Fall into my Heart (The Subzero Series, #1) (12 page)

I
thought it would be nice to have dinner waiting in the crock pot for us when I
picked Abby up from the airport. I could imagine the two of us being greeted by
the delicious smells of the meal that I had prepared before work. It would really
make my place seem so cozy and homey.

I
smiled at the thought and began perusing the aisles. I thought about beef stew,
but quickly decided that there may be more involved with that then I was
willing to deal with. That and I didn’t know the first thing about making beef
stew.

I
glanced over the meat section a couple of times and paused when I saw the
kielbasa. I could do kielbasa and sour kraut. That should be easy enough. I
mean, how hard is it to cut this meat into pieces and dump that and the sour
kraut into the crock pot? Easy peasy. I grabbed a couple packages of kielbasa
and went off to get a few cans of sour kraut and some steak rolls. I also
grabbed a bag of Abby’s favorite chips – Honey Barbeque, some sweet corn and a
bottle of root beer.

I
couldn’t wait for her to see how domesticated I have become! She’ll be
impressed I’m sure. After I toted my groceries back home, and put them away, I
decided to put up my decorations. I popped a Christmas CD into my CD player. As
my condo filled with music, I danced into the hallway to gather my bags.

I
dragged the dreaded oversized Santa and positioned him by the front door. I
placed the peppermint bark candle on top of my stove and lit it. I stood there
with my eyes closed while the cool peppermint scent filled my nose. After
putting the nutcrackers on a shelf in the living room and placing the reindeer
in a corner in the hallway, I took the lighted garland onto the balcony and
wrapped it around the railing. I was sitting on the floor trying to figure out
where to hang to oversized Christmas balls when my phone rang.

“Hello,
Chloe.” Jack’s velvety smooth voice floated through the phone.

“Hey!
I missed you this morning.”

“Yeah,
I’m sorry about that. I didn’t want to wake you. We’ll be out of here soon, do
you mind if I come over?” He asked.

“Sure!
Come whenever you want. I’ll be here.” I told him.

We
disconnected and I was staring at the arched cove above the television when I
had an idea. I ran to the hall closet and started sorting through boxes until I
found some green and red plaid ribbon. I wasn’t entirely sure why I had this,
but I was glad I did! I grabbed scissors and tape and got to work cutting the
ribbon into foot long strips. I tied one end of each ribbon to a Christmas ball
and taped the other end of each ribbon to the arch, alternating between red and
green.

I
took a step back and was pleased with myself. Plopping down on the couch and I
pulled my laptop on top of my legs and powered it on. I was in the middle of
sending out some e-Christmas cards, when Jack knocked on my door. The first
thing I noticed when I opened the door to let him in was the dark circles under
his eyes.

“What
time did you leave this morning?” I asked him.

“I
don’t know, like 5 a.m.” He replied as he stepped inside and dropped a kiss on
my forehead.

“So
in the past two days you’ve had what.....like a total of nine hours of sleep?”

“I’ve
had a really long day Chloe. The last thing I need right now is a bloody
lecture from you about my sleeping habits.” Jack said harshly.

I
looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Jack rubbed his face with his hands. “I’m
sorry. I don’t mean to be such a jerk.”

I
shook my head as if to say don’t worry about it. He was tired, I got that. Who
doesn’t get all cranky when they are tired? He does it again though and he’s
gonna find himself sleeping in his own bed.....all alone.

“Are
you hungry?” I asked him.

“Famished.”
He replied.

I
grabbed Jack’s hand and pulled him into the kitchen. I opened up the
refrigerator and took out some eggs and bread. After taking a jar of cinnamon
out of the cabinet, I got to work. Ten minutes later, we were sitting in the
living room with plates of French toast while we watched a Christmas movie.

“Mmmm.....this
is really good.” Jack said as he crammed his French toast into his mouth.

I
have never seen anyone eat as quickly as he did. Once I caught up with him and
finished, we pushed our plates aside and I snuggled up into the crook of Jack’s
arm. Jack sighed as he wrapped his arms around me tightly.

“Do
you have to go into the studio tomorrow?” I asked him.

Jack
mumbled a response that I couldn’t understand. I glanced up and saw that he was
falling asleep.

“Come
on, let’s get you to bed.” I said.

As
I stood up, Jack’s eyes opened slightly and then closed again. Grabbing both of
his hands, I tried to pull him up but he didn’t budge. I sat back down and put
one of his arms around my shoulders, took his other hand in mine and put my free
arm around his waist. I braced myself and was surprised that as I stood up Jack
did too.....well sort of. He only half stood, which means I was only halfway
standing up, which was kind of awkward.

I
took a couple deep breaths before trying to take a few steps.
Okay Chloe,
you can do this!
I took a couple more steps and leaned Jack up against the
wall in the hallway so that I could take a quick break. Jack started to slide a
little bit down the wall so I quickly grabbed ahold of him and pulled him
forward so that he was leaning on my back. Geez.....he must be tired! There’s no
way I would be able to sleep through this!

I
started walking forward again; only a couple more steps to go! I finally
managed to make it into my room. As soon as I got close enough, I turned around
and flopped Jack down onto the bed. He landed halfway on the bed; His legs were
hanging over the side. I picked up his legs and pushed as hard as I could until
he was completely on the bed, or at least as close as he was gonna get. I sat
on the edge of the bed, completely exhausted. Turning around, I yanked Jack’s
shoes off of his feet before crawling up next to him and falling asleep.

~*~

I
was sitting in the kitchen trying to figure out if there was anything else I
needed to get for my sisters visit when Jack came stumbling out of my room.

“What
time is it?” He yawned.

“Noon.”
I said smiling.

“Oh
geez.....I’m sorry.” Jack said.

“For
what? Getting some decent sleep? Please!” I teased him.

Jack
leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. “What are you doing today?”

I
shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.

“Good,
we’re going out.” He said.

“Where
to?” I asked curiously. Everything with Jack seemed like an adventure. I
absolutely loved it!

“We’re
going to get a Christmas tree. I’m going to take a shower.....make sure you
bundle up!” Jack gave me another kiss and walked out the door.

Two
hours later we were both dressed in jeans and hoodies, walking around a tree
lot.

“So
what do you think? Blue spruce or Douglas fir?” Jack asked.

“Definitely
the Douglas fir. They look more like Christmas trees.” I replied.

“I
agree. How about this one?” Jack held a tree out for me to see.

“It
looks weird.” I said wrinkling my nose.

“Okay,
what about this one?” Jack pointed out the one next to it.

I
shook my head. “The middle is bare.”

Jack
pointed out a couple more trees, all of which I turned down for one reason or
another.

“Does
this one meet your highly demanding tree expectations?” Jack teased, holding
out another tree.

I
laughed. “That one is perfect.”

“Oh
thank goodness!” Jack rolled his eyes jokingly.

He
paid for the tree and tossed it in the back of his truck. I felt a surge of
excitement as we drove back home. I don’t remember being this excited about
Christmas since I was a kid.

“So
shall we put the tree up in your place or mine?” Jack asked.

“We
might as well put it in yours since I’ll be going away for a week.”

Jack
nodded in agreement as he unloaded the tree from the back of his truck. We each
grabbed an end of the tree and headed towards Jack’s condo. I made us some hot
chocolate with marshmallows while Jack set the tree up in the stand.

“I
can’t wait to see it all decorated!” I said as I handed Jack his mug.

Jack
smiled. “Soon enough my dear, you must have been impatient as a child.”

“You
have no idea,” I told him, “We use to have to wait while my dad put the lights
on the tree and then my mom would hang up the balls. It seemed like it took
forever! Then my brother, my sister and I would take turns putting up the
ornaments.”

I
took a sip of my hot chocolate and sat down on Jack’s couch. I pulled out my
cellphone and snapped a quick picture of our very first christmas tree.  Hmmm.....maybe
we should go to the mall together and pick out our first christmas ornament
together to put on our tree.

“What
does your week look like?” I asked as Jack pulled a box of Christmas lights out
of his hallway closet.

“Uh,
back at the studio again tomorrow for a little bit. We’re playing Stoaked
Friday night, so probably rehearsing Tuesday through Thursday. Why?”

“My
sister, Abby, is coming in on Wednesday. I was hoping maybe you could have
dinner with us so you can meet her.”

“Yeah,
that sounds good. I’ll definitely be there.” He said giving me a wink.

I smiled at Jack as he started winding the lights around our tree.

––––––––

I
can’t believe my sister is coming in today! The last few days went by so
quickly and now Wednesday is finally here!

I
put the kielbasa and sour kraut in the crock pot before I left for work. Now I
was sitting at my desk unsuccessfully trying to get through the work day. At
exactly four o’clock, I grabbed my purse and coat and ran to the subway
station. At the airport, I frantically searched for Abby until I saw her long
brown hair bouncing through the gate.

“Abby!”
I yelled as I ran up to her.

“Hey
Chloe!”  She squealed as we hugged each other.

“I’m
so glad you are here!” I exclaimed as I grabbed one of her suitcases.

While
we were on the subway heading to my condo, Abby gave me a rundown on the Nick
and Noelle situation.

“So
then I walked in and they were totally making out. I don’t quite understand it
myself. I mean did you see that one coming?” Abby she asked me.

“No,
not hardly.” I said as the subway pulled into the station.

We
each grabbed a suitcase and started to walk to the short distance to my condo.
As we got closer, I could see Jack and Tyler sitting on the front steps of the
building talking.

“Do
you see the guy with the black spiky hair? That’s Jack.” I said smiling. I was
so excited. My two favorite people were just about to meet each other.

“Oh
my god! He is so HOT! Does he have a girlfriend?” Abby asked.

“Uh
yeah.....His girlfriend is me.” I said. Seriously, where has she been during our
last couple phone calls?

“No
not Jack. I mean the other guy.” She said.

“You
mean Tyler? Yeah he’s single.....Abby he has a blue Mohawk.”

“I
know! Cool huh?”

I
shook my head as the guys stood up and walked toward us.

“Hey
there beautiful.” Jack said as he greeted me with a kiss.

“Jack,
this is my sister Abby. Abby this is Jack and Tyler.”

“It’s
very nice to meet you both.” Abby said without taking her eyes off of Tyler.

“Let
us get those bags for you.” Tyler said reaching for her suitcase.

“Thanks,
you know Chloe made dinner. You should join us.” Abby said.

Tyler
looked over at me and I nodded with a smile.

“That
sounds great.” Tyler said as we made our way up the stairs.

I
unlocked my front door anticipating the smell of a home cooked meal. Instead we
were met at the door by some smoke and the smell of burnt meat and sour kraut.

“Oh
no!” I cried as I ran into the kitchen, with Jack, Tyler and Abby on my heels.

I
unplugged the crock pot and opened the lid. Everything inside was completely
burnt. I suddenly had a flashback to the garlic bread that suffered the same
fate. Why is it I had such a hard time with things that were supposed to be so
simple?

“I
don’t get it. I thought you were supposed to put everything in this pot and
your meal would be ready when you got home.” I said throwing my hands up in the
air.

Jack
came up behind me and kissed my cheek. He pointed to the temperature knob on
the crock pot. “You’re supposed to put it on low to cook all day not high my
dear.”

Behind
us, Abby and Tyler started laughing. I shot them both a dirty look just as Jack
suggested that he and Tyler go get us some Chinese.

“I’m
gonna take a quick shower.” Abby said after the guys left. After I showed her
where her room and the bathroom were, I sunk down into the couch with a
magazine. I was in the middle of reading an article on “50 fearless things to
do” when Abby flopped down on the couch next to me.

“So
much for avoiding Jack, huh?” she asked.

“That
went out the window when I realized that he lived across the hall and I was his
bands publicist. I tried but it was impossible.”

The
guys walked in then, the smell of Chinese food filled the condo. Yum.....that
smelled so much better than my failed attempt at cooking did. Probably tasted
better too.

“Mmmm.....Now
that
smells great! No offense Chloe.” Abby said.

“None
taken. What did you guys get?” I asked.

“Sweet
and sour chicken, vegetable lo mien, wonton soup, beef tips and broccoli and
some shrimp fried rice for my girl.” Jack said grabbing plates out of the
cabinet.

“Yummy!
Thank you!” I said.

We
took the food in the dining room and sat down to eat. Jack, Tyler and Abby
expertly used their chopsticks to eat their food. I gave up after my fifth
attempt to pick up rice and grabbed a fork.

“Are
you guys coming Friday night?” Jack asked me.

“What’s
Friday night?” Abby asked.

“Our
band is playing, you guys should come. It’s going to be totally mental.” Tyler
said.

“Do
you want to go?” I asked Abby as she looked at me.

“Yeah,
that sounds great!” She replied enthusiastically.

“Okay,
fortune cookie time.” Tyler said tossing each of us a fortune cookie.

Abby
opened hers up first. “You will find success in an unlikely place.”

“You
will learn the powers of unconditional love.” Jack read as he winked at me.

“You
will learn the virtue of obedience.....what the hell does that mean?” Tyler
asked.

We
all started laughing.

“Well
that would certainly make my job easier.” I teased him.

“Cheeky
monkey, what does yours say?” Tyler asked me.

I
opened my cookie and read “Your beauty and brains make you an unstoppable
force.”

“Damn
right.” Jack said with a grin.

The
guys left shortly after dinner. Abby and I curled up on the couch for some girl
talk, which was something we did all of the time before I moved. I actually
kind of missed this. We talked on the phone all the time but that wasn’t the
same.

“So
I ran into Connor the other day.” Abby started to say.

“So
what, I don’t care.” I said matter-of-factly.

“He
asked me how you are doing.”

“Did
you tell him I’ve never been better?”

“Maybe
not quite as nicely, but I said something like that,” Abby gave a little laugh.
“Jack seems nice.”

I
smiled dreamily. “Jack’s amazing. I really like being with him.”

“So
I take it its serious?”

“Well,
I mean he is my boyfriend and we aren’t seeing other people. There haven’t been
any deep conversations over wine and candles were we professed our undying love
for each other, but yeah, I’d say we were pretty serious.”

“That’s
great, Chlo, I’m really happy for you.” Abby bit her lower lip. She picked up a
magazine from the coffee table and started flipping through it. I think she was
trying to look nonchalant but I could tell it was an act. “So.....what can you
tell me about Tyler?”

See.....I
knew it. She’s trying to act all casual when really he just wants the dirty
details about my blue haired buddy.

“Well
he definitely keeps my life interesting at work.”

“How
so?” She asked, still making every attempt to avoid my gaze.

“Well......he’s
a bit of a hooligan. Not just him though, all four of them are though I haven’t
gotten any calls about Jack’s behavior so either he is the mature one of the
group or he is really good at making sure he doesn’t get caught.”

“Does
Tyler.....does he get a lot of girls? I mean being in a band and all.....”

I
pulled a face. I hated the personal questions. Of course, I don’t want my
sister to get hurt but I also don’t want to say anything about Tyler that isn’t
true and I couldn’t honestly say he didn’t have a bedroom buddy.

“I
don’t think so. He did mention a girl one time to me and to be honest with you
I’m not even sure if he was being serious. I mean, they always have girls
throwing themselves at them after shows and all but I’ve never seen Tyler so
much as blow a kiss to them. I don’t know what he does when I’m not around but
I know for sure he does not have a girlfriend.”

“Hmmmm.....well
that’s nice to know.”

I
glanced down at my cellphone and realized it was close to midnight. I groaned
to myself thinking about how I had to be up for work in a few hours. I wanted
to stay up and question her about this little crush she seemed to have picked
up as soon as we stepped off the subway but if there is one thing I love it is
my beauty sleep. God help the poor sap that would encounter my wrath if I
didn’t get at least six hours, though I much preferred closer to eight.

“Well
I should go to bed; I’ve got to work tomorrow. Good night.”  We gave each other
a hug before disappearing into our bedrooms.

~*~

I
was sitting at work the next day going through paperwork, when Skylar came
bursting in with a magazine.

“You
have got to see this.” She said throwing the magazine down in front of me.

It
was an interview with Julissa where she was bragging about all of the charity
work she does. I wonder if she realizes that hiring college students to clean
her house while she lies around poolside in her bikini isn’t considered charity
work. I scanned down the page and happened to see that she mentioned that she
was going to a Christmas charity event with a hot young musician.

“I
don’t want to say his name because the relationship is so new but we met doing
charity work and there was an immediate attraction.” I read. When they pressed
her further, she replied coyly “You’ll just have to come to the event and see.”

“She’s
got to be talking about Jack, I mean as much as she was hounding you about him.
Do you think it’s true?” Skylar asked.

“No,
Jack is going with me. This girl is out of her mind.” I muttered.

I
picked up my phone and punched in Julissa’s number. To my surprise, she
answered.

“Hey
Julissa, it’s Chloe.”

“What?”

“I
just read the interview you did.”

“And?”

“Well
the guy you mentioned, that wouldn’t happen to be Jack Riley would it?”

“So
what if it is?” Julissa huffed.

“I
thought I told you he has a girlfriend.”

“I
thought I told you that had nothing to do with me.”

“So
is that really the image you want to have? I mean we are trying to positively
promote you.”

“From
what I understand, Jack’s relationship is new so there is no attached
girlfriend. Just some silly little nobody who thinks she has a chance. As for
the positive promoting, that is your job you deal with it.” She said before
hanging up.

“Evil
witch.” I muttered as I slammed the phone down.

“Well
that went well.” Skylar smiled.

“I
don’t know who she thinks she is but I am not some silly little nobody.” I
fumed.

“I
don’t think she knows that you are his girlfriend.” Skylar pointed out.

“Yeah
well she will soon.” I said.

My
desk phone rang as Skylar stood up and walked out. I whipped up my phone and
immediately felt my annoyed state melt away as I heard Jack’s velvety smooth
voice in my ear.

“Hello
there beautiful, you sound stressed.” Jack said.

“I
was but suddenly not so much anymore.” I gave Jack the details of the Julissa
interview as well as the phone conversation I had with her.

“Try
not to worry about her. She’s just superficial. She’s only interested in my
image and what it could do for her.”

“I
know that, she just works me to my core. I’m starting to look forward to seeing
the look on her face when she sees you there with me.”

Jack
laughed. “I knew you had a mean streak in you somewhere.”

“Not
mean, just frustrated.” I corrected him.

“Alright
my dear, I just wanted to ring you hello. I probably won’t see you until
tomorrow night.”

“Thanks
Jack, I’ll be there.”

I
had no sooner hung up with Jack when Jocalyn popped her head in to let me know
there was someone from
Celebrity Entertainer
magazine on hold. Realizing
that it had been at least a week since I’d had a call regarding anything
Subzero, I asked her to put it through to voicemail. Since I never knew what I
could possibly hear about them, I wanted to make sure I was prepared.

“Hello,
this is Lulu Watkins with
Celebrity Entertainer
. I was calling to
confirm rumors that Julissa Patton and Jack Riley are expecting their first
child together.”

I
nearly snorted with laughter – attractive I know. Well, this one I
had
to
tell him about. Cradling the phone on my shoulder, I dialed Jack’s number.

“Hey
love, everything okay?”

“Oh
yeah, everything’s fine. Just calling you back to have you confirm or deny a
phone call I just received about you.”

“Oh-Kay.....what’s
the big story on the rumor mill?”

“That
you and Julissa Patton are expecting your first love child together.”

“God
help humanity.”

“My
thoughts exactly.”

“See
you tomorrow night?”

“Looking
forward to it.”

As
soon as I hung up, I realized I had another voicemail. Man, people were really
working hard today. I picked my phone up, pressed the button to retrieve my
voicemail and entered my code.

“Good
afternoon, this is Lucy O’Neill with
The Daily Dish
. I’m calling to
confirm reports that Noah Walker and Tyler McDermott accosted Jim Dwyer and
Benny Fortino from Z 93.8 this morning and threatened to run them over and feed
them to bears if they didn’t play Subzero’s music on the radio. If you could
please call.....”

I
rolled my eyes and shook my head. I wanted to automatically say this wasn’t
true but when it came to these guys, there wasn’t anything I could hear that
would surprise me anymore. Crossing my fingers that there was no truth to this,
I called Tyler.

“Ahhhh,
Chloe love. To what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?”