Chapter Thirty-One #2
“You said you’d trust me,” he chided playfully.
Kayden eyed him skeptically. “I’m not sure you’re headed in the right direction with this, babe.”
Jace took my hand. “Olivia, I know how to plan the perfect first date with you. Let’s go.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Fine,” I said.
We said goodbye to Kaylee and Kayden and once we were in Jace’s car it didn’t take long for me to realize he was driving in the direction of my apartment. “Where exactly are we going?” I asked when we were only a block away.
“We’re going to your place. I ordered a pizza and a bottle of wine, both of which should be delivered soon.
” He pulled up to the curb outside my apartment building.
“We’re going upstairs, you’re going to change into your favorite yoga pants and a comfortable shirt, not something fancy like you’re trying to impress me on a dinner date.
I’m already in love with you, so there’s no need for any of that showmanship. ”
I laughed. “Okay, and then what?”
“We’re going to cuddle on the couch, talk about anything you want, and then watch a rom-com while we drink wine and eat pizza. For once, we’re going to be doing this the way we really wanted to all along. If you’re interested in sex on the first date, you don’t even have to put a bra on.”
I smacked his shoulder and grinned at his flirty smile. “You really do know me.” I swooned. This man who I’d known for four years and who I thought I couldn’t fall anymore in love with, literally just made me fall face first in love with him again.
Jace cupped my cheek. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to show you that.”
I leaned into his hand, nuzzling into him. “Don’t be sorry. We’re here now. Maybe this is how it was always supposed to be for us.”
His eyes lingered on my lips before he slowly let go of my face. “Let’s go upstairs before I ruin our first kiss with my lack of restraint.”
We went up to my apartment and I heard Jace talking to the delivery guy as I changed into a pair of fancy panties, yoga leggings, and a loose, white crop-top with no bra.
I wanted Jace on top of me, finally making my fantasies a reality, and I was not above throwing temptation in his face to make sure some gentlemanly gesture on his part didn’t ruin my chance of getting laid this afternoon. He asked for it, after all.
When I stepped out into the living room I saw Jace sitting on my couch like he’d done so many other nights while Kaylee was asleep in the room next to us.
Still, my heart leaped into my throat at the sight of him.
He was so effortlessly gorgeous and laidback, the artistic side of him pouring out of his soul like his only purpose in life was to create beauty.
Having seen him at the office for the last few weeks, it was obvious he took his job seriously, and it was also clear that it was the artist in him that made him successful.
He was the visionary, the one imaging the concepts and the spaces he commissioned.
People did what he asked because he was inspiring and collaborative.
He let people achieve his vision in their own way and he gave them space when they needed it. Just like he’d done with me.
Jace gulped a sip of his wine, and his eyes bugged out of his head as I stopped in front of him. “Fuck, Liv. If you’re planning to have a conversation first, we need to rethink the no bra thing.”
I laughed and sat down next to him. “You’ve waited four years; you can wait the length of one more conversation.”
He turned to face me. “I absolutely do not think that’s true.” He gripped his groin like he was trying to make an adjustment, but there was no hiding what was happening to his body in those sweatpants. “Nope, can’t do it.”
I chuckled and took both of his hands in mine. “I’ll keep it short if you promise to try to stay focused.”
He smirked. “Of course, sweetheart.” He took one more gluttonous look at my breasts, a noise of desire emitting from the back of his throat. “Yep, I’m good now.”
“I love you, Jace. I could list a thousand things about you that I love, but frankly, I don’t think you’d make it through.”
He shook his head. “Nope, but I’m glad you think I’m awesome.”
I scooted closer. “Let me skip to the most important part. I love how you’ve been there for me from the beginning.
I’ve always wanted more, but I needed your friendship all these years and I don’t regret anything about how we’ve gotten to this moment.
You are reliable and loyal and I love how much you’ve stepped in to be not just the man I needed, but the dad Kaylee needed too. ”
I took a deep breath. I wanted to say everything in my heart before we took this next step because he deserved to know where I was at.
“When I found out you and Kayden were involved, I figured it would just be another one of your flings because deep down I believed that you were already mine, even if we both refused to address it.”
“I am yours, Liv,” he said, cupping my face in one hand. “I’ve always been yours.”
“I know and you’re his now too,” I said firmly. Not only did I accept it but, somehow, his love for Kayden made me love Jace even more.
Jace nodded confidently. “I am.”
“I want you to be his too,” I said. “I am not sitting here about to ask you to give him up to be with me. I won’t do that to either of you.”
Jace breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Whenever I let my head do the driving on this, I start wondering about logistics and our future, how we label whatever this is, and how things might change. But when I listen to my heart, it tells me two things: I want you, Jace. Unequivocally. I love you and I want to spend my life with you.”
Jace pulled my face to his and dropped his forehead to mine. “And the second thing?”
I fought the stinging in my eyes, hoping that he would understand what I was about to say.
“I’ve never really let go of Kayden and there is a part of me that wants a life with him too.
With both of you. I can feel myself starting to fall for him, Jace.
It doesn’t take away from how I feel about you; it’s in addition to those feelings.
I think that’s why I understand now how you feel about us. How you can love and need us both.”
Jace gently rubbed his thumbs over my cheeks. “Just to be clear, you want to be with me, you’re fine with my relationship with Kayden, and you want me to stay open to the possibility of what might happen between the two of you?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You said it better, but yes.”
He smiled softly. “I said what Kayden said. About you.”
I let out a small gasp, and pulled back slightly, wanting to see his face. “Really? And you’re okay with it if there’s something between him and me too?”
“Olivia, I’m more than okay with it. Watching you two fall in love is more than I could ever hope for. The three of us, all together, that’s the fucking dream I’m too scared to wish for. That’s what I want more than anything.”
I took a deep breath. On some level, Jace was voicing my greatest desire too.
I didn’t just want to be with Jace. I wanted to be with both of them.
I’d felt left out when the two of them were together in his office not because of jealousy, but because I didn’t want Jace to have two separate relationships with each of us.
I wanted us all to be in one relationship, together.
Jace leaned forward, his lips brushing my ear. “Olivia, I’m going to kiss you in a minute and when I do, I won’t want to stop because I’ve been holding back for years. I have no restraint left, so if you have anything else you want to say before we make this thing official, you should speak now.”
My breath caught in my throat as Jace’s lips brushed over my cheek and hovered in front of my lips. “Kiss me, Jace.”
His lips covered mine and my skin ignited everywhere.
Years of pent-up desire and emotion burst out of my pores as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
He cupped the back of my head in one hand as his other hand found my waist and he lowered me gently onto my back.
His body pressed against mine and he moaned as my tongue slid over his.
Our mouths moved in a gentle frenzy, like we were both desperate for more of each other while still trying to savor every second of finally fusing ourselves together.
The evidence of his arousal pressed against my core, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, needing to feel more of him.
Jace slid one hand up my shirt and cupped my breast as he pressed his hips into me.
He pulled back to look at me, letting his eyes roam over my body.
“My God, Olivia,” he said breathlessly. He rolled my nipple between his fingers. “You are perfect.”
I slid my hand down his torso and pulled at his shirt, wanting it off so I could admire the hard ridges of his muscles and the dark ink of his tattoos.
I knew what he looked like underneath this shirt, but I rarely got to see it and appreciate it the way I wanted to right now.
He lifted his arms, helping me pull it off.
“You’re perfect too,” I sighed, tracing the flames on his pec with one finger.
“I’ve waited so long to be yours, Jace.”
His lips crashed onto mine again and his grip on me tightened. “You’ve always been mine, Liv. From the moment I met you, I knew I’d do anything for you.”
I arched my back, wanting more of his hard length against my skin. I moved my hips, seeking friction. “More, I want more of you, Jace. I want all of you.”
He pulled the waist band of my pants down and reached between my legs, moaning as he pushed aside my panties.
His fingers grazed every inch of my pussy like he was trying to learn it and memorize it.
He rubbed my clit with two fingers before gently pushing them inside me.
He groaned as I soaked his fingers and my muscles contracted around him.
“Condom?” he asked.