Best Fake Day (19 page)

The parting of her lips told him he’d hit the mark.

The movement of her legs as she shuffled to kick off her shoes created a sweet friction between the length of his thighs, to his already sensitized body. Her gaze flicked to his groin as if sensing the pulse of his erection.

She leaned over with a smile and ran a skillful tongue along his abs as her hand made a bold stroke against the thick bulge in his trousers. The pop of his button opening made him sigh in relief. Her tongue ventured north while her hand ventured south, cupping his balls as her mouth nibbled at his jaw, then caught his lip between her even, white teeth.

Just as he dared to take her swaying breasts in his palms, liking their smoothness over the roughness of his skin, she stepped back. Before he could voice his disappointment her hands were at his waistband, tugging his clothing free. He arched for her, noticing with satisfaction the wideness of her eyes as his erection sprang free.

He would have her trembling beneath him before the night was through. Just as he was. Damn, his whole body was vibrating inside. He clenched his fingers into the sheets at the sight of her mouth opening to take him in.

Aaand X marks the spot.
He jerked as her tongue flicked out over his tip. He gave a hiss as it worked the underside of his shaft. When she took him fully he felt like a bomb had gone off behind his eyes, in his groin, over every damn inch of skin, muscle, and bone.

She sucked and teased slowly before her mouth worked in earnest. Jack slid his fingers through her hair that tantalized his hips, wanting to work her faster but knowing if he did it would all be over. Instead he curled his upper body to give him greater reach. He slipped his fingers into her knickers, brushed against the soft curls of her sex. He cupped her mound and she stilled. Her low moan vibrated through his penis, nearly making him come as he worked his finger into the slickness of her desire.

She dug her fingers into his thighs as he worked the nub of her clit with his thumb. He pushed two fingers inside, marveling at the feminine heat emanating around his fingers. How he ached to bury himself in it.

He worked his fingers, following the pace of her mouth, until their merged moans. The way her feminine sheath milked his fingers, and sparks that threatened to appear behind his eyes, told him the time had come.

She lifted her head as he removed his fingers. With a swift move he was standing upright with Izzy’s legs wrapped around his waist. He stepped out of his trousers and turned, laying Izzy down on the bed. Slowly, he stripped away her knickers, the moonlight highlighting the glistening of her sex. He kissed his way up her silky inner thigh. Her sultry scent enticed him to taste.

He licked at her with his flattened tongue, needing to savor all she could give. Her legs trembled and she moaned as he licked and devoured until her tremble became a desperate writhe. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as her orgasm took over. Her almost guttural sound of her undoing almost became his.

As he laced their hands together he knew...this was so much more than just sex.

* * * *

Izzy fought to regain her senses as Jack kissed his way up her abdomen and laved each nipple. How could she still need more?

He kissed her mouth, their tastes merging on her lips.

When his face leveled to hers, Izzy’s settling gasps seized in her throat. Those wonderful steely eyes seemed to have absorbed the silvery fronds of the moonlight’s glow. His eyes were molten pools of jumbled emotion. Angst clutched at his face. She cupped each side of his face with her hands to hold him there.

“I won’t ever reject you, Jack,” she managed to say, her voice shaky. She used her right hand to stroke the contours of his handsome face, to smooth his brow, feeling the tension slowly ebb away. “Let me in.”
Let me give you more.

With her legs encasing his, she daren’t not move an inch. One wiggle or one arch and his erection would be inside, right where she wanted it, but for now she needed in him in a different way.

“Let-me-in,” she repeated in a soft demand. And with that, something inside of him, some kind of pain, seemed to shatter.

His taut features appeared to soften and warmth seeped into his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came.

Instead he showed her.

Hooking her legs over his lean hips, he slid inside, igniting a need deep within her core that only Jack could reach. Their hands were threaded together at the side of her head, holding each other tightly as he made another long stroke. Arching her body in response, she closed her eyes beneath heavy lids, but quickly opened them again. She had to see him. She had to stay with Jack, connected body and soul as they made slow, glorious love.

A long time later, after they’d climaxed together and her body still tingled, she gave him what he really needed. With their legs still entwined, every inch of them touching skin to skin—and he had many lovely inches—she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.

“You’re a good person, Izzy. Don’t let me change you.”

She swatted his bare behind and enjoyed his throaty chuckle. “You’re a good man, Jack. I know you visited my father. And how glad am I that you
did
—or none of this touching stuff would have been going on.”

“Yeah, well, I owed it to the both of you,” he mumbled.

“Besides, I’m not such a good girl after all. I played my ‘Ellie’ part too well tonight. And...” She cleared her throat. “I have a confession.”

“Uh-oh.” His tone left her in no doubt he was finding this funny.

“Ellie sent me a check to repay you in full—before we went to Italy.” Along with a letter explaining she’d never intended to marry Jack and she knew he would end up asking for Izzy’s help instead. It seemed her sister was playing matchmaker. But Izzy would save that shock for later.

Izzy grimaced as she felt his body still, then he laughed. Lying wasn’t funny at all! Especially when she felt so bad about it. She owed him nothing, therefore she hadn’t needed to go.

“Izzy.” He chuckled. “She left me a voice mail days before telling me it was on the way.”

She should have been horrified by their unnecessary actions but as much as she tried she wasn’t. A huge grin split her face. How could she regret one of the best days of her life?

“Jack,” she said, her voice now serious. “Don’t go ahead with your plans. You’ll only end up hurt.”

She felt his shrug. Felt the tension creep back inside his body. “The sale is agreed now, Izzy.”

“You could tell Frank and Sarah you changed your mind. It’s not too late. You are being gifted a chance here. Take it with both hands.”

“You still trying to fix me?”

“I’ll always try to hold you together. Always,” she whispered as her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep.

* * * *

Izzy woke to find bright sunshine poking at her naked skin. It should have warmed her through. Instead the cool chill of dread kept it at bay. Almost as cold as the Jack indented shape at the side of the bed. Her hand rested where he had laid. The chill told her he’d left hours ago. Not only had nothing changed—but he’d gone.

With a heaviness in her chest, she sat up, ignoring the reservoir of tears forming at her lids. She already hurt too much to cry. He hadn’t let her in after all. He’d locked himself in and thrown away the key.

Wrapping a sheet around herself toga style, she walked over to the window. Disappointment sucked the happy buzz out of her. The warm afterglow had turned to cold ash. No, he wouldn’t be downstairs talking to Frank and Sarah. The car was missing also. How the hell was she going to get home?

Worry settled in her chest, twisted in her belly. She had a very bad feeling about this. She grimaced, her lips twisting in anguish. But what to tell Frank and Sarah?

Quickly showering and getting dressed, she grabbed her purse as she pondered her options. Just as she was about to leave the bedroom her phone rang. Jack? She scrabbled to reach it, her smile of relief fading as she saw the unfamiliar number on the screen. She felt blood drain from her face, her body trembling as she listened to words she couldn’t comprehend, didn’t
want
to comprehend. ‘I have to inform you’… ‘serious accident’. The words rolled over in her mind leaving her cold, her senses numb.

No, not Jack. It’s a mistake, it has to be.

Chapter 12

Izzy took a deep breath as she stood outside Jack’s hospital bay in the emergency room. Her whole body felt numb. The only reason she knew she was still breathing was from the tightness of her chest on each indrawn breath. It was fear grounding her.

She had nearly lost Jack.

Had she been trying to ‘fix’ him after all? Instead her goading had chased him away and left him damaged...nearly killed him!

She folded her arms around her chest. Hugging herself to keep warm despite the ambient temperature of the hospital. But still it couldn’t prevent the tremors invading her body.

She felt Sarah stand behind her and wrap her arms around her too. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and accept the hug, but she didn’t deserve her comfort. Unaware of the deception, a concerned Frank and Sarah had driven her there and insisted on staying. Izzy squeezed her eyes shut. Of course they would. Their son had died in a car crash, and judging by their pale, drawn faces they were reliving the moment.

Izzy reached out to take Sarah’s hand.

Their hands squeezed tightly as the doctor caring for Jack came out from the curtains. At the look of compassion on the man’s face she was sure her legs had just wobbled. She snagged her bottom lip with her teeth at the sight of the clipboard in his hand.

“I have reason to believe Jack may be suffering internal bleeding. Now the best course of action is to open him up and take a look. If I find it to be necessary I would like your consent to perform a splenectomy.” He went on to explain the procedure and the extent of Jack’s injuries then pushed a consent form in her direction. As if she could refuse and risk Jack’s life. “I assume you are next of kin?” he asked gently. “So if you could sign here.”

Izzy’s world tilted. Her sight became blurred and the sterile hospital scents suddenly became overpowering.

Of course it would be assumed she was next of kin. Frank had taken over when they arrived and she’d lost the ability to think or speak. And the hospital had called the most used number on his phone—hers.

And now Jack needed surgery and he had no one. No family to consent. His parents had moved abroad somewhere not long after Jack had left, and she had no idea where his brother was. He was alone.

“I can’t,” she said in an anguished voice as she stared at the page.

“I know it’s difficult, Ellie, but he needs this surgery,” Sarah said softly as she rubbed Izzy’s upper arms.

“No, I can’t!” Izzy turned as her voice cracked with emotion. “I’m not Ellie. We aren’t married. We aren’t...anything.”

Frank stepped forward. “I’m his grandfather,” he announced with a lift of his chin as he took the clipboard from the doctor’s hands. “Where do I sign?” Only the slight sheen of moisture covering his gray eyes reflected his inner turmoil.

Izzy sank into the nearest chair.

“You know?” Izzy asked Frank as the doctor hurried back to Jack.

“That he’s our grandson? We suspected, yes.” He looked at Sarah and took her hand. “He’s the image of his father.” He rubbed over her fingers. “After our son died a woman came to the house and told me she was pregnant. I told her to go away.” He sighed. “We were grieving and it wasn’t the first claim since his death. We believed the first one until it proved to be false. It was extra heartbreak you know. And when this woman—Jack’s mother, obviously—turned up and asked for money also, I didn’t believe her. I didn’t want Sarah to go through all of that again. Now I know I was wrong.”

Izzy dropped her head into her hands. “Oh God, I’m so sorry. All the lies...” She looked up at them through anguished eyes.

“Yes, well, we’ll get to the bottom of this when Jack is able to join the conversation too.”

She clutched on to Frank’s positive tone. All three of them were close to losing something they never really had. With the back of her hand she swiped away errant tears.

She snapped her head up at a nurse’s invitation to see Jack before they took him to the operating room. She stood instantly but then remained rooted to the spot. She turned her attention to Frank and Sarah.

“Go ahead. You might not be his wife but I’m sure you’re the one he needs in there,” Sarah said.

“Just one thing...” Frank’s words stopped her in her tracks. “What
is
your name?” He smiled.

“Isabel.”

“Ah, Bella. I like it.”

She squeezed her eyes shut as she stepped behind the curtain.

Bella.
That name used in a voice so like the man’s lying on the hospital bed in front of her made her heart ache so much more.
Bella
, said on lips that now looked swollen and bruised, even beneath the oxygen mask. She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes searching where she dared not touch.

One side of his face had the purple stain of bruising. A large gash bisected his forehead, and his beautiful face had multiple cuts, probably from shattered glass. Thick, dark lashes rested on his cheeks, covering the eyes she was so desperate to see.

His chest was covered by a thin sheet and Izzy took some relief she could see the even rise and fall of breaths. Thank God he was alive. She tentatively reached out a shaky hand and ran the back of her finger down the length of the forearm that wasn’t bandaged and hooked up to an IV. She closed her eyes and relished the warmth emanating from his skin. The tan of his arms was a stark contrast to the paleness of his face.

She lifted his limp hand and lowered her head to press it to her cheek. When she felt her tears dampen his warm skin she brushed her lips to his fingers and breathed him in. She shut out the sound of hurried footsteps all around and the whirring and beeping of the machines. Just him and her.

She placed his hand down. “So, I suck at fixing people, huh?” Her voice wobbled. “But if you come back to us I promise I won’t try any more fixing. I love you just the way you are.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I have always loved you the way you are.”