Game, Set, Match (A Humorous Contemporary Romance) (Love Match) (33 page)

Nick went to the net for his forehand volley, but his feet were off, so
Michon was able to return the ball and win the game. The opponent was good, but Jason knew Nick was better. 
Nick
 just needed to know he was better.

****

Something wasn’t right. Izzy could feel it. When Jason came up the stairs without Sabrina, she’d been so relieved, she hadn’t focused on it. But, now that the boys were taking a break, she could see the tight lines of tension around his mouth.

“I see you came back.”

“Of course I came back. Did you think I’d up and leave in the middle of the match?” He shook his head before she could answer. “Never mind. I think I know the answer.”

She sighed as guilt and uncertainty washed over her. “It has nothing to do with you. Every time I see her it just does that to me. I’m sorry.”

He might have said, “It’s okay,” but the lines of tension deepened around his mouth. She wanted to pry, but had a feeling it wouldn’t do her any good. She didn’t want to get into another fight about Sabrina during Nick’s match.

Nick and
Michon came back onto the courts and Izzy resumed her usual pose on the edge of her seat. She was so tense, she almost jumped out of her seat when she felt Jason’s hand on her back rubbing slow circles between her shoulders.

She managed to relax back in her seat at Nick’s first serve. Without warning, once the serve was over the net, Nick charged forward and returned a forehand volley into the left corner. The referee announced the point to Nick. Wearing a grin, Nick glanced into the stands.

Izzy beamed and clapped. He was so beautiful, her boy. For all the trouble Sabrina had brought into their life, at least she’d brought Nick into the world. He was Izzy’s universe, and she loved to see him happy.

She looked at Jason as he returned her grin, but there was something else in his eyes she couldn’t read.
Tenderness there and…something else. “You taught him that. He’s usually afraid to go to the net.”

“I taught him, but he’s the one who tried it.”
The pride in his voice, unmistakable.

For the first time in his playing career, Nick won a match against Adam
Michon. Izzy swore Jason cheered louder than anyone else, including herself and Jessica combined.

When he could, Nick ran up into the stands to join them. He even let Izzy hug him, something he usually tried to dodge in front of his friends. Ah, the world of teenage angst. After all, what kid wanted his mom to hug him in public?

What surprised her was the hug Nick gave Jason. When she saw them embrace, she knew she deluded herself by trying to pretend there wasn’t the possibility Jason was Nick’s father. Side by side, the resemblance was uncanny. She’d have to find Sabrina and pin her down.

On the way out of the stands, Jason turned to her. “This was fun today.”

For the first time in weeks, she’d been able to relax and enjoy herself for a couple of hours. “Yeah it was. Thanks for hanging out with us, and for everything else.”

He nodded, and an odd smile quirked his lips. “So I know your gallery opening is next week.”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me. I still have so much to do. I’m a bit behind since I haven’t been at the house or studio the past few days.”

He stopped her for a moment to let Nick and Jessica walk ahead to the parking lot. “I was hoping you’d let me come to the opening.”

Let him
? “Uhm, well yeah you can come. Why would I stop you?”

A long steady breath escaped his lips, and he gave her a bemused look. “I know we haven’t had a chance to really talk about Friday, or about that damned picture of Sabrina and
I…”

She cringed and shifted uncomfortably.
“Yeah, about that. I overreacted about the photo. It just brought back a million memories I didn’t want to deal with. You’ve been great to us for the past few days, and you didn’t have to be.”

“No, I deserved the response. I’m working at being more honest more often, so I should have told you she came to see me.” Jason took another quick breath. “But I don’t want to talk about that.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“Uh, damn, this is harder than I thought it would be. But, I, uh, I don’t want to just go to the opening. I’d like to take you to the opening.
As your date.”

Her eyes widened, heart skipping like river rocks across water.
“My date?”

“Yes.
Your date. You do know what a date is right?”

She didn’t bother to tell him it had been so long since she’d been on a real date she’d forgotten the rules of conduct. “Yes, I know what a date is.”
 
Barely
. “I think I can manage that.”

The sexy smile he often displayed was back and turned into a full scale grin that deepened the creases around his eyes. “Good.” He started walking toward the parking lot to meet Nick and Jessica.
“And Izzy?”

“Yeah?”

“I promise I’ll show this time.”

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Izzy hiked up her dress to step into the black strappy heels. Her nerves were having a dance party with butterflies in her stomach. She fastened the teardrop chain, courtesy of the Dubois family. The diamond hit her at the lowest point of the V-neck dress, which unfortunately was very near to her navel. 
I never should have let Jessica talk me into buying this thing.

She fastened the dangling diamond earnings to her ears and examined her image. She fixed a stray hair and went in the family room to wait for Jason. She told herself she wasn’t watching and waiting for the pot to boil. “Relax, Izzy. He’ll show today.” She told herself.

Before an event, she was always too high strung to deal with people, so Nick and Jessica left early. That was their routine. And because she would have to stay late, Nick usually stayed at a friend’s or at Jessica’s. Simon would meet her at the event. He claimed he had no acrimony after their breakup, but their relationship still wasn’t back to normal.

Thankfully, Sabrina hadn’t made another appearance since Nick’s match. Although, part of Izzy wished she had shown. They had some ground to cover about Nick and Jason. Uncertainty accompanied the now familiar tingling in her spine when she thought about Jason and Nick.

When she realized she had nothing to do except wait for Jason, she sat on the couch and fiddled with her clutch. Glancing at the clock, she tried to quell the anxiety the last two weeks produced.

She reminded herself
that the police were driving by the house every night. Jason had helped install a new security system as well as provided very discreet security for Nick at school. He’d done so much for the two of them in the last two weeks. Made sure they were safe. The Jason she’d come to know in the past few weeks was very different than the one she’d seen in the media over the years.

Maybe the bad boy was the persona and this was the real Jason. This was certainly the Jason she’d loved years ago. She was so busy in her own
musings, she barely heard the insistent knock at the front door. Only after a more pronounced knock did she recognize the sound. She took a deep breath and checked her image in the hall mirror one more time before she answered.

Jason, in his Armani suit splendor, stood in the doorway giving her his best prom date grin. Dark eyes tracked over her body, and she felt his raw hunger for a split second before his mask of refined class slipped back into place. Throat dry, she tried to smile and felt her lips quiver. “You look amazing.”

The grin on his face stayed intact, but there was a predatory gleam in his eyes that made her legs wobbly. He took her hand and pulled her toward him. “That’s my line. Except, I would have delivered the line with more conviction.” His right hand came up to caress her face, and he tilted her chin up. “I would have added ravishing.” He kissed her left cheek just near her lips. “I would have added gorgeous.” He mimicked the petal soft kiss on her other cheek.

He tilted his head, and as if drawn by a magnet, she did the same in the opposite direction, expecting the kiss, wanting the kiss, needing the kiss. To her frustration, his
lips hovered over hers for several beats, and his lips curved into that lazy smile of his. “Or maybe, I would have just said, Wow.”

When he backed away, Izzy stifled a groan of frustration. The tingling in her belly tracked its way somewhere distinctively
lower, and she felt the need to sit down before her knees gave out.

She searched her mind for something sophisticated to say, but couldn’t think of one thing. Speechlessness was not a usual affliction for her. He was good, and she was out of her league. For once, she gave herself permission to just enjoy it. Who knew how long she’d be able to feel like the most desirable woman on earth? “Wow sounds good. I might use that sometime.”

He stood close enough for her to feel the chuckle rumbling in his chest. “I’ll give you licensing to use it, but you will have to pay.”

She smiled up at him. “I’m a shrewd business woman, you know. I don’t want to over pay for licensing.”

He kissed her cheek again. “I think we can work out a fair price.” Taking her hand, he tugged her to the driveway. “Come on. We can’t have the lady of honor arrive late to her own party.”

“You’re right, Paris Hilton I’m not.”

Instead of the two-seater Porsche she’d figured he’d drive, or the Mercedes he’d driven the previous week, a limo sat in the driveway. “Jason, what is this?”

“I figured you should probably act like the star you are, so I wanted you to arrive in style.
Too much?” His brow wrinkled in worry.

His concern touched her and made her want to bubble up with laughter at the same time.
“A little. This event is just an intimate gallery opening. I’m not a star.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You’re a star to me.” He escorted her into the back of the limo and slid in behind her.

Izzy had been in a limo before with wedding parties and events like that, but she’d never splurged for anything as nice as this limo with its flat screen televisions and a bar stocked with Cristal.

If this is how the other half lived, she could get used to it.

****

Jason didn’t know how he would keep his hands off of Izzy. Holding his champagne glass, he watched her smile and chat with members of the press and the guests that had poured in to see the show. To the casual observer she would appear poised and elegant seamlessly floating from guest to guest, easily engaging in conversation. But he knew differently. He saw the deep intake of breath, the way she steadied her center before she faced each new person.

With every move of her body, her dress flowed around her. The way her dress sat on her slim shoulders gave the illusion it could fall off at any moment if not for the lush curves of her breasts and her ass. When she’d opened the door at the house, the vision of her in brilliant white had nearly blinded him.

As far as he could tell, she wasn't wearing a bra, and he’d been almost unable to stop the itching need to palm her breasts and test their lush weight. The diamond chain she wore around her neck only accentuated their full rise.

For once, she’d worn her hair down. The waves gently framed her face and shoulders, flowing down her back. The combination of her thick black hair, her stark white dress and dark luminous skin forced all the air from his lungs. And he wasn’t the only one staring.

Every time a male member of the press clamored to get close to her, Jason had to quell the jealous urge to shove the guy through a wall. And that was the least of what he wanted to do to that slick manager of hers.

For several hours, he’d watched Simon slip his hands to Izzy’s waist and urge her one direction or another. When Simon leaned in to brush Izzy’s hair off her shoulder and whisper at her ear. Jason drained his glass and tried to find something to take his mind off the sight of the interloper.

He’d been trying to give her space to do what she needed to do. After all, she was technically working. Every half hour or so, he made his way over to her to make sure she didn’t need anything. Or sometimes just to tell her she was beautiful. But for the most part, he stayed out of her way. This was her show, not his.

Because the press was there, he wanted to make sure this night was about her. Not about his tabloid exploits. Not about his attempt at a comeback. Not about anything that didn’t have to do with her. Their arrival together hadn’t gone unnoticed by the press, but when they’d attempted to talk to him, he’d always directed the conversation toward Izzy.

For the most part, it seemed to work. He’d deal with any fall out tomorrow when it came. He noticed Nick and Jessica hiding out in a corner, and he went over to join them. After all, the three of them were the misfits of the guests.
Neither of them belonging there. Nick looked young Hollywood hip but mildly uncomfortable in his suit. Jessica had her green and blue mane in a bun and wore a simple black dress without a tattoo in sight, looking serene and pretty in her simplicity.

And of course there was him. He was really the one that didn’t belong here. He’d been part of this world for most of his life, but he’d never been accepted.
Never wanted to be accepted. He always did the opposite of what was expected of him.