The Unexpected Series (Unexpected #1-3) (45 page)

He slows and waits for me to come down from my high before he orders me to flip over.

Entering me from behind, he grips my hips and warns me, yet again, to hold on. I grab the comforter as tight as I can and lay my cheek down onto the bed. He starts up his punishing pace and another orgasm starts to rise to the surface.

There’s no way I can come a fourth time.

“Fuck, Noelle,” he cries out, and I’m immediately thrown back five weeks when Trent said those same words.

Trent.

As soon as his face invades my thoughts I come again. Hard.

~~

I
now associate sex with guilt. I felt guilty with Trent when I thought I was letting my hormones control my thoughts and feelings. Now, I feel guilty that I imagined another man while with Jace, and I came the hardest I have in my entire life.

“I think that’s a record for me.” Jace’s motionless body lies next to me as we stare up at the ceiling.

“Hmm?” I ask, looking to get my head on straight.

“Four orgasms. Damn.” He rolls over halfway covering my body with his, one finger trailing up my body from hip to shoulder. “Your body is very receptive to me.”

My lips curve up in a smile. “That was a record for me too.”

“There’s that smile. You know whenever you frown you are more than welcome to come over here and let me do that again.” His lashes, long and thick, come down in a wink and I can’t help but grin.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I laugh nipping his lip between my teeth.

“HELLO!” A female voice booms through the house with a slam of the front door.

“Shit,” Jace says sitting straight up. “I forgot Valerie was coming over to go over our accounts. Do you mind?”

I don’t think at this point I have a choice since she is already here and he is halfway dressed.

“No, go ahead. I’ll be out in a few.” Before my sentence is finished he has exited the room and I hear him greeting her.

Quickly, I run myself through the shower and throw on some comfortable shorts and a t-shirt. Walking out of the room I find both of them in his makeshift office. Valerie is barely dressed in a black sports bra and bike shorts. Her breasts are inches away from Jace’s face as they look at some papers on his desk.

“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t know this would take this long.” He notices me standing there and then looks at Valerie. “Can we look over this tomorrow?”

“Sure.” She adjusts her sports bra so her nipples are covered and stands straight, mumbling a goodbye and eyeing me just a bit.

I normally don’t get jealous but right now it consumes me. If she gets any closer to him I’m going to punch her so hard in her snot box her g-spot will feel it.

After she’s gone I cross my arms over my chest and just stare at him. When he still doesn’t acknowledge me, I stomp my way to the living room like a toddler.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Noelle?” Jace asks storming up behind me.

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with ME? I didn’t have some girl’s tits in my face for the past half an hour!” I yell bringing myself back around to face him.

“Valerie? Are you kidding?” He asks astonished.

“Yes, Valerie! She had her boobs so close to your face you could have checked the number on her implants!”

“So, you get mad over Valerie showing me bank statements in her workout clothes but it’s perfectly okay for Trent to feel you up in a bathroom at a fucking baseball game?” His face is challenging. Begging me to deny it.

I don’t. I just stay silent.

“Noelle.” He walks to me grabbing me around the waist. “I know what we have is unconventional. You’re not chained to me, but please, I’m pleading with you, don’t ruin the fantastic night we just had.”

“Okay,” I agree placing my cheek on his chest. “I’m sorry.”

I have no right to be jealous. None. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. I’m the one imagining someone else during sex.

~~

I
t’s past 9:00 A.M., and I’m late. I’m never late, and Hadley is going to kill me. I told her I would open up the office this morning so she could sleep in after a concert last night. So, with my luck, I would be adjusting all my clothing as I leave Jace’s house and Trent is at his truck with Alex placing Jason in the car seat.

I can see the disappointment and hurt all the way on this side of the street.

There goes that guilt shit again.

H
ave you ever driven your car, cracked your windshield and a tiny chip in the glass appears? Then the more you drive it, put it out there to weather the storm, the bigger that chip gets. The crack spreads out like spider veins, obstructing your view.

Well, my heart chipped the day I told Noelle I loved her. And now cracks radiate throughout my heart as I watch her running out of Jace’s house dressing herself, knowing they were together last night.

Her eyes look guilty. Even from this far I can see that. I can’t move. My feet are planted firmly where I stand

“Trent?” Alex calls through the cab of my four door truck. Her skin tight on her thinning face, eyes slightly sunken in.

She hasn’t been eating much. It’s scary to watch her deteriorate but her face could light up a city when Jason is around. I’m sad she missed so much of his life and won’t be in it after a few more months.

I could’ve loved her if she’d stayed. Taken care of her. Been there during all her struggles. She didn’t afford me that opportunity and now my heart belongs to someone else. I can’t hold a grudge for it. Life is way too short to hold things against others. I want to make the last months of her life memorable for not only her but for Jason. He is the most important person in our lives, and he deserves the precious few moments with her.

Lately we have been working on her bucket list. If I’m not at a jobsite, I am helping her achieve some of the things she always dreamed of and some things she wants to experience again. Today, she wants to ride on the ferris wheel at Navy Pier, and I’m terrified.

“Yea, I’m sorry. Just thinking about how high we’re going to be.” I laugh though my knees go a bit weak at the thought.

“Funny, but don’t you work on skyscrapers?” She asks buckling Jason in and jumping in the passenger seat.

“I make my employees do that.” I try to joke but my words come out sad.

“Trent.” Alex’s hand comes over the console and grips mine weakly. “You need to tell her about me. I’m fine with it. I promise.”

“No, and that’s the end of it. I won’t lose focus of what’s important right now and I won’t use you to make her choose me. As much as I love her I need to do this right now. For you. For Jason.” I drop her hold and place both hands on the steering wheel.

She sighs in defeat, dropping the subject.

Alex has been trying to convince me to go for what my heart wants since I broke down and told her everything. She wants me to be happy. She wants to leave this world knowing I’m with who I want to be with and she wants Jason to have a mom. A female to hug him and spoil him like a mother should. I would love nothing more than to make Noelle my wife, Jason’s stepmom. In a perfect world, Alex would be that mother to him and Noelle would adore him right along with her. But it’s not a perfect world. Alex is going to die and Noelle belongs to Jace. I just don’t have time for that battle.

~~

M
y feet drag along the concrete as I twist and turn through the line to get on the ferris wheel. It’s one hundred fifty feet of pure terror and if I wasn’t holding onto the railing I would most likely collapse, but Alex wants to do it and I won’t deny her that.

“I want to feel on top of the world,” she explained earlier today. “I want to look around and see as far as my eyes will allow and know that after I’m gone that beautiful world will give my son endless possibilities.”

So, here I am, bribing the attendant to stop our car at the top for a few extra minutes.

“Come on, little man, we’re up!” Alex calls out to an awe struck Jason. His eyes are wide with excitement and when we step into our red cage of doom he bolts right for the bench on the left and jumps up.

Alex takes the spot next to him and I am left on the other side gripping the edge like it will save me if this damn thing falls.

We jerk into motion, and since it’s a weekday we are part of just a few who came out here. We immediately start climbing towards the sky. My nerves fade when I glance over and see Alex looking at Jason and not towards the sparkling waters of Lake Michigan.

“I thought you wanted to see the city?” I ask dragging her gaze from our son.

She smiles. “I do but through his eyes it seems even more beautiful. Look at him.”

I do and it’s magnificent. He’s not scared, gripping the edge or panicking. He’s taking in the view and excited about seeing the world from another perspective.

“Do you want that for him?” She asks confusing me.

I shift in my seat, placing my ankle on the opposite knee, and look to her. “Do I want what for him?”

She points at me and says, “To be scared? Not go for what he wants, what will make him happy?”

Frustrated, I drag my hands down my face. “Alex, please don’t start this again. No, I don’t want that for him but I am fine. I promise. She doesn’t want me.”

She belly laughs. It’s the first time I’ve heard her laugh like that since before she left us. “Are you kidding? She wants you. You want her. But you’re both too damn stubborn to do anything about it anymore.”

“She kissed him, Alex, five seconds after she kissed me. Drop it, now!” I yell putting a stop to this conversation, yet again.

~~

“N
o!” Jason yells from the backseat as we pull back into the driveway.

“Jason, we don’t say no,” I say trying to argue with a two year old.

“No!” He says again pointing out of his window.

“Jason,” I start but Alex puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Not ‘no’. He’s saying ‘Noe’ as in ‘Noelle’.” She points in the same direction as Jason did and I find her sexy, curvy form standing at my door placing what looks to be a manila envelope in between the crack.

Her blonde hair is swept up and her business suit from earlier in the day is replaced with one of her dick hardening sundresses. It’s light pink and flowing all around her as she walks our way, surprised.

“I didn’t think you would be home until later,” she explains fidgeting with her dress. Her cheeks grow pink.

Alex offers to take Jason inside but he grabs onto Noelle as they pass her.

“Hey, little man.” She instinctively takes him from Alex, who gladly passes him to her. A knowing smile sets up camp on her face.

“Too,” he yells at Noelle and kisses her square on the mouth.

Alex and I are stunned and I’m fucking jealous of my two year old son.

She bounces him up and down on her hip. “Yes, baby, you’re two!”

“Too!” He screams louder, aggravated, and kisses her again.

She looks to us for an explanation.

“He wants you to tell him you love him,” Alex starts. “When we say ‘I love you’ to him he says ‘too’ as in ‘I love you too’.”

Noelle’s eyes tear up and she pecks Jason on the cheek. “Oh, I love you, Jason.”

His face lights up and squirms to get down while saying “too” a few more times.

Alex grabs his hand and leads him into the house but not before saying, “Seems you and your daddy are more alike than I thought.”

Noelle waits until they get inside. “I’m sorry. I thought you would be at work still.” Her eyes dart around, looking at anything but me.

“I took them to Navy Pier to ride the ferris wheel,” I explain though I don’t have to.

That gets her attention because she laughs so hard I think she has gone hysterical. “You did not go on a ferris wheel, Trent Decker. I don’t see any piss stains on your pants.”

She looks down at my zipper, and I pray I can keep how turned on I am by the breeze blowing up her dress at bay.

“Well, I almost did.” I chuckle.

Her smile fades, and she hands me the envelope. Our hands touch, and I can’t help my reaction. I grab onto it and pull her closer to me. Her breath hitches as I rub one finger over her soft skin.

Without letting go I ask what it is. She stares for what feels like hours before gaining her composure and pulling away.

“The itinerary for the rest of the events until the wedding. Co-ed bridal shower, bachelor and bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinner, as well as some planning meetings. Since you are not only her brother but giving her away she wants you to be involved with everything.” She looks annoyed like maybe she doesn’t want me involved in anything.

“Is that a problem for you?” I ask stepping forward invading her personal space. “You seem like it is.”

“No, I just think she has ulterior motives for having you and I do so much together.” She steps back and bites down on her bottom lip.

I step forward. I can’t help it. I’m so drawn to her. I love it and I hate it at the same time. “What kind of motives?”

A step back. “Like ‘trying to make me her sister in law’ kind of motives.”

Just hearing her mention the idea of them being sisters has a vision of her in a white dress flash through my mind again. I want that. I want that so bad.