Heartstopper(29)

"Yes, Roxy?"

"I have something I need to give you," I whisper, my heart thudding in my chest.

"What?" Jake asks, and I shake my head.

"Not here. Take me back to the club."





Chapter 20





Jake





It looks different, pulling in after everything's closed up. The sun's  just lightening the sky in the east, and I feel a little strange  shutting down the engine on my Maserati, the silence deafening.

For the first time, I can say that Club Jasmine doesn't look like a  museum or a temple, with trash littering the parking lot. There are  napkins, a few cigarette butts, and I see some glass from smashed beer  bottles. I comfort myself by knowing that the cleaning crew will come in  a few hours, making Club Jasmine a jewel again.

I don't say anything, my head still swirling. After losing my temper a  little with Sophie, and then the tension of watching Roxy somehow put a  bandage over things, then now . . . what is it she wants to give me?

I turn to her, trying to figure things out. "You couldn't have given me this back at my place?"

There's something reassuring in her smile. "Nope. Plus, I didn't want your sister to hear."

I arch my eyebrow inquisitively. Now I'm really curious. "Okay, you got me. Let's go inside."

She gives me a secretive smile that only increases my intrigue, and as I  lead her up the steps and unlock the door, I feel like I'm being drawn  into something that will change my life forever.

Hitting the lights, I see that the club's mostly cleaned up. The early  crew can get the last of the tables wiped down as they restock the bar.  Roxy looks around, her eyes still wide. "It must be wonderful to have  all of this," she says with a sigh. "To know that this place is yours."

"Half mine," I remind her. "We're off to a good start, but I've seen  clubs do well at first and then fall flat. We can't get complacent."

"I have faith in this place," Roxy says, walking up on stage. It's dark  up there. I can barely see her except the glint of sparkles from her  outfit. "Where are the lights?"

"Off to the side. To your left."

Roxy disappears, and I can hear her fumbling around in the darkness.  "Found it!" she yells. There's a click, and the LED floodlights come on,  illuminating the stage. Roxy comes out, a pleased look on her face.  "That's better. Now, can you come stand over here please?"

I see where she's pointing, and I climb up, chuckling. "What are we  doing, reenacting a play? I'm telling you now, I'm horrible at  remembering lines."

"No," Roxy says, going backstage again before returning with one of the  microphones. "I know this isn't turned on, but I just can't do this  without one."

She points to a chair that's in the middle of the dance floor, and I  grab it, sitting down. "Okay, okay . . . so what's all this about?"

"I'm calling this Heartstopper," Roxy says as she lifts the microphone  to her lips, and what comes out is . . . angelic. "It's been too long,  gotta get out, hittin up the new spot with my girl. Lookin' sexy as  hell, workin' the floor, hoping to give this place a whirl . . ."

There's no backing track, no instruments or sound system. Just the  purity of Roxy's voice as she sings for me. It's slow, and I can tell  that the song's supposed to be faster, but as she starts the second  verse, realization sets in . . . she's singing about me.

"Your touch is electric, has been from the start. Give it to me, baby, or I'ma stop your heart . . ."

I'm grinning as Roxy finishes, smiling as she lowers the useless microphone away from her lips. "Well, now."         

     



 

Roxy's face falls, and she blushes as she begins rambling. "It's crap,  isn't it? I just wanted to write a song for you, and in my head, it  sounds good. I just have to get everything right. I didn't know how to  tell you. I didn't want to come off as a fucking cheeseball. I should  have waited and prepared more. I'm sorry, every time I try and write  something myself, it ends up coming out sounding like eighties  shit-schlock . . ."

"I think it's amazing."

My quiet declaration cuts off her self-defeating rant before she can  even get warmed up, and she looks up at me, her eyes full of hope. "You  think so?"

I nod, getting out of my seat and walking up on stage. I reach out,  taking her hand. "Roxy, it's not a ballad, but I heard it. I heard the  beat. I can see you singing that in front of like, fifty thousand  people. It's great. Two things, though."

"What?" Roxy asks, and I chuckle.

"Let's get a drink first. I feel like a good one right now."

Roxy nods, and I lead her over to the bar, going behind to start mixing.  "I'm not a bartender, but I know my way around a kitchen or bar."

"I've noticed that," Roxy says, her eyes full of curiosity. "What are you making?"

"The evil version of the Little Mermaid," I say, adding in a second shot  of Curacao. "When Nathan first tried it, it knocked him on his ass."

I add a splash of maraschino cherry juice, and Roxy hums. "That's not gonna be blue."

"Nope," I agree, shaking up the mix and pouring it into two martini  glasses. It comes out just the right shade of purple, and I grin. "We  call it The Ursula."

Roxy laughs and lifts the glass. "So I was so bad that you need to get me wasted to numb the pain?"

I shake my head and raise my own glass. "No, a toast. To you and to Heartstopper."

We clink glasses and sip, and the drink is just as strong as I remember.  Roxy gasps, setting her glass down. "Shit, now I know why you only give  a martini size. Whooo!"

"Yeah, I'm not trying to get you sloppy drunk," I agree, setting my  glass down. I come around the bar, sitting down on the stool next to  her. "So, about the song . . ."

"Yeah?" she asks, and I reach out, putting my hand on her warm, smooth  thigh, my body thrilling as the feeling of having her so close sweeps  over me.

I pull her closer, taking her hand and putting it over my heart. "You  have to know something. You've stopped my heart, too. In fact, you've  captured it."

Watching Roxy's face, I can tell when it hits her what I'm saying. "You mean . . ."

"I mean I've fallen in love with you, Roxy. You want my heart? It's yours."

I place my hand on Roxy's chest, just like in her song, and I feel the  rapid thrumming of her heart. She feels as fragile as a hummingbird.  Roxy steps closer, pressing her body up against me. "Jake . . . I love  you too."

I stroke my hand over Roxy's breast through her top, her nipple quickly  hardening as I lower my head, kissing her soft lips. There's a hint of  the curacao and cherry on her breath as our tongues wrap sinuously  around each other, Roxy moaning into my mouth as I stroke her nipple  through her dress, her body pressing against me as our hunger rises.

"Oh, God, Jake . . . I need you," Roxy whispers, and I can hear in her  tone that she means more than just for a good fucking. I lift her up.  She's so light that putting her on the bar is easy. "What are you . .  .?"

"Having dessert," I tease, kissing along her neck. I find the zipper on  Roxy's dress, and I love the tension that builds with every click of the  tiny teeth as I ease it down her back, my fingers exploring and  stroking her sensitive skin. "Mmm, never done this before."

"Done what?" she half moans, sighing as I suck on the hollow at the base of her throat.

"Sex on a bar," I joke, pulling her dress down her body. As soon as her  breasts are exposed to the soft light, I devour them, sucking hard on  her right nipple as I pinch and tug on its twin, Roxy gasping and  clutching my head to her as I feast upon her curves. "Lie back."

Roxy looks at me in wonder as she leans back, but it's not quite wide  enough, so I twist her body, glad we're on a corner of the bar. Laying  her back, I lift her skirt, enveloping my head in shadows as I kiss up  the inside of her thighs. Roxy trembles, and I love that she can't see  anything, just feel, as my tongue traces over her skin, moving higher  and higher until I'm licking the edges of her panties.         

     



 

She groans as I trace around them, moving closer and closer to where she wants "Jake . . ."

The first touch of my tongue to her pussy makes her jump, and I'm  ravenous as I taste her, my cock throbbing in my pants as I pull the  cloth to the side and slide my tongue inside her.

Her hips are shaking, thrusting against my quick tongue as I trace up  and down her slit, sucking in between. I slip my tongue as deep as I can  inside her, wiggling it and feeling her pussy clench around me before I  pull out to flick the tip of my tongue over her clit. Roxy reaches  down, grabbing my head again as she grinds her pussy against my mouth,  pulling my hair. It's another thing I love about her. She's a woman who  knows what she wants when it comes to sex, and she isn't going to just  lie there for me.