The Lover's Surrender (No Exceptions) (20 page)

He thought
I quit because of Gina.

That was
only partially true, but I could live with that. I most certainly couldn’t live
with the implication that I might need a man to take care of me.

“Yeah.” I
crossed my arms over my chest, suppressing a shiver, and regarded him coolly.
“I only knew her for a short time, but…I liked her. She was a good person.”

For a brief
second, melancholy flashed across his face. “She was,” he said. “Well, take all
the time you need. If you ever change your mind, I want you to know that you’ll
always be welcome to join my team again. No hard feelings.”

I stared at
him, my unease replaced by gratitude. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Grayson
smiled and then scanned the crowd. The blond woman waved at him, drawing his
attention. If I wanted answers, I had to act now. He turned back to me, opening
his mouth.

 
“Did they find out who did it?” I asked
before he could excuse himself.

“Not yet,”
he said. “I’m still waiting for the detective to answer my calls. I guess it’s
still early in the investigation.”

I frowned,
suddenly interested. “Why’s that?”

“He never
finished questioning everyone. After you left, he made a call and had to leave.
Call of duty, or so he said. I’m still waiting on an update.”

My heart
pounded harder.

Grayson
wasn’t involved. He didn’t know more than I did. His confusion made it pretty
clear.

Whoever the
detective was, he might have followed me, which would explain the rap at the
door in the middle of the night and the letter.

“Are you
okay, Jenna?” Grayson asked.

“Yeah.” I
smiled at him. “It was good to see you, Grayson.”

He
stretched out his hand, and I took it to shake it. “Goodbye, Jenna. It was good
to see you, too.”

And then he
left, his words echoing in my mind long after he was gone.

“Hi, baby.”
Jett’s lips, soft and hot, brushed my skin as he returned from the bar. “Sorry
it took so long.”

I turned to
him, mustering up a grin. “I thought you got lost.”

“Well, I
got
lost,” he whispered against my skin.
“But not here. Somewhere in a place that’s dark and much more soft.”

I slapped
his upper arm playfully, marveling at the firmness of his triceps. Holy shit,
was it my imagination, but did his muscles feel larger and harder?

“Does this
mysterious place happen to start with a V?”

“No, baby.
It’s your heart.” He kissed my cheek, then my neck, and came to hover at my
ear. “The day I fell in love with you, I got lost in the rhythm of your
heartbeat. It’s safe to say I still haven’t found a way out, and I doubt I ever
will.” He held up his hand. “That’s not to say the V place isn’t a favorite of
mine as well. In fact, it’s my number one trip.”

God, the
slightest hint at sex made my heart flutter and my core quiver.

He passed
me a drink. “I got you freshly pressed orange juice.”

“Thank
you,” and took the glass out of his hand. I took a sip, then another, realizing
that not only was I thirsty, but the baby inside me was demanding food. It felt
as though I hadn’t stopped eating since finding out I was pregnant.

But food
had to wait.

“Jett?” I turned
to him, eyeing him. “The strangest thing happened when you were gone. I met
Grayson.”

“Who?” His
green eyes turned a shade darker as he cocked his head.

“Grayson,”
I repeated, taking another sip. “You know, my ex boss.”

“Right.” He
paused shortly, his gaze probing mine. Probably to assess if it had been a good
idea to leave me all alone. “Where is he?”

“Oh, he
left.” I smiled at him. “He’s a busy photographer.”

His eyes
narrowed, and his lips curved down. “So I gather you talked?”

“Yes.”

 
“About what?”

Even though
his face remained expressionless, I could detect the hint of mistrust and the
streak of jealousy that always seemed to make me wary of any man who so much as
looked at me.

My heart
fluttered. Even though jealousy wasn’t a good thing in a relationship, I loved
it about Jett.

“Don’t
worry. Nothing special. I told him I couldn’t do the job anymore, that I quit.”

“That’s
all?” He sounded so genuinely relieved I felt like laughing.

“Yep,
that’s all.” My lips twitched involuntarily. “Except…come to think of it, he
mentioned something quite interesting.” I cocked my head and watched his
reaction.

My
implication had the desired the effect.

Jett’s eyes
went a shade darker and he froze. For the first time ever I had him muffled. I
stepped toward him and wrapped my arms around his waist. To the others, it
probably looked like I was hugging him, but I just wanted him to close to me.

“He told me
that you bought my pictures. But the way I see it, that’s not possible because
that would imply that you’ve been spying on me.” I gave a short laugh as my
fingers traveled up his chest and settled on that one special place where his
heart was located. “Right, Jett?”

His
nervousness disappeared instantly, and his lips curved into a nonchalant smile,
matching my grin. “Well, I might or might not be the owner of a very fine
collection.”

I stared at
him.

Was it all
just a figment of my imagination or was Jett proud of it?

“So you
admit it?” I frowned.

“Do you
want me to lie?” He cocked his head, amusement flaring in his eyes. “In my
defense, you’re really good. I would never have pegged you for a pin up girl,
but, fuck—” he made a whistling sound “—you know how to turn me
on.”

I dropped
my hands before people began to stare. “Is that your way of saying that I
shouldn’t have quit?”

“No.” He
pulled me back to him but not too close. “It’s my way of saying that you’re too
good to be in that kind of job. And I’ll admit—” he let out an
exaggerated sigh “—I cannot stand other people jerking off over your
pics. If Grayson hadn’t agreed to our deal, I would have tracked down every guy
who owned a copy and cut off their dicks.”

I let out a
nervous laugh. “You wouldn’t have.”

“I would
have.” He gritted his teeth. “It was bad enough that Kenny stared at you.”

I smiled.
“You don’t strike me as a jealous person, Mayfield.”

He adjusted
his tie. “I’m not jealous, I’m just protecting what is mine.”

Seriously?

“You have
no reason to be jealous,” I said.

“I know
that, but it is the thought of losing you to another man that’s unbearable.”

 
“Jett?” I placed a finger on his sexy
lips, muffling his words. “You won’t.” In that moment, the crackle of a
microphone was replaced by an announcement. “I think the show’s about to
start.”

“Ready to
take our seats?” Jett asked.

“Is there
going to be food?” I joked.

“After the
show, I’m taking you out for dinner,” he said and kissed my forehead. “Come on,
baby.”

I sighed
inwardly and followed Jett to the row of seats overlooking the entire runway.
He motioned at the chairs with our names, and I sat down, food forgotten as I
stared at the magnificent display before my eyes.

The runway
had been set up to look like a bridge over water and was illuminated by a
complex lighting design with the lights shifting, magnifying, and fading at
various intervals. I had never seen anything like it, but then again, I had
never attended a fashion show, and most certainly not something as elaborate
and expensive as this.

I had
barely taken my seat when arms wrapped around me, and a familiar voice almost
shrieked in my ear. It almost sounded like…

“Sylvie.” I
jumped up in surprise.

“Surprise.”
She slumped onto the chair next to me with her usual grace and regarded me and
Jett for a long moment, her eyes sparkling. “Congrats on getting engaged.
That’s like the best news ever. I was so happy when I heard you two were tying
the knot.”

Jett’s
eyebrows rose in surprise a moment before he erupted in laughter.

“Okay.”
Sylvie shrugged and rolled her eyes. “At first, I was like, ‘run, run the hell
faster,’ but after I heard about the ring part, I was like, ‘hey, that’s a
pretty good deal.’ But seriously, I wish you guys nothing but the best. By the
way, you look stunning.”

“So do
you.” I blinked in succession, then looked from her to Jett and back to her.
“What are you doing here?”

“I invited her,”
Jett said, amused. “You gals deserve a bit of fun. Given that this is your
thing”—he pointed around him with the enthusiasm of a sleeping
pill—“I thought I might use my social influence to get you one of the
best seats here.”

“Thank
you,” I whispered. My stomach churned again when I spied a waiter carrying
trays filled with champagne flutes and what looked like mouthwateringly
delicious things to nibble on. And he looked like he was heading for us. Or at
least in our direction.

“Oh, I want
one of those,” I said before I could stop myself.

Jett
laughed, the buzz of his cell phone interrupting the sound I had grown to love
so much.

“Oh shit.
It’s work,” he mouthed. “I have to take this. Be right back.” He stood and
waved his cell at me. I nodded, my attention focused on the waiter as he
approached us. I declined the champagne but grabbed a few tiny, salty bites
that would have to do until I could get my hands on real food.

“I’m so
happy we’re here,” Sylvie said the moment he was gone.

“Me too.”

“He’s holding
a secret engagement party tomorrow,” Sylvie said the moment he was gone.

I turned to
her. “How do you know?”

“Kenny told
me.”

“Aren’t you
supposed to keep it a secret?”

“I’m your
best friend. Of course I have to tell you. And I should tell you too that Jett
included a note with the question if I wanted to be your maid of honor. Maybe
he’s not so bad after all. Not only did he get us in, he also paid for the
dress.”

Given Jett
and Sylvie’s history, I sensed that was about the greatest compliment he could
get.

I took a
bite of the delicious thingy in my hand and regarded the silvery sheath
enveloping her from head to toe. It was beautiful and probably very expensive.
Jett had definitely splurged, and while I wasn’t a fan of wasting money, the
fact that he was trying to get on well with Sylvie pleased me. They were the
most important people in my life, and I wanted them both to be around when the
baby was born.

“I’m sure
you’ll cut him some slack in the future,” I said jokingly.

“Depends on
the way he treats you.” Sylvie’s gaze brushed my ring finger, and I held it up,
fighting the urge to giggle, do a happy dance, or worse. I decided to save that
for some other time, when we were alone, far away from the prying eyes of the
paparazzi and their flashing cameras.

Sylvie
gasped and then grabbed my hand, making a loud surprised sound that had a few
people turning their head. “It’s beautiful. Princess cut. Perfect in every way.
I so want one of those.”

“You’ll get
one eventually. Just wait and see.” I smiled at her, wondering whether to ask
the one question I knew would either make or break Sylvie’s evening. In the
end, mentioning a guy’s name wasn’t worth it.

“I can’t
believe you had no idea he was going to propose,” Sylvie said. “So romantic.”

She didn’t
know the half of it.

“The fight
preceding Jett’s proposal was anything but romantic, to be honest.” Heat rushed
to my face as I pictured Jett’s sexy body. “It was very sexy, and very bare if
you get my drift. He really stripped down.”

Literally.

I blushed
again.

“It doesn’t
matter as long as you have this little baby to show off.” She laughed when the
lights began to go off one by one and people flooded in to take their seats.

“I think
the show’s starting,” I said, trying not to gawk at all the celebrities around
us. “Where’s Jett?”

Sylvie
shrugged. “Probably hiding to avoid this. You know how men are.”

“Yeah, but
he wanted to be here.”

I pulled
out my cell phone and dialed his number. He replied at the second ring.

“Where are
you?” I whispered.

“Babe—”
A slight pause. His voice sounded strained. A honk sounded off somewhere. Was
there traffic noise in the background? “You know that’s not really my thing.
Catch you in ten minutes when the show’s over?”

The show
was going to last more than ten minutes.

He was
bailing on me.

“What? No!”

“Sylvie’s
there. I’m sure she’ll be great company,” Jett said. “After the show’s over,
I’m going to take you both out on dinner. Love you.”

And with
that, he hung up. I stared at the phone incredulously, then peered at Sylvie.

“What did you
expect?” She rolled her eyes. “I bet Kenny persuaded him to go for drinks, and
Jett jumped in wholeheartedly. Probably didn’t even need much persuasion.”

“Wait.
Kenny’s here?”

She nodded,
confusion crossing her face. “Yeah, how else do you think I got here?”

For some
reason, Brian’s words popped into my mind. He had been secretive, strange even.

He’s a good guy, but he’s extremely revengeful.
So when he says he’ll deal with a situation, I usually choose to believe he’ll
do just that. He’s been saying that for weeks.

Combine
that with the fact that his partner in crime was here, it was the perfect
recipe for trouble.

Something
didn’t add up.

Coupled
with the fact that Jett had gone to so much trouble to get us in, buy both
Sylvie and me dresses, even though he hated anything fashion related, didn’t
sit well with me.