I won’t survive her. Sassy and undoubtedly gonna be the death of me. “I know, Daddy. You tell me that all the time.”

“Don’t be sassy. Now go help your grandma around the house and call me tomorrow. I love you.”

“Love you too.” We end the call and I take a deep breath, because I know what’s waiting when I face Harlen.

As I shut the door to my truck, he starts in on me instantly. “Well, well, what an ugly fucker on his walk of shame.”

“Piss off, Harlen.”

“Yeah, lay off him, baby.” Harmony comes out with some drinks for us. I give her a kiss on the cheek and Harlen a fist bump.

“So, do you like her?” Harmony doesn’t waste any time.

“I can’t give him shit, but you can ask him twenty-one questions? I see how it is, babe.”

“Exactly, and don’t forget it.” She gives me a wink, knowing she is always going to be Harlen’s pain in the ass. What I wouldn’t give to make Kayla my pain in the ass.

“She’s something, all right.” I rub at the back of my neck.

“My dad says it’s the boom.”

“Explain that to me. You’re always saying that,” I remark, grabbing one of the boxes with a piece of furniture inside from Harlen’s truck next to his bike.

“My dad had it the day he saw my mom, said he felt this weird pull toward her, and instantly, without so much as a few words, he knew he wanted her in his life, in his home, and most definitely in his bed. All my uncles say this too. I thought they were all freaking mental until I met Harlen. I got that exact feeling when I met him.” She blushes, and you would think this was the first time they met when they share a look and he grabs her wrist to pull her to him.

“Damn right. Now, don’t you forget that shit, baby.” Grabbing her ass, he lays a long, wet kiss on her, his free hand grabbing her jaw and holding her where he wants her.

“All right, savages, break it up. We have work to do.”

They pull away, and Harmony places her hands on her hips knowingly. “You seeing her again tonight?”

“Yeah, I am. I’m going to take her to the lake up by my cabin. Let her see real Tennessee beauty.” I rip open the box, getting to work on finishing fast so I can get to her sooner.

“Oh boy, this is going to be fun.” She rubs her hands together, and I just shake her off.

I suddenly don’t want to talk about how I feel about Kayla, because I’m still working it out in my head. That, and if I’m being honest, I don’t want to share one detail about my girl. Because she’s mine. All mine.