All Good Things (29 page)

"For two, please." Jace said. He appeared oblivious to the woman's obvious attentions.

"Of course," She nodded exuberantly. I didn't miss the glare she shot me as she turned promptly on her heel to lead us into the dinning room. She gave us a table for four, but Jace didn't complain, and neither did I. "Your server will be right with you."

Jace nodded, because it was him she spoke to, which was fine. I would not be the one tipping her.

"What are you in the mood to eat?" Jace asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know." I picked up the menu and decided pasta was probably the best way to go.

I could feel Jace's eyes on me. Even when the waiter stopped by our table, his eyes never moved from my face. A blush crept into my chest and traveled quickly to my face as I stared up at the waiter.

"Can I get you something to drink?" The waiter asked politely. I wondered, for a moment, if the manager stepped in and sent a male to serve our table because his waitresses couldn't possibly serve Jace without acting like a cat in heat. I shook the thought from my mind and nodded crisply.

Jace spoke before I could. He ordered a bottle of wine I couldn't say the name of and sent the waiter on his way. His eyes hadn't left my face the entire time.

When the waiter was out of earshot, Jace spoke. "You're upset."

"No. I'm not upset." I sighed. "I'm nervous, Jace."

"Why?"

"How can you expect me to act normally after this morning?" I asked.

His eyes blazed as he watched me. I felt unraveled. "You're with me, Olivia. You can trust no harm will come to you while you're in my presence."

There was no point in telling him I was not worried for me, but for him. It was a concept he clearly could not understand. I shook my head and toyed with the corner of the silky napkin. I didn't want to talk about this.

"What time is dinner at your Mothers?" I asked.

"We'll be there by six." He replied factually, watching my reaction with calculating eyes. "And, we will be leaving by nine. I want you in my bed with me tonight."

"Oh," I breathed. Excitement I knew I shouldn't feel bloomed in my chest.

The waiter returned with our wine. He poured two glasses. "Do you need more time with the menu?"

"No." I answered quickly. "I'm ready." I looked to Jace and his eyes glimmered with amusement. He nodded his head toward the waiter and I blushed. "I would like two orders of the three cheese Alfredo pasta. I would like one to stay and one to go. Thank you."

The waiter raised a brow, but did not ask why I had oddly ordered two servings of the pasta. I guessed it was not a regular occurrence in this prestige establishment. Jace on the other hand was not so quiet. "Are you that hungry?"

My shoulders stiffened. "No, but I assume Gabe is."

Jace nodded. "I'll have the same thing."

The waiter shifted. "Three orders of the three cheese Alfredo pasta?"

"That's what was ordered." Jace said stiffly.

The waiter blushed deeply. "Yes, Sir."

He turned on his heel and walked quickly to the kitchen. I looked at Jace as though he had lost his mind. "That was rude."

He cocked his head. "How so?"

"You frightened and humiliated him." Disbelief fringed my tone.

"And, I will tip him well for his accosted emotions, I assure you."

I bristled. "That's not the point."

"What is the point?" Jace demanded. "I'm trying to take you on a nice date and you're trying incessantly to pick a fight with me."

He was right. I lowered my eyes. "I'm sorry."

Were there no other words in my vocabulary?

"What's wrong, Olivia? Tell me."

I shook my head. "I'm just frazzled."

"I understand." He brought his wine to his lips. "I also understand you think you can push me away. You will not succeed, Olivia, so don't waste your energy."

My face heated and I picked at my nails. I was silent for long minutes and Jace seemed to take the quiet as permission to continue.

"We will get through this together." Jace said confidently. "I refuse to be without you. And, I'm not allowing you to leave me."

I looked into his eyes, and for the first time since meeting him, I saw a vulnerability that pulled at my heartstrings. "I don't want you to leave me. I don't want to be without you."

"Good." Jace smiled. "Let's enjoy lunch."

"Okay," I breathed. A smile pulled at my lips and I let the ember of happiness grow inside me. I prayed it would last the rest of the day, and into the night, before being snuffed out.

"Tell me," his eyes glowed. "What do you plan to open with the space you have under construction?"

He didn't know? I ran through our past meetings in my mind and realized we never really talked about anything personal. He didn't know me all that well, and I didn't know him. But, I loved him.

The thought robbed me of speech. How on earth could I be in love with someone I knew nothing about? The thought was ridiculous.

I regained my bearings and answered whimsically. "I plan to open a café bookstore."

Jace set his wine on the table. His eyes glowed with surprise and my heart fluttered. "A bookstore?"

"And, a café." I added quickly. "I want to open a place of peace, and what better way? I mean, warm drinks and books," I sighed at the heavenly thought. "There is nothing more peaceful."

Jace nodded. "Do you intend to make it into a chain?"

I frowned. "I hadn't thought of that." I admitted almost shamefully. "I wanted this for me. Not necessarily for the money, but for the life it will give me."

"What life is that?" He asked. Interest burned in the depths of his eyes and my heart fluttered for what felt like the millionth time in the last minute.

"A life where not everything revolves around pressure, manipulation and capital." I said, thinking of my parents. My mood dimmed and Jace shifted. He noticed my change in attitude and his brows furrowed as his eyes studied me.

"Tell me about your family." He asked. I wished he wasn't so observant.

"There is nothing to tell." I answered. "They care more for image than they do about happiness. They care about the clothes they wear, the size of their houses and the number of zeros on their bank statement more than they care about appreciating the strokes in a painting, hearing the laughter of a child and growing old with warm memories. That is not family." I met his eyes. "They are not family."

Jace nodded, thoughtfully. "You do not agree with their way of life?"

"No." I shook my head. "I don't."

"What do you see in me?" Jace asked. I could hear the wounded interest in his tone and I wanted to quell it immediately.

"When I met you, I thought you were just like my family." I admitted, and he flinched. "It was, partly, the reason I stayed away from you. I thought you cared only for money and materials...but I'm not so sure anymore."

"What was the other reason?" He asked. "The reason you wanted to stay away from me?"

"You made me feel things no one else ever had." I blushed profusely at my admittance and sipped my wine, hoping to cool my heated blood.

Jace cocked his head, his mouth quirked in a grin. "What did I make you feel, Olivia?"

I held his eyes with my own. I felt entirely bared to him as I stared into his eyes...into his soul. "Alive."

***

My heart stuttered. It actually stuttered, skipping a beat before resuming, at the thrilling pace of a runners' pulse. The way she looked at me through her lashes, her eyes so clear and...trusting. It winded me.

She said I made her feel alive. Like no one ever had before. The concept was difficult to wrap my mind around. When I first saw her in the back of the taxi, her chocolate hair falling in waves over her shoulder and her cherry lips tipped up at the corners in a sultry, subtle smile...well, she was the essence of life. How could she say she hadn't felt alive before meeting me? She was what made me feel alive.

The moment I saw her eyes for the first time, the flash of emotion and purity in their depths...I had been lost, and yet, so very found. She breathed life into my dark, withered soul, without any realization or effort. She brought me back from the brink of oblivion...the hell that had become my life. In Olivia, I found cause to find myself again. She was the reason for my newfound happiness. I was aware my affections bordered on the fringes of obsession...but within the danger of my feelings...there was another, unfamiliar feeling lurking. I cared for her in a way I thought impossible. I would do anything for her. I would give anything for her. She owned me. And, I wanted to own her.

The waiter arrived with our food, interrupting my rash thought and I breathed out a breath of release. What did this woman do to me? She affected me in every way, shocked me at every turn and made me burn with the need to touch her every second. In the moments I spent away from her, she claimed my mind. I could barely concentrate on anything but getting back to her.

"Is there anything else, Sir?" The waiter pulled my attention from Olivia and I shook my head.

"We're fine. Thank you." My tone was clipped. I hadn't meant it to be, but it was, none-the-less.

I watched as he nodded before walking brusquely away. My gaze swept the restaurant and then settled back on Olivia. I watched as she forked the pasta, popping a noodle into her mouth. She closed her eyes in appreciation of the flavors and my cock jumped. It was an irritable, and yet, amusing sensation.

"Do you like it?" I asked. My voice was husky and thick. Her eyes widened as she looked up at me and smiled. Fuck, she was gorgeous. She was perfect in all her imperfections. Everything she did held me captivated. I was completely, and utterly, enthralled by her. If she asked, I knew there was nothing I could deny her. I would walk across the desert sand, barefoot, if she requested.

Olivia nodded. "I do like it." She gestured to my untouched dish. "Don't you?"

"I'm certain I will find it satisfactory." I replied tightly. I willed away the demanding erection that stressed the fabric of my pants as I watched the silk of her shirt pull tight against her breasts as she shifted.

"Now it's you who is gloomy." She narrowed her eyes. "Is there something bothering you?" Red bloomed in her cheeks. "Did I say something wrong?"

Well shit. She thought I was mad about her earlier admission? I couldn't be more pleased about it. I made her feel alive in this big, dreary world, where living day to day often felt like a chore. I was fucking thrilled. If I could stand on a Manhattan rooftop and shout to the skyline I was the reason she was happy and feeling alive...well, I would. I wanted to, forever, be the one to give her what she needed to be happy. I wanted to prove to the world I was capable of making her smile; I wanted to prove to the world, this beautiful woman before me, was mine.

"No, Angel." I smiled. "You didn't say anything wrong."

Chapter 22

My heart raced a thousand miles an hour as I stared at Jace from across the table. The expression on his face was one I had never seen before. I didn't know what to make of it. He called me Angel. He only ever called me Angel when we were in the bedroom. Outside of the bedroom, he used my name. I couldn't help but wonder why he was calling me Angel...and in the middle of a fairly busy restaurant.

What did he want?

"Jace," I breathed in a shaky breath. "You're acting...different."

His brow furrowed and he nodded. "Eat, Olivia."

I thought for a moment about arguing, but instead, I nodded and focused my attention back on my pasta. He confused me, but I was ravenous, and the pasta on the table was just too, deliciously, tempting to pass up. I shrugged, and picked up my fork.

We ate in silence. It was not the uncomfortable silence I feared it would be, but instead, it was easy. With Jace, I felt...safe. In everything he did, he proved to me his capability to control with both ease and agility. He was a man of many talents. I knew he was just as capable of making me fret nervously, as he was to allow me a moment to revel in the serenity I found in his presence.

I set my fork on the empty plate and grinned at him from across the table. A slow smile materialized on his face as he sat back in his chair, sliding his fingers over the stem of the wine glass.

"What would you like to do today?" Jace asked.

I narrowed my eyes. "Is there a restriction?"

Jace eyed me carefully as he shook his head. "So long as we can make it to my Mothers for dinner, then no...there is no restriction."

I made a show of thinking even though I knew exactly how I wanted to spend the day with him. "I would love to take your Bugatti to a race track."

His brows plunged high on his forehead. "You want to race my car?"

I nodded vigorously, trying to restrain my growing excitement. "Yes."

He whistled under his breath. "I definitely didn't imagine that response when I asked you what you wanted to do."

I felt the excitement in my stomach plummet. "Oh," I sighed. "You're not interested in racing?"

"I never said that." His blue eyes twinkled mischievously and I grinned.

"Does that mean we can?" I asked, nearly ready to bolt from my chair.

"Absolutely," Jace smiled widely and my heart danced eagerly in my chest.

***

Jace pulled the sleek black Bugatti into the parking lot of the racetrack and grinned over at me. My stomach fluttered, full of butterflies as I thought about what we were about to do. Speed had always enticed me, but ever since the accident...I'd been somewhat leery of vehicles. I wanted to crush that fear...and I couldn't think of a better way then to sit beside Jace as his car spliced through the air. I wanted to loose myself in the feel of the gears shifting, and the sound of the rumbling engine, as Jace's foot slammed the peddle to the floor.

"Are you ready for this?" Jace's voice was thick with excitement and I nodded exuberantly. Seeing such a childish excitement billow through his eyes was gratifying...but, knowing I was the reason for this beautiful, controlled man beside me to smile so easily, was more than satisfying. It was liberating.

"I've never been so ready."