Destined to Change by Harley, M. (top android ebook reader TXT) 📕

doors opened, and before me stood Jaxon, my pierced, tattooed knight in shining armor. He had on his “fancy” jeans, a white button up shirt, and a pair of cowboy boots, that he must have borrowed from Jake. He gave me a really sheepish grin and reached his hand out to me.

I was so surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”

“Do you want me to leave?” he said with a really sad look on his face.

I ran over to him and threw my arms around his neck and screamed, “No!”

He pulled back. “We need to talk, but I know that you have to go to this party. So can we just put a hold on the bad feelings and enjoy this party before we go upstairs and talk?”

“Yes, I think we can do that. We do have a lot to talk about, but right now, I am just so happy to see you, you have no idea.”

“Oh, babe, I think I have a pretty good idea.”

We walked into the party, and I could tell that people were looking Jaxon up and down. He had the sleeves of his white button-up rolled up to his elbows so his tattoos were prominently displayed and his eyebrow ring was shining.

I was so proud to be there with him, even though I couldn’t forget everything he said. I was just so happy that he made the first move to fix things.

The sultry voice of Patsy Cline singing Crazy filled the room. Jaxon reached his hand out to me. “Loralei, would you give me the honor of this dance?”

I jumped at the chance to be that close to him. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to him as we began to dance. We were swaying to the rhythm of the music. We danced and he held me. All of the horrible things we said were disappearing from my mind as his eyes danced with my heart.

Before I knew it, we had been dancing for over an hour. We finally had a seat at one of the tables in the back of the room.

“I’m sorry, Lor.” Jaxon said as he leaned over and took my hand in his.

I squeezed his hand, “Me too, Jaxon.”

“You look beautiful tonight, baby,” Jaxon said as he leaned over and kissed my cheek. That kiss sent shivers down my spine. “You thirsty?” he asked.

“Um, yeah. I am actually.”

“I’ll go grab us a couple of drinks. I’ll be right back.”

As I was watching him walk away, I felt a large hand on the small of my back and immediately knew it was Cade.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Looks like you and asshat have kissed and made-up. So I guess that means you won’t be in my bed tonight, hon.” I could tell he was not happy about this.

He grabbed my waist, pulling me up to him. “Does he know you woke up with me today? Does he know the way I make you feel with just the touch of my hand or the sound of my voice?”

I flipped around, looked him square in the eye and pleaded, “Cade, you have to get out of here. I don’t feel anything for you. I love him and I want you to leave, now!”

“That’s sure not what you were screaming at me last night, hon.” He swooped down and kissed me hard. Without even realizing what was happening he had walked me toward the bathroom and pushed us through the door locking it.

He reached around and started to unzip my dress. It was hanging halfway down my back before I broke away from him. I tried to tell him to get away from me, but I couldn’t say anything. The look on his face was mesmerizing. I couldn’t break away from his stare, and I couldn’t speak.

We just stood there staring until I heard a knock at the door that broke the trance between us. Cade gazed at me with a look I never dreamed I would see from him - defeat. He said, “Here let me help you with that,” as he zipped up my dress.

“I don’t know what’s happening here, but I love him Cade. I can’t be with you. Please just stay away from me. If you care about me at all, you will stay away.”

I had to get out of this room. It was so hard fighting my attraction to Cade while standing so close to him. I had to get back to Jaxon.

I took a few minutes to relax and gain my composure, and then I headed back to the party and found our table empty. Where did Jaxon go? Oh my god - did he see what just happened? Did he see Cade kiss me? I ran to the elevator as fast as I could. I had to get to our room. I prayed that Jaxon would be there.

On the ride up I kept thinking about Cade. About the look on his face when I told him I loved Jaxon. He looked so defeated, so sad.

Everything with Cade was intense. We were only in that bathroom for a couple of minutes, but it felt like forever. I couldn’t fathom who I had turned into. I was not this person. I was not a woman who did things like this. I was a good Baptist girl. I was a mother, and a daughter. I was not whoever this was that I had been for the past few days.

I needed to get back home. I needed to get back to my life and get away from all of this craziness. The craziness called Cade.

I stepped off of the elevator and made my way down the hall to my room. When I opened the door, the room was empty. Finally, I heard water running and headed toward the bathroom. Jaxon was standing at the sink with his shirt off. He looked different. He didn’t really seem mad, he just seemed upset.

“Everything okay?” I