Jess Dee - Rhythm of My Heart

She left him to his thoughts, let him assimilate what she’d told him. Though the visions were different every time, she was used to them. She’d been having them for eleven years, ever since the explosion. This was all brand new for him.

“Zachary? The kid you saw…or merged with?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s me.”

“You’re Zachary?”

“Zachary Pace. It’s my real name.”

“What about Jonah?”

“Stage name. And middle name.”

“Ah.”

And then they were both silent for a while.

Jonah came to sit beside her on the couch, perching on the edge of the cushions. She scooched up to make space for him.

“Tell me more. Tell me all of it.”

She told him, describing everything she’d seen and heard.

Jonah stared. “That lullaby my grandmother sang was her special song for me. She and I were the only ones who knew it. Until now, no one else has ever heard it.”

“It seemed to make you happy.”

He smiled. “It did. It gave me a sense of my future.”

“So, have you met her yet?”

“Met who?”

“Your future. The redhead from your imagination.” Her heart squeezed painfully as she asked.

He blinked. “Y-you saw that too?”

“I was you, Jonah. I was Zachary. Whatever you felt or thought that night, I felt and thought.” She’d experienced his sheer contentment at the idea of meeting the redhead. Contentment, happiness, excitement and anticipation.

Which was odd, really, because although she’d experienced all of Jonah’s feelings, they weren’t hers. Her personal emotions were quite different. She was put out, fiercely disappointed and…jealous.

“Jesus, this is weird.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Bizarre.”

To say the least.

What was weird for Eve, however, was that she’d told Jonah about her vision. There were times she didn’t mention having them at all. She’d yank her hand away and brush over it, explaining away her dizziness with arbitrary excuses like she must have stood up too fast, or that she hadn’t eaten all day.

But with Jonah she hadn’t thought twice. She’d told him.

“Look, I know how wacky this all sounds. If it helps at all, I did try to avoid it happening.”

“You did?”

“Earlier, when you offered to shake my hand, I kinda sensed something would happen, so I refused you. Twice.” She knew it must have come across as rude, but hey, better rude than invasive, right?

“You knocked my arm away.”

“I did.” Still aware of the jealousy niggling at her belly, she pressed him for an answer. “So, have you?”

“Have I what?

“Met her yet?” Another painful squeeze of the heart.

“You don’t pull punches, do you?”

“You kissed me earlier. Kissed me like you meant it.” Or maybe she’d been the one kissing him like she meant it. Just remembering the touch of his lips against hers—the glide of his tongue, the taste of his breath—brought a fresh wave of goose bumps racing over her spine and made her belly dip and jump. “If the woman of your fantasies is in your life, I want no part of your kisses.”

Not true!

Eve wasn’t exactly sure which part of her had yelled that. Her heart? Her mind? Her soul? Her…pussy?

“I did mean it.” His gaze met hers, and his lips softened in a sensual smile, making her heart slam into her ribs. “Didn’t mean to do it in front of all those people though, but I couldn’t help myself. You made eating that chocolate look like a sexual feast.” He closed his eyes for a second and licked his lower lip as though remembering the kiss and how the chocolate had tasted on her tongue.

The action caught her deep in her belly and brought back the breathless wonder she’d experienced when he kissed her.

“Th-then we’re even, because you make breathing look like an erotic festival.” She took a deep breath, steadying her pounding heart. “But, mate, that’s beside the point. You’ve once again avoided answering my question.”

“Maybe that’s because you don’t ask the easiest of questions.”

“See? Another non-answer.”

He eyed her thoughtfully.

Eve sighed and pushed up into a sitting position. The dizziness had subsided, and she felt stupid lying on the couch.

Jonah shifted to give her space. Even so, she had to shuffle awkwardly to get her legs around him and put her feet on the floor. She accidentally rubbed her calves against his side in the process.

Shockwaves pulsed through her at the contact. Sharp pulses of energy that set her blood on fire and awakened every nerve ending in her body.

But it was time to ground herself firmly in Eve-world again. Time to remind herself she had no place in Jonah Speed’s hotel room. Or life, for that matter. There was no point getting all worked up because Jonah had kissed her once. And given her flowers.

She was just Eve Andrews, the scarred girl from down the road. Even if Jonah’s interest in her had been genuine before now, she’d have destroyed it all with her freak show.

Just like she’d destroyed any possible relationship with her little talent. Men tended to run a mile when they discovered her “gift”. If her scars didn’t chase them off beforehand. And generally, the visions weren’t necessary. Men took one look at her face…and fled.

She stood up. “Look, Jonah, I’m sorry. I’m prying into issues I have no business prying into. Shoving my nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“Zachary.”

“Pardon?”

“Please, call me Zachary. You’ve seen inside my head, it hardly seems right that you keep calling me Jonah.”

“I’m sorry about that too…Zachary.” It was a nice name. Suited him. She fidgeted nervously and took a step back. “About finding out your name when you obviously never intended for me to know. I’m sorry you got caught up in one of my visions. It’s not only unfair to you, it’s an extreme invasion of your privacy.”

“It’s not your fault.” He turned his palm upward and looked at it. “You tried to avoid my hand, but I never gave you a choice.”

“Still, you never gave me permission to enter your head. It’s not cool.” She took another step back, this time turning around to look for the door. It was time to leave.

For the first time she noticed they weren’t just in a small hotel room like hers. They were in a suite. A luxurious suite in the Crown Towers with a huge lounge and dining room, a door leading off to what she assumed was a bedroom, an entryway where a set of drums stood, and a wall of windows, which must offer sweeping views of Melbourne in the daytime. Even now, the city lights twinkled behind the glass.

“Are you going somewhere?” His question drew her attention back to him.

“Back to my room. I’ve outstayed my welcome.”

“I put off answering your question, Tiny. That doesn’t mean I want you to leave.”

“I freaked you out.”

“You…surprised me.”

“I invaded your privacy.”

“You shared something I hadn’t expected you to find out about.”

“I like chocolate.”

“Uh…yeah.” He frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Like chocolate.”

“Didn’t,” he corrected, running his tongue along his lower lip again. “Until I tasted it from your perspective. And that taste is something I could grow addicted to in a heartbeat.” He held a hand up in question. “Still, I don’t see why having different taste in food means you have to leave.”

“Okay, then let’s just be honest. You’re famous, I’m not. You’re Jonah Speed, I’m just someone with a strange gift.”

“What the hell does fame have to do with this?”

“You’re out of my league, Jonah.”

“Zachary.”

“Zachary’s out of my league too.”

“How can you say that?”

“You kissed me and a thousand flashes went off. That puts you—Jonah and Zachary—in a different league. One I can’t deal with.”

“I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have kissed you in front of all those people.”

“Jeez.” She ran a hand over her cheek. “I’ve known you a few hours and I swear we’ve apologized to each other ten times already.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Eve. I’m sorry I kissed you in front of all those people, sorry I called all that attention to us. I’m not sorry I kissed you.”

“Yeah?” Well, didn’t that just make her heart race like crazy? “I bet you’re sorry you grabbed my hand afterwards.”

He thought about his answer. “I liked the feel of your hand in mine.”

“And the craziness that came after?”

“It surprised me.” He smiled then. “But it’s nice to share my grandmother’s song with someone. Nice someone could hear it after all this time. It brings back good memories.”

Of course it did. Memories of his red-haired future. She stumbled, unsure what to say next.

“The answer’s no, by the way.”

She raised an eyebrow in question.

“The redhead you asked about. I haven’t met her yet.”

Yet.

“So you still think about her?”

“Damn.” He gave her a rueful smile. “You just zone right in on those difficult questions.”

Eve could have kicked herself. After apologizing for invading his privacy, she’d gone straight back and done it again. She raised her hands in defeat. “I’m sorry. Again. Look, I’ll just go now. Leave you in peace.”

“Of course I think about her.”

She blinked. “You didn’t need to tell me.”

“I know I didn’t. I wanted to.”

“You wanted to?”

He nodded. “There’s something else you should know. Something else I want to tell you.” His stomach punctuated his words with a loud growl. Zachary smiled. “And if you just give me a minute to order something to eat, I’ll tell you all about it.”

He walked over to the phone, pressed one of the buttons and waited.

Her hand strummed over her cheek. What on earth could she need to know?

“Yeah, can I get room service up here…? Excellent.”

He looked at her with a question in her eyes and pointed to the receiver.

She shook her head. Her stomach was in no state to fill it with food.

As Zachary placed his order, his gaze caught hers again, and there went her heart, beating like crazy once more. “And one extra-large serving of chocolate mousse,” he said into the receiver. “…Fifteen minutes? Cool, I’ll be here.” He hung up.

“I thought you hated chocolate mousse?”

“I do.” His green gaze held hers. “It’s for you.”

And that was all it took for something to shift in her chest. Like a gear changing, her emotions were suddenly tumultuous. Zachary Jonah Speed Pace had just become a very serious threat to her heart. If Eve didn’t do everything in her power to protect it, she feared she could easily gift-wrap it—with a ribbon—and hand it over to the man before her.

“Zachary…”

A soft groan escaped his lips. “Christ, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but the look on your face makes me think about sex. Hot, heavy, dirty sex.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it again, helpless to respond. Not when the very heart she feared she’d lose to him now felt like it sat in her throat, pumping like crazy.

The air around them sparked. Currents of heat and electricity snapped from him to her.

“Perhaps…” Zachary swallowed. “Perhaps I’d better tell you my story before I completely lose the ability to talk.

Zachary sat back down on the couch and patted the cushion beside him. “Sit with me?”

Eve chewed her bottom lip.

“Please?”

She gave a quick nod but walked toward him so slowly Zachary realized she must have misgivings.

“I swear not to bite. Or hold your hand.” More than that he couldn’t promise. He was going to touch her. Zachary wanted to get his hands on her more than he wanted his next breath.

Still her uncertainty troubled him. “If it makes you feel better, you’re not the only one who’s had visions.”

Her jaw dropped. “Wh-what?”

Yep. That had pretty much been his reaction to her confession about her visions. It had taken him a good few minutes to get over his shock.

He looked pointedly at the seat beside him until she perched her tight little butt on the edge of it.

Zachary was having none of that. He placed his hands around her waist, pulled her close and tucked her into his side, leaving his arm around her shoulders so he could run his hands through her silky hair.

Where to begin his story?

From the place Eve had popped into it, obviously. “You saw her. You saw the redhead in my imagination. She’s my vision.”