Dreaming With A Broken Heart (Hollywood Legends Book 1) (23 page)

“You need to eat.”

“Feel this.” Jade pulled Garrett’s hand to just
below her breast. “No more protruding ribs. You’ve fattened me up nicely
during the past six months.” She gave him a brief, teasing kiss. “My
appetite is better than ever. Didn’t you notice how much food I put away last
night?”

“A big slice of lasagna
and
dessert. Very
sexy.”

Jade laughed. “I don’t know about that.”

“It’s true,” Garrett said. He moved his hand back
to her breast, the pad of his thumb running over the peak. “You would put
a bite in your mouth then lick your lips. I was hard all evening. Thank God for
that tablecloth.”

“Now you’re teasing me.” Jade nibbled along the
side of his jaw. “You looked like you didn’t have a care in the world. I,
on the other hand, was in misery. That was dirty pool, whispering in my ear
while you seated me.”

“Were you wet?”

Jade blushed. After everything they had done together, dirty
talk was still new to her. She liked it.
Boy did she like it
. Still, the
words heated her skin as well as her insides.

“You know I was. Am,” she added.

“Let me take care of you.” Garrett slipped his
hand into the waist of her shorts. “The look in your eyes tells me I can
get you off before the food arrives.”

“Nope.” Jade stopped Garrett’s hand with her own.
“I’ve decided you’re right. We need some nourishment for what I have in
mind.”

Loving this teasing, happy Jade, Garrett wrapped her in his
arms before teasing her ear with his tongue.

“Tell me what you have in mind.”

Jade leaned closer, telling him in breathy detail.

“Now that is cruel,” Garrett complained. His eyes
were a fierce, molten gray. “I’ve dreamed of your mouth on me. Eat when I
have that image in my head.”

“Call it an appetizer.”

Just then, the doorbell rang.

“Good timing.” Garrett walked to the door.
“I’ll give you fifteen minutes. Burger, fries, milkshake.”

“You ordered milkshakes? What flavor?”

“What else?” Garrett winked.
“Chocolate.”

JADE’S EYES OPENED slowly. A small beam of early morning
sunlight streamed through the crack in the closed curtains.

Strong, masculine arms circled her waist, holding her close.
Garrett
. To wake up with him after a night of lovemaking was a luxury
Jade had never expected to experience.

No more sneaking in and out of seedy motel rooms. No more
worries about getting caught or the consequences that would surely follow.
Garrett wanted to be with her. Out in the open. For the whole world to see.

Jade felt some lingering doubt. She knew better than anyone
what her father was capable of. Especially when he felt the slightest bit of
perceived embarrassment or humiliation. She had walked out without a word or a
backward glance. She took nothing. Asked for nothing. For a man who prided
himself on complete control of those around him, her actions had to rankle.

Whatever Anson Marlow threw at them, they would take. Head
on. Together.

“That was a happy sound.”

Garrett kissed Jade’s bare shoulder, his arms pulling her
close.

“Happy woman, happy sounds.”

She turned to face him. Garrett’s tousled hair and sleepy
eyes were the best things she had ever seen this early in the morning. Feeling
the nudge of his erection against her stomach, she smiled.

“Speaking of happy.”

“Hmm,” Garrett nuzzled the sensitive spot at the base
of her throat. “Apparently, you didn’t wear me out last night. And early
this morning. Despite your best efforts, there’s still life in the old
boy.”

Jade raised her leg over his hip, sliding her slick center
over him.

“Show me.”

Garrett’s eyes sharpened

“With pleasure.”

“YOU LOOK LIKE the cat that got the cream. What were you
up to last night?”

Looking at his brother with wide-eyed innocence, Garrett
merely shrugged.

“Cut the bullshit,” Nate scoffed. “Who is
she? Wait. Is it the same woman? The one Wyatt thought might be married?”

“Wyatt has a dirty mind.”

“We all do,” Nate grinned. “Dad blames
Mom.”

“And Mom blames Dad.” Garrett laughed. “The
point is I don’t do married women. Only a dirty mind would accuse me of such a
thing.”

The brothers had met for a late lunch. After reluctantly
leaving a very warm and satisfied Jade, Garrett headed to the studio for
another production meeting. Since this one involved his recent activities in
Vancouver, he couldn’t blow it off. Staying in bed with Jade all day was a much
more appealing idea. The problem was he couldn’t use it as an excuse to get out
of the meeting. Addicted to Jade wouldn’t cut it with Wyatt.

“I’m beginning to worry about my brothers,”
Garrett said, taking a bite of his BLT on whole wheat. “You equate
happiness with sex.”

“And you don’t?” Nate slathered his Reuben with
mustard.

“I don’t have to have sex to be happy.”

Nate gave him one of those
are you shitting me
looks
that always made Garrett laugh.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Garrett said. “Sex
never hurts.”

“Damn straight,” Nate nodded. “If you do it
right.”

“Idiot.” Garrett wadded his napkin, hitting Nate
in the forehead. Dead center.

“What are you, twelve?” Nate complained. Then
proceeded to wing the piece of paper back at Garrett. It couldn’t have hurt.
When it stuck to Garrett’s mouth, the victory was a moral one. Satisfying,
nonetheless.

“Tell me about her.”

He and Jade talked about this. How to let people know they
were seeing each other. When it came to the general public, they decided to let
it come out in its own way. Word of mouth, tabloids, bloggers. If any of them
picked up the story, so be it. Garrett told Jade the best way to handle it was
to let them have their fun. After a few days, a week at most, it would be old
news. Jade wasn’t as confident about that as Garrett was. She was positive her
father wouldn’t let it die that easily. Either way, they had a plan. No
comment.

Garrett’s family was another matter. Neither he nor Jade
wanted his parents and brothers to hear about it from another source. Telling
Nate would be a good place to start.

“I’ve been seeing the same woman for a little over six
months.”

“And you haven’t said anything? What gives?”

Garrett shrugged. “The situation is sticky.”

“Not married.”

“No,” Garrett sighed. “Technically,
maybe.”

When Nate put down his sandwich, Garrett knew his brother
was taking the conversation seriously.

“Hell, Garrett. That can never end well.” Nate
frowned. “Kids?”

“No.” Garrett leaned closer. The last thing he
wanted was for any of this to be overheard. “It’s Jade.”

“Marlow?”

“Shh,” Garrett looked around. No one seemed to be
paying them any undue attention.

“Yes. Do you know another Jade?”

“When you said sticky situation, you weren’t
kidding.” Nate gave Garrett a friendly punch on the shoulder. “I have
to hand it to you. Keeping that relationship under wraps had to take some
doing.”

“You have no idea.”

“I didn’t catch any vibes the other night at
dinner.”

“Things had hit a snag. We were…”

“On a break?”

“Stop quoting
Friends
.”

Nate loved that show. A few years ago when he worked on a
Jennifer Aniston movie, he talked about her for weeks. She was his first major
pre-teen crush. According to Nate, she was even more beautiful in person.

“You can never go wrong quoting the classics.”
Nate popped a homemade potato chip in his mouth. “I take it. Whatever the
problem was, it has been settled.”

“Between Jade and me? Things are golden.”
Garrett’s grin turned into a scowl. “Her father is an asshole who won’t go
away.”

Garrett gave Nate a rundown. He felt comfortable telling his
brother about Jade’s relationship with Anson Marlow, from the time her mother
abandoned her, the neglect, verbal abuse. How her father turned a blind eye to
Stephen Marsh’s physical abuse. He ended with his own belief that Marlow was behind
his son-in-law’s disappearance.

“There is no way that psycho drunk could get out of
town on his own. Let alone stay hidden all this time.”

“Garrett.” Nate pushed the rest of his food away,
his appetite gone. “Anson Marlow is one fucked up bastard. We all knew the
bare bones of what Jade went through, but man, I don’t know how she came out
the other side.”

“She’s tougher than she looks,” Garrett said. He
felt a surge of pride. His woman wasn’t simply surviving. She was thriving.

“Tough, hell. That woman has a rod of steel running
through her.” Nate shook his head. “Until that weak-ass abuser
husband is found, she’ll never be completely safe, Garrett.”

“I have H&W Security working on that.”

“Smart,” Nate nodded. “They are the
best.”

“I’m hoping—” Garrett’s phone buzzed. “Speak
of the devil. Hey, Jack. Nate and I were just talking about the job you’re
doing for me. Please tell me you have some good news.”

“Well,” Jack Winston sighed. “I have news.
Not good, not bad.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“I can’t explain it, Garrett. Every time we get a lead
on Marsh, he falls off the radar. Someone is shuffling him from place to
place.”

“I knew he had help.” Garrett looked at Nate. His
brother was trying to follow the conversation. He wanted Nate’s input, but an
increasingly crowded restaurant wasn’t the place to get it. “Can you hold
for a few minutes, Jack? I need to find some privacy.”

“No problem.”

Paying the bill, Garrett and Nate left the restaurant,
walking a block to where Nate parked his truck. After they had climbed into the
hot, stuffy cab, Nate turned the air conditioner on full blast. Garrett
switched his phone to speaker mode.

“Go ahead, Jack.”

“I told you I turned this over to Alex Fleming.”

“Right.” Garrett nodded. “Ex-Army.”

“Alex knows how to find people. It’s one of his
specialties. Under normal circumstances, Marsh would already be in
custody.” Garrett could hear the frustration in Jack’s voice. “Two
days after you called, Alex had him traced to a small town in Montana. Before
we could contact the authorities, he was gone. Vanished like a puff of
smoke.”

“It takes money to do that,” Nate said. He and
Garrett looked at each other, anger in their eyes. What little doubt there was
had been wiped away. Anson Marlow had to be involved.

“I agree,” Jack said. “Look, Alex just walked
in my office. He’s been on top of this thing from day one. I’ll let him fill
you in.”

After they had taken care of brief introductions, Garrett
and Nate listened as Alex caught them up on the frustrating situation.

“I’m positive Marsh has a handler,” Alex began.

“You think Marlow hired a guy to keep Marsh in the
wind?” Garrett clenched his fists. This was worse than he imagined.

“Don’t assume a man is in charge,” Alex said.
“Whoever is with Marsh could just as easily be a woman. In fact, I would
have gone that way. A man and a woman traveling together tend to raise fewer
red flags. This person is good,” Alex almost growled the words. He wasn’t
a man who liked being outmaneuvered.

“So basically, we’re fucked.” Garrett felt like
punching his hand through the window.

“Did I say that?” Alex asked. “I’ll get them.
I found them in Montana. From there they moved to Indiana. The last sighting
was Chicago. Smart to move to a bigger city. That last time was close.”

“This isn’t goddamned horseshoes.”

“Garrett, calm down.” Anticipating his brother,
Nate narrowly saved Garrett’s fist and his window from damage.

Garrett wrenched his hand from Nate’s. Didn’t any of them
understand? As long as Marsh was in the wind, Jade’s life was in danger.

“This has to be driving you crazy,” Alex said.
“The woman I love means everything to me. Look, I know it doesn’t seem
like much, but as long as Marsh isn’t in California, Jade is safe.”

Alex was right. It wasn’t much consolation. However, it was
something.

“Any suggestions on how I handle things here?”
Garrett needed to do something. Anything. “Is it time to hire a
bodyguard?”

“You read my mind,” Alex told Garrett. “Sable
will be there first thing tomorrow.”

“Sable?” Garrett gave Nate a questioning look.

“She’s the best I have,” Alex assured him.
“Remember. Men tend to underestimate women. No one, I mean no one, will
get past Sable.”

Garrett hung up, his mind racing with information. The good,
the bad, and the confusing.

“What did you get from that?”

“Trust Jack and Alex to know what they’re doing,”
Nate shrugged. “Sable. Interesting name. Like something from a James Bond
flick. What do you think she’ll look like?”

“I don’t know. One of those East German swimmers when
they were bulked up on steroids?” Garrett answered absently. He wasn’t
worried about Jade’s bodyguard. He was worried about Jade. Then there was the
problem of telling her about Jack, Alex, and now Sable. He wondered how she
would react when she found out he did all this without consulting her first?

Nate shuddered. “A mustache and bacne? No thanks.”
When he noticed Garrett’s distracted frown, Nate patted his brother on the arm.
“Hey, we’ll all be looking out for Jade.”

“I don’t know what I would do if anything else happened
to her, Nate.” Garrett stared sightlessly out the window. “When I
think about how close that animal came to killing her… I have to keep her
safe.”

“Look at me.”

“What?”

“Turn your head and look at me,” Nate told him.

“What the hell are you jabbering on about?”
Garrett asked, doing as Nate demanded.

“Holy shit!” Nate shook his head. “It’s true.
You’re in love with Jade.”

Garrett didn’t deny it. What would be the point? Still, Nate
seemed awfully sure of something he could only be guessing about.

“What makes you so sure?”

“What is it they always say about Mom? Her eyes ever
lie? Look in the mirror, Garrett. Purple.”

Pulling down the sun visor, Garrett looked into the mirror.
Deep purple. It was a shade he had seen many times. In his mother’s eyes. When
his father walked into the room, or when someone mentioned his name. It was the
color of love.

“All those years we teased you about the girls you
dated,” Nate grinned. “Checking your eyes to see if it was serious.
Wondering if, even though your eyes were like hers in every other way, maybe
the love thing skipped you. Take it from me; you are one hundred percent,
full-bore, head-over-heels.”

“Shit.”

It was the only thing Garrett could think of to say. He
barely had Jade out of the dark. She wasn’t ready for
till death do us part
.
Hell, he wasn’t sure
he
was ready. They were just starting a normal
relationship. Dating. Going away for a weekend. He was busy with
Exile
.
Finding out how Jade dealt with the demands of his career would go a long way
in finding out how compatible they were outside of the bedroom.

“I know that look.”

Garrett mentally shook himself before turning his
questioning gaze onto Nate.

“What look?”

“You’re starting to overthink it,” Nate said.
“Your careening thoughts are so loud I swear I hear a slight echo.”

“Are you suggesting my head is hollow?”

Nate grinned. “Only when that inner voice of yours
makes a fool of itself.” Nate started the truck, pulling into the busy Los
Angeles traffic with the ease of a seasoned stunt car driver. “Let
yourself enjoy what you’re feeling. I like Jade. The whole family likes
her.”

“That is important,” Garrett conceded. “Not
only to me. Jade has never had a family, Nate. Not one like ours. The closer
she gets to everyone, the more it will hurt us if we can’t make it work.”