Ignite (Explosive) (10 page)

“Oh, Jace,
I’ve been sooo worried about you ever since I heard about you joining the Army. I can’t imagine you doing something so dangerous,” Mallory coos in the most annoying baby voice I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing.

She continues as she latches onto my bicep, effectively scratching me in the process with her too long nails. She doesn’t notice as I flinch at her touch, not wanting anything to take away the reminder of Alexa’s arms around me only moments before.

“But I do have to say, I love how the Army’s filled you out. I can only imagine how the rest of you looks underneath all those clothes.” She flutters her eyelids in a way that I think is supposed to be seductive, but it really just looks like she got some sand in her eyes.

I look around for backup when I catch Alexa watching Mallory with an expression of disgust. Meeting her eyes, I pray that she can see the SOS message mine are trying to convey. A small smile comes to her face as she takes a pull of her beer, and she quirks her eyebrows up in amusement. That little brat. She’s seriously enjoying this. Suddenly, there’s a hand grasping my jaw and Mallory turns my face to hers.

“It’s been so long since we’ve been together, Jace. How about a dance for old time’s sake?”

I look around just in time to see Alexa heading towards us. Her eyes widen as she notices Mallory’s hold on me, and before I can do anything, Ryan fucking Harper swoops in and pulls Alexa to the dance floor. She catches my gaze and shoots me the same pleading look she found so amusing when it was on my face. As much as I do not want Mallory’s hands on me, it feels good to teach her a lesson about leaving me hanging. Plus, I have no doubt that Ryan won’t mind switching partners later on.

I cringe as Mallory slips her arms around my waist, and I immediately miss the soft, petite woman I was holding a few minutes earlier. Inhaling, I remember the soft coconut scent that I’ve always been able to associate with Alexa, but instead my nostrils are filled with a smell that’s a mixture of booze and tanning lotion. I wrinkle my nose as my eyes water and we accidentally bump into another couple on the dance floor.

“Bumper dance!” Ryan yells out jovially as he pulls Mallory out of my arms and replaces her with Alexa. This could not have worked out more perfectly.

I smile down at the beautiful girl in my arms—scratch that, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on. She looks up at me as she grins, and for the first time tonight, I think the smile actually reaches her eyes, which I can see twinkling under the soft light on the dance floor.

“As much as I love carnival rides, please steer clear of any other dancing couples tonight,” she requests.

Is she joking? Ryan and any other guy here would have to pry her out of my cold, dead hands before I let her out of my arms again.
Creepy, Jace. Just creepy.

I laugh and kiss her forehead. “Trust me, I have no desire to dance with Mouthy again.”

She freezes in my arms, and I’m not sure if it’s from the kiss or the mention of Mallory’s more than apt nickname from high school. I’m not ashamed to have gained that knowledge firsthand, but I wonder how either woman would feel to know that there was only one of them I was ever thinking about. Yeah, I’m a bastard.

When the song changes, I place my chin on her head and pull her closer. I smile as Lady Antebellum’s “Dancing Away With My Heart” comes on over the speakers. I feel like such a chick as I think about how perfectly this song describes us. Closing my eyes, I remember the last time she was in my arms and I sang to her. I can’t help but relive that moment as I start to softly sing about not seeing her and wondering about her over the years. She shivers as my mouth grazes her ear. I know I’m dangerously close, and just like a bomb, one false move and she could go off. I need to approach carefully and with caution until I know she can handle the heat. She just makes it so damn hard to keep my hands off of her.

I close
my eyes as I feel his hot breath against my neck, traveling up to my ear.

“Wanna get out of here?” He must feel me tense because he quickly adds, “We can just talk, whatever. I just want to catch up, ya know, away from here.”

I’m about to say yes when I hear a venomous voice from behind Jace say, “Oh, well isn’t this cozy?”

“Fuck me,” Jace groans as he turns around to face Mallory, half pulling me behind him. I quickly move around to his side. I’m no high school wilting flower that needs protecting. I roll my eyes at the thought that this bitch still has issues with my and Jace’s friendship. As far as I know, they haven’t dated in over eleven years.
Get over it, skank.
I feel my face start to pale as I realize that I have no idea who Jace has been with over the last ten years. As far as I know, they could’ve been seeing each other any time during the last decade.

“How cute. The high school BFFs are still as clingy as they were ten years ago,” she drunkenly slurs, shrugging off Ryan as he tries to pull her back.

“What the fuck, Mal? This is our reunion, not a place to make a scene. Did you forget that we broke up eleven fucking years ago? You have no goddamn claim to me, and your fake tan, fake tits, and fake nails aren’t going to make me coming crawling back to you,” Jace unleashes on her with a disdain I wasn’t expecting.

Mallory looks at me with contempt as she moves closer to us. She pokes a long-nailed finger into my face and proclaims, “You!! You were always the issue between Jace and me. You were the barrier that kept us from being close. And ten goddamn fucking years later, here you are again. Fuck, isn’t a damn dead husband enough to keep you away from him? Oh wait, running to Jace every time a relationship didn’t work out was always your M.O.”

Her words splash over me like bucket of ice cold water, but unfortunately I’m no star athlete celebrating the winning touchdown. Before I can stop my reaction, my arm reaches out as I slap her Botox-infused face so hard that her head whips to the left the moment my hand connects with her cheek. Rubbing my now tingling hand, I see Sierra walk over to us with a murderous look on her face. Mallory spots her and begins to cower behind Ryan, who’s holding up his hands like he wants nothing to do with being her hiding spot. Jace pulls me into his arms and tightens them, trying to separate the two of us.

“Everything okay, Lexi?” Sierra asks me while glaring at the bitch who just dealt me a low blow.

“You’re asking her if she’s okay?! Your cunt of a little sister just bitch-slapped me for no fucking reason, Sierra,” Mallory pleads.

I pull out of Jace’s grasp and find myself within inches of Mouthy fucking Mallory’s face. She shrinks back as if she’s scared of another blow, and that ignites my fury.

“If you ever speak of me or my life again, I will do a lot more than slap you. You didn’t know me ten years ago, and you don’t know me now. And you certainly don’t know a goddamned thing about my husband. So shut the fuck up, turn around, and go find a guy who wants to screw Orange Barbie tonight,” I sneer more nastily than I mean to, but dammit if my blood isn’t boiling right now.

I’m trembling as I replay her words over in my mind.
You will not let her make you feel guilty. You will not cry,
I tell myself as I close my eyes, trying to blink away the tears I refuse to let her see. I think I could break at any moment when Jace wraps his arms around me and steers me towards the door.

“You found out back then who I’d choose. Not sure why you’d think it’d be different now,” he comments to a flabbergasted Mallory.

We head outside where there’s a small crowd of people catching up. Jace pulls me to the side and places his lips on my ear. He tugs at my lobe for a moment before whispering, “Privacy?”

I feel a tingling run through my body as I answer, “That sounds perfect.”

I know
I’m probably pushing it, but after seeing the way she reacted to Mallory’s bullshit, I knew I had to do something to take her mind off of whatever was going through her brain. Knowing Alexa, she was taking those words to heart, and I couldn’t scramble fast enough to do damage control. There’s no way in hell I’m going to let Mallory ruin the first night I’ve seen Alexa in over ten years, so yeah, maybe I’m a bit brazen in biting her ear. But when she shivers and leans into me, I let out a breath of relief and pray that the moment of hesitation is over.

We begin walking the short distance to the resort where everyone is staying, and she doesn’t hesitate when I grab her hand. Her palms are no longer sweaty, which makes me smile for some reason. Her small hand fits perfectly in mine, and I wonder how in the hell I went ten years without her touch. We bump shoulders as she slightly stumbles and I feel a jolt of electricity with her closeness.

“Umm…sorry, I suppose that last whiskey may have been one too many,” she says apprehensively.

Chuckling, I throw my shoulder back into hers. I look down and she blushes, sending my heart into a damn flutter that I cannot fucking seem to get a grip on. She flexes her hand around mine and grips me tighter. We walk the rest of the way to the condo in silence, enjoying the warm air, the ocean breeze, and the sound of traffic flowing on Highway 98.

A few minutes later, we’re walking through the sliding doors of the condo building. I’m not ready for this night to end, so I find my balls and ask, “Want to hang out on the beach and talk?”

For about the tenth time tonight, I feel like a girl as I wait for her answer.

“I’d like that, Jace,” she whispers, looking everywhere but into my eyes.

Relief washes over me at the knowledge that this night is going to continue. I know I should probably go up to the room and get something for us to sit on, so I head towards the elevators. Alexa’s eyebrows rise and she looks at me questioningly.

“I thought we’d grab a blanket from the room to lay out on the sand, and I also have two things for you. A bottle of Merlot and one of Jameson. We can tag team back and forth as we catch up if that sounds good to you?” I ask.

Alexa takes a deep breath before answering. “How in the hell have you always known me so well? You know tomorrow I’ll feel like death, but chasing whiskey with wine sounds pretty damn good right about now.” She winks at me as she enters the now opened elevator.

I walk in behind her and hit the number seven so that we can get to my top-floor condo. She’s standing across from me, and when I look at her, I see that her eyes are closed as she’s leaning against the wall. She’s biting her lower lip, and it’s all I can do to stay on my side of the elevator. A moment later, she lets out a sigh, and I’m fucked. I cross the small space and instantly take her into my arms. She gasps, but the sound doesn’t even register in my mind because all I can think about is biting those lips myself.

I press my forehead to hers and my hands grasp her waist. “Do you know how many times I’ve thought about doing this for the last ten years? Do you know how much it’s killed me to not have you? To know that someone else had his hands on you? I can’t hold it in much longer, Alexa. I need to touch you. I need to taste you. I need you more than you could ever imagine.”

Her breath hitches as my lips hover over hers. I’m two goddamn millimeters from coming into contact with her perfect pink lips, and I can’t finish. What the fuck did Will Smith say in that stupid romantic comedy, Hitch? Oh yeah, You go ninety percent, Jace, and she’ll come the other ten. So here I am, at ninety fucking percent, and my lips are acting like a damn hovercraft, waiting for her to go the other ten.

I feel her tongue brush my lips as she darts it out of her mouth to wet her lips. Her eyes widen as she realizes that she’s made contact with me, but she still refuses to press her lips to mine. You know what? Fuck you, Will Smith, and your stupid-ass advice. If I want a woman—and fuck if I don’t want this one more than I want a hot shower after ten days in the field—I’m going balls to the wall, one hundred fucking percent. I’m claiming her, not playing some bullshit arithmetic game.

Before she can move, my lips are on hers as I press into her. I kiss her gently, not wanting to rush her, but it’s not ten seconds until her tongue is probing my mouth. I can’t help the grin that falls upon my lips, and she uses that moment to shoot her tongue into my mouth to tangle with mine. Running my hands up her waist, I grab onto her long hair that’s hanging loosely down her back. Our tongues are doing a slow waltz. Side to side, back and forth, caressing each other in perfect rhythm. Her hands run down my back and latch onto my ass, which she roughly squeezes as she thrusts her lower half closer to me. We both groan as the elevator dings and the door opens, revealing an elderly couple looking at us in shock.

We pull apart, and Alexa is quick to fix her clothes. Grinning sheepishly, I grab her hand, pulling her off of the elevator towards my room. Her face is flushed, and I’m not sure if it’s with embarrassment or desire. I drag her towards my condo, wanting nothing more than to push her up against the wall and impale her immediately with my hard-on. I know I need to slow the fuck down, but she’s so damn sensual, sexy, and I can hardly think without having my lips on her.

We walk towards my condo and she’s trailing behind me slowly. I unlock the door and we go inside. She hangs out in the foyer as if she’s afraid to come in any farther. I’m guessing she wants me to grab the blanket and alcohol and hurry the hell up, so I do just that. I open the bottle of wine and re-cork it to the best of my ability. I grab the bottle of Jameson for extra measure. It’s been ten years, so if this night takes ten hours, I’ll definitely be okay with it.

Making sure that I have everything, I move to the entrance of the condo. Alexa looks everywhere but at me, so I hand her the bottles and head back to the living room to find a blanket. Grabbing it, I lead her out of the condo as I grab one of the bottles from her to free her left hand. We ride down the elevator, this time in silence. As the doors open, I take her hand and lead her past the pool area and down the wooden walkway leading to the beach.

We both kick off our flip-flops as we reach the sand and walk a few moments before we get to a place that screams privacy. I set the blanket out and Alexa sits down, wine in hand. She takes a long swallow as she looks at me inquisitively. Unscrewing the whiskey, I follow suit. A swig for a swig, right? She smirks cutely at me as she lies down to look up at the stars, and I do the same.

We spend the next hour or so just shooting the shit, trying to catch up on the last ten years of our lives. She asks about my siblings and tells me funny stories about her niece. I almost lose it when she tells me about Jeremy passing out in the delivery room when Ava was born. It could’ve just been the alcohol that made it so funny, but I can just imagine him falling to the floor while Sierra’s giving birth to their firstborn.

She asks some more about my deployments, and from time to time she mentions Ty, but for the most part we stay on safer, less sensitive subjects. I’m taking Sierra’s advice as I decide not to push her—at least not tonight. I’m again surprised at how easy it is to talk with her after such a long time. I suppose it really shouldn’t come as a shock since we were always able to talk, but I was afraid that there would be awkwardness due to our last encounter and then lack thereof over the past decade. It may have been there at first at the bar, but ever since I sat down to play cards, it’s been like old times. I’m getting ready to comment on that when she turns over and looks at me.

Before I can speak, I hear her whisper. “God, I feel like I’ve gone ten years in the past.”

Sitting up, I take a swig of the Jameson, hoping the burn of the alcohol will outweigh the one in my chest. I recap the bottle and lie down sideways to face her.

“I hope that’s not a bad thing,” I whisper as I brush the bangs away from her eyes. God, she’s so beautiful in the moonlight. You know, when you’re in the Army and could be on death’s door at any moment, you find yourself having vivid memories of every pleasurable experience that’s happened in your life. This is different. No amount of fantasizing could ever compare to having this gorgeous woman next to me, and I realize that I’m going to have a hard time leaving her again.

Alexa laughs. “I took my first shot of liquor on this beach, and I have so many other amazing memories here. Somehow, I feel at peace here. I always did. I can sit here, listening to the waves crash, feeling the sand in between my toes, and enjoying the warm breeze on my face. It takes me back to a place where I didn’t know pain, and it’s just a really nice feeling, you know?”

I cringe at her words, knowing that the first time she experienced any type of that pain was because of me. Sitting up, I stare out at the water for a few moments as I try to decide how to steer this conversation. This is the perfect opening for me to find out if she still feels anything—anything at all—for me, but I’m having a mental shutdown trying to find the right words. I take another swig of the whiskey as I watch her sit up and take a few gulps from the wine bottle. Before I can say anything, she shocks me with her next question.

“Jace, I need to know. Why didn’t you ever try to contact me? You said you’d come back for me, but you never did,” she asks as she looks away from me.

I’m floored. I have no idea what to say, and I look at her face in the moonlight. Did Kristin never tell her that I came looking? There’s no way. I always figured she’d told her, and when I never heard from Alexa, I thought it was because she really had moved on. I thought I’d lost my chance. I thought… I can’t even remember what the hell I was thinking.

Unscrewing the Jameson cap, I take another drink from the bottle before I can even begin to process what she’s just asked me, even though I know I need to slow it down if I don’t want to pass out right here in the sand.

Moving across the blanket, I close the distance between us. I bring my face within inches of hers. I place my hands on her thighs as I stare into her beautiful eyes. She tries to look away but I bring my right hand up to cup her jaw and force her to look at me.

“Alexa, I came back for you. Once I completed Boot Camp, I was given a pass to see my family for the weekend. I drove straight to your house and my heart took a nosedive when I saw the ‘For Sale’ sign.” I proceed to tell her about my idiotic window peering and the real estate agent giving me all the details, except for the most important one—her location. She looks at me with glistening eyes as she covers her mouth, hiding a whimper.

“Babe, I meant what I said all those years ago. I’d come back for you. And I did. But I was too late. After I found out that you were gone, I went to see Kristin to find out exactly where you were because I had no idea who else to turn to. She slammed the door in my face, but not before she told me you’d moved on. I… Fuck, that hurt, Alexa. I didn’t want to believe it, but I had no way of knowing if it was true or not. So I went back to the Army and focused everything on my career. I’ve never been able to find anyone like you. I know it probably sounds dumb and creepy because we only had that night, but I’ve never been able to get over you. You were my best friend. The first girl, the only girl, I’ve loved,” I confess, not looking away from her eyes as I watch them fill with silent tears.

I finish speaking and Alexa stares at me with her jaw open. She grabs the whiskey bottle out of my hand and takes a long swallow. Recapping it, she throws it back on blanket before making a move to get up. I watch her get to her feet and turn away from me towards the shore. She puts her feet in the water as she runs her hands through her hair, and I wonder what in the hell she’s thinking.