The Heart Series: Complete Boxed Set (53 page)

Joel soon came over rescuing us before any more tears were shed. It was my birthday after all, and today was a day to smile—I had everything I ever wanted. We all helped ourselves to the buffet, Joel made sure we each had drinks on hand ready for the birthday toast. With plates heaped high, we tucked in to the food, not standing on ceremony. Even after the carbs consumed at lunch, I still managed to put more away.

I was deep in conversation with Elijah when I heard a song strike up in the background, at the sound of his voice I turned around, looking at him astounded.

Joel was staring right at me, a microphone by his lips, as he strummed on a guitar, singing our song. There were two other guys beside him playing guitars and, Lee, the barman was right at the back on drums. I stared at him confused. It was the first time I had ever heard him singing out loud, but hearing his voice now fill the room, I knew it was a crying shame he had kept this under wraps for so long.

My eyes filled with tears when he reached the chorus, hearing him sing the words he often whispered along to me in bed at night.

I walked over to stand closer to him, soon feeling Elijah’s arms wrap around me, encircling me from behind. I clung onto his arms, using him to maintain an upright position. Joel’s words were overwhelming me right now as he serenaded me with Lifehouse’s Breathing. A tear trickled down my cheek thinking of how far we had come. There was a time I never thought this would never be achievable, that I’d never get my fairytale ending, but seeing him up there, all my dreams had come true.

His eyes locked on mine, and I was gone. He had a habit of just undoing me with one look. His eyes never left mine as he constantly took my breath away with every word. I felt the familiar pull, the electricity that flowed between us was overwhelming, I’d never fully adapt to it, he would always had the ability to completely disarm me each time. I leaned back into Elijah, fully submerging myself in the song until he reached the final note. The room filled with a loud applause, but all I could see was Joel heading towards me, it was like everything else just melted away. I felt Elijah’s hands slip from me as Joel’s wrapped around me tight.

“You sang our song,” I breathed, barely able to get the words out.

“I did, I wanted you to know.” His eyes stared deep into mine, the love inside them was so breathtaking.

“To know what?” I whispered.

“That you mean the world to me, that you are my forever.”

“And I am yours,” I replied without hesitation. There was never anyone else.

He smiled, and we launched into a soft, sweet kiss before I pulled back.

“I never knew you could sing, or play the guitar, you were amazing.”

He blushed and smiled shyly. “Thanks, I started learning when we were apart, it kept my mind on other things when I was missing you like crazy. We’re thinking of starting to do a few gigs. We’ve been secretly practising for months now, we’ve mainly been doing covers. I’ve wrote a few from scratch, maybe I can play them for you later?”

I smiled at his words. “Of course, I’ll listen to anything you play. Are they about anyone in particular?” I didn’t want to assume, but god, I hoped it was me.

A look of amusement crossed his face. “You know they are about you, it’s always you.”

Oh my.

I sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good to hear. Can I come to watch you when you get your first gig?” I asked eagerly.

His lips brushed up against mine. “Of course, I want you front row, you are my inspiration after all.”

I leaned back smiling. “Can I be your number one groupie?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

A huge smile crossed his face. “You’ll be my only groupie.”

“Good to hear, I can show you my appreciation afterwards.”

Joel nuzzled my ear, and I willingly sank into his touch. “Does that apply today as well?”

“Oh you’ll be getting extra thanks for today,” I breathed, falling under his spell again. Those lips were always my undoing.

“Well that’s good to hear, how about now?”

“Right, that’s it, you two, there are parents in the room,” Elijah barked, breaking the moment.

I flushed when Elijah brought my thoughts back to where we were. Dear lord I was just about ready to launch myself at him, I needed to cool down fast.

“You can pounce on him later.” Elijah winked, dragging me off, leaving a slightly frustrated Joel behind.

* * *

When I heard the clink of the knife against the glass I openly cringed, glaring at Joel but he just grinned back.

Oh god, I hated public speeches, and he knew it.

“I’d like to start by saying that I am so happy you all could attend this celebration of the most beautiful girl in the room.”

Cringe.

Everyone smiled looking my way.

Double cringe.

I glared harder at Joel, willing him to keep a lid on it.

“I just want to say I’m so happy to share this day with you, baby, to see you smile, and I can’t wait to share many more. You’re my world, and I’ll continue to love you even more with each day that passes, if that’s even possible. You have my heart, baby, it’s yours, but I wanted to get you something I know you’ve always wanted. It’s my gift to you and I know you’re going to cry, but I’ve been waiting so long to see our family grow and now today it will. Let me welcome our newest member of the family.”

I sat in stunned silence, then squealed loudly watching Joel bring out the gorgeous golden Labrador bundle. He was right, tears streamed down my face as its chocolate brown eyes locked with mine. I was officially in love.

“Oh my god, Joel, could you be anymore perfect?” I whispered, taking the puppy from his arms and kissing its soft warm head.

“It’s a girl,” he replied. “Now I have two girls.” His fingers softly swiped away the tears as she nuzzled into my chest. “Do you have a name yet?”

I bit on my lip, I had to give her one with some meaning. “Ruby,” I finally said.

Joel grinned. “You do love that film.” Already guessing the connection with The Wizard of Oz.

“Well, there’s no place like home.” I smiled, and his eyes glazed over; we’d both found the family we’d truly been searching for.

“Then it’s perfect.” He smiled as I turned my attention back to Ruby now falling asleep to the beat of my heart. Was it possible to love something this instant? Well that’s how I’d fallen for Joel, fast and hard. We were complete, there was nothing else I wanted or needed.

“So when is Uncle Elijah going to get a hold?” He pouted, pulling his usual face. He was direct as always.  I slowly handed a sleepy Ruby over to a beaming Elijah while I sat listening to him promising his little princess everything. I guess it was inevitable he would be sharing too, I’d no doubt she would be spoilt rotten by her two uncles, and that thought alone left me smiling.

Sam joined us a while later, his face lit up taking in the sight of Elijah cuddling Ruby like a baby. He quickly bent over, giving her a kiss, handing me my card. I opened to reveal a £30 gift card. “That should keep you going with your book boyfriends.” He winked and Elijah smiled, he knew he was feeding my obsession. He settled down beside Ruby, and Joel wandered over with a beer and a plate of food which was gratefully received.

“Have you had a good birthday, baby?”

I nuzzled into him, breathing him in. “The best, thank you for my gift.”

“My pleasure, baby.”

“I can’t believe you remembered.” He always had a way of surprising me, remembering the tiniest of things.

“I remember everything. It’s something I’ve always wanted to give you a home and our first dog. I’m glad we get to share this together.” His words almost floored me, there was nothing I wanted more.

“I’m sure we’ll be great parents,” I replied giggling.

“The best, that’s if we ever get her back.”

I pursed my lips, looking over at Elijah the dog hogger. It was obvious from the start that Ruby would be a big a part of all our lives. I could already see their bond forming before my eyes. “Yeah, there’s no chance of that, I predict plenty of sleepovers for Ruby.” I could guarantee it. My eyes returned to Joel’s just as a serious look crossed his face.

“Did I do good, baby?” His eyes widened, waiting for my response.

Did he not know already?

I smiled taking my sweet time to answer. “You did amazing, but I’m kind of hoping the celebrations aren’t over yet.” I was hoping they were going to end with a bang, preferably with me up against a wall.

A smile tugged on his lips. “Baby, I will blow your mind.”

“Mmm, maybe I’ll do you first.” I grinned, watching his eyes immediately darken. Oh, I’d definitely got his attention now.

“You can’t say things like that to me in a room full of family and friends.” My eyes skimmed his body, surprised to see a tent already beginning to form in his jeans. Wow, my words had definitely had the desired effect.

I leaned over, my eyes pinning his with a dark lustful look. “Maybe we should start the celebrations early?”

Joel’s breath hitched and I didn’t need a response, my answer was written across his face. He grabbed me, pulling me up, quickly gathering up my presents into a bag before prizing Ruby from Elijah’s steady grip.

Within minutes we were headed home, leaving a roomful of surprised people. But from the flush on our faces, I think they more than knew the reasoning for our sharp exit, and right at this moment I didn’t care.

Cradling Ruby who was now sleeping in my arms, we walked through the door, and I quickly placed her down into her basket. I soothingly stroked her head as she momentarily opened her eyes, within seconds she was back off into a contented sleep. I felt Joel’s fingers entwine with mine, dragging me out of the room to make our way to the bedroom.

“I need you, Iz, don’t make me wait a moment longer.”

His words sent a rush right through me. God, I needed him too. “Joel,” I breathed. There were no other words, he could see the need there in my eyes. He lifted me up, and my legs wrapped around his waist as my arms encircled his neck, drawing his mouth down onto mine.

“What do you want, Iz?” he asked breathlessly in between kisses.

“Just you . . . only you.”

He let out a moan of approval, moving me in tighter. “You have me, baby, I’m yours.”

I grabbed his hair, wrapping it around my fingers, holding him tight. “Then let’s make this birthday even more memorable.”

“I think you’re wearing too many clothes, I know I am.” His eyes sparkled with amusement, and I had to agree on both accounts.

“Well, why don’t you help me lose these layers?” I said in my seductive voice that I hoped would drive him wild.

“Well, it’s a hard job but somebody has to do it.” He chuckled, dropping me down to the ground, within an instant I was stripped of my dress. “Fuck, Iz.” His eyes greedily roamed down my body, taking in the red sultry bra and thong that was trimmed with black ribbon.

“You like?” I grinned, already knowing the answer. He looked about ready to pounce.

His eyes finally flicked back to mine. “Oh, I more than like if I’d have known you were wearing this underneath, we’d have never have left the house.” From the way he licked his lips seductively, he looked like he was ready to eat me up. I shivered inwardly, I would enjoy every second of it.

“As much as I love these.” His eyes dropped down to my thong. “They need to go, but the bra stays.”

His stare was completely undoing me, the lust in his eyes telling me to obey his every word, and I was more than willing to do so. I quickly slipped off the thong, watching the delicate material slowly drop down to the floor. Joel was beside me in seconds, guiding me down onto the bed beside him.

“God, you look beautiful.”  He crawled up the length of my body while his eyes devoured every inch of mine. I shivered, feeling his lips brush along my skin until they reached the sweet spot behind my ear. “Are you ready to continue the birthday celebrations?” His tone was so enticing I almost came there and then.

“Mmmm,” I managed to get out, enjoying the teasing of his lips sucking on my skin.

“Is that a yes, baby?” I didn’t have to open my eyes to know he was smiling in amusement right now.

“Yes,” I breathed, enjoying his delicious torture.

His lips vibrated against my sensitive skin as he softly chuckled. He slowly kissed his way down my body, teasing and tasting me. My breath hitched in anticipation, but then he stopped.

“Joel,” I whispered, my voice so full of need. I popped open an eye to look at him.

He lifted his head so his eyes fixated on mine. “Grab hold of the pillow, Iz.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Why?” I whispered.

His mouth turned up into the most beautiful smile, his eyes brimming with lust. “’Cause I’m about to give you a birthday you won’t forget.”

Oh my.

My fingers gripped the pillow tight, I didn’t need to be told twice.

“Izzy . . . Izzy, are you in?”

I immediately sat up in bed at the sound of his voice. How the hell did Elijah get inside?

I barely had time to draw breath before the door sprang open to find him stood there smiling wildly in the doorway. My smile in return was more of a grimace.

“Ahh, there are my two favourite girls.” Ruby’s tail began to wag, I released her and let her run over to Elijah, he immediately picked her up and covered her in kisses.

I was having a lazy day after all the birthday celebrations, watching television in bed with Ruby. “Elijah, how did you get in?” I asked feeling slightly confused by his unwelcomed entrance.

“You have a key right in the bottom of your plant pot, it took me ages finding it.” He snuggled into Ruby, oblivious to my look of annoyance.

“How the hell did you know it was there?” There were only two people that knew about that key, and one of them certainly wasn’t Elijah.

“Lucky guess.” He winked and smiled.

“What if Joel had still been here, and we were well you know—?” I motioned with my eyes unable to continue the sentence.

“Having sex? You are allowed to say and then I would actually get to see the sex god’s cock.”

My eyes widened in horror. “Elijah,” I warned.

“Oh Iz, I’m only joking.” He flashed me another smile, but I knew that look.

Yeah, right.

He shuffled up closer to me on the bed. “I came to spend time with my two favourite girls. We have to get Ruby up to speed on who is hot in the film world. I brought Channing, Ryan and Jake. We can make our way through the others later. “Which one do you want to watch Ruby?” He held the DVDs out to her, and she looked at him bemused by the whole thing before pushing her nose against the middle one.

“Ahh Dear John, our girl has got taste and loves a weepy.” Elijah clapped his hands in glee, much to my own amusement.

Ruby stared at him looking lost. Yep, suck it up, Ruby, half the time I didn’t follow him either.

“Are we going to watch it in bed?” His eyes flicked over to Joel’s side, but that wasn’t even an option. I was not having him sniff the pillow like some mad stalker.

I jumped out of bed. “No, I’m up now, you go start the coffee, give me time to shower and pull my sweats on.”

His eyes flicked over me. “Oh definitely in relax mode, maybe run a brush through that hair too,” he added, and I glared at him.

“Elijah.”

He smirked at my face. “I’m joking, nice pyjamas by the way.”

Jeez, no one should have to put up with this level of abuse this early in the morning. “Bite me,” I snapped back.

He smirked even harder at my comment. “Ahh, see I would, but you’re just not my type. Joel on the other hand . . .”

He never missed a beat.

“Elijah.”

He held his hand up in defeat, carrying Ruby in the other. “I’m going, come on Princess. Mama hasn’t had her coffee yet and is mightily grumpy.”

I shot another glare his way. “I am still here you know.”

He gave me another wink before they both left. So much for a peaceful, relaxing day.

Ten minutes later I was showered and dressed. I walked through into the lounge to find two steaming coffees on the table and the DVD ready to roll. Ruby was curled up on Elijah’s knee as he softly tickled her head. I grabbed a couple of slices of toast Elijah had made, and he clicked play, ready to begin Ruby’s lesson in the hot guys on the big screen.

She dosed off five minutes in.

Elijah tutted and snuggled her in tighter. “Obviously we’ll need to begin her training another day.”

I rolled my eyes at how seriously he was taking the whole thing and grabbed some popcorn. The sugary sweet taste was heaven in my mouth. I smiled knowing regardless of how early it was a girl needed popcorn when watching a film, it was the law or it should be. Minutes later Ruby started snoring, and we both laughed.

Seriously?

I grabbed a few tissues when the tears began to flow, Elijah cried softly beside me, trying not to disturb Ruby. She ended up waking up and licking his tear stained face, which only resulted in him crying harder, leaving a bemused Ruby to look at me. I smiled at the insanity of it all. Joel should be thanking his lucky stars that he wasn’t here right now to witness it all.

When the credits rolled, we made some lunch and sat outside soaking up the afternoon sunshine. Ruby scampered about chasing every insect possible as Elijah looked a little agitated, working his way up to tell me something.

“I didn’t see Ryan at your party yesterday. Are things still a little strained after what happened at my house warming party?”

I stilled at his words and took a quick sip of my coffee, buying me some time before replying. “He posted a card through the door, so I didn’t expect him to come.” I would have liked him there, he was still my friend, but as Joel was in charge of the invites that wasn’t a possibility.

“Is he still in the bad books after what happened at my party?” he asked, his eyes monitoring my face.

I exhaled loudly. “It was all pretty much Ryan, I don’t know why he had to goad Joel. It was like he was determined to get a rise out of him.”

“I think there’s a little unsolved business there,” Elijah added, and he was not wrong there.

“Well, it’s all on his part, we are just good friends, nothing more.” I had spelled it out to him on more than enough occasions, surely he wasn’t under the impression something could still happen?

“I know, he didn’t take it well at the party, he hit the drink hard after you left. It didn’t help the B helped him get slaughtered.”

Even the mention of her name sent a chill through me. “Yeah, Brianne is not my favourite person at the moment.”

That was an understatement.

“If it’s any consolation she has good taste.” Elijah winked, trying to lighten the mood.

“What? Hitting on my boyfriend while I stood there. Does she have no principles at all? But then again she’ll do anything to get a rise out of me.”

“Oh Iz, she had a bit to drink, and Joel is freaking hot.”

My eyes flashed to his. “So you’re condoning her behaviour?” He always did take her side, no matter how badly she acted.

“Iz, Brianne and me we’ve been through a lot together. I love you, but I will also stick up for her. She was out of line but I think her attentions are elsewhere now.”

“Meaning what?” I asked confused.

Who had she sunk her claws into now?

“Ryan and B hooked up that night and have been seeing each other ever since.”

“What?” I felt the air leave my body at his words.

“You don’t need to be shocked, Iz, it’s what people do, unless there are some feelings there?” He scrutinised my face for answers, but he was barking up the wrong tree. I just cared for him as a friend, nothing more and Brianne was bad news at the best of times, he could do far better.

“But B of all people . . .” I murmured, still stunned. I thought he had better taste then that, obviously I was wrong.

“You don’t know her like I do, you just see the bad,” he remarked, his voice had a hard edge to it, so I’d obviously touched a nerve.

“That’s because she is a complete witch to me whenever I see her,” I snapped.

Good lord even he had to agree.

His hardened stare softened slightly. “I know, I’ve asked her to tone it down, but there is only so much I can do.”

“I think Ryan deserves way better,” I added, not caring if he took offence at my words, it was true.

“Are you sure there isn’t a little jealousy there?”

Oh here we go.

“No, he was a good friend, that’s all. Believe me, I could have got with him a million times over, but there was nothing there. I can’t believe you’re questioning my love for Joel.” I thought it was pretty evident after all we had been through, we had been to hell and back to be together but obviously not.

He sighed at my sharp tone. “Iz, I’m not, just your reaction.”

“I don’t want him to get hurt, I still care for him, Brianne—”

“Brianne what? Go on finish what you were about to say,” he snapped, his eyes widening at my words. His look sent a shiver through me, part of me was hesitant to go on, but I had to give my reasoning behind my reaction.

“You know Brianne has a history of walking away the moment anything turns serious. I don’t want her messing him around. He is vulnerable right now.” The last thing I wanted was for her to screw him up. I lived every day with the guilt over his feelings for me. He needed to find someone who was more suitable, who wouldn’t break his heart after a quick and easy fling.

“I’m pretty sure he’s big enough to look after himself.” He huffed, taking offence at my words.

“You don’t understand,” I murmured, he was taking it completely the wrong way. He  never saw the other side when it came to his opinion on Brianne.

“Then try me, tell me.”

“Ryan has a side to him he keeps hidden, I saw glimpses of it. It’s probably down to me he’s even more closed off. He needs someone stable in his life, Brianne will not provide that.” She was the complete opposite. He really needed to give her a wide berth for his own sanity.

“You are slightly biased in the fact you don’t like her.”

My eyes flashed to his. “She’s the one who doesn’t like me.” I had tried on many occasions to be civil, but I always got the same reaction. It had gotten to the point where I could no longer bite my tongue, so now I was giving just as good as I got.

“It’s only because she’s slightly jealous of what we have.” He rubbed his face, and his agitation was clear to see. I could tell it was hard on him being torn between the two of us.

But jealous?

Hmm, that was putting it mildly.

I snorted at his words. “Err slightly, try a lot.”

Elijah’s face dropped, turning to face me again. “Growing up she was my best friend, we used to share everything but then she moved away. I guess now that she’s back, she isn’t so happy to see me close to someone else.”

“Elijah, she hates me, even you have to agree with that.” He surely wasn’t that blind to notice all the constant barrage of catty remarks that were regularly thrown my way.

“She does not.” He shook his head and chuckled at my words.

What the hell was so funny?

“Hello, you were there that night.”

What a cheek.

He saw it in front of his own eyes, yet he still defended her actions.

“She was putting on a floor show. I agree she is a little catty. I need to try to have a word so it won’t happen again.”

“You need to put her on a leash,” I retorted. She was like a pit bull when she got going, no one could stop her.

“Izzy, she is my cousin, I’ll try and rein her in. I can’t promise on the whole Joel thing though, as you know I have a slight obsession of my own going on there.” He smiled at my face as I rolled my eyes.

“Slight? That’s an exaggeration.”

He smiled even harder. “Trust me, that’s me toning it down.”

“Jeez, what’s full scale you humping Joel’s leg?”

On second thought, I really didn’t want to know.

“Probably, but there’s more than Joel’s leg I want to mount.”

“Good god, Elijah. Like what the fuck?” Did he ever engage his brain before he spoke? He was far too direct at times. His words had the intended impact, and he smirked at the look of horror on my face.

“See I told you I normally tone it down, do you want me to go on?” His face held a level of smugness, he was thoroughly enjoying shocking me.

“No, let’s never go to full scale again.”

Good lord, I just couldn’t handle it.

“I’m not promising anything, but I’ll try and keep a lid on it.” Elijah’s phone went off as a text came through, he pulled a face before turning to me. “Well, looks like things are getting more serious with Ryan. She’s taking him to meet my auntie and uncle. She does not know the meaning of taking things slow, that girl.”

“I would have thought once the beer goggles had vanished then so would he.”

Miaow.

But I couldn’t help it, it just sort of slipped out.

“I think they are both what each other needs right now,” he added, trying to be the peacemaker. I knew he hated to see us bitching, but I was on a roll.

“Trust me no one needs Brianne in their life.”

“Izzy, please,” he pleaded, his eyes stared into mine, trying to get me to tone it down. I began to feel the guilt creep over me, she was his family at the end of the day.

“Okay, but I don’t want to hear another word on the matter. Any gossip you have keep to yourself. After the way Ryan reacted last time, he can stay away too.”

“Wow, you really have got your big old bear head on today. How about I nip to the shops and get you some Maltesers, see if those will sweeten your mood?”

“It might help,” I grumbled. Chocolate always had the ability to do that.