I snorted softly. It was hard to cry and laugh at the same time. Jace wiped at my tears with his thumb, his touch as gentle as it was soothing.
“You don’t believe me,” he said softly.
“I want to,” I whispered.
If he only knew how much I wanted to believe. But it was too fast, too soon, and my demons were rattling in their cages, reminding me that this was not a romance novel or a Hollywood chick flick. This was my life, and I’d been fooled by pretty words before. It was easy to confuse lust with love, especially when it was bearing down on you like a freight train.
“I’m not Ian, Eva.”
I winced and averted my eyes. No, he wasn’t Ian, but he was an internationally famous rock star who could have any woman he wanted. It just made no sense whatsoever that he would want me for anything more than a brief fling.
Spending time with me while he was in town? Yeah, I could rationalize that. We were contemporaries and shared a love of music and movies and dirty, sexy talk. I could see where he might want a taste of what a typical relationship would be like, given the life he led. And though the sex was admittedly fantastic, we had fun doing other things together too.
But love?
“Here. Maybe this will help to convince you.” He reached into his back pocket and extracted a small, embossed envelope, holding it out to me.
“What’s this?”
“An invitation to my sister’s wedding. I meant to give it to you earlier, but I got distracted.”
I felt the rush of heat flare between us as we both recalled the details of said distraction.
“Why would I get an invitation to your sister’s wedding?”
Jace shifted his weight from one leg to the other, just like my boys did when they felt shy about admitting something. “I might have mentioned that I was involved with someone.”
Involved? I blinked. “You told your sister about me?”
A half-grin lifted one side of his mouth. Honestly, it wasn’t fair that the man could go from hot and sexy to adorably boyish in a heartbeat. It attacked my defenses on every level possible.
“Well, yeah. Kind of.”
Kind of? “Why?”
“Why?” He ran his hand through his hair as a shadow of unease crossed his features. “Because—that’s why.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Oh, that’s real mature.”
He grinned, and my traitorous heart skipped another beat. “Jackie and I are close. I talk to her about everything important in my life. And you, Eva, are important to me.”
I felt a flood of emotions wash over me, threatening to pull me under, but among the waves of hope and joy were strong undercurrents of fear. Ian had had plenty of pretty words and promises. Words that became caustic when I told him I was pregnant, leaving me alone and scared.
Of course, some logical part of my brain reasoned that I wasn’t that naive teen anymore. I had my own house and a lucrative career.
And Jace wasn’t Ian. Jace seemed to care more about my pleasure than his own, which had never been the case with Ian. Jace worried about whether or not I was eating enough or getting enough sleep. He ran hot baths for me and gave me heavenly massages and held me all night, keeping the nightmares at bay.
“So, will you?” Jace’s voice cut through the internal debate raging between my logical mind, my passionate heart, and my acquired cynical nature.
“Will I what?”
“Come with me to my sister’s wedding.”
“Oh, Jace, I don’t know ...”
He closed the space between us, and then inclined his head and brushed his lips over mine.
“Please, Eva?”
I didn’t answer right away. I let him spend the next several hours trying to convince me why I should. He was quite persuasive, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. Here, I could spend time with Jace and maintain a proper perspective. But spending time with his family? That seemed perilously close to pretending things were more than they were.
Chapter 13
Dear Ida,
The guy I’ve been seeing wants me to meet his family. I really like him, but this is a big step. I’m already too attached and this will make it even harder if things don’t work out. Do I make him happy and go? Or protect my damaged heart? – Undecided & Afraid
* * *
Dear Undecided & Afraid,
Love doesn’t come without risk or sacrifice, and it sounds like you’re already pretty invested in this guy. Be brave, trust your heart, and go for it. If things work out, you won’t be sorry. And if they don’t, it won’t be because you didn’t care enough to try. Either way, you will survive.
~ * ~
Jace
I had about six weeks to convince Eva to come to New York with me for my sister’s wedding. Normally, that would be plenty of time, but Eva wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met. I wasn’t sure six weeks was going to be enough.
First and foremost, I had to get her out of the house. It was too easy for her to believe that this was only a temporary thing if all we did was stay in, just the two of us, pretending the outside world didn’t exist.
Don’t get me wrong; I loved spending time with Eva at her place. There were no distractions. I could devote one hundred percent of my time and attention to her. With no one else around, we could do what we wanted, when we wanted. We talked, we shared meals, we watched movies, and we had lots of sex. There was definitely something to be said for that, but I needed to convince Eva that she was more to me than a promoter with benefits while I was in town.
I popped into her office Monday afternoon. “Got any plans for tonight?”
She looked up from a tablet, her features softening as her expression transformed from corporate professional to sex kitten right before my eyes. “A few. Those new items I ordered should be delivered sometime today.”
I groaned inwardly, remembering our online shopping spree. I was on a mission here and had to stay focused. “Excellent. Before we get to that though, I thought we’d go to Roland Heights.”
She blinked. “Why?”
I shrugged and stuffed my hands into my pockets. “Because I’m hungry for pho, and I distinctly remember you telling Lydia that you knew of a place in Roland Heights that had the best Vietnamese food around. In fact, you said a lot of things, Ms. D’Agolino, that lead me to believe you’ve been holding out on me.”
She sat back and raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing about her lips. “Holding out, huh?”
“Absolutely. Here I am, a VIP in your fine city, and I’ve seen very little of it.”
“I can arrange some tours for you, Mr. Logan.”
I crossed her office with slow, deliberate steps, liking the way her eyes latched on and followed me. I laid my hands flat on her desk and leaned forward. “I want a private tour, with a private tour guide.”
“You do, huh?” Her eyes glittered.
“Oh yeah. Someone who wouldn’t mind giving me the real SoCal experience, the way only a local can.” I grinned and dropped my gaze to her cleavage and then looked back up to her eyes. “I tip quite well.”
“Yes, you do,” she murmured.
“So, you’ll make it happen?”
Eva stood up and closed the gap between us, her eyes filled with challenge. “That’s what I do, Mr. Logan. Take care of the needs of our VIPs.”