Page 35 of You’re Mine

He loops his towel around his neck, ignoring my little Freudian slip, and I’m not sure what to do. I’d almost forgotten how attracted I am to this man. The initial shock of what we went through muffled my senses, but now, I remember how this man is pure sex on a stick.

He grins, like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

“Haley, let me clean myself up and then we can talk, is that okay?”

I nod furiously. It’s definitely for the best. There’s no way I could concentrate with Jace sitting across from me looking like this because I wouldn’t get a single intelligent word out.

“Um sure, that’s fine.”

“Great, follow me. You can wait for me in the living room.” I follow him back through a bunch of hallways and again into the room I was just in.

“I’ll be right back,” he grins before striding out.

I nod and take a seat on the couch, trying to get ahold of myself. Holy smokes, I’m so nervous! I touch my hands to my face, trying to get a grip. What am I going to say to him? Are there any ice cubes around because I could use a few right now. Yes, I have a lot of questions, but he’s probably going to ask me a few too. That is, if I can form an intelligent answer at this point in time.

I’m spiraling, and it’s not good.

“Haley?” I almost jump out of my seat. Jace is back, his hair a little wet and wearing fresh clothes. There’s nothing overtly sexy about what he’s got on because it’s just sweat pants and a t-shirt, but he’s gorgeous all the same. The soft cotton stretches across the width of his shoulders, and the pants hang low and sexy on his hips. Am I hallucinating, or is that the ridge of his dick off to the left? My mouth waters, and I bite my lip.

“Um hi,” I stammer. I’m so transparent. My face is red, and he has to know what I’m thinking.

“Do you still want to talk?” he asks with a knowing grin.

I nod, face flaming like a furnace. He sinks into the seat across from me, looking as cool as a cucumber. Damn Jace. He always has me eating out of the palm of his hand when it comes to physical attraction, even after so many years.

But at the same time, I know this conversation is important. Even if I’m drawn to him on an animal level, what matters is the dialogue between us. We have to connect, and figure out where we are. After all, we have a son together now. The stakes are ten times higher than they used to be so long ago.

But what should I say? After seven years, how am I supposed to start this conversation? I’ve had so long to think about the things I want to tell him. Angry things, sad things, and happy things. With all that time, I still don’t know where to start. Maybe somewhere simple.

“Where are we exactly?” I ask. “Are we even in New York?”

He tilts his head with a smile at my question. Jace was probably expecting a different line of questioning. Come to think of it, I also thought I’d begin with something else. He grins.

“We’re in the penthouse suite of a hotel I own. This is where I live when I’m in the city.”

Holy smokes, we’re in a hotel room? Jace owns an entire hotel? He must have done very well for himself – even better than I thought.

“Um, is the hotel in New York?”

He grins again.

“It is, baby girl.” A rush of something shoots through my heart because this was our plan so many years ago. We wanted to elope to the big city and start a life together, except we were thwarted by all sorts of crazy events. It may be seven years later, but I finally made it here with Jace. My heart swells at the thought.

But then Jace’s eyes grow dark.

“Haley, is it okay if I ask you a few things?” He leans forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. Those blue eyes burn into me intensely, and I swallow. What comes next?

“Yes, of course.”

He takes a deep breath.

“Can you tell me about your dad? Why was the house so dark when I came by?”

I nervously swallow. I’ve never liked talking about my home life because people never understand. Once, my school tried to get me a counselor because I think they suspected, and the consensus was I needed to talk to a professional. But the psychologist was more interested in talking about herself than me, and our meetings went absolutely nowhere.

As a result, I learned to say little about my home situation, and merely dissembled when asked. I never told anyone that Herb hit me and my mom sometimes. I never told anyone that he flew into insane rages where all sorts of household items were smashed and ruined forever. I kept his secret inside, and was ready to take it with me to the grave, but maybe things are different now. Maybe Jace can make a difference. In fact, he already has.

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