Worth The Battle (Heaven Hill Series) (6 page)

Jessica’s hand gripped his as they made their way down the long hallway that led them to the room he had secured for them for the weekend. Her heart pounded and the excitement was flooding into every pore of her body. These were the times she lived for, the times when she could be herself.

“Here it is,” he whispered, dropping her hand to slide the keycard in the door. The lock dis-engaged, and she allowed him to push her through before she dropped her bag.

“Finally,” she breathed as she turned around and pushed him back against the door. “I’ve wanted to do this all day.” She buried her lips into his neck and latched her arms around him, pulling herself up. He caught her easily against him and walked them over to the bed, laying her down on it as the two of them raced to get their clothes off and bare skin against each other.

“I love this time with you,” she moaned when his teeth caught her earlobe.

I just love you, he thought, not able to give voice to those thoughts. Not yet. Instead he ground out, “Me too.”

Hours later she sat in front of her laptop, hands shaking as she put in the web address of a popular gossip site. The man named Steele had been very polite and very quick in getting her laptop online for her. He had even given her some pointers with some browsing issues she had. On top of that, he’d found a virus and had fixed that too. Now she felt safe navigating around the internet. He assured her that while they used Wi-Fi, it couldn’t be tracked, so anyone who was trying to track where she was by any post she made wouldn’t be able to do so. The signal was scrambled, and her posts would show as being from many different places—but never Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The browser window opened, and Jessica immediately wanted to puke. There on the front page was a picture of her, the nude parts of her body blacked out. There was a link at the bottom that said ‘not safe for work’. She assumed those were the completely nude ones. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have ever thought that no one would get hold of these pictures? Naive wasn’t even a good excuse. She had been flat out a dumbass, through and through.

“Wow, is that you?”

She had completely forgotten where she was, and the main living area of the clubhouse had been empty earlier. Twirling around, she saw Bianca.

“Yeah, it is.” Her face flamed with mortification. “I didn’t mean for anyone else to see this.”

“No reason to be upset…most of us here have what many would call ‘unsavory backgrounds’. I used to work in a strip joint.”

“Really? And I’m sorry, what do you do now? Layne told me, but I can’t remember.”

“I’m a teacher. I try to keep the fact that I worked in a strip joint kind of on the down low, but hey, a girl’s got to put herself through school somehow, right?”

Jessica couldn’t help giggling. “You are so right about that.”

“So why did you do it?” Bianca pointed towards the computer screen. “Did some boyfriend talk you into it?”

“Yeah, he did. I had what were the only pictures—or so I thought up until a few days ago when they were stolen out of my house.”

“Is that when you called Layne?” Bianca asked. She wasn’t being nosey, but she was curious. If she had a problem like that, Jagger would be the first person she would call.

Jessica wanted to be honest with her newfound friend, but it was difficult. In Hollywood, it was hard to know who to trust, but she figured out here in Kentucky it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t like this group of people needed any unwarranted media coverage. “Yeah, I figured if anyone could help me feel safe again, it would be him.”

“Layne’s kinda scary alright,” Bianca agreed.

“He wasn’t always that way,” Jessica mumbled.

“Really? That’s probably because I’ve only known him a short while. I didn’t know him before a few months ago.”

“I didn’t know him that long before he went overseas,” Jessica admitted. “But when he came back, he was very different. He changed over there, but regardless of how he changed; the good man I met years ago is still in there. That’s why I trusted him enough to call him. I knew that he could help me.”

“Then why the fuck is he at the shop right now?”

That was the same question that Jessica had but didn’t want to ask.

“We can go see him if you want. I’m taking Jagger lunch here in a few minutes. You’re welcome to ride with me. It’ll get you out of here for a while.”

That thought appealed to her. She hadn’t really seen anything of this town she would be living in, and it would be nice to spend a little time with another woman. “Ya know what? I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“Great!” Bianca grinned. “I didn’t want to drive over there by myself, but Meredith and Tyler have a standing appointment. She’s trying to get pregnant. We’ll leave here in a few minutes. You might want to change outta that, it’s hotter than a preacher in a whorehouse outside,” Bianca indicated the long-sleeve shirt and jeans the other woman wore.

“It was hot yesterday at the airport, but I figured it was a fluke.”

“Summers in Kentucky are really hot and really muggy. I was just out there a few minutes ago, and I came back in sweating. Keep in mind that I did nothing. I’m actually going to take off this shirt and put a tank top on.”

The shirt she indicated was a t-shirt, and for the first time, Jessica noticed that it was wet with sweat. “Okay, can I meet you out here in a few minutes?”

“Sure. Are you in Layne’s room? It’s right across from Jagger’s.”

“I am. Does that mean we’re neighbors?” Jessica grinned.

“For the most part, but Jagger and I don’t live here full-time. We have an apartment. We just happened to stay here last night because of Denise going into labor, and they had me a graduation party. It was just easier that way. I keep clothes here, just in case. I’ll see ya in a minute,” she smiled as she exited into Jagger’s room.

Jessica did the same into Layne’s. What would it be like to live in this clubhouse where everyone seemed so nice? They were like a big family, and she had to wonder if things always ran so smoothly. Everyone appeared to contribute to the running of the business and the day-to-day operations of the clubhouse. Jessica wondered if maybe she could ever fit in here. Would she want to do this day in and day out? She had other dreams that didn’t involve Hollywood, but was this for sure? Would she be happy being a teacher like Bianca or a mother like Denise? She didn’t know what Meredith did, but she knew at some point she would find out. In the end she wondered if she could come to enjoy life out of the bright lights of fame. One very large part of her knew that she could; another part—although small in comparison—made her question whether she could or not. Her mind raced as she dug through her luggage and grabbed out a pair of shorts and a tank top. Quickly putting them on, she also shoved her feet into a pair of flip-flops. A ponytail holder and her sunglasses were all she needed to finish everything off before she grabbed her purse and walked out the door. Bianca came out right as she did.

“Awesome, let’s get going. They’re busy today. I’m glad you’re coming with me because Jagger just texted me five orders.”

The two of them walked out of the clubhouse and into the sun. It was then that Jessica realized what Bianca had been talking about. The heat was so stifling it was difficult to breath, and she put her hand to her chest. Already her skin felt sticky, just walking outside.

“Welcome to Kentucky. Where the summers are hot and muggy and the mosquitos will eat you alive.”

“This is miserable.” Jessica frowned as they walked toward a group of garages.

“This is a good day,” Bianca laughed. “You’ll get used to it if you stay here long enough.”

They entered the garage, and Bianca directed them over to her Mustang. “This one is mine. I’m sure you couldn’t tell since it’s the only damn vehicle in this garage that isn’t black. These guys take themselves way too seriously sometimes. They gotta keep that badass persona going no matter what.”

Jessica giggled when Bianca made a face. “Thanks for bringing me with you. You’re right; I really needed to get out of there.”

“You’re welcome!” She put the car into reverse and eased out of the garage and down the gravel drive that lead to the main road. “You don’t get carsick do you? These roads are really winding and I like to drive fast.”

“Not that I’m aware of, but I don’t know that I’ve ever been on roads like that before.”

“Well,” Bianca grinned as she revved the engine. “There’s a first time for everything. You are buckled, right?”

In the passenger seat, Jessica pulled the safety belt out to show that she was indeed fastened in.

Using the controls on her side of the console, Bianca rolled all the windows down. “You might want to put that hair up.”

Jessica did as she was told and pushed her sunglasses onto her face, making sure they sat securely against her nose.

“You got anything against rock music?” Bianca questioned, fiddling with the radio dials.

She wasn’t sure that her brand of rock music and Bianca’s were the same. Could Nickelback be considered rock? It was scary to ask that question to this woman who had taken her so securely under her wing. Instead, she shook her head. “I don’t. Turn it on whatever you want to.”

A loud drumbeat echoed over the speakers in the car, and Bianca yelled at to her to hang on. Jessica had never been so glad that she listened to someone’s instructions in her life. Gravel flew and tires squealed as they pulled out onto Porter Pike. A straight stretch allowed them to pick up speed as the automatic transmission shifted through the gears, Jessica gripped the door handle. A curve popped up out of nowhere, and a warning scream stuck in her throat, dying as Bianca took it with expert precision. As they went over a hill, her stomach did the roller-coaster drop, and after Bianca handled that one, she began to relax, and laughter bubbled up from deep within her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had done something like this. Her laughter caused Bianca to look over at her, and even though they both wore dark sunglasses, Jessica could tell that they both laughed. It was the most fun she’d had in a long time, and she couldn’t wait to tell Layne.

Chapter Six