Page 19

Right then, the call clicked in, and Hunter’s voice said, “Hello?”

“It’s me,” I blurted out, my eyes lowering.

Jacob’s finger touched my chin and lifted it so my gaze met his again. “Eyes on me,” he ordered.

I obeyed.

“Why aren’t you on your phone?” Hunter asked.

“Look, honey,” I breathed. “I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

After a brief pause, he chuckled. “I get it, Saint. Your man had a come-to-Jesus moment when I turned up at your place, and he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d sit back and watch you make nice with another dude.

It’s all good. Hope it works out for you.

Just make sure he’s divorced before you fuck him.

If you don’t, I know you’ll hate yourself in the morning. ”

I felt my spirit go into freefall, and my ass hit the Earth with a big ol’ bump.

“Fuck!” I whispered .

“See ya later, babe,” Hunter sang, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.” And with that parting shot, he hung up.

My gaze lifted to meet Jacob’s, and I blabbered, “It was a showmance.”

His head reared back. “Huh?”

“It wasn’t real,” I admitted. “Hunter and I are friends, but our entire relationship was set up by our management for publicity.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is he gay?”

“Well...” My voice trailed off.

“That motherfucker,” he muttered under his breath,

“He’s not a motherfucker,” I argued indignantly.

Jacob looked confused for a second, then he grinned. “Not Page, I meant Gambit.”

“Why’s Gambit a motherfucker?” I asked, tone confused.

Jacob’s hand squeezed my waist, and his forehead lowered, resting on mine. “He touched your thigh.”

My face scrunched up. “Gambit touched my thigh?”

“Not Gambit. I meant Page,” he corrected.

My face scrunched up tighter. “You’ve lost me.”

His mouth curved sexily. “In the car, Page touched your thigh.”

“Oh,” I breathed, taking in his heated stare. “Did he?”

“I didn’t like it, Saint,” he bit out. “Next time someone touches you like that, I’ll cut their fuckin’ fingers off.”

I let out a snort. “Right.”

His eyes bored into mine. “Saint. Next time a man who isn’t me touches you like that, I’ll cut their goddamned fingers off. Do you fuckin’ get me?”

I shivered at the vow in his tone, and then Hunter’s words floated through my head. Just make sure he’s divorced before you fuck him .

“What about when a woman who isn’t me touches you?” I demanded.

He lifted his forehead. “They won’t.”

“Really?” I snapped. “Not even your wife?”

His skin paled, and that raw look I saw while I was singing crossed his face again, except this time, it didn’t convey need or desire, just heart-shredding pain.

My heart jolted. “Jacob,” I whispered, my hand lifting to touch his face. “What is it?”

His jaw tightened, and he pulled away from my touch. “I’m not married,” he said flatly.

I reached out again, but he jerked away from me, his eyes shuttering closed like a door slamming. “Don’t,” he growled, the muscle in his jaw working overtime.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Who told you I was married?” he demanded.

“Nobody. I—” I sighed, trying to pull my thoughts together and calm my nerves, which by then were making my hands tremble. “It was when we met. You left the next day and gave me your number and the number for your club.”

“And?” he prompted.

“I called you, but you didn’t answer,” I explained. “I waited a couple of days, but you didn’t get back to me, so I called your club like you told me to. That was when some guy told me it was your wife’s birthday and that you’d gone to visit her.”

His forehead furrowed. “Did you get his name?”

“Yeah,” I told him. “Ace.”

Jacob flinched as if I’d struck him.

“What is it?” I demanded. “What the hell’s going on? Was he lying?”

He scraped a hand down his face, suddenly looking as if he hadn’t slept for a week. “No. He wasn’t lying, but he was stirring the shit pot with a huge fuckin’ spoon.” Jake took a step back from me. “I was married, Saint, but my wife passed away twelve years ago.”

The back of my throat heated, and suddenly, my knees felt unsteady, as if the ground had shifted beneath my feet, throwing me off balance. All this time, I’d had no idea about Jake’s past or his pain and loss.

“I don’t know what to say,” I murmured.

“Nobody ever knows what to say,” he retorted. “But then, what can you say? I was a widower before I was thirty.”

“Jacob,” I whispered, my fingers going to his arm, trying to offer him comfort.

He shook me off, and his lip curled in disgust at my touch. “I’ll ask Ghost to take you home and stay with you tonight. I need some space.” He raked his fingers through his hair, his eyes reflecting his sorrow.

He was pulling away from me again. Instead of taking me somewhere quiet where we could talk everything through, he was building those damned walls back up one brick at a time and creating distance between us.

And I was fucking sick of it .

“I didn’t know, Jacob,” I bit out. “All I was told was that you’d gone to visit your wife, and I just assumed?—”

“The worst?” he challenged.

“Yeah, the worst,” I cried, wrenching myself away from him. “Just like you assumed the worst about Hunter.”

“It’s a well-known fact that you two are a couple,” he pointed out.

“We’ve never announced that. In fact, we’ve only ever said we were good friends.

It’s the tabloids who ran with it and built it up.

Did we let them? Yes, because it suited us at the time, but never once did I announce he was my boyfriend.

But in contrast, I was told by one of your club members, one of your brothers , that you’d gone to see your wife.

Why would I not believe you were married? ”

His eyes blazed into mine. “You should’ve asked me!” He jerked his thumb toward his chest.

“And you should’ve asked me ,” I threw back. “You’re such a fucking baby. You’re quick to blame me for everything, Jacob, but you’re not innocent in all this, either. You never told me about your wife, so how was I supposed to know you’d lost her?”

He leaned down until we were nose to nose.

“I didn’t lose her, Saint,” he snarled. “She died. She had a heart condition nobody knew about, and one day, it just stopped beating. Do you know how fucking soul-destroying that shit is? Knowing the one thing you loved most about a person is the same thing that put them in the fucking ground?”

My heart wrenched.

Jake’s pain, his grief, was still so raw, like it had happened only yesterday. His eyes were clouded with memories of love and loss, and I felt a surge of empathy wash over me as the weight of his revelation manifested like a wedge between us.

Two years ago, this beautiful, broken man bound me to him in ways I was still trying to understand.

With just a look, he tethered my soul to his, and I’d never been able to cut myself loose.

It took one night for Jacob Irons to become the love of my life, but I knew I’d never be the love of his because that spot had already been taken.

And in an instant, I understood the gravity of his grief because I felt it, too.

His eyes searched mine, finally narrowing when he found what he was looking for, and he rumbled, “It’s not what you think, Saint. I’m not saying I’m over it because it’s not something a man ever gets past, but I’ve accepted it. I came to terms with what happened to Allie a long-damned time ago. ”

I felt the burn in the back of my throat, and I croaked, “What if I can’t compete?”

His hand cupped my cheek, and my eyes closed so I could savor the contact of his skin on mine.

“You don’t need to compete,” he rasped. “She’s her, and you’re you.

You’re different women with different needs and wants.

Allie was special to me, but you are too, Saint.

You were special the second I laid eyes on you. ”

My eyes fluttered open, and I whispered, “Same.”

His face lowered, and he nuzzled my cheek.

“I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you all fuckin’ night.

Then you went up on that stage and blew my mind even more.

I’ve never felt so lucky to know somebody or to bear witness to the magic you create.

Do you know how fucking insanely amazing you are, Saint McClure?

Do you know how much I respect and admire you? ”

My breath caught in my throat.

“I’m a washed-up ex-pilot with a shitty attitude and a chip on my shoulder the size of fuckin’ Kansas.

You’re so far outta my league that I’d have to aim for the stars just to reach you.

And you say you can’t compete.” His breath fluttered against my skin with his chuckle.

“Get the fuck outta here with that bullshit, woman.”

His lips trailed down the side of my neck, and I shivered from top to toe as his tongue flicked out and traced a line. Then, he lifted his head, and his lips met mine, and we came together with such force that I cried out into his mouth.

For the last two years, I’d lain in bed every night burning for Jacob, not even contemplating that he felt the same way. His confession had left me reeling, and my heart pounded as I struggled to process the tidal wave of emotions crashing over me .

I loved how he bared his soul; loved how this strong, capable, alpha man’s man could convey words that weaved around my heart and wrapped it up warm and cozy. I loved the safety he offered and the way he saw deeper than anyone else ever had.

I also loved the way his kisses made my thighs clench and my nipples harden. I loved how he could make my pussy wet with just a blazing glance from his icy yet molten eyes, and I especially loved the way he was kissing me right now like he was starving for me.

He terrified and exhilarated me all at the same time. Nobody else could bring my body to life with just one touch. No other man had ever made me feel like I was toppling from a cliff edge, but it was okay to fall because he’d be there to catch me.

The same spark from two years before suddenly ignited in my heart, and I knew if I didn’t have him, I’d die.