Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jace
Aurora curls into my side like a little kitten, seeking warmth. I lay still allowing her to find it, her head laying on my chest, one arm wrapped around my waist and the other tucked along my side. One leg thrown up over both of mine she practically purrs as she settles in.
Just barely after seven I know I should wake her, but I’m enjoying this far too much.
I’ve never been the kind to cuddle, but this, I could get used to.
A phone rings from someplace in my house, and I know its hers. She is supposed to leave to go with Bree. Driving a little over an hour away, following up on some last minute adjustments for the upcoming wedding. Truth is, I don’t want her to go. I’d rather her stay right where she is, doing exactly what she is doing.
“What time is it?” she asks and the bubble bursts. I know once she realizes she should be up I will lose this warmth.
“Can you give me five more minutes of this before you take off on me?”
“Do I have five minutes to spare?” She asks, her voice hoarse with sleep.
“No,” there is no reason to lie. “But will you give it to me anyway?”
I feel her smile against my chest and I know she’s giving in to my request.
Wrapping my arm around her, I gather her as close as I can and kiss the top of her head. I swear I hear her sigh.
Silence blankets us, only the sounds of us breathing fills the room.
“After you guys get back later today, I think you and I should lock ourselves away until Monday morning when we are forced to face the world.” No phones, no company, just us.
“I only brought enough clothes for today.” Her voice is muffled against my chest as she still remains curled in close.
“Then I guess we will have to just go get more.”
The sound of her phone ringing in the next room interrupts us once again.
“I have to get up.”
“Or you don’t.” I squeeze her tighter making her laugh.
“Bree will show up here, then Dax because she’ll be irritated and you know how he gets when she is upset even in the slightest.”
“Insane.” I smile because it’s true.
Climbing out of my bed, I go into the living room following the sound of her phone. Finding it peeking out just beneath the edge of the couch, I lean down picking it up right before it goes to voicemail. “Hello?”
“I was two minutes from sicking Dax on you.” I can hear the smile in her voice. She knows how crazy her fiancé gets when it comes to her and her daughter. “I’m ten minutes away from your house.”
“How long you gonna keep her?”
“Ahh so cute,” Bree says and I roll my eyes. “It took you forever to wake up and see what was in front of you and now you can’t go a day without her.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I smile, not caring that I’ve just opened the door and given ammunition to be used against me at a later time. “So how long?”
“We should be back by five,” she answers, and I groan, triggering a laugh from her. I am just about to complain about all the reasons why Daxton should go with her and Aurora should stay with me when I turn around just in time to see Ror emerge from my bedroom. Her hair wild and tied in a crazy knot on top of her head. Long tendrils escaping and falling down randomly. A pair of leggings, hugging her toned legs and ass, and a tight tank with an oversized flannel over it, opened in the front.
She is perfection, and I’m at a loss for words.
“Gotta go.” I end the call, toss the phone to the couch and march across my living room with purpose. Aurora’s eyes widen just before I cup her face and cover her mouth with my own. My tongue swooping in and taking charge of her mouth, my entire body humming from the sweetness of her lips.
“Cherry,” I whisper, before biting at her lower lip.
Just then my fucking doorbell rings, and I growl.
Aurora giggles and I find myself wondering why my distaste for my current situation is humorous to every female I come into contact with today.
“Calm down, killer.” She offers me a quick kiss before moving past me. “I’ll be back tonight.”
She yanks open the door, and I flop down on the recliner.
“I don’t think I have ever witnessed Jace pout.” Bree steps inside offering me a pouty lip. “It’s so cute.”
“I’m not going for cute, I’m shooting for annoyed.”
“Well, you failed.” She leans over and kisses my cheek. “Because it is most definitely cute. Like a little guy on Christmas when he didn’t get the dirt bike he wanted.”
“Ror is more like a Ducati,” I challenge her. “And you are taking her away.”
“You need to stop. You are being cute and sweet and I feel like I’m trapped in an alternate universe. My brain is confused.”
“You’ve been hanging around Dax too long, you’re becoming a smartass too.
“She’s always been a smartass,” Ror interrupts. “I think Dax just enhances it.”
I hook Aurora’s waist and pull her into my lap, and Bree crosses her arms over her chest and glares. Though I can tell she wants to smile, the corners of her mouth tipping upward, just slightly. “You are making us late.”
“Five o’clock.” I arch a brow and stare at the woman I consider one of my sisters. She is good for Dax, I saw it from the start.
“Five o’clock,” she repeats with a nod.
“Any longer than that and you will have both me and Daxton coming after you.” I’m sure he’s already given her a similar rundown, ensuring she’s back to him as soon as possible. Hell the guy sneaks away from the shop every chance her gets so he can go upstairs and see his fiancé and his baby girl. One of the perks of living above the shop, his family is never too far away.
“If you don’t let us go now, you’ll make us late getting back.” She places her hands on her hips. “Then you can explain to Dax why we aren’t back. Then you can deal with his mood and not me.”
I stare; she stares right back. Then, not caring that Bree is only a few feet away, I cup Aurora’s jaw and turn her face toward mine. Then I kiss the breath right out of her and when I pull away, Bree is gone.
“Now I don’t want to go,” Ror says breathlessly.
“Hurry back to me, and we’ll pick this up right where we left it.” She nods, and I stand lifting her with me.
I know if I don’t let her go, we’ll have Bree storming back in and this time, she’s dragging Aurora out. So I link my hand with hers, walk her outside and tuck her safely into the passenger seat of Bree’s car. Remaining right where I am, until I can no longer see the car as it drives away.
Feeling empty the moment its gone.