Fall into my Heart (The Subzero Series, #1) (10 page)

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J
ocalyn
was impatiently pacing around the office when I walked in the next day. I
almost turned around and ran back to the elevator when I saw her. To say she
looked pissed off was the understatement of the century. She looked positively
livid and I had a feeling all that anger was directed towards me. She must have
called or texted me at least two dozen times over the weekend and I had yet to
return any of her messages.

“Oh
my goodness! What the bloody hell Chloe! Where have you been?” Jocalyn asked,
throwing my messages at me.

“I
went away with Jack for the weekend.” I said nonchalantly as I looked over my
messages.

“Well
that’s just fine and dandy, but you could have let me know or called me at some
point. I was really starting to worry about you.”

Now
I knew just how mad she was at me. On a regular day, if I said I went away with
Jack, she would have followed up with at least a dozen questions. She would
want to know how he kissed, how he touched me, how he asked me to be his
girlfriend and anything else she could think of that could even remotely have
anything to do with Jack. With a loud huff, Jocalyn plopped down into her
swivel chair, turned away from me and I swear she started humming Subzero’s
song “Unbelievable You.”

My
phone was already ringing when I walked into my office. So much for being able
to come in and get settled before getting in to the grind I guess. I tossed my
stuff in my chair and grabbed up my phone.

“Chloe
Carver.” I said breathlessly.

“Hi
Chloe, this is Elise. Please hold for Miss. Patton.”

I
rolled my eyes.  Just the person I wanted to deal with first thing on a Monday
morning.....or ever for that matter.  I wasn’t going to let her rattle me this
early in the morning. I had a wonderful weekend with Jack and I already had one
person upset with me and it wasn’t even 9 a.m. yet.

“I
need a date for that stupid charity thing.” Julissa said without bothering to
say hello.

“I’m
sorry, I already have a date.” I said doing a mental eye roll.

“I
want you to set me up with Jack Riley.” She said, ignoring my comment.

“Ok
look Julissa. One, I am not a dating service and two, Jack has a girlfriend.” I
told her.

“Neither
of those problems have anything to do with me.”

“Julissa,
I can’t set you up with him.”

“You
can and you will.” Julissa said haughtily.

“Look
Julissa.” I started. I was half a second away from telling her where to stick
it when she cut me off.

“Not
up for discussion. You are starting to bore me so this conversation is over.” Julissa
said hanging up the phone.

What
a witch! She is completely unbelievable! I pictured the look on her face when
she sees me walk in on Jack’s arm, and I know its mean, but I had to smile at
that thought. I was daydreaming about how that night would play out when
Jocalyn walked in.

“I’m
sorry I yelled at you.” She said remorsefully.

“It’s
ok. I’m sorry I worried you.” I responded.

Jocalyn
sat down and leaned across my desk. “Wow it was so hard to not talk to you! I
thought I was gonna die! Tell me everything that happened and I mean
everything! Don’t leave out a single detail!”

~*~

By
the time Thursday came around, Julissa was starting to become a pain in my rear
end. She spent the entire week constantly calling to find out if I had set her
up on a date with Jack yet. I was about ready to tell her I was having dinner
with him that night, but I thought it might make her bug me even more, or even
worse find out where he lived and show up!

As
I was getting ready to leave work, my phone rang again.
This girl is gonna
put me of the edge of reason
. I snatched up my phone so fast, that I’m
surprised I didn’t rip the cord from the receiver.

“Chloe
Carver.” I said through gritted teeth.

“Hey
there gorgeous!” Jack said cheerfully.

“Hey
Jack.” I relaxed a little bit, feeling the tension slip away from my shoulders.

“Long
day?” He asked.

“You
have no idea.” I reached up with my free hand and rubbed my temples.

“Well
it’ll be better soon, I promise.”

“Hmmm.....I
hope so.”

“I
wanted to see if you could stop and grab a bottle of wine on your way here.”

“Yeah
sure, I’ll see you soon.”

Forty
five minutes later, I was knocking on Jack’s door with a bottle of chardonnay
in hand.  I could hear a bunch of commotion on the other side of the door and I
was starting to wonder what was going on. I looked at the bottle of wine and
wondered if I should have picked up another one. I didn’t recall Jack saying we
were eating with anyone else but it was obvious with all the racket I was
listening to that he wasn’t in there alone. I was about to knock again when the
door swung open.

I
stepped inside and immediately came to a stop in the doorway. My hand flew up
to my mouth as a wave of shock and surprise overtook me and I didn’t know what
to think. Standing there smiling back at me was Dean, Noah, Tyler, Wes, Skylar,
Dex and Jocalyn, who looked as if she might pass out from excitement.

“What
is all this?” I finally managed to ask as I looked over at Jack.

“Well
you were bummed out about not being able to have Thanksgiving with your family,
so I brought Thanksgiving to you and invited all our friends.” Jack said.

Wow
– Julissa had me so annoyed all week long with her incessant phone calls that I
completely forgot today was Thanksgiving! The delicious smell of thanksgiving
foods lured me into the dining room. On the table was a spread of all of my
favorite Thanksgiving foods – Turkey, stuffing, cornbread, cranberry sauce,
green bean casserole, biscuits, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.

I
walked over to Jack, reached up to place my hands behind his head and pulled
him down for a kiss. Jack pressed his forehead against mine before lightly
brushing my lips with his.

“I
can’t believe you did this,” I said, my voice full of emotion. “Thank you so
much.”

“You’re
welcome.” Jack said; his smile beamed from ear to ear.

Jack
took the bottle of wine from my hands. “I’ll go put this in the kitchen. We’ll
be ready to eat in just a minute.”

As
Jack walked off, Noah strode over to where I was standing. He shuffled from foot
to foot and ran a hand through his flaming red hair. It was obvious he wanted
to say something and I was staring to wish he would just spit it out. I was
about to walk away, giving up on finding out what he wanted to say, when he
reached his hand out and touched my arm to stop me.

“You
know, he’s been planning this ever since your first date. He spent all day
cooking.” Noah told me.

“Really?
I don’t think anyone has ever done anything like this for me before.”

“He
really likes you Chloe.”

“I
like him too Noah.”

“Just
do me a favor.....I’m not trying to be a jerk or anything but Jack doesn’t date
much. He’s been burned a couple of times.....just be good to him.” Noah said
sincerely.

“I
will.” I promised him.

“This
is so exciting, my first Thanksgiving dinner!” Jocalyn exclaimed as we all sat
down at the table.

“I’m
surprised you were able to keep it from me. I didn’t suspect anything from you
today.” I told her.

“Don’t
give her too much credit, she just found out an hour ago!” Wes said as everyone
started laughing. 

“It’s
not that I can’t keep a secret, I just get a little excited. When I get excited
I just say the first thing that pops in my mind and when I get really
excited.....well I can’t be held responsible for what information I divulge then.”
Jocalyn explained seriously.  

Everyone
laughed again as the food began to make its way around the table. I thought it
would feel.....well.....wrong to be away from my family on Thanksgiving, but it
didn’t feel that way at all. Sure, I liked spending holidays with my family
like most people do and I missed them like crazy. It felt right, though, being
here with this specific group of people. Everyone was smiling. Everyone was
laughing. Yes, I missed my family but in this moment I couldn’t imagine
spending today with anyone except the people seated around this table.

“Are
you supposed to say grace or something?” Skylar asked.

“Well
my dad usually does but instead I’d like to say that, even though my family
isn’t here, this is the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had.” I said.

A
chorus of “Awwww” went around the room.

“That
was sweet.....can we eat now? I’ve had to endure smelling this juicy gobbler all
day long and I am quite famished.” Tyler rubbed his stomach with his hands as
he eyed the turkey.

I
laughed and nodded as I dished a big heap of stuffing onto my plate. It was
homemade stuffing too, not that boxed crap, and it was delicious. Jack said
before he knew how to cook but he never said he could cook like this. I was
starting to think he was really getting the raw end of the deal here. Had I
been the one making this meal the turkey would probably still be partially
frozen. Seriously we’d be those people thawing their turkey out in the bathtub
right now. Actually, who am I kidding, there would probably be no turkey cause
I’m not reaching inside a turkeys derriere and pulling out some junk. Ugh, I
shudder at the thought. Also, my stuffing would have been boxed, my green bean
casserole soggy, my biscuits would be those pull apart ones in a tube and my
pumpkin pie from the freezer section......but hey, it’s the thought and effort that
counts right?

After
everyone left, Jack took me by the hand and led me into the living room. As we
sunk down into his comfy gray sofa, he put his arm around my shoulder and I
snuggled up to him. It felt so good to finally be able to just kick back and
relax. I reached down to pull my heels off and tossed them on the floor. I took
in a deep breath and let out a big sigh.

“So
tell me why you sounded like you were ready to kill someone when I called you
earlier.” Jack said, kissing the top of my head.

“Do
you remember that night I came to your show and that overbearing actress was
there?” I asked.

“Yes.
Let me guess, she wants you to jump through flaming hoops to get her something
unbelievable.” Jack said.

“You
could say that,” I hesitated, “She wants me to set her up as your date to that
charity event.”

Jack
laughed. “Well can you blame her? What did you tell her?”

“I
told her you have a girlfriend but she doesn’t care. She’s relentless but if
you and your massive ego are flattered by this, I can make it happen.”

“Don’t
worry about her. I told you already I’m not interested. The only girl I want to
go with is you.” Jack kissed the top of my head again and I smiled up at him.

“Thank
you again for tonight. You really didn’t have to do that.” I said.

Jack
shook his head. “No but I wanted to.”

I
laid there in Jack’s arms taking everything in. I felt like I was floating on
top of the world and I wasn’t sure how I got there. When I glanced back at Jack
his eyes were closed and he looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to wake him up,
but it was getting late, and I had to work the next day. My plan was to get up
and leave without waking him, but when I tried to move past him, I tripped over
his feet.

“Where
are you going?” He asked sleepily.

“Home.....I
gotta work tomorrow.”

Jack
pulled me back down to him and tightened his arms around me. “Stay.”

“I
want to but I can’t.”

“Chloe
you live across the hall not across town.  Stay here. I can wake you up in the
morning and you can go get ready for work.”

I
studied his face. His tired, beautiful blue eyes were begging me not to go as
he bit his bottom lip. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to stay; it was that I
didn’t think I’d be able to leave him in the morning.

Jack
leaned down, kissed my neck close to my ear and whispered “please”.

“Okay
but if I don’t make it into work tomorrow and I get fired, I’m holding you
responsible.” I teased.

“Deal!”
Jack jumped up from the couch, nearly knocking me over.

“What
are you doing?” I asked him.

“I’m
taking you to bed before you change your mind.” Jack said as he placed his
hands on my shoulders and ushered me into his room.

“I’ll
grab you some pajamas so you have no reason to go to your place until the
morning.” Jack opened up his closet door and handed me a pair of black
sweatpants and a blue t-shirt. I started to walk towards the bathroom to
change, when Jack pulled me back and pressed his lips against mine.

I
dropped the clothes I was holding onto the floor and grabbed the back of his head.
Our kisses deepened, becoming more passionate as Jack ran his hands up and down
my back. All of the sudden, even though I was exhausted, I didn’t want him to
stop. I have never been very bold, especially in the bedroom, but something
came over me in that moment. I grabbed the bottom of Jacks shirt and broke our
kiss off just long enough to pull it over his head.

“Are
you sure you want to do this?” Jack whispered.

“Yes.”
I responded breathlessly.

Jack
crushed his lips hard against mine. His fingertips traveled slowly down my back
causing my body to shiver with want and need. His hands stopped on my bottom
and lifted as his picked me up and I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist. 
Clothes started flying around in a fury as we tumbled onto Jack’s king sized
bed with his body covering mine.

Jack
dipped his head down, placing soft kisses along my jaw line, up to the corner
of my mouth. He ran his tongue along my lower lip before he sucked it gently between
his lips. I moaned quietly as I reached my hands up to his head, knotting my
fingers in his hair. Jack claimed my mouth with his, parting my lips with his
tongue. He darted his tongue inside my mouth, kissing me with an intense passion
as his hands roamed down the sides of my body. With one final suck on my lower
lip, he broke off the kiss and I was about to protest when he began kissing his
way down my chin and my neck, into the valley between my breasts.