Rian had called Jake? Now what was going on? She couldn’t stand waiting, so she opened the door and stepped into Jake’s bedroom.
He was sitting on the edge of his bed and looked up with surprise when she entered.
“I meant it when I told you that I’m done with you,” Jake said. “You have to fight your own battles now, and I suggest making your next phone call to the public defender’s office. They’ll take your case on for free.”
Sydney leaned against the wall, listening as dread filled her. Had Rian been stopped at the border or something? Had he been arrested?
After a few more minutes of Jake arguing with Rian, Jake finally hung up and turned off his phone. He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands.
“What did he want?” Sydney asked, moving to sit next to him on the bed.
“He was arrested in an altercation at the Seattle airport,” Jake said. “Apparently, his driver’s license was flagged, and he wasn’t too happy about it.”
“So he’s in jail?”
Jake lifted his head to look at Sydney. “Yeah, he wants bail money and needs an attorney.”
“You’re not going to do it, are you?” Sydney asked, even though she’d heard the conversation.
“I’m not,” Jake said, his gray eyes on her. “I thought I’d done hard things before, but this is really hard.”
“It’s the right thing, though,” Sydney said, moving closer and wrapping her arms around his neck.
“When I see you and know how he’s hurt you, it’s easier for me to stay on task,” Jake said in a quiet voice. “But he is my brother. And he’s desperate.”
Sydney placed a hand on his cheek. “What’s the worst that can happen? Be sent to a white-collar-crime prison?”
“Probably,” Jake said.
“How else will he learn his lesson?” Sydney pressed. “A couple of years in jail will teach him, and it will give you and your parents a break.”
“Mmm,” Jake said, pulling her closer. “You’re right. I know you’re right. I just have to figure out how to live with my decision.”
“I can help you with that,” Sydney said, running her fingers through his hair.
Jake lowered his head and buried his face in her neck. “I can’t believe that Rian would give you up. His loss, my gain.”
“My gain too,” Sydney whispered in his ear.
“Is this what you usually wear to bed?” Jake asked.
Sydney looked down at her tank shirt that left little to the imagination, since she wore no bra, and the pajama bottoms that were more like flannel shorts. “Only when no one can see me.”
“I like it,” Jake said, moving his mouth against her neck.
Heat shot through Sydney. She was in Jake’s bedroom, in the middle of the night, and he was kissing her. If things had moved fast before between them, it had just sped up.
“Jake,” she said. “I should probably go back to my room.”
“Can I come with you?” he murmured, trailing his lips along her exposed collarbone.
“Things are so new, and I... I still need to clear my head with all of the changes in my life,” Sydney said.
Jake released a soft moan, then lifted his head. “I understand. And you’re right. I like you too much to mess anything up.”
“Thanks,” Sydney said, kissing him on his mouth.
“That’s not helping,” Jake said.
Sydney smiled. “Sorry. You look adorable when you’ve just woken up.”
“That doesn’t sound very manly.”
“In your case, it’s very manly,” Sydney said, reluctantly disentangling herself from his arms.
Jake stood with her and walked her to her bedroom, his hand clasping hers. He stood in her doorway. “Good night,” he whispered as he released her hand. “See you in the morning.”
“Good night,” she said, tempted to draw him into her room and lock the door behind them. But she wanted things to go right with Jake. By the way her pulse was thumping and her heart was practically reaching for him, she knew that she’d found a man she could spend a lifetime with.
They still had a lot of hurdles to overcome. Like his brother. And the fact that she worked an hour away. But... for tonight, she’d be happy with sleeping two doors down from him.
She began to shut the door, when Jake said, “Wait.”
She paused.
He leaned against the door frame, only inches from her. “I want to tell you thank you. I couldn’t have gotten through all of this without you, and as a bonus, there’s a beautiful woman in my house who I think likes me.”
Sydney smiled. “I more than like you, Jake Stevenson.”
“Good,” he said, his own smile appearing. “I hope to keep it that way, because I’ve fallen for you.”
Sydney felt a blush spread through her, and her stomach flipped over. “You’re making it really hard to shut this door on you.”
He winked. “Sweet dreams, then. I know who I’ll be dreaming about.”
Before she could respond, he stepped away and walked back to his room.
She watched him walk down the hall, and as he stepped into his bedroom, she closed her own door with a sigh. Jake Stevenson was the real deal, and Sydney didn’t know what she’d done to deserve this man. But she knew one thing for certain: she was going to follow her heart this time.
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Heather B. Moore is a USA Today bestselling author. She writes historical thrillers under the pen name H.B. Moore; her latest is Slave Queen. Under the name Heather B. Moore, she writes romance and women’s fiction, her newest release is the historical romance Love is Come. She’s one of the coauthors of the USA Today bestselling series: A Timeless Romance Anthology.
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Falling for Sydney Page 7