Purchased Affection: A Joe Jonas Love Story

Chapter 8

CHARLIE'S POV

I sat there quietly as Joe's family murmured soft "I'm sorrys" and "how awfuls" to me. I was propelled back to the day of Della's funeral. I had stood there frozen as people sympathetically patted me on the back and hugged my crying parents. Everyone had talked about how sweet and gentle Della was. No one had dared to mention those last few months when everything had spiraled downward for her. Those last few months that had caused her to decide that ending her life was the only solution to her pain.

"Mom, why don't you go grab the dessert and we can take it out to the back deck to enjoy," Joe said waking me up from my past. "Charlie and I will meet you all out there in a few minutes. We need to talk for a minute." Joe grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs until we entered a small bedroom.

"What is this place?" I asked looking at the photos of a young Joe hanging out with his brothers. A blue comforter set was spread out on the bed.

"It's my bedroom before I bought my own place," Joe said grabbing my right hand and playing with the small silver ring on my ring finger. "Why didn't you tell me about Della?"

"We've only known each other a few days. Does it really matter?" I asked pulling my hand free. "We have a contract. Shouldn't you have already known courtesy of a background check or something?"

"Mort ran a background check on you," Joe said with a flush of embarrassment. "But I never read it. Mort just assured me that you were clean."

"Then everything's fine right?"

"No, when you talked about Della I could see that you were hurting. We might just have a contract, but I've started to consider you to be my friend. I don't want this to be a painful experience for you." I looked into his brown eyes and willed myself not to cry. It was too late to keep me from experiencing pain from this association. My brother was mad at me. Joe's family wanted answers about Della. And Joe's affection and caring nature was starting to make me question my ability to treat this relationship like the business deal it was. In two months I would have to walk away.

"My pain has nothing to do with you Joe," I snapped angrily. "My sister killed herself, and I was unable to stop her. I didn't even see it coming!" I burst into tears as Joe drew me into his arms. He held me as I cried all the possible tears that I could. When I pulled away from him he wiped my face clean.

"Della's death wasn't your fault," Joe said.

"How can you know that? I could have said something that would stop her. She would still be here today instead of buried in the ground."

"Charlie, stop it. Stop beating yourself up about this."

"I just can't stop thinking about her. About what I could have done." I could feel the tears coming again. Before I could break out into sobs once again Joe cupped my face in his hands. Leaning in he sealed his lips to mine in a hard, passionate kiss. His tongue teased the seam of my lips until I opened them accepting his tongue as it twined with my own. I placed my hands on his chest clutching his shirt in my fingers. I felt his fingertips stroke the edges of my hair as he continued to kiss me. In that moment I needed him close to me like this. Later on I would probably question why he was kissing me where no one could see. If this relationship was for show then why were we making out in his old bedroom behind a closed door? I moaned into his mouth as he continued to assault me with his kiss. Joe broke away to trail kisses down my neck and along my ear.

"Oh geez, I'm sorry," a soft female voice said from the doorway. Joe and I broke apart. My mind was in a kiss induced haze as I studied Kevin and Danielle in the doorway. "I didn't realize that we were interrupting something," Danielle said with a giggle.

"I told you to knock first," Kevin said jokingly as he looked at down at his wife. He watched her like she was a precious jewel. My heart stung as I realized that I wanted what they had; that easy ebb and flow between two people. I glanced over at Joe who was panting with annoyance. Kevin admired Joe's rumpled shirt before telling us that everyone was waiting for us to join them on the deck. Joe marched out of the room and Kevin ran after him.

"I think you might finally be the girl to turn Joe around," Danielle said with a smile. I didn't want to be the girl responsible for Joe turning his life around. What if Joe made a decision like Della, and I lost him?. I wished that I could erase my signature from that contract. I could still feel Joe's kiss on my lips, and it scared me that I wanted to feel his lips on mine again.

[AN: Please don't laugh at my attempt to write a steamy kiss. Hold your laughter for when I write a sex scene or something. That will probably come out horribly. XD]