Come to Me Softly (Closer to You #2)(52)
Author: A.L. Jackson

Jared shook his head. “No . . . we’re not going.” A faint smile rimmed his mouth. Still, I could tell he was dead set, staunch, completely serious in his resistance.

This wasn’t meant as a taunt to Christopher, not another rib to get back at his friend.

That frown deepened as I looked down at Jared, who sat back on his haunches, all of the focus that had been on his work now directed at me.

Christopher caught Jared’s words. “Tell that ass**le best friend of mine he owes me. He already stole my sister from my house, I’m not about to let him rob me of New Year’s with you.”

I held the phone out into the middle of the room for Jared to hear. “I don’t think he’s going to take no for an answer.” I laughed a little, listening to Christopher’s rant flooding the room, demanding we both be there.

Jared crawled toward me and snatched the phone from my hand. He pressed it to his ear. “Dude, you should know by now you can’t sweet-talk me like one of those bitches you keep hidden away in your bed. Words aren’t going to work. I told you no yesterday. What do you think has changed between now and then?” Jared challenged, grinning over at me, trying to contain his laughter when Christopher went off on him, piling more unsound reasons on top of the ones he’d already given.

Blue eyes remained locked on me as he listened. He shook his head. “Sorry, man, but no.” Jared eyed me, something mischievous and secretive playing all over his face.

Butterflies took flight in my stomach.

Or maybe it was the baby, I couldn’t tell. I’d just begun to feel it, this fluttering within me. The first time, it stole my breath, sucked all the air from the room, left me light-headed and reeling.

Either way, I adored the feeling.

“No, I wasn’t joking. We have plans,” he continued.

We did?

Those butterflies rioted, a rumble of nerves and excitement and an unknown thrill.

Jared winked at me while he humored my brother, listening to him carry on about the great injustice our absence would cause.

The question formed in my mind formed on my lips. “We do?” I mouthed.

So maybe I cherished the thought too much. That idea that Jared thought of me above all else. That he wanted to surprise me and cause me joy.

I looked around the house.

The last surprise he’d given me had been just about the best of my life.

I ran a tender hand over the small protrusion of my belly, my smile soft as I glanced down. Well, maybe not the best.

But close.

“Yes, we do,” Jared whispered back, holding the phone away from his ear. He spoke toward the receiver, to me, to Christopher, like he was letting it be known. “It’s just me and Aly Tuesday night, Christopher. Sorry, dude, no offense, but there’s absolutely nothing you can say to change what I have planned.”

My heart swelled, throbbed and pulsed and raced.

How much did I love this man?

I bit my lip, trying to cover up the huge smile that worked to break free from my mouth.

Christopher cracked some joke I could barely catch.

Jared rolled his eyes my direction. “Whatever, man.”

Jared laughed, listened, shook his head.

“Your brother’s such a dickhead.” Jared staged the whisper, just loud enough for Christopher to hear.

Christopher scoffed, lifting his voice and shouting into the phone so I could hear. “Fine, Aly, choose this ass**le over me.”

“That’s because she’s mine,” Jared shot back. “Get over it.”

I giggled because it felt good, the two most important men in my life fighting over me, their banter light and full of ease. Contentment glowed bright.

I loved my life.

I felt complete.

Whole.

Jared softened, nodding at whatever Christopher said. “All right . . . yeah . . . of course I will . . . okay, I’ll talk to you later.” Jared paused, his ear craned toward the phone, but his attention entirely trained on me. A smile lit his face. “Yeah, you too, man. Thanks . . . bye.”

Jared ended the call and tossed my phone to the cushion beside me. He crawled the rest of the way over. Kneeling in front of the couch, he grabbed me by the outside of my thighs and pulled me to the edge.

“What was that, what Christopher just said?” I asked, searching his face.

Jared’s teeth clamped down on his bottom lip. The skin blanched. Ice blue eyes glimmered with the unknown.

Waves of warmth skimmed along my skin.

“It was nothin’,” he said, too low and too severe for it to be true.

Jared edged back a fraction. He ran the back of his hand down my face, palmed my neck as he stared at me, searching. His thumb ran the length of my jaw, somehow shaky and unsure. “Is that okay, baby, that I made plans for us? I don’t want to do all that party shit. I just want to spend the night with my girl. Alone.”

Rapidly he blinked, and I watched the thick knot in his throat bob as he swallowed hard.

I brushed my fingers through the short length of his hair, then dragged them down his rugged face. For a flash, Jared’s eyes dropped closed. I let my fingers linger on his full lips. “I can’t think of any better way to spend the New Year. Just you and me,” I murmured.

He slowly opened to me, accepting my answer for the truth it was.

Gently, Jared kissed the tips of my fingers, the softness of his tongue flicking out to meet my skin.

Jared slipped his hands down my sides and found the hem of my tank. Intently he watched me as he nudged it up a few inches, exposing our tiny bump. He trailed circles on my flesh. Goose bumps flashed, and I trembled.

Leaning in, he pressed the softest kiss to my belly, his voice hoarse.

“Good, because I wouldn’t have taken no for an answer.”

• • •

Below us, the deep valley was lit up in the city’s glow, a bed of twinkling lights stretched out as far as we could see. Above us, a shimmer of stars blanketed the impenetrable, darkened sky.

Somehow, Jared and I seemed suspended in an unknown world lost somewhere in between.

Cold air gusted in. It lashed at my hair, stirring up the long strands. They thrashed at my shoulders, whipped at my face, uncontrolled, just as uncontrolled as the thundered pulse battering my ribs.

I was pretty sure Jared had staged an assault in my heart.

Yet I felt so safe.

Nothing in this world could touch me. Nothing. No one.

No one except for the man holding me in the haven of his arms.

He managed to pull me a little closer. “Are you cold, baby?” he whispered from behind. We were nestled on the bed of blankets he made, the two of us completely cocooned in a thick comforter. Unyielding, he held me tight, firm and unwavering, his body a rock of support behind mine. He tucked his chin over my shoulder and feathered a row of kisses on my jaw.