“Neither, babe. I’m promising you a fun, child-free night of riding on that beast,” he says, pointing his finger at the motorcycle. “Some dinner, catch a movie, whatever you’d like to do.” He doesn’t reply to my words about alone time with her Nonas and Papas, so I let that subject go. At some point, I’m going to have to face my mom and talk to her. I saw and heard how upset and hurt she was. Even my explanation to all of them wasn’t enough to satisfy her need to understand why I made the choices and decisions that I did.
“Rayne, the media. You know they’ll follow and take pictures. We’ll be splashed all over the tabloids.”
“So the fuck what. I told you, Jace, I’m not ever gonna hide us again.”
“Oh,” is the only intellectual thing I can come up with to say in response.
“Come on, love bug, let’s go pack you an overnight bag,” Rayne says as he ushers Hadley off and leaves me with my mouth gaped open, standing still in the front yard. “Coming, Jace?”
Why is it this man has the capability of shocking me to my core?
“Yeah, coming,” I mumble back as I make my way into the house. I assist Rayne in packing up everything Hadley needs for her sleepover. My hands tremble the entire time as my mind conjures up scenarios for how tonight will most likely play out.
I’m not sure if the shakiness I’m enduring is from terror or excitement. Either way, I guess we’re coming out and shocking the fuck out of the public.
19
Jacey
Holy shit balls. Every move we make is being spotlighted by cameras and paparazzi. It’s as if someone leaked our itinerary for the night and shared it with the media. My eyes have lights dancing in them as we make our way out of the restaurant. We went to a five-star Italian, mom-and-pop place to eat. The cuisine was exquisite. My stomach is full and my taste buds are satisfied.
“Rayne, could you and your manager smile for the camera?” one of the annoying men asks him.
“My woman,” Rayne counters, “and I’ll give you a better picture to capture than a mere smile.” Rayne leans me back, one of his arms in the curve of my spine as his other hand comes up and grasps the hair at the nape of my neck. Before it dawns on me what’s fixing to happen, he plants his lips on top of mine. As normal, I can’t resist him and open wide. Closing my eyes, I forget that we’re on display and lose myself in the only man I’ve ever loved.
I don’t hear the click of cameras as they capture our image. I forget that we’re anywhere other than lost in each other’s arms. That wall I tried to once again put over my heart crumbles into fractured pieces. I could never resist him in the past, what in the hell made me think I could do so now?
When our lips finally break from one another, I pull in a deep breath of oxygen. This is the second time today I’ve made them protest their lack of fresh air. When I come to my senses, I see Rayne down on bended knee in front of me, a ring box opened wide and the classiest diamond engagement ring sparkling back at me.
“Jacey…” He speaks my name before clearing his throat. “I’ve been the worst type of man out there. I lost you once because of my so-called image. I allowed you to walk away from me, then, I tried to lose myself in cheap, loose women and shoddy booze. They were the biggest mistakes of my life. I pride myself in being a man who learns from his life’s lessons. I will honor and cherish you for the rest of our lives. I will never cheat on you, lie to you, or let others come between us. I will fight to be at your side each and every day. You are my world, my everything. Will you make me the luckiest and happiest man on the planet and become my wife?”
I just know that my shocked look is going to be what’s captured and displayed in tomorrow’s newspapers. But I can’t help it. I never in a million years saw this coming. I thought we were going to take things slow. But I love this man to the depths of my soul, can I really say no? I mean, I hate the fact that my proposal had women and booze mentioned, but I know why he did so. He was beating the tabloid stories before women could sell theirs to them. He wanted to cut the head off the she-devils before they could make a profit off their night with the most eligible, sought-after bachelor.
Well, not anymore because I’m fixing to give Rayne my answer.
“Yes,” I come back with as tears leak from my eyes. “I would love to walk through life with you at mine and our daughter’s side.” There, I answered and at the same time, let those women know if they blasted their stories to the public, they’d be known as nothing more than homewrecking sluts. Tit for tat, bitches.
Still with his knee to the ground, he pulls out the ring and places it on my finger. At this point and time, I don’t know who’s more nervous since both of our hands are shaky. Once that sparkling diamond is resting on my hand, Rayne raises up and plants another lip lock on me.
My libido kicks into high gear, my nipples pebble and my center aches. The desperation and desire for him plays havoc on not only my body, but my soul as well.
Rayne
It’s been a few months since I came crashing into Jacey’s life again. My balls are blue. They are swollen and needy. Tonight, my sisters and family have Hadley which makes my manhood roar in happiness. They’ve hinted that they need a girls’ night with her, and I’m going to take full advantage of our daughter being away with them tonight.
Not only did I plan on proposing to my woman, but I plan on reclaiming my ownership over her body. As we mount my bike and speed away from the prying eyes of the public, I plan on breaking as many speeding laws as I can get away with. In my short time here, I’ve learned where all the speed traps are and I plan on avoiding them like the bubonic plague.
Jacey’s arms are wrapped around my middle and I feel as if everything in my life is finally slipping into place. I have my woman, my daughter, my sisters and our band. Life couldn’t get any sweeter than it already is.
As soon as we pull into the driveway, I assist Jacey off of the bike and rip both of our helmets off before swinging my legs around and dismounting myself. I take her hand in mine and pull her into my chest. Our hearts are syncing together, beating as one. How the hell was I able to survive without this woman lighting up my world?
I lean down and plant my lips on hers. It’s a dominating, posessive claiming of ownership. The question is, who owns who? When we pull apart, we’re both vying for our next breath. Our chests are heaving with exertion and excitement, both recognizing the other and understanding the bond we’re fixing to cement our relationship with. When we connect intimately with one another, there will be no more her or me, it will be us forever throughout life’s events. Whatever they will be, we will be triumphant and overcome it all.
We are, and have always been, stronger as one cohesive unit. We’ve always been able to march our way through life to the beat of my drums. She is the missing part of me that I threw away. I kick myself in the pants more each and every day for allowing that to happen.
But I need to put everything that happened in the past in the back of my mind. We both need to let the hurts go and take each day one step at a time. If we keep reliving things that we did to one another, we’ll never become solid. We’ve both grown in not only age but wisdom since we separated. I plan on using what all I’ve learned and implement it into the new and improved us.