Fire We Make (Jackson and Liane Book 1)

Fire We Make

by

Vera Roberts

For YESM.

© 2014 Vera Roberts, All Rights Reserved

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

He let her go to protect her. At least tha
t’
s what he told her. In reality, he let her go to protect himself.

Jackson Fischer could still taste her on his tongue and memorized the feel and curvature of her body. Now, for a very rare and potentially dangerous visit, his girl is returning to him. It could either be very good or very ba
d
…

Liane Chang needed to let Jackson go if she wanted a chance at normalcy and moving up in the police squad. But her heart desired the man that was bad for her. She told herself it would never work and it was a fact they both willingly accepted. Now only if she could just convince herself the one visit would be just rehashing old memories and fully getting him out of her system, they both would be better off.

Could Jackson fully change his ways for her? Will Liane risk her career for him?

Fire We Make is a mini-novella to Dadd
y’
s Angel. It is a contemporary erotic romance that deals with lost love, and moving on. It is the first in a series of mini-novellas involving Jackson and Liane.

Be careful who you allow into your bed, and most importantly, into your heart.

- Ann Marie Frohoff

One

Normal, sane, and clean women do not fall in love with pimps.

It’s an unspoken rule that every girl is born with. There was nothing cool about what Jackson was doing, despite what the rappers and pop culture loved people to believe that pimping wasn’t easy. Women were being taking advantage of and a man was responsible for their full well being. A ho was only as good as her last trick. If she came up short, there was going to be hell to pay.

Those were pimps.

Then there was Jackson, in a class by himself.

Six o’clock seemed just so far away and yet, it seemed like it was within the next hour. Liane Chang breathed out a sigh of nervousness as she thought about her upcoming visit to Jackson. Her sorta, kinda, but not really boyfriend. Boyfriend? Hmm…she wasn’t sure if that was an accurate description of their relationship and she used that term loosely.

It had been years since they had physically seen each other but they kept in contact, maybe against all better judgment of them both. While it wasn’t a wise move on his part to stay in contact with her, it sure was just plain, good old-fashioned stupidity to keep in contact with him. She limited it to a once in a while affair and only let him know the important things such as phone number change or address move.

Even that, Liane surmised, she was doing too much.

He didn’t mistreat his girls and no longer resorted to brute force to prove a point. All of girls boasted of paid college tuition bills; shiny, expensive cars, and fancy jewelry and clothes. They all resided in mansions on the outskirts of Vegas, in the middle of the desert, where prostitution was legal and law enforcement kept a distant eye.

Jackson himself lived in a very nice home next one of the brothel and made sure his business and personal life were much separated from each other. Liane didn’t ask Jackson if he had entertained any of the girls at his private home but she already knew he did. Jackson and celibacy simply did not mix.

Liane bit the inside of her cheek and swallowed a large gulp of ice water to chill her growing jealousy. Why did she care that he slept with other women? She had plenty of dates within the past couple of years and at one point, she considered one man to be her boyfriend. Of course, long-term relationships never seemed to work out with her since she was focused more on her career.

Her career. That’s what she kept telling herself. She was single because of her devotion to the force. She was sure if she wanted to settle down and get married, she would’ve done so already. She was still young enough for that dream to become a reality. She knew the expectations of her – to find a nice guy, with great values, and raise a family. It was what she wanted and Liane knew, it would probably happen sooner than later.

No matter how much she wanted it to happen, she knew it could not happen with Jackson. And a part of him probably didn’t want that to happen, neither.

That was the intention behind the trip to see him. To finally cut off all ties. She was no longer going to be a part of his world and be another notch on his belt. She was going to be someone’s wife and mother one day, Jackson just didn’t fit into those plans, and they both knew it.

She just hoped he wouldn’t be too pissed at her for wasting his time. After all, it was Jackson flying her out to Vegas. He was also going to pick her up. She was going to stay at his home. He wouldn’t let Liane spend a single dime while she was with him.

“It is so nice and sunny out and you’re looking like you just sucked on the most sour lemon in the world.” Enzo De Laurentiis greeted his best friend at the restaurant.

Liane looked up and smiled at Enzo. Despite the different paths they went down, they always remained close. “Hey stranger!” She got up and gave him a hug. “How are you?”

“Always busy,” He sat across from her and took a sip of ice water. “Got a few projects in the pipeline. Right now everyone is becoming intimidated because of the hacking situation.”

“Oh yeah,” Liane nodded. One of the major movie studios was recently hacked, revealing scathing emails about some A-list talent to the political climate for the world to see. While many pointed the blame to another country protesting a release of a film, Enzo secretly believed it was an inside job from someone who had an ax to grind. “How is everything going with that?”

“People are afraid to go to the movies, people are afraid to make movies. A friend of mine who works at the studio said they’re all on burners and sending faxes now since no one wants to send e-mails,” he shrugged, “you know how America is when a crisis happens? We overreact and then things go back to normal the following week as if nothing ever happened.”

“How’s Angie dealing with all of this? I noticed her name was mentioned in a few of the leaked e-mails.”

Enzo rolled his eyes and shrugged again. His wife, Angela, was Hollywood’s current IT girl, but a couple of producers made disparaging comments about her appearance – namely looking
too Black
in the leaked e-mails. One suggested she would be a perfect fit for a slave role. “She’s keeping busy and is on set, which is best for her now. She’s angry but she also knows becoming more successful is the best revenge.”

“Better her than me,” Liane chuckled.

“So what have you been up to?” Enzo asked before the waiter came by and took their orders. “Still gunning for captain?”

“Always,” Liane smiled. “I know I got years and years of proving myself before that happens and there are plenty of people ahead of me ready to take over. A girl can dream, though.”

“That’s good. I’m very happy to hear that.” Enzo briefly hesitated before he spoke again. “Have you ever heard from Jackson?”

Just hearing Jackson’s name caused a swell of emotions inside Liane and her thighs immediately warmed up, thinking of his strong hands between them. Her heart slammed against her chest and she took several quick breaths to calm down. “That’s an odd question,” she deflected.

Enzo sipped his ice water. “I know how involved you were with his case and seeing that he left the state. I just didn’t know if you monitored what he was doing now. Not that it matters at all.”

It matters to me
, Liane thought. “Whatever Jackson does, I really have no clue nor want to be a part of.” She was proud of that answer. She told the truth without completely revealing everything.

Enzo nodded. “I was just wondering. Nothing more than that.”

Liane breathed a small sigh of relief. The less her best friend knew of her intentions with his wife’s ex-pimp, the better.

Two

Streaks of sunlight tickled his face and he reluctantly awakened from his sleep. His cobalt blue eyes stared outside as they watched the day become brighter as the sun rose. It was a clear, blue sky without a cloud in sight. The weatherman said it was going to be a perfect weekend with nothing but sunny days and blue skies ahead.

Good. He needed perfection this weekend. Anything but would be unacceptable.

He couldn’t say he slept peaceful or even remotely easy the night before. He was too nervous and too excited. Years of wanting and dreaming were about to come to fruition in a big way later that night.

His girl was coming home.

Coming home? Maybe not that serious. But coming for a visit and maybe, after being with him, she would realize she’s home.

It was a love affair that really wasn’t. They met under dangerous circumstances and she was the reason why he rebuilt his empire in Las Vegas. They were dangerous for each other and maybe, that’s why they fit so deliciously together. They were the couple most women read about in steamy romance novels and the basis for many soft-core porn flicks on late-night TV.

This wasn’t Harlequin and they weren’t horrible actors on a cheap set with even cheaper dialogue. This was their real life.

He stretched out in bed, remembering the last time he’d seen her. They met one last time at her condominium and made passionate love throughout the night, creating dents in the wall from the banging headboard. They made love as if their lives depended on it and perhaps, it did. Her tight heat wrapped deliciously around his shaft and it made him feel born again. He pushed more into her, completely filling her, while falling deeply and inevitably in love.

“I love you, baby girl.” He told her.

“Mmm…” she swayed her head from side to side. Their fingers were interlocked together and she lay in a haphazard position on top of him. Their bodies were still moist from the last tryst but they still had enough energy for another round. “…You don’t love me, J.”

“Yeah, I do,” he insisted, “I love you and you love me.”

She turned around and mounted back on top of him. She shifted her position and felt him swiftly reenter her. “Perhaps…”

He made her breakfast in bed before he boarded his private jet to fly back to Vegas. They swore off each other, promising that the last time was going to be the only time and that was it. No more. Not ever again.

And they kept that promise – to a fault. They never saw each other but they kept in occasional contact via email and text. If he changed his number, she was always the first to know. If she moved, he was always the first person she contacted, even before her own friends and family.

They couldn’t get rid of each other. Nor did they want to.

Now, after some convincing, she was coming to see him. She’d surprised him by not promising it was going to be a one-time affair but rather, ‘let’s see what happens,’ in her words.

Jackson Fischer lay in bed and stared out into a blank space, thinking about everything he wanted to do with her. He was going to take her out to The Strip, though he’s sure she’s been there plenty of times. But never through his eyes.

He was going to take her out shopping, though she probably didn’t need anything and would have a hard time accepting the gifts he would give her. She deserved nothing but the best.

They would make love every night, all night; taunting and twisting each other’s bodies, pushing the other to the limit, and collapse out of pure exhaustion and nothing less.

He was getting hard thinking about her.

Before he could wine and dine her, before he could spoil her, before he could fuck her brains out, Jackson needed to focus on his business. Vegas had the distinction of holding All-Star weekend that year and it meant his brothel was going to be busy full of girls and clients alike. His girl was going to arrive that Friday, in the middle of the festivities. He was so happy about her visit, he didn’t think about the poor timing at that moment. He would deal with it. Seeing her was more important.

“Daddy…” Vanilla climbed back into bed with him and disrupted his thoughts. “…Is everything okay, Daddy?”

Jackson snapped back to the present and grinned at Vanilla. In a land of debauchery and wickedness, she was always a shining light. She did what she was told, with no questions asked. She only wished some of the other girls were just as compliant. “Everything’s fine, baby.”

“Okay,” she hopped off the bed and stripped bare, “I’m going to take a shower and get ready for the day. What time is Lee Lee is supposed to be here?”

Jackson cringed at Vanilla’s nickname for Liane. It was the only way she could remember her name and he never bothered to correct her. Maybe he wasn’t completely irritated with her; it was a little endearing to hear. “Her flight will be coming in this evening. I’ll go pick her up at the airport.”

“Oh?” Vanilla turned around. “You’re not sending the car?”

Jackson usually sent a car to pick up clients and special guests but for Liane, he was going to make a special trip. “No. I need to personally see her.”

“Okay.” Vanilla shrugged and made her way to the bathroom.

While Vanilla was in the shower, Jackson scrolled through his texts to see if a new one came from Liane. She was supposed to message him the moment she was at the airport. Her flight wasn’t supposed to come in until later that night, but Jackson was still nervous about seeing her. The occasional talk and text conversations were nice and good but they were going to see each other in person for the first time in many years.

It was either going to be a great weekend or a very bad one.