Breathe (Sea Breeze #1)(40)
When we finished eating, he stood up and took my hand. “If you will excuse us, I want to go dance with Sadie.”
Their faces shone with disappointment, and I think I even heard someone sigh. We walked close enough to hear the music. He reached down and slipped off my heels and placed them beside his discarded shoes. He pulled me out of the light and onto the moonlit beach. He nodded to the D.J. who had taken over for the band, and then back at me. The song began, and I instantly recognized the voice coming over the speakers. Jax held me closer as his velvet, smooth voice sang softly with the words of his song.
“Let me hold you close just for tonight. When you’re not in my arms, nothing seems right. Just to see your smile lights up my darkest night. So, baby, please dance with me in the moonlight.”
Jax leaned back and tilted my face to his.
“Your touch is my only addiction. Your heartbeat takes my breath away. You’ll break my heart if you don’t stay. Your whispers sing to me each night, and your laugh is my only sun.
“Hold me and whisper you love me. Hold me and tell me there’s no world without you beside me. Hold me, I need you to guide me. I can’t live without you. Hold me and whisper you love me. Hold me and tell me there’s no world without you beside me. Hold me, I need you to guide me.”
The song ended, and I stood in Jax's arms, unable to look away from his steel blue eyes darkened with emotion.
“I’ve never understood those words until tonight. I sang them, but I didn’t write them. I didn’t want to record the song, but I lost the battle. Now, when I sing those words, I will have a face to put behind them.” He paused and traced a line from my ear to my chin. “I just hope I am able to get through those words when you’re a thousand miles away.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I didn’t want to think about him being a thousand miles away. I laid my head against his chest, and he pulled me closer.
* * *
Chapter Twelve
Jax made me promise not to come to work the next morning after we sat up talking until three. The sun was getting brighter, and my white mini blinds didn’t do much to block out the light. I stretched and got up. I peeked inside Jessica’s room, and she was already awake. When I walked into the kitchen, Jessica stood fixing a bowl of cereal. She frowned at me.
“You better not lose that job due to oversleeping. What time did you get in anyway?”
It was time I told her about Jax. He wanted me to go to the fundraiser with him the following week, and I needed to tell Jessica. Not sure where to start, I sat down at the table.
“We need to talk about something.”
She sat her bowl down on the table. “Girl, if you tell me you’re pregnant, I think I might go mad.”
I laughed. “That’s not going to happen. And, no, that's not what this is about.”
Jessica tilted her head to the side. “Is this going to answer my question about what time you got in last night?”
I nodded.
She motioned her spoon at me to proceed, and then she took a big bite of her flakes.
I took a deep breath. “I’m not real sure where to start.”
Jessica paused with her spoon in mid air. “You mean this is going to be that good?”
I rolled my eyes. Sometimes I wished she could be a normal mother, but then I was not normal, so why should I expect her to be. “Okay, when you worked for the Stone’s did you know who you were working for?”
She nodded. “Sure, the teen rocker Jax Stone. I couldn’t miss his pictures on the walls.”
I sighed, relieved she at least knew that much. “Well, I’m dating him.” I stopped and waited.
She swallowed her mouthful, and then her jaw dropped. “No way.”
I’d hoped for a more in depth reply from her. But then, depth wasn’t really Jessica’s thing.
“We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks now, and, well, he has to go back to Hollywood for a fundraiser next week, and he wants me to go with him as his date.”
This got Jessica’s attention. “He wants you to go to Hollywood?”
I nodded, and she chewed on her flakes a few minutes. “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she finally said.
I hadn’t expected her to care if I went or not. “Can I ask why?”
She sat back in her seat and sighed. “Sadie, until this Jax Stone, you have never dated anyone. You’re beautiful, but you’re young and naive. His world isn’t something you’re ready for. Sure, dating him here is one thing, but walking into his world is another. I know I’m not the best mother in the world, but I love you, and I'm going to say no to protect you. You’re not ready for this, and the heartache this is going to cause will be like nothing you have ever experienced. A relationship with him for any reasonable amount of time is impossible. You’re just going to fall in love with him, and he is going to leave. He has to. He can’t be Jax Stone in Sea Breeze, Alabama.”
I wanted to argue, but I knew she was right. “I already love him,” I whispered.
She stood, walked over to me, put her hands on my shoulders, and squeezed. “Ah, baby, you’re about to find out how bad love really does hurt.” She kissed my head and left out the back door.
I couldn’t go, and it disappointed me, but somehow I knew it would be for the best. I wouldn’t fit into his world in Hollywood. I couldn’t even handle something as simple as high school.