Between Two Moons Read online

  Copyright © 2020 by Teralyn Mitchell.

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  Cover Design by Outlined With Love Designs

  Interior Design by Melissa A. Craven @BooklyStyle

  Developmental Editing by Margaret J. Bates

  Content Editing by Whitney McGruder, Wit & Travesty

  Proofreading by Margaret J. Bates & Samantha Schafer, Edit for Content

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  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  For my grandfather.

  I miss you every day.

  Contents

  1. Wren

  2. Wren

  3. Wren

  4. Jax

  5. Zane

  6. Jax

  7. Wren

  8. Zane

  9. Wren

  10. Jax

  11. Wren

  12. Jax

  13. Zane

  14. Wren

  15. Zane

  16. Wren

  17. Zane

  18. Jax

  19. Wren

  20. Jax

  21. Zane

  22. Jax

  23. Wren

  24. Jax

  25. Zane

  26. Wren

  27. Jax

  28. Wren

  29. Wren

  30. Zane

  31. Wren

  32. Jax

  33. Wren

  34. Jax

  35. Wren

  36. Zane

  37. Jax

  38. Wren

  39. Zane

  40. Jax

  41. Wren

  42. Wren

  43. Jax

  44. Wren

  45. Zane

  46. Wren

  47. Zane

  48. Wren

  49. Zane

  50. Jax

  51. Wren

  52. Wren

  Epilogue

  Thank you

  Love & Other Complications

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Teralyn Mitchell

  About the Author

  About the Author

  I looked down at the address on my phone one more time to be certain I was at the right house. I took in a deep breath and as I let it out, I rang the doorbell. The door opened to reveal a beautiful man with blondish brown hair, bright green eyes, and sandy brown skin. He had sharp, defined cheeks and a straight nose, and as if that were enough, he was nearly tall enough to fill the whole door frame. My eyes dropped to his full, inviting lips as they smiled at me.

  “Hey, Wren.”

  I swallowed before answering. “Hi, Jax.”

  “My roommate isn’t here, so it’ll just be the two of us.”

  My eyes took in the rest of him. He wore a white t-shirt that clung to his muscular torso and dark joggers that showed how powerful his legs were. His feet were bare. “Come in,” he said in that husky, deep voice.

  I stepped inside, looking around as I did. The foyer was small, and a table sat to my left against the wall with a mirror above it and a key rack beside that. That little decor gave me pause. Why would two bachelors have a mirror and a cute little table? I would bet money that Sophia—my friend—or these guys’ mothers decorated. Three framed photos sat on the table. One showed Jax with Zane—his roommate and Sophia’s brother—and Sophia. One was of the two guys together and the last was just of Sophia. A woman’s touch was on display in just this little foyer.

  “Go ahead and look around. Open whatever you want to,” Jax said.

  He moved into the living room and perched on the back of the couch as I stepped further into the house. I loved that it was an open floor plan. You could see into the spacious living room, which held two chairs on opposite ends of a coffee table and a sofa, from the kitchen. The dining area was small but since there was a breakfast bar; there was plenty of eating space.

  Plenty of natural light flooded in from the patio door and the three windows. An easel sat between two of the windows and there was a wall to floor bookshelf. Half of it held books but the other half had those cloth baskets that made it look like a kindergarten classroom’s cubby space.

  “Who’s the artist?” I asked, glancing at Jax who still leaned against the couch.

  “That would be me,” he said with a half-smile. “The light is a lot better out here than it is in my room, so I set up this area. No one was using it, so it made sense.”

  There was a writing desk under one of the windows with a desk chair over there as well. A comfy armchair faced away from the living room, and a stool was next to the easel. Living with another artist would be interesting.

  “It’s a nice set up,” I said finally. “Where does that door lead?”

  “To my and Zane’s—the other roommate’s—rooms and bathrooms.”

  I frowned a little. “Sophia told me the house has three bedrooms.”

  “It does,” he said.

  I watched as he walked to a door located between the kitchen and dining area that I hadn’t noticed. He opened it to reveal a short hall that had three doors lining the walls.

  “This would be your area. There is a private bathroom, bedroom with a walk-in closet, and a linen closet at the end of the hall.”

  Hmm… that was nice. Sophia hadn’t mentioned the layout of the house when she’d told me about the room. Granted, I hadn’t exactly asked either since I was down to the wire to find a new place to stay. I was glad it could be closed off, and that it was on the opposite side of the house from my potential roommates. I wondered why neither of them had taken this area but didn’t ask. I joined Jax by the door. I moved past him, so close that I could feel the heat coming off his body. I looked up into his clear emerald eyes to find him watching me. I gave him a small smile before putting some distance between us and heading down the hall to see what else this house had to offer.

  With my younger sister and roommate, Rae, moving next week, I was running out of time to find a place. My lease was up, and I needed to move by this upcoming Saturday. I didn’t want to have to stay in a hotel until I could find something; I’d have to borrow money from my parents, and I hated having to do that. The fact that I’d be rooming with two guys was a minor thing. There were worse things than living with two men. Sophia had vouched for both when she told me about the room for rent. Zane was her brother, and she had known Jax for years. I’d met both of them a handful of times; they seemed cool and nice from what I could tell.

  I opened one of the doors and discovered the bathroom. It wasn’t big but it wasn’t so small that I couldn’t be comfortable in there. I crossed the hall to what must be the bedroom. It was pretty spacious. I could fit my drafting table along with my queen-sized bed, dressers, bookcases, and night tables. It wouldn’t be crammed like my current room, where my drafting table was in the living room. There were two windows letting in an amazing amount of light that would be perfect to draw by.

  I turned my attention back to where was Jax leaning against the door jamb with his hands shoved into his pockets.

  “What do you think?” he inquired.

  “It’s perfect. It’s $600 a month, right?”

  He nodded.

  “And that includes all utilities?”

  He nodded again. The room was empty, so I’d be able to move in right away. I studied Jax. I’d known Sophia for a few years since we started working together; I knew I could trust her. My gut told me this would be okay, and it hadn’t failed me yet.

  “Are you interested?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  I dropped my keys on the kitchen table and set my purse on one of the chairs. I went in search of my sister who I knew was home since her car was parked downstairs and the lights were on in the apartment. Rae could not leave the house with any of the lights still on. I think it was a rule that stuck with her from our childhood.

  I found Rae in her bedroom, sitting on her bed with her laptop. I leaned against the door frame, watching her since she hadn't noticed me. Her long and thick curly hair was piled haphazardly on top of her head. She shifted and the light caught the blonde highlights she'd gotten with the gift certificate to her favorite salon that I and the rest of our sisters had gotten her as a graduation present for finishing law school last month. Rae finally looked up; her moss green eyes did not seem surprised to see me.

  "So, you were just ignoring me?" I asked.

  "No, you were being the creeper, staring at me and not saying anything."

  I sighed in exasperation and rolled my eyes. I walked further into her room, taking a seat in the armchair by the window. We sat in silence for a long moment. I was waiting for her to ask me about the place I saw today, and I knew she was waiting for me to tell her.

  Rae moved her laptop aside and glared at me.

  "What?"

  "You're just going to sit there and not say anything?"

  "And you could ask, Rae Anne.”

  Now, she was actually irritated with me. She hated it when I called her by her first and middle name. I smiled sweetly at her. It didn't matter how old we got, we still fought over the dumbest things and did stuff to irritate each other.

  "Fine," Rae said, throwing her hands up dramatically. "What happened?"

  "It was a nice house and right in my price range, so I signed a lease."


  “For how long?”

  “It’s a year lease but the house is nice, and I’ll have my own area with a bathroom.”

  She raised her groomed eyebrows in question.

  “I think it’ll be fine, Rae, but it’s not like I had a lot of options. We’re getting down to the wire with you leaving on Saturday and the lease being up for renewal. I can’t afford this place by myself. We’ll see how it goes.”

  “Six months. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll know within the first couple of months and that will give me plenty of time to find something else.”

  “You could afford this place if you get a roommate.”

  She was right. With a roommate, I could afford this place but at this point it was just too late. I hadn’t gotten many roommate inquiries when I posted the room online, and the ones I did get were college students. I was a professional woman and already graduated; I didn’t want to have to deal with the potential drama living with students could bring into my life. We’d discussed this countless times, but she still insisted on bringing it up.

  “I don’t get why you didn’t just get a roommate and stay here.”

  My sister could be annoying sometimes, but I was going to miss living with her. We’d moved to Colorado together. The two of us had always been close. But there was no way I was going to let her pass up being able to work for one of the best law firms in the country when this was something she’d dreamed of since she was twelve.

  “It’ll be okay, Rae,” I assured her. “Soph is one of my best friends, and she’d tell me if I had to worry about her brother and his friend.”

  Rae nodded in agreement. She knew Sophia was honest and would do just that.

  “So, now you should probably start packing, right?” She grinned.

  I let out a loud, drawn-out sigh this time. “You’re so ungrateful. I’ve spent this month helping you get your shit to a whole other state and making sure everything was in place for you.”

  “I’m just stating facts, Wren. Don’t get snippy with me, because you don’t want to pack yourself up after helping me.”

  I stuck my tongue out at her like I did when we were kids and hauled my ass out of the armchair. She was right, as always, and the sooner I did this the better. Since it was Monday, I could spend the week taking boxes over and then move the big furniture on Saturday.

  “You’re helping me, Rae.”

  She groaned and swore under her breath but stood to follow me back to my room.

  I made my way through the crowd of people towards a table in the back corner of the wine bar where I was meeting Sophia and Rae. Sophia’s pretty golden-brown face lit up when she spotted me, and she grinned wide. I smiled back and leaned in to hug her before taking a seat across from her. A waiter came to take my order of white wine.

  “So, how do you feel about signing the lease to live with my brother and Jax?” Sophia asked before taking a sip from her half full glass of red wine.

  Today had been busy at work with both us on different projects. We both worked as architects at one of the most prestigious firms in the country, GDP Design. It was how we met when she started there a few years ago. Her duties had taken her to Denver for most of the day while I’d been working out of the office most of the day too. Also, in Denver. Our friend and fellow office mate, Courtney, was on her honeymoon and vacation. She’d gotten married this past weekend. I’d texted Sophia to let her know I’d signed the lease, but we hadn’t had a chance to talk about it these past couple of days.

  “I feel fine, and I’m still okay with my decision unless you don’t think I should be,” I finally answered.

  She pursed her lips and lifted an eyebrow. “As if I would have even told you about the room if I didn’t think you could live with Zane and Jax. I lived with them for like six months when I first moved back to Colorado after I graduated from UNC.”

  “And?”

  “And nothing. They are pretty tidy for guys and will leave you alone if that’s what you want. I think the three of you will get along fine. My brother and Jax are pretty laid back like you so that’s why I suggested it when you finally told me you needed a new place to stay.”

  The waiter came back with my glass of wine and fresh one for Sophia. We smiled at and thanked him.

  “I didn’t think it would be so hard to find an age-appropriate roommate.”

  “You do know that an eighteen or nineteen-year-old is an adult?”

  I just stared at her until she conceded.

  “Fine, we can use the word adult loosely with them, but you still should have told me earlier,” Sophia said. “I would have helped you find something.”

  I picked up my wine glass, sipping from it as I looked around the low-light bar that was busy for a Wednesday night. I turned my attention back to Sophia but still didn’t respond to her comment.

  It wasn’t that I had a problem asking for help; it just hadn’t come up. I didn’t think it’d get down to the wire like it had and I was used to do everything by myself. My parents raised my sisters and me so that we knew how to take care of ourselves and not rely on anyone not even each other or our parents because you never knew what could happen.

  “I’m glad it worked out,” she said, breaking the silence that had settled between us.

  I agreed, holding my glass out so she could clink with mine. I drank some more of my wine before sitting the glass on the table in front of me. I asked Sophia how her project was going.

  “I wish Garrett and Duncan would drop Mr. Shaman as a client,” she said with a long sigh. “He is so damn difficult to work with.”

  “But he’s filthy rich and seeks out GDP for every new project he has,” I countered. “I’m only saying that since they will not drop him as a client unless he does something inappropriate towards you or anyone else.”

  “That is not going to happen. He is this sweet, old grandfather when you’re talking to him about anything but as soon as something does not go the way he wants on the project, he’s the cutthroat, abrasive CEO exec he used to be.”

  I gave her a sympathetic smile. I’ve never worked with the man, and I’d only seen the lovable grandfather whenever he came to the office or our Christmas parties. Sophia was put on a project with him within the first three months of her working at the firm. She was a junior architect at the time, but when the senior architect retired a year later, Mr. Shaman insisted on Sophia taking his place.

  “Just think, one day, you’ll be able to pass him onto some unsuspecting green behind the ears junior.”

  “If he’s still alive by then,” she grumbled. “Just my luck I’ll be the last architect he ever torments.”

  “Someone is a little dramatic,” I teased.

  Sophia flipped me off and her eyes settled on something or someone over my shoulder. I glanced in that direction to see Rae making her way over to our table. She took her seat on the stool next to the wall. The same waiter appeared without prompting to take Rae’s order.

  “He deserves a big tip,” I said to Sophia.

  “Yes, he does. I did not have to wait long before he took my first order, and he doesn’t even have to write it down.”

  “Plus, he’s easy on the eyes,” Rae added.

  I glanced in the direction he’d disappeared, but I couldn't see him. The waiter was cute with smooth dark brown skin, neat, and long dreads. He was well over six feet tall. Even in the uniform of button-down shirt and black slacks with a red vest, it was clear he worked out.