Learning to Breathe Again (39 page)

“
I opened my eyes and saw
what I was missing,” she answered, the honesty of her answer
reflected in her eyes.

“
And what was that? What are
you missing?”

“
You. I’m missing you,” her
voice was a whisper as she forced the words out. “And I need you,
Jack. I need to know that I have you in my corner and by my side to
pick up the pieces when I fall apart.” Bayleigh kept her eyes on
his as she nuzzled her cheek against his palm.

“
Did you have any nightmares
in Nashville?” his voice was still low, but it had become
softer.

“
Not like the ones I used to
have but I had a few dreams,” she admitted, her voice just as
low.

“
I’m sorry I wasn’t there
when you needed me,” his thumb stroked across her cheek. And
Bayleigh knew he wasn’t kicking her out.

“
I’m so sorry I pushed you
away,” her eyes filled with tears again.

“
You had every right to,” he
shook his head as his other hand came up to rest on her hip,
drawing her closer. “Are you here to stay? I mean, are you coming
home? Oh, hell, I don’t know what I’m trying to say,” he
cursed.

Bayleigh giggled and stepped closer, pressing
herself against him. “I’m here to stay, if you’ll let me. I landed
my contract, which I need you and Nicole to look over for me before
I sign it, but I can make my home base Austin and only fly to
Nashville when I have to.”

“
You got the contract?” his
arms slid around her waist, holding her to him.

“
I did,” she nodded. “I was
going to call you but I decided I didn’t want to be alone anymore.
I wanted to share the news in person and celebrate with someone who
loves me.”

Jack’s mouth covered hers and he kissed her
as he pulled her against the hard contours of his body. Bayleigh
sighed and leaned into the kiss, her hands sliding up his chest and
linking behind his neck.

They broke apart when his cell phone rang.
With a muttered curse, Jack pulled it out of his pocket. “Yeah,
Nicole, what do you want?”

Bayleigh could hear her sister-in-law’s laugh
over the phone. “You either need to close the shutters on the
windows or take Bayleigh into your office, my friend. I’ve had four
calls already from people in town, wanting to know what’s going on
with you and Bayleigh,” Nicole told him. “And you’d better do it
quick before one of the callers tells Jason and not me!”

Bayleigh groaned and buried her face against
Jack’s chest. Jack’s arm tightened around her as he told his friend
what she could tell the callers and hung up. “You okay?” he asked
her as he felt her shoulders shaking.

She tilted her head back and looked at him
and he realized she was laughing. He smiled at her as he stepped
back from her and took her hand. “Let’s go home, baby.”

“
I like the sound of that,”
Bayleigh agreed, linking her fingers with his.

JACK HELPED HER INTO THE cab of his truck and
glanced up at the sky. The storm clouds were rolling in and the
wind had picked up. He hurried around to the driver’s side and
climbed in, reaching over to grab her hand. “So, I’ve got a
surprise for you when we get back to my place.”

“
Oh, I just bet you do,” she
waggled her eyebrows and he chuckled.

“
Get your mind out of the
gutter,” he muttered as he started the engine and put the truck in
gear. “I’m doing some remodeling on the barn.”

“
Remodeling the barn?
Why?”

“
Well, a couple of new
friends of mine had some suggestions as to what a home office would
need to look like and I thought my barn would be perfect for what
they’re suggesting. But we can still change things if you don’t
like it.”

“
If I don’t like it? Why
would I have any say in the matter?”

Jack shook his head and gave her fingers a
squeeze. “Maybe I just care what you think,” he told her and she
squeezed his hand back and smiled at him.

“
So, this contract of yours.
What’s it entail?” he asked as they drove.

“
Well, I think it’s a pretty
sweet deal. Most new songwriters have to sign an exclusive contract
with a publishing house, and most of the time, the house retains
the copyrights to any songs that are written during the term of the
contract. In return, the artist basically get a steady paycheck for
the duration of the contract.”

“
So is that what you
got?”

“
No, I’m not giving up any
copyrights and I don’t have to be exclusive. The downside is, I
don’t have a steady paycheck every two weeks but it means I can
sign multiple contracts or just showcase songs to certain houses
when I want. Or pitch them to artists directly, or write with other
artists when the opportunity comes up. The sky is the limit for me
now.”

“
You mean, like what you and
Dusty just did for his album?”

“
Sort of. Dusty and I have
known each other for years and we used to write together back then,
too. But him wanting the one song I had written plus writing three
more with me, well, that should open a lot of doors in town. At
least, I hope it does,” Bayleigh admitted as she glanced at him out
of the corner of her eye. “Is that going to cause
problems?”

“
No, it won’t,” Jack
promised, steel in his voice as he brought her hand up to his lips
and kissed her knuckles. “I’m not saying I won’t screw up again
because we both know I will at some point, but I can promise you it
won’t be some petty jealousy issue.”

Bayleigh nodded and glanced out the window.
“But I do get the jealousy part, Jack. It was the lack of trust
that bothered me.”

“
And I get
that
. I trust you, baby. I
swear I do,” his fingers tightened around her hand again as he made
the turn off of the highway and onto the road leading back to his
house. They were silent for the last few moments of the drive,
until Jack stopped the truck in front of his barn.

He turned to face her in the small confines
of the cab of the pick-up, taking both of her hands and holding on.
“I know I can’t erase the hurt I caused. But I want to make it up
to you and show you that I trust you,” he paused, looking down at
their linked hands. “I know you’re going to have to travel
sometimes to make this dream of yours work. And I know that you
keep saying you can work anywhere, but we don’t have any kind of
sound studio here in Waketon that would work for your needs. And I
don’t like the idea of you ‘commuting’ to Austin all the time for
that.” He dropped her hands and turned to open his door, reached
back for her hand and pulled her out behind him.

“
So, when I was in
Nashville, chasing you down, I talked to a few people there and
found out what you would need to have a home studio. Brian talked
to Dusty and I was able to go see his set-up and then he gave me
Liam’s name and number. Liam helped me figure out how to do this.
But like I said,” he told her as he led her to a door on the side
of the barn and opened it. He reached in and flipped a switch and
waited for her to look inside. “We can change anything you don’t
like.”

Bayleigh’s eyes were huge as she took a step
inside the new ‘office space’. “You built a studio?” she turned
back to him.

“
I wanted you to have your
own space, somewhere you could escape to anytime you wanted to
write, without distractions. And I didn’t want you to have to drive
all the way into Austin every time. I get that you’re still going
to have to go into Austin or off to Nashville, or hell, I don’t
know, maybe even back to London at some point, but at least this
way, you can have the basics laid out. At least, that’s what Liam
said you could do. He assured me you’d know how to use all of
this,” he gestured towards the sound board and computer set-up
along one wall.

Bayleigh laughed and nodded before launching
herself at him. “Oh, yeah. I know exactly how to use all of this!”
she told him, kissing him. “You did this, for me, not even knowing
if I would come back?”

Jack nodded and then looked a little
sheepish. “Well, I was going to use it to lure you back here, if
you hadn’t come back on your own,” he admitted. “I figured you
could live with Jason and Nicole but this would be at your
disposal. And then I’d use my charm to win you back.”

A gust of wind slammed the door shut and Jack
glanced around.  “Let’s get up to the house before it starts
raining,” he suggested, turning off the lights and re-opening the
door.  He made sure everything was secure and then took her
hand and steered her up to the house.  They made it to the
porch just as the first raindrops fell and Jack hurried her inside
before the downpour started.

“
I want to check the weather
report, see what we’re in for,” Jack muttered as they headed into
the kitchen.  The lights flickered and then went out.
 “Or maybe not,” he grimaced.

“
Now, this has a familiar
feel to it,” Bayleigh laughed, stepping closer to him.  “Do we
need to bring in firewood and make up a bed on the floor of the
living room?”

Jack laughed and picked her up, striding down
the hallway.  He had her naked and situated in the middle of
her bed in seconds. “This time, we’re riding out the storm in my
bed,” he told her as he tore off his own clothes. “God, I missed
you.  You're so beautiful,” he told her in-between kisses. His
hand came up to caress and shape her breast and Bayleigh arched her
back.

“
I missed you, too, Jack,”
Bayleigh told him on a sigh as his thigh insinuated itself between
hers. She parted her thighs to accommodate him and sucked in a
breath when she felt his fingers touching her, finding her slick
and ready for him.

“
God, baby, you’re so wet,”
he groaned, his forehead dropping to hers. “I didn’t want to rush
you this time. I wanted to wine and dine you, prove to you how much
I love you,” he whispered against her lips, all the while his
fingers were doing magical things to her, making her even
wetter.

“
Wine and dine later. I
already know how much you love me,” Bayleigh managed to answer as
his lips closed around her nipple. “Please don’t tease me!” she
begged as her hips started to move under him, as his fingers
continued to caress and torment her.

“
This first time is going to
be hard and fast,” he warned as he positioned himself, ready to
slide into her.

Bayleigh smiled at him. “You can make it up
to me on the second, then,” she moaned as she raised her hips for
his thrust.

“
Count on it,” Jack grunted
out the promise as he slid into her. Bayleigh’s breath left her in
a rush of air and her fingernails dug into his shoulders. Jack
stilled his movements and he lifted his head, a frown on his
features as he looked at her. “You okay?”

Bayleigh smiled and nodded, her hand coming
up to caress his cheek. “It’s just…tight,” she shrugged, unable to
come up with a better word. “But I swear to God, Jack, if you don’t
start moving, I’m going to show you a few self-defense moves Brian
taught me and I’ll take over this show!”

Jack threw back his head and laughed before
he repositioned her hips and pulled back until he had almost
withdrawn from her before he slid back in, exquisitely slow, which
earned another low moan from Bayleigh. Jack’s fingers flexed
against her hips at the sound and he thrust again, deeper this
time.

Bayleigh gasped and her eyes widened which
caused Jack to smile at her. “I take it you like that?” he
whispered against her lips as he moved his hips again.

“
Oh, God, yes, Jack! Don’t
stop!” she begged as her body raced for that peak, desperate to
reach it. Her fingernails scored his back as she raised her hips to
meet his thrusts. “Please, Jack,” she panted as she wrapped her
legs around his hips.

“
Hang on, babe. I’ll take
care of you,” Jack reached between them and flicked her clit with
his thumb. The motion had her arching up against him. With gritted
teeth, he held off on his own release. He felt the tremors start
and he moved his thumb harder, faster, in time to the movement of
her hips. She tightened around him and he knew she’d reached her
peak. The tingle started in his spine and spread, and with a shout,
he followed her over that peak.