Beauty from Pain (39 page)

You kept your promise to me. This has been the
best three months of my life and I’ll never be able to top it. You
made my every fantasy come true and that includes finding the love
of my life. Now, it’s my turn to keep my promise.

I love you, Jack Henry, with every fiber of my
being. Forever.

Laurelyn

Your American girl

No! I thought I had more time to tell her, but
she’s gone. She’s really gone.

And then it strikes me that she might not be.
Her plane might not have left. When she wrote the letter, she
expected me to find it hours later.

I race toward the garage. I get into the
Sunset and drive faster than what’s deemed safe toward the Wagga
Wagga Airport.

I arrive in record time and don’t attempt to
find a parking spot. I abandon my car at the front entrance. To
hell with it. They can tow it.

I race toward the first open counter. “I need
help. I need to find out if a plane leaving for …” I stop to think.
Damn. Would she fly home from here? No, Wagga Wagga is too small to
have a flight to LAX. She would have to connect in Sydney.
“Sydney.”

She’s clearly annoyed by me. “Sir, we have
several flights to Sydney every day.”

“
It’s an emergency. Can you check
to see if all of them have left?”

She sighs. “I’ll check for you, sir. Any
particular carrier?”

“
No.”

She’s in no hurry as she clicks her mouse, and
I think she’s doing it to piss me off. “They’ve all left for today,
sir.”

“
What about returning flights to
LAX out of Sydney?”

She sighs heavier. “I’ll have to check,
sir.”

She clicks several times. “There are two
flights to LAX today. One left at seven this morning and the other
is scheduled to leave at three o’clock.”

Damn! That’s in two and a half hours. Even
driving wide open in the Sunset, there’s no way I can make it to
Sydney in that short amount of time.

I find my car still parked at the front where
I left it. There’s a security guard standing behind it jotting down
the plate number. He sees me coming his way. “Is this your
car?”

“
Yes.”

“
You can’t leave it parked at the
entrance, sir.”

I wave him off. “I’m leaving now.”

“
Good thing you came when you did.
I was about to have it towed.”

I didn’t give a roo’s ass and I almost told
him as much. Any other time I would, but right now I didn’t care
enough to tell him anything.

I get into my car and drive away from the
airport. I don’t make it two miles before I’m on the side of the
road thinking of anything I can do to get to Laurelyn, but I’m
totally blank.

I can’t stop this from happening.

Think. Think. Think. Okay, as much as I hate
to admit it, Ben Donavon is my only answer. He might not know how
to get in touch with Laurelyn, but he can put me in touch with his
sister.

I grind my teeth as I drive toward his
apartment. It’s going to hurt like hell to ask for his help, but
I’m willing to walk through fire to get to Laurelyn.

After I use the intercom to let him know I’m
here, he buzzes me into the building. I knock on his door and wait.
When he opens it and sees it’s me, he cocks his head to the side
and shifts his jaw. He is going to enjoy the hell out of this and
that pisses me off.

“
You already know she’s not here,
so what do you want?”

It kills me to depend on him as my only link
to Laurelyn. Literally, I’m having chest pain because I’m lowered
to this level. “I need to know how to reach Laurelyn.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “You’ve got to be
kidding me.” He’s smirking and shrugs. “I wish I could help you
out, bro.”

He’s enjoying this way too much. “Okay, let’s
not pretend like you’re not loving this.”

The little fucker laughs. “I’m not pretending.
I am loving this shit, but I still can’t help you out because I
don’t have her number.”

“
Then I need
Addison’s.”

He’s smirking bigger now. “Sorry. I’m not
giving you my sister’s number.”

It’ll be a miracle if I don’t choke this
little bastard. “You know I only want it so I can contact
Laurelyn.”

He crosses his arms to let me know he doesn’t
plan on giving in. “If Laurelyn wanted contact with you, she would
have given you her number, so I think that means she’s dropped
you.”

I feel panic coming on. If he won’t give me
her number, how am I going to find her when I don’t even know her
last name? I debate asking him and decide to eat shit if it means I
find out. “What’s her last name?”

“
Laurelyn’s?”

He’s shaking his head at me, judging me.
“Dude! You just fucked her for three months and you don’t know her
last name?”

“
It was part of an agreement we
had,” I spit out through a clenched jaw.

“
I don’t know what the two of you
agreed on, but apparently she left here keeping her end of it, so I
suggest you respect her enough to keep yours.”

I watch the door slam in my face
before I kick the hell out of it.
Fuck!
What do I do now?

I walk like a zombie to my car. I get inside,
but I don’t drive away. I sit there. Thinking.

Shit, I’m so stupid.

She tried to tell me she loved me and I
wouldn’t listen. I refused to see I might love her in return
because I was too unbending. I thought I had something to prove by
not falling in love with anyone. Ever.

But I did fall in love with her, and now she’s
gone.

47

Laurelyn Prescott

I feel Addison shake my arm. “Wake up,
Laurelyn. You’re freaking me out.”

I feel myself snubbing. At least that’s what
my mom calls it when you’re crying so hard that your chest
forcefully heaves so you can catch your breath.

I open my eyes and she’s staring at me. “You
were crying in your sleep. Hard.”

I sit up in the uncomfortable airplane seat
and warm tears roll out of the corners of my eyes. I suck back the
snot threatening to drip from my nose. Then I remember. I was
dreaming of Jack Henry.

“
What’s wrong with
you?”

“
Nothing’s wrong. I’m
good.”

She gives me her
I know better than that
look. “You’re a damn liar. I know you’re torn up about
leaving him.”

I stare out the window. I don’t want this. I
don’t want to talk about it. Him. I want to forget the whole thing
ever happened.

“
I thought
fucking Lachlan would get Blake out of your system. I wouldn’t have
encouraged you to go for it if I’d known you were going to fall in
love with him.”
His name isn’t Lachlan.
It’s Jack Henry.

“
I didn’t fall in love with
him.”

“
You’re full of shit and it’s not
an attractive look for you.”

“
You’ve swallowed your vocal cords
because you’re talking out of your ass.”

She sighs. “At least I can admit I love Zac
and it’s killing me to leave him.”

I should be a friend and offer to talk to her
about the man she loves, but I don’t. “This is a long flight and
I’m not doing this with you.”

I get up from my seat and walk toward the back
of the plane so I can get away from her. I go into the tiny
bathroom and lock the door. I look like shit so I splash my face
with water, but it doesn’t help. Water won’t wash this
away.

I’ve known pain my whole life, but this is a
new kind for me. It isn’t born of something wrong or ugly. This
pain is conceived out of beauty—my love for Jack Henry McLachlan. I
embrace it. I clutch it as tightly as I can with both fists because
I never want to forget the love I have for him. Loving him will
forever be my Beauty from Pain.

This isn’t the end for Jack Henry and Laurelyn
…

There’s more to come for these lovers
in

Beauty from Surrender

Coming early summer 2013

And to prove it, enjoy a sneak preview
…

Beauty from Surrender

(Beauty #2)

1

Jack McLachlan

No brunettes. I can never see another one
without thinking of her. Laurelyn has ruined all of them for me.
Forever. And she’s ruined me as well. That’s why I’m drunk off my
ass in this hotel bar. I have to be if I’m going to do the only
thing that might make losing her less painful. Find number
fourteen, take her upstairs, and fuck her until I drive Laurelyn
out of my head.

I was plastered five shots ago, so now I’m on
shot number oblivion. I toss it back and slam the glass on the
counter. “Another.” The bartender gives me a sideways glance as
he’s deciding if he’ll cut me off, so I reach into my wallet and
drop a fat bill for him. “I said another.”

I turn around on the barstool to begin my
search. I have the hotel room. All I need now is a woman who
doesn’t recognize me. Number fourteen.

I scan the room like I always do
and begin by taking inventory. I see a few decent-looking blonds,
maybe a redhead or two, but none of them hold a candle to
her
. No one ever
will.

My thoughts drift to the place in my head
where only Laurelyn resides, so I don’t notice when someone takes
the seat next to me. I’m brought out of my trance when I hear her
voice. “Waiting on someone?”

I turn to the voice’s owner and see an
attractive blond occupying my neighboring space. Her hair is chin
length in loose curls and her bright blue eyes display no
recognition of who I am. She’s probably midthirties. Maybe closer
to forty and dressed like a professional in a sheath dress and
fitted jacket. She’s just my usual type. Before
Laurelyn.

I shake my head. “No one in particular. Just
here to find a little company.”

She smiles. “Me too. Maybe we can keep each
other company.”

Because I’m drunk, I have no reason to think
I’m going to put this out there in an appealing manner. I don’t
know. Maybe I want to fuck it up so she’ll blow me off. “I’m not
your normal kind of company. I have very specific requirements for
the women I date. The first of which is that I won’t tell you my
real name and I don’t want to know yours. Honestly, I really only
want to fuck and have a little fun for a few weeks and then I never
want to see you again.”

I wait for the slap or for her to get up and
leave, but neither happens. “My, my. Aren’t we a direct
one?”

“
I say what’s on my mind because I
don’t have time for silly games.” Isn’t that what I told Laurelyn
after she asked me if I was missing my filter?

“
Okay.”

What? Really? She is saying okay to that shit
I just said to her? “You’re up for it?”

“
Sure. You’re hot and I need a
distraction.”

“
A distraction from
what?”

“
The man I love.” She glances down
at her drink as she sloshes it around. “He doesn’t feel the same.
What’s your deal?”

I won’t talk about the one I love with another
woman, especially not one I’m about to fuck. Even I know that’s not
right.

“
No deal. I’m just not into
commitment or contact after I’m finished with a woman.”

“
I can respect your honesty about
it.” She swallows the last of her girly drink. “You want to go
upstairs?”

“
That’s why I’m here.” I throw
back my shot and get up from the stool. I’m a little unstable so
she reaches out to steady me.

“
You okay?”

I work to get myself straight so I
don’t blow this. It’s what I need. It’s what I have to do to
get
her
out of my
mind. “Yeah. I’m good. We don’t have to stop for a room. I’ve
already got one.”

We ride the elevator to the third floor and
exit. I’m shocked I’m able to find the room because I’m so wasted.
She has to take the keycard from me to open the door because I’m
too uncoordinated to slide it in and pull it out. Let’s hope that
doesn’t apply to my cock.

We go into the room together and I play tag
with the walls before falling backwards onto the bed. I close my
eyes for what feels like a second and when I open them again, the
nameless blond has stripped down to her panties and bra and is
straddling me.

She reaches behind her back to unfasten her
bra and then takes my hands and puts them on her tits. They look
good, but even drunk, I still know they’re fake because they don’t
feel anything like Laurelyn’s.

Damn! I can’t even get her out of my head when
I have two palms full of tits.

She leans down to kiss me and I turn my head
so that her mouth lands on my jaw. She makes no haste in trailing
kisses down my neck. I shut my eyes because I don’t want to look at
her.