“Come on, baby, let’s get you home.” He kisses me gently on the temple and for once I’m not arguing,
I’m completely exhausted and happy to be going home to curl up with him. I can’t imagine anything
more tempting in the world.
He pulls me up with him and starts looking around for something.
“I didn’t bring a coat if that’s what you’re looking for.” I yawn again, ignoring the look of irritation pass
over his brow. He picks up his leather jacket and puts it on me instead. I smile, especially when he tugs
me forward to zip me up like a child. I get a tiny vision in my head of Jake doing this for his child. He’s
an absolute natural and I can’t help but notice the sheer envy on the two brunettes faces at the way
he’s tending to me.
“Danny? I’m taking Emma home.” Daniel lifts his bottle in acknowledgment over Leila’s head then goes
back to saying something close to her mouth that makes her smile and she kisses him gently.
Completely enamored, all signs of feisty Leila dissipated, this tame snugly version far more her
somehow. Hunter has one hand on her ass, the other on his bottle but his eyes are all for her.
Maybe they have a chance this time.
“Sarah, you can come now, or you can let Jefferson come for you when you want to go? Danny has his
number.” Jake nods toward her and she grins back at him, shamelessly drunk.
So much for going easy on the booze.
“This here is Delilah; she’s taking me home as we’re both from Queens.” She beams a little too
drunkenly and Jake doesn’t smile back. He takes his caretaking role very seriously.
“Then you won’t mind if Jefferson takes both of you, it’s non-negotiable.” He’s obviously in no-nonsense
mode, thinking practically, looking after my friend, and dismissing her wishes.
I love him!
“Okay, okay, keep your hair on.” Sarah laughs, good humoredly, and I Jake relaxes. “I don’t know how
you put up with him being so bossy.” Sarah smirks at me but I just curl myself around him and snuggle
in.
“Because I like it for the most part,” I mumble, as his arm tightens around me appreciatively and he
lovingly kisses the top of my head.
Jake leads me out through the milling people, and we head toward the main entrance of the bar. His
hand is entangled with mine and his jacket warm around me smells of him, in a very sexy manner that
has my tiredness giving way to something naughtier.
Thoughts of Jake in the back of the car are sweeping through my head at a hundred miles an hour and
I’m suddenly so eager to get him alone. Drunk Jake is usually a lot of kinky fun and far less cautious of
being gentle.
“Jake?” A male voice cuts into my thoughts, the instant aggressive stiffening of Jake’s entire body
alerts me to him as we stop in the foyer. He turns and looks over his shoulder at the direction of the
voice and scowls with a deathly glare I’ve only seen on him once before. I gulp and turn as I see who
invokes that reaction. My stomach hitting the floor and instant apprehension prickling my skin.
Ben Huntsberger. Oh shit.
He’s making his way toward us from across the room and he looks anything but friendly. Jake tugs me
behind him in a heartbeat and seems to grow about two feet as he rounds in front of me, putting
himself between me and Ben like he’s posturing for a fight and the waves of sheer terror move in.
“What the fuck do you want?” Jake growls and snarls; it’s the most unnerving sound in the world. His
body bristling with sheer aggressive tension and I start to feel afraid. Last time Ben appeared, Jake
shoved me out of the way, not once but twice.
Am I in danger of being roughly handled again?
The coldness sweeps through me at the thought of what harm an innocent push could do to the child
inside of me, my hand instantly comes up to cover my stomach protectively. I start to try to free my
hand from his grip in panic, wriggling my fingers to be released and pulling back.
Jake, feeling my attempts to disentangle, seems to sense my unease and looks back at me with a
slight softening to the look he’s throwing Ben’s way. His eyes go to the hand on my belly and back to
my face with an intense gaze.
“Emma, no! You know … I’d never …” He utters softly to me, a moment of tenderness in his eyes,
reassurance during the cyclone rearing its ugly head.
Still. I’m scared.
“I need to talk to you.” Ben finally comes level, seemingly more agitated than aggressive, despite
Jake’s posturing and bristling like an alpha male. He has none of the scowling smug behavior of last
time we saw him and looks directly into Jake’s eyes confidently. They are matched in height and being
stuck in a corridor behind them is not exactly my idea of a good night at all.
“What the fuck would I have to say to you?” Jake’s being charmingly Carrero. No fake politeness or
friendliness, just direct and to the point.
“Look I know we have a history but right now I need you to put that aside, because we have one big
fucking thing in common and I need to talk to you.” Ben raises defensive palms raking his hand through
overly neat hair, weirdly Jake-like. It’s crazy how much more they resemble one another, especially
now that Ben’s hair is a little messier. I wonder how the hell that happens with two men who are
completely unrelated.
Jake’s grip on me loosens a little and I sigh in relief when his body seems to go back to natural stance,
losing that terrifying fighter’s attitude.
“And what would that be?” He still sounds defiant and most definitely aggressive. No love lost and all
that.
“We both fucked Marissa in the week she fell pregnant. Me more so than you.” Ben states as a matter
of fact, with a raised eyebrow, and a look that says, ‘Yeah exactly’ …
Fuck.
Wait … What?
“I just found out that she’s pregnant.” Ben is pushing fingers through his hair, rubbing his face in
complete agitation. “I’ve been away for a while on business … London. I only got back yesterday.” He
seems so overwhelmed and completely rattled. We’re sitting in the quiet booth of a bar near the one we
came from. It’s almost deserted and both men are cradling neat gin while I hold a glass of coke. I’m too
wired and awake to contemplate sleep now. Ben’s revelation has all sorts of crazy plots swimming
through my overemotional brain and Jake seems far too calm and in control from this revelation, to be
good for him.
“So … The baby could be either of ours and yet she failed to mention it?” Jake appears pensive. He’s
been in
closed-off thoughtful mode since Ben’s disclosure, with his dark looks and scowling tone, and I really
want to
know what’s going on in his brain. He’s not someone to hide a temper flare-up unless something more
sinister is brewing in that clever head of his. This is very much business brain mode and usually means
a whole lot of trouble is brewing in its calculated depths.
“She came to me after the awards show. The after party you and her apparently hooked up at.” Ben
downs his gin and slides the glass away while Jake continues to cradle and swirl his. “Told me she
wanted to give us another go and proceeded to fuck me stupid for three days with no protection
because she was on the pill. Then I never heard from her again.” Ben’s face tightens, anger on show,
now obvious to the game of manipulation he’s been duped into.
There’s a lurch in my stomach at the disgust of any woman being that vile, that conniving.
“But if she was on the pill then she wouldn’t have got pregnant, right?” Ben looks at me as though
expecting to confirm it, but Jake cuts in.
“Emma’s pregnant and she was most definitely on the pill.” I nod, what else can I do in a conversation
so over my capabilities right now. This bitch was riding Jake’s back for months and now he might not
even be the father at all.
“Oh … Congratulations, Emma.” Ben frowns and gazes at his glass again, both men mulling things
over, trying to decide if Marissa’s pregnancy was planned or accidental.
“Thanks, Ben,” I reply shyly, noticing Jake’s unapproving glare toward Ben. I interrupt to break up
whatever that look meant. “I think she got with you to ensure she would get pregnant and lied about the
pill. She was making sure there would be a baby no matter what and she probably has no idea which of
you it belongs too, hence the resemblance.” I carry on, instead of silently listening. My brain is whirring
in chaos, trying to figure out if one woman could really be this cold and calculated.
Ben is as close to Jake in looks as earthly possible, so it would make sense to ensure that when she
got pregnant, she would pick someone to resemble Jake. That way, when the baby came, he wouldn’t
question paternity and possibly drop the DNA request just on looks alone.
Was she that desperate to link herself to him for a lifetime that she would do this?
How could any woman have so very little morals or self-decency?
“She’s turned down the DNA request enough times.” Jake cuts in before Ben can answer, his mind
slowly turning over my theory. I can see it in his face, the same one used to churn over business
proposals that I thought might be of benefit to his company.
Both men regard one another for a second, some strange look transpiring before them, and Ben sighs
heavily. The atmosphere is weirdly calm considering these two are at the same table and the topic is
Marissa.
“I’m sorry, Jake … Not for this shit, but for the past, for letting her get inside my head making me
believe she meant more to me than our friendship did.” Ben looks defeated and remorseful sitting with
a bowed head and sad expression.
My breath catches in my throat as a hit of emotion inside of me flashes, at this sudden apology right out
of the blue.
Jake pauses and stiffens, exhaling loudly, before sitting back in his seat.
“You were in love with her … I thought I was too.” He shrugs quietly looking at Ben with absolutely no
emotion whatsoever.
Thought? Meaning he never really was?
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