A Love Story

25)

Jackson Montgomery was an exhausted man; he'd moved far beyond just tired and was now exhausted, mentally and physically and found himself scrambling, struggling, just to keep his family together. It was becoming increasingly more difficult and Erica's idea of plotting wasn't helping.

Jack knew Erica Kane possibly better than anyone else did and what had begun as a quiet suspicion had settled into an intense knowledge that this—her breakdown, her new little language, her apparent loss of self-control—was all part of her little plot to break up the newest marriage of their little clan.

Jack wasn't happy about the marriage that Kendall had gotten herself into, not at all and yet he couldn't really run around town, attacking Kendall and whatever unfortunate choices she had made in her mad quest to save Fusion. Greenlee, for her part, didn't seem to have a care for the company and Simone… Jack doubted Simone even realized that she was in danger of losing her job.

He had no right to call Kendall on her mistakes, not when he thought back to the Travis Affair… he'd slept with his brother's wife, many times, and even these days, he wished that he could have found Erica in a better turn of events and he still regretted how much time had been lost to the ugliness.

Reggie was closing off from him, pulling away from him after so much work they'd done in the last few months. He was trying to deal with something he couldn't and Jack wished, more than anything, that Reggie would just open up again, talk about whatever it was that was hurting him so badly.

But, no, Ethan Ramsey had burst in, half-carrying a drenched Erica who vaguely resembled a drowned rat as she shrieked and babbled about something or another… Ramsey, after Jack had escorted Erica to the bedroom and her clean clothes, had explained that she'd shown up at his room at the Pine Cone, pounding on the door and completely terrified out of her wits, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Erica Kane always had been a fine little actress, hadn't she?

He'd thanked the strangely tall Brit who had left, frowning at the sight of Erica in a nightgown, prancing around the room and singing lightly… boy, was she laying it on thick… with the door at his back, he studied her, the anger wearing at the edges of his consciousness and struggling to stay calm.

His family needed him and all Erica could do was scheme and plan about how to make Kendall feel wrong? Jack was no fool and her talk with Ryan about the "company" had had more to do with their little plan together than any business deal. He watched her bounce around, and, suddenly feeling irrational, he strode past her, grabbed up his work from the coffee table and headed into his den.

The second he locked the door, she began knocking loudly… when he didn't answer, she began babbling and the anger and exhaustion grew three-fold as he picked up the phone, staring at it for a moment as he considered what he needed to do. shaking his head to rid it of her voice, he began dialing Reggie's number

"Jack?"

It had been days since he heard her voice say his name… his finger paused on the last number as he stared at the door she waited behind, where she was standing with the slightest bit of apprehension in her voice. Then, with a renewed strength, he finished the dialing, closing his eyes as it rang.

And then went straight to voice-mail…

Jackson Montgomery was an exhausted man and, now, he rested his head in his hands, eyes closed as he contemplated whatever was going on with his son… he listened as her footsteps faded away, listened to the door to the bedroom close quietly and all he could do was sit there and fear for whatever was tearing his boy apart.

Harley Jacobs got the job in just a few minutes, having paid with Nature's credit card… now, in her new top and perfectly cut jeans, she played with the ends of her newly-but-not-so-newly blonde hair, popping her gum as she bounced a foot in beat to the music playing into her head phones.

She was annoying the hell out of the people waiting with her and, damn, it was fun.

Her blouse, a little peasant top made of gauzy pink and peach fabric, drew very nice attention to her very nice cleavage and she liked that too… Harley was what most people would call a tramp and, in some ways, she supposed that they were right. Yes, she liked sex and she liked fun and, damn it, she was good at both so why not enjoy them?

Harley, however, was more than just easy on the eyes. She was also one of the finest schemers to ever strut the Strip in an outfit of feathers and sequins… No, she was not yet as good as Maxie was, not yet but the two worked together like, well, like oil and water because, the simple fact was, their relationship was complicated at best and nasty at it's worst.

Maxie was a big girl for her age and she could handle herself. Or, at least, she usually could. These days, however, Harley found herself fretting about the brunette and quite annoyed about the fretting about the brunette. Maxie had gotten her thrown in jail enough times to make her head spin and still, boom, there she was, right at her side through thick and thin. Sure, they were usually trying to strangle each other the entire time but loyalty was loyalty, wasn't it?

And the simple fact was, Harley Jacobs was loyal to Maxine Malone-Cambias.

So, here she was, iPod playing, flipping without much care through some old magazines. Blonde hair loose around her face, blue/green eyes focused on the secretary glaring at her; her gum, something with watermelon and strawberries that she always kept in her bag, was going tasteless but she didn't care.

When the secretary stood, heading over, she removed the earphones, peering up at the black woman with a broad grin. "Is he ready for me yet?" she laughed, and, as the woman spun and headed down the hall, she slipped to her feet and followed, making sure her hips were going full force.

Before she opened the door, the black woman looked back at her with narrowed eyes, gaze falling on the large amount of cleavage that Harley was so proudly displaying. With a slight roll of her eyes, she opened the door, stepping in and announcing Harley's entrance. Behind the older woman, the blonde paused, studying the male who studied her right back with a disturbingly empty hazel gaze.

Feeling the secretary's annoyed gaze on her back, Harley stepped deeper into the office, draping herself into the seat; hearing the door click shut, she began settling herself to her and her cleavage's advantage, watching carefully for any signs that he was enjoying the sight…

Not even a flicker of interest, no sign whatsoever that he noticed her perfect breasts. Okay, yeah, it pissed her off slightly but Maxie had been right about the fact that he apparently could live completely without any sexual encounters… ever. It annoyed her but it also made her grin, wondering what would happen to the lucky woman who got him when he finally cracked and gave in to whoever the lucky girl would be.

He looked like he had good stamina…

He'd mentioned off-handedly in his Ranger on the way back to Pine Valley that the color blue looked good on her… now, for some reason, anything that wasn't some shade of blue was simply unacceptable to be wearing at the opening. Kendall had shifted, in the last two days without his attention, into a kind of dazed state, only half-aware of the things going on around her.

After nothing in her closet had worked, she'd gone out and started milling through stores, ignoring everything but the shades of blue on the racks… she must have tried on a hundred dresses, looked them over once and thrown them away with unhappy noises of annoyance.

It was five minutes before Lacy's closed that Kendall found herself staring at the dress. In two seconds, she was ringing it up and taking it home and it now hung in her bedroom, awaiting the grand reopening of the Seasons casinos. And she stood in front of her window, glass of Bourbon in hand as she stared at the dark state of Zach's home.

She had a speech ready, something she'd carefully practiced every night as she prepared for him to come home. Strengthening herself with booze and inner calm, she always stood ready, ready to make him listen and understand that he had no idea what was going on with Kendall, her pictures and Ryan Lavery.

And then, she'd see him and any courage she had gathered flickered out, disappearing in a single second of raw panic. She'd snap the blinds closed and dart away from the windows, shaking and shivering and hiding until she heard him close his door. It was pathetic, it really was and yet she couldn't help herself.

Her dreams were becoming more difficult, more intense and she was commonly found to be in her kitchen after one of those dreams, standing with her robe open in front of the fridge, shaking thoughts of him forcefully out of her mind and beating them back with as much force as she could muster.

The thought of him finding out about her bad fantasies made her stomach turn and her insides curdle… she'd never find let him find out about those and, as far as she was concerned, no one else would either…

She watched him, head cocked, resisting all of her urges to dart away like she usually did; she refused to accommodate the fear that locked up her throat and lungs and made her knees tremble and her bones ache in some way she hadn't felt in forever. Oh, she'd felt this before but only once… and that was gone now, swept away in his attempt to show her that he didn't really need her actually.

She took another sip of the Bourbon, sighing softly as she stared at the now closed door, wishing he'd come in at any other time. Wishing that he'd look at her long enough to let her try to explain… she snorted at that, taking a long swallow of the booze, shaking her head at that stupidity…

"Yeah, Zach, even though I have feelings for you, my connection to the ex who publicly humiliated me, screamed at me, and married my best friend in front of me after ripping me a new one is so strong that I have to see if he still cares about me!"

Oh, yeah… Zach would so love that. His feelings for Ryan Lavery were well known and one of the few emotions he let himself show to the people in this town was the blend of anger and disgust that seeing Ryan Lavery brought out in him. Kendall had seen it repeatedly, and, while she'd never admit it aloud, she'd found that Zach's way of dealing with Ryan's anger at the news of the marriage was one of the best things she'd felt in a long time.

While Greenlee had just stood there, rapidly growing more devastated with other accusation Ryan had made that the fake marriage was just to make him jealous, Kendall had found herself, for the first time in months, something to protect her from Ryan's painful resentment at her… even Erica spent most of her time defending him, not caring that her daughter was standing right there while the Prima Donna ranted and raved about the beautiful Lavery marriage…

Kendall was no fool. That day, watching Ryan and Greenlee speak their vows, she'd seen it for exactly what it was, Ryan's desperate attempt to get away from what they had. She'd remember that feeling until the day she died, she'd always remember what it felt like to watch him marry her and act like he loved her. But, when somebody told you something loud enough and long enough, you believed it simply because you had no other choice.

He'd told her that they had nothing between them, that whatever they had was gone and had never mattered… that she meant nothing to either of them. She'd begun to break, begun to believed and, finally, just to stop the voices, she'd believed it and, now, here he was, looking at her in that way that made her bones ache.

He'd never stopped looking at her like that, had he? No, not really… even while he had still been so happily wed, he'd still looked at her with that need and, what, now he decided to admit it…? Kendall was no fool, but Ryan was her foolish moment these days; all he had to do was look at her and she was defenseless to him once again.

Sniffing, Kendall set aside her empty glass, wandering to the window and looking out, studying the window opposite hers… inside his home, she could see his silhouette, drifting around aimlessly, looking even as a dark shadow as defenseless as she was, as defenseless as she felt as she stood here, slightly numb from the alcohol pumping through her system.

Turning away, she grabbed her glass and headed into the kitchen, pouring herself another glassful and beginning to nurse that as she scraped a nail across her kitchen counter, feeling both dulled down and hyper-aware of everything around her. Ryan had taken Greenlee from her... no, that wasn't right… Greenlee had taken Ryan…

Jesus Christ, she didn't even know anymore… she missed them both so much it hurt almost physically… she missed how safe Ryan had always made her feel, how much faith he had always shown in her, how much he used to love her, used to show her that love with just a glance… and she missed Greenlee more than it should be possible…

Their relationship had always been complicated at best and self-destructive at worst and yet they'd had something no one had been able to destroy until Greenlee wanted him and Ryan decided he wanted out any way possible… once again, dumb Kendall Hart had been left out in the cold, left to stand and watch and hurt because that was all she could do… just two years ago, she would have called up Greenlee for emotional support and they would have feasted together on bon-bons and éclairs in their peculiar little way.

No, she was alone, trying to figure everything out and understand how everything around her had come to be so wrong and raw and painful… she poured another glass of Bourbon, drained it with a grunt and a shudder, wishing she had bon-bons and éclairs but Greens had always been the one to get the sugar stuff for their bonding time.

She'd just sat around and moped and then ranted about whatever was bothering her and Greenlee would mock her and then they would mock each other and then they would get down to business and bond even further… now, she could barely stand to be in the same room as Greens was.

She stared down at the glass, studying the way the liquid shifted constantly as she tilted and twisted the glass; she took a swig, loving it way it felt as it went down harsh, just how she needed it to right now. The alcohol was dulling her down and, while that was a good thing, it was leaving her defenseless at thoughts of how close Zach was.

He was just a little bit away… all she had to do was walk across the courtyard and knock on his door, ask to come in… make him listen and understand why she had been looking at those pictures, why she was so terrified of the way he looked at her like that…

Ryan had promised to catch her when she fell, promised to give her that strength she'd always needed so badly and then she'd fallen and he hadn't caught her… he'd broken his promises and she'd fallen and she'd kept falling and no one had caught her… no one had cared to… she hadn't mattered, not when that real moment had come…

And, she decided with a sigh, it was stupid to think that Zach would catch her next time she fell…

Micaela's third attempt finally got JR off his ass. Attempting to ignore his mother's sigh of irritation, he left Cady curled on his seat, stepping after Kincaide into the back of the plane. He was still in his suit and over-coat and didn't really care how warm he was in all the extra layers.

Micaela Kincaide, however, was still in just that silky top camisole thing and that cream skirt, bare feet sinking into carpet as she stepped to the side and let him pass, turning and leaning against the wall nearby and shutting the curtain again. Twisting partly, she fixed him with a cool glare, crossing arms over her chest and cocking her head as she noted, "You like my ass, don't you?"

"Well, it's not my fault… it's just so big, you know? I can't see anything else in this plane."

She grinned, narrowed her eyes as she studied him intently… damn, flirting was fun with him, wasn't it…? "That's cute and I am very flattered, believe me, but…" She smiled more serenely, eyes glittering with amusement as she considered that big grin on his face, and deciding not to tell him how much she liked seeing that grin. "Well, I have an offer for you."

"Direct, aren't ya?"

"Shut up," she chirped and he obeyed, mostly because he was actually curious. "I have this amazing chiropractor in Texas. She's the one I always go to when I start getting stress and she can do things with her hands that men haven't done with me. Now, I can call her up and have her on a flight to Pennsylvania in a few hours. What do you say?"

"Okay, one, I don't know what you're talking about and why I would need this woman and two… 'men haven't done to me'? Maybe you should find yourself a man? You know, someone who doesn't give you pink diamonds," he mocked, grinning like a cat as he nodded at her ring finger, empty and ringless.

Shit… "You have no idea what you're talking about with that ring that that guy gave me. I didn't ask him for some girly, dorky pink diamond! He didn't know me at all," she noted in irritation, rolling her shoulders before adding, "He never knew me, even though he tried." At his smirk, she squirmed uneasily, muttering, "Don't you worry about my sex life, Chandler… worry about your own."

JR laughed, a surprisingly rich sound that she enjoyed as much as that grin of his. "I've never been lacking in the sex department, Kincaide. Although, to judge by the look on your face, you haven't seen much action in a while… poor Kincaide… now, anyway, I have no problems that need the work of a chiropractor."

Okay, she was on solid ground here and she was thankful for it… with a renewed smugness, Micaela met his smirk, noting the edge of slight panic in his blue eyes. "You're what, twenty-two?" He nodded cautiously, and she continued on. "You are twenty-two years and you're limping. I saw you… limping through the hotel like some elderly male. Now, either you were injured before and it's hitting you hard again or you're just getting hit hard with all the stress you're under. Either way, I know for sure that there's something wrong with your back and there's something wrong with your left knee."

"You don't know that," he snapped and she moved forward and, with one perfect little light brown foot, nailed him right in the knee, twisting the ball of the foot in hard. His reaction was immediate, gasping and doubling over, one hand reaching and grabbing her foot and shoving, struggling not to fall himself.

He was clearly in pain and, darting away, she stared down at him, watching as he staggered backwards, leaning on the wall and glaring at her with lethal fury. His hands, locked around his knee, tightened and loosened as he panted and, sighing, she commented, "See? Clearly there's something wrong with that knee. Now, why don't you just tell me, huh?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," he grated out, continuing to look at her like she was a bug to squish. "It's a private matter that I dealt with a long time ago."

"Oh, yeah… clearly you dealt with it a long time ago…"

"Get out of my way."

"No," she snapped calmly and settled into another stance, knowing for sure that, while she was too small to really stop him if he wanted to get past her, he was still recovering from her nasty little blow to his knee. Setting hands on her hips, she faced him off.

"Look, Chandler, I am going to be staying in Pine Valley. The Chandlers are a vital, integral part of that town, not to mention the fact that they are one of the most powerful families their side of the Rio Grand. This means that we will most likely be doing more business together and have to communicate once in a while. And, while I may not have any actual care about your personal health, I'm going to need to have some idea of it if we ever enter into some kind of contract together."

"Fuck off!" he hissed and she simply smiled, noticing that he had eased out of his pain in his fury and was gazing at her with narrowed eyes and there was too much intelligence there for her. "If you don't tell me a few things, I'll just have to find them out myself and believe me, I may be adopted but I am a Kincaide in many, many ways. Now, give me some info and I'll leave you alone to sulk."

"Adam Chandler Jr. doesn't sulk," he snapped even more loudly and she sighed, pressing her hands into her back and stretching in the same movement. "Yeah, well, you sure look like you are," she muttered, watching him test his weight on the leg and then lean back again, apparently finding it unsatisfactory for him or his weight.

"Oh, god, you big baby!" Before he could even open his mouth to object, she dropped into a crouch, grabbing him by the lapels of the coat and pulling him down onto the seat at his side in the same movement. When he attempted to speak, she snapped at him simply, "Shut up, Chandler." He did, amazingly enough and, nodding to herself in satisfaction, she started digging fingers into his leg, noticing with surprise how tight the muscles were… Jesus, how bad did it feel for him to walk like this?

While he growled under his breath about setting a pack of Dobermans on her, she started trying to loosen up the muscles, deciding to focus on that at the moment. She doubted that her little massage here would fix everything but he needed some kind of relief… clearly. Her fingers dug and worked at the muscles as she sat there, head cocked and intent on his damn leg.

Micaela knew for sure that they most likely looked rather off, the sight of her sprawled out before him, brow furrowed in concentration… it was the sound that made her look up and she found herself ridiculously amused by the sight of him with his head leaned back, mouth half-open, and snoring. Getting a grip on the fabric on either side of Chandler, she hauled herself back to her feet, swaying for a moment before straightening.

He looked absolutely defenseless and she liked the sight of it, enjoyed how quietly he snored in his relaxation. Smoothing the new wrinkles in her skirt, she reached out and opened the curtain, blinking at the sight of the blonde who jumped back, blushing furiously. Jesus, she really was his mother…

Micaela nodded her head back at the sleeping Chandler and noting the obvious relief that came over her face when she'd seen that both were fully clothed and neither were panting or screaming "yee-haw!" in mind-blowing passion. "I'm just too much woman for him, Ms. Cooney… don't worry, you don't have to worry about us… I doubt he could keep up with me."

Smirking, enjoying the deeper blush of red, Micaela draped herself back into her seat, fighting giggles and trying to ignore how much fun it had been to feel his leg under her hands… yeah, he had a bad leg… stupid leg… not sexy or sensual or wonderfully male at all… oh, shit, she decided, dropping her head in exhaustion to the back of her chair and fighting the slight tremors under her skin.

Shit, shit, shit…

AN: Okay, look, I updated! Well, soon, we'll be having Micaela scheme to get at JR's back and see if his back feels as nice as that sexy, sensual, wonderfully male leg! AS always, I expect to get myself some feedback… fave scene of the chapter, peeps? Hope all enjoyed!