Page 106 of Bourbon Sins
Jett exhaled again and sat on my bed as he rubbed his eyes. His toned abdominal muscles bunched together as he tried to figure out what to say. Even in his most disheveled state, he was still the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. From the scruff on his face, to the slight tan to his skin and the way his dark blonde hair fell to the side, he was perfection. He was the one man who made my heart stop when he walked in the room, the one man that I could lose myself in.
“I wasn’t lying when I originally told you the reason I picked you. The moment I saw you next to my mom’s grave, I knew she brought us together, that there was a reason why you and I were there at the same time. I didn’t learn about Rex’s infatuation with you until later. I mean, I knew that he was paying you for sex, but I thought that was all it was. I didn’t know he actually had some sort of feelings for you. There’s a lot that’s happened between Rex and me that I’m sure he told you half-truths about, but I’m not going to get into that because it’s in the past now. But, I want you to know, he has nothing to do with why I asked you to come here, the reason I asked you to share your life and body with me.”
He looked up at me with such soulful eyes that it was hard to turn away; it was hard for me to be mad at him. I hated myself for not being able to put up much of a fight, even though I knew he would never give me what I wanted.
“I want you to stay, little one.” His term of endearment almost brought me to my knees. “I need you to stay,” he said quietly while looking down at his hands. “I know I can’t give you everything you want, everything you need and deserve, but what I can offer you is protection, a future, and security. It’s not much, but it’s all I have for now.”
The way he saidfor nowmade my heart leap, like he can’t give me what I needfor now, but maybe, in the future, he could?
He looked up at me and grabbed my hand as he guided me to stand between his legs. His hands rested on my hips and his thumbs rubbed lazy circles along my clothes. He looked so shattered, agonized, almost crushed.
When I first came to the Lafayette Club, Jett specifically said I held the cards and, at this moment, that statement has never been more evident. I held the cards and I had the ability to either make or break this man with one single word. The stubborn girl inside me wanted to break him the way he broke me, but the girl that was falling hard for the man with the deep southern voice couldn’t do that.
I nodded my head silently as a tear ran down my face. Jett exhaled sharply while he rested his forehead against my stomach in relief, as if he was ready to combust if I didn’t answer yes. This strong man who held onto me put up such a front about not needing anyone or a relationship, but at this moment, I knew that was all it was, a front, a façade for the complex man he was. Inside, he needed someone more than he let on. He needed me.
I wrapped my arms around him and ran my hands through his hair as his arms wrapped around my waist and squeezed me. Yes, this man needed me, like I was the one who was saving him, not vice versa. I could tell by the way he gripped onto me and didn’t let me go for several moments.
Once he pulled away, he looked up at me with such gentle and sweet eyes that more tears fell from my face. I ran my hands up his neck and to the sides of his face. My finger lightly grazed his swollen lip as he winced.
“Kace?” I asked.
He just nodded. I lightly kissed him on his lip, wanting him to feel me once again. When I pulled away, there was a slight smile grazing his swollen lip. He stood up and wrapped my arms around his waist, which I didn’t put up a fight about. He wrapped his strong arms around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.
“I’m sorry, little one,” he whispered into my hair. “I’m sorry for treating you so poorly. I got scared. You do something to me that I can’t describe and it scared the ever-living fuck out of me.”
I smiled at the slight drop of his rather refined nature and cheered at his confession as my heart nearly beat out of my chest. I knew he didn’t want a relationship or love, but what he was giving me now, what he was sharing with me, was the start of one. If I had to take it slow with him, I would, because now that I had him in my arms, I knew I would rather be with him and have him push me away when he was scared than not be with him at all. He was my future.
“Don’t make a habit of it,” I joked.
“You’re too good.” That made me laugh, because I was nowhere near being good. I truly was living a Cinderella story, a girl brought from rags to riches. I had done things in my life to make a dollar that would always stay with me, so for him to say I was too good, especially given the amazing things he’d done—I was nowhere even close.
“You need to get your eyes checked.”
“Don’t. Don’t put yourself down. When I say you’re too good, you are. You don’t see what I see.”
“I could say the same thing about you.”
He just shook his head and smirked at me. He released me, making me instantly feel empty as he stepped away. He grabbed the box off the bed and turned around to face me, holding it out.
“Open it.”
I smiled up at him as I examined the box. “This looks too small for ranunculus.”
He cringed and glanced at my nightstand. “It is, but there will be some in your room before tomorrow. I promise.”
“Jett, you don’t have to.”
“You don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” he said with a smirk. “If I want to buy my little one flowers, I will. Now open the box.”
I lifted the plush top off the box and gasped when I saw what was inside.
“Jett.”
“Do you like them?” he asked, as if his sanity wavered on me saying if I liked his gift or not.
“I love them!” I exclaimed pulling out the purple lingerie covered in black lace. It was exactly like the first set of lingerie Jett ever gave me, but this time, it was in Jett Girl colors. The demi bra was just big enough to cover me up and the unique crisscrossed straps that were on my training set appeared on this set as well. The lingerie was breathtaking. The meaning of the gift instantly hit me as I looked up at him.
“Goldie, will you officially become a Jett Girl?”
