Beauty from Surrender (23 page)

"What did he do to you, Laurie?"

I haven't heard these details and I don't really want to, but I'm left without a choice because her mum isn't going to be satisfied until she knows it all. "I bit his hand over my mouth so I could scream for help." She points to her face. "He backhanded me here. And then he went nuts when I told him I didn't want him."

"What do you mean he went nuts?"

Laurelyn looks at me and then back to her parents. "He tried to rape me, but Jack Henry stopped him."

Her mother gasps and covers her mouth with her hand. "Oh my God. I didn't know that's what you meant when you said he attacked you."

Her father pounds his fist on the table. "If I'd dealt with him after that stunt he pulled with you outside the studio, this wouldn't have happened."

What stunt?

"It's not your fault. I told you I didn't want you to make a big deal out of it because of his family. I had no idea he was that unstable, but I'm pressing charges and I took out a restraining order. He's not supposed to come near me, but don't worry. Jack Henry will be here with me."

"But for how long?" her mum asks.

I don't appreciate her tone and I suspect Laurelyn sees it on my face. "Three more weeks."

"Where does that leave the two of you if you're going back?" Jolene asks.

We look at one another and it's evident. Neither of us knows, so we don't answer.

The tension is thick. Jake attempts to cut through the discomfort. "What kind of work do you do, Jack?"

It's a safe topic. "I own several vineyards and I produce a variety of vino."

"Sounds like you must do well for yourself."

"I manage." I've never been one to boast about my wealth, except when I thought I could use it as a line for getting Laurelyn into my bed.

"Don't let him fool you with his modesty. His vineyards do quite well."

"Well enough that we don't have to worry about him being here because of the success you've achieved since you saw him last?" Damn! She just puts it out there, doesn't she?

"Mom!"

"It's okay. I understand why that might raise suspicion with your parents. I'm not offended in the least." I'm not insulted by her concern. In fact, her worry makes me proud that for once, she might have her daughter's best interests at heart. However, it makes me mad as hell that she questions my love. "Laurelyn's father isn't the only multimillionaire sitting at this table, Miss Prescott. Although I'm very happy for Laurelyn and her success, I don't need one cent of her money."

"I had no idea you were so wealthy."

Of course Laurelyn didn't tell her. She wouldn't. "She didn't tell you because my money means nothing to her."

And that's only one of the many reasons I love her so much.

I survived dinner. Barely. And I kept my promise to Laurelyn, although I've never bit my tongue so many times in my life. I need a fucking tongue transplant after enduring two hours with Jolene Prescott, but I told myself the entire time that it was all for my girl. That was the only way I could get through it without telling that woman what a selfish and shitty mother she's been to a woman who deserves so much more.

She actually had the nerve to tell me that Laurelyn's career was here in the U.S. and not in Australia. She said it like I was a dumb-arse and didn't already realize that. I know America is where country music stars make it big. I don't need her to tell me that, so now I consider her insulting in addition to being selfish. But the icing on the cake was when she told me I'd ruin Laurelyn's life if I robbed her of all the opportunities she had in her future.

None of that is Jolene Prescott's decision to make. Even as badly as I want Laurelyn to choose me, it's not my decision. Only she can decide which path she wants to take in this life. And all I can do is pray that her mother doesn't get in her ear and persuade her that her life isn't with me.

When they're finally out the door, I fall onto the couch and rest my head on the back. I'm looking at the ceiling when Laurelyn sits next to me. "I'm sorry that was…what it was."

"Just so you know…that did not improve my opinion of your mum at all."

"It didn't do much for mine, either. I'm sorry she was such a bitch to you, but there's good news."

"Please, let me in on whatever it is. I need something good in my life after that."

She lowers herself to the floor between my knees and begins removing my shoes. "You have a reward coming for the stellar way you handled yourself tonight," she says as she slides my second shoe off. She removes my socks and flings them over her shoulder. She pops the button on my jeans and she's wearing a wicked grin as she slides the zipper down. "I think you need some room in these pants. They look a little tight."

I nod as I watch her hands move from my open fly to the waist of my jeans where she hooks her fingers around them and my boxer briefs. "Upsy-daisy," she directs as she pulls downward. I lift my hips and she's careful to avoid snagging my hard-on as she slides them to my feet before tossing them onto the floor.

After I'm naked from the waist down, she rises to her knees and runs her hands up my thighs before she rakes her nails slowly down my legs. "I'm gonna suck you off so good, you'll forget your own name."

"I dare you."

She grabs me where my legs are bent and gives me a jerk to scoot my body closer to her. Frankly, I'm a little surprised because I didn't realize she was packing that kind of strength in her tiny body.

Her eyes watch mine as her tongue touches the base of my cock and she slides it slowly up the shaft until reaching the tip. She swipes her tongue back and forth across the end before tilting her head and wrapping her mouth around the base from the side. She glides her mouth upward and then covers me as she takes me fully inside her mouth.

I love watching her do that. It never gets old.

I lace my fingers through her nape and massage the muscles of her neck as each stroke of her mouth brings me closer to ecstasy. I love seeing her head bob up and down as she takes me deeper with each pass. She uses her hand to grasp the void space and it glides up and down in perfect rhythm with her mouth. She does this motion over and over until I feel it building and I'm ready to blow.

"I'm getting close," I warn her because it always needs to be her decision if I come in her mouth.

Like always, she doesn't stop and I can't believe how lucky I am to have a girl who does any of this for me. She is so fucking hot!

I try to hold back so I can make it last longer, but I'm a goner when she squeezes her hand tighter around the base. I flex upward into her mouth and her hands move to wrap around my hips as she gives me one last hard suck. I place my head against the back of the couch and look up at the ceiling. "You are my dream come true."

That's how I stay for several seconds before I lift my head to see her sitting at my feet, her chin resting on my leg as she looks up at me. "I love seeing you come apart like that. It's amazing to know I'm able to do that to you."

I place my hand on the side of her face and rub my thumb over her bruised cheekbone. "You're the only one who can."

She turns her face toward my palm and places her hand on top of mine. "I think I owed you that after you handled Jolie so well. I know that wasn't easy for you."

There's so much more. "Baby, you don't know the half of it."

"What else did she do?"

"She cornered me in the dining room while you were in the kitchen."

"What did she say?"

I don't really even want to go there because I'm afraid Laurelyn might begin to think about it and find some merit in her mum's words, but I tell her out of my own selfishness because I want to see her reaction. I've dropped hints here and there, but we've yet to talk about any kind of future together. I hope to read her face for some sign of how she feels about leaving her new successful life. "She told me I'd be robbing you of great opportunities if I took you away from your career."

"Oh, God."

"You know I'm not that person. I want you to have everything you've dreamed of."

"There are two things I dream of, and having one means I don't get to have the other."

I'm gonna put it out there. "The selfish part of me wants to tell you to quit this thing you're doing and come back with me, but I won't. It has to be a decision you make on your own. I couldn't take it if years down the road, you blamed me for robbing you of this life."

"And I want to tell you to sell everything and come here to build a life with me, but I understand how leaving behind the vineyards you know for the unknown could be disastrous for your livelihood. You've worked too hard to give up all of your success, and I could never ask you to move away from your family. So, where does that leave us? Where do we go from here?"

"I have no idea. I only know that I want you more than anything I've ever wanted in my life."

"Ditto." She kisses my leg. "I wish we weren't so complicated." As soon as the word complicated leaves her mouth, we both laugh. "I know. Complication is exactly what you wanted to avoid and look at what it's done to your life."

I hope she's not suggesting we would've been better off not knowing one another because nothing could be further from the truth. "Come here, love."

She gets up from the floor and straddles me. I take her face in my hands and hold it so she's eye to eye with me. "I don't regret you for a second. You're my favorite complication and you always will be." I see the tears forming in her eyes as they begin to glass. "I knew you were the next one the second I laid my eyes on you singing in that club, but you can never imagine my surprise when I realized that you weren't just the next one—you were the last one."

***

He has no idea what it does to me when he says things like that. It tears my heart in two. I know I love him and I want to be with him more than anything in this world, but then I have this life I've only barely tasted. What if I give it up and then we don't work out? Where would I be then?

Alone without a career. I've been there and done that, and it was terrible. I'm terrified of finding myself in that predicament again.

My heart is racing. I know he wants me to tell him I'll walk away from all this and go back with him, but I can't. "I'm scared. Terrified is actually a better word. I wish I weren't, but I'm the only person in my life who's ever had my back. This is my way of surviving—to put trust in someone besides myself is to become vulnerable. I've never allowed myself to do that. I'm just messed up that way and I'm not sure I can ever be any different."

"I know you can. I saw your vulnerability when you told me you loved me for the first time. You broke through those walls you'd built but I let you down. And even though you love me, you're not ready to trust me wholeheartedly again. But it's okay because I'm going to prove that you can put all of your faith in me."

I would love that so much—to have just one person I could always depend on for love and safety. And I'd love nothing more than for it to be Jack Henry. "Please don't confuse my lack of security for lack of love. I swear I couldn't love you more, but I need time."

"I want you to have everything you want. If time is what you're asking for, then I'll give you all you need." He pulls my face to his and kisses my mouth so gently, I almost swoon. "I'll always give you anything you want."