To Win Her Love

by Mackenzie Crowne

Shit.

  Chapter 10

  “Thanks for the ride.” Gracie scrambled from Max’s low-slung sports car, hoping to rush inside before he could follow. She wasn’t quick enough. Thanks to his long-legged stride, he joined her before she reached the porch steps.

  “Go away.” She searched her purse for her key.

  “Not a chance, kiddo. This is Jake Malone we’re talking about. You don’t always think clearly when your heart’s in play. I’m here to help.”

  She rolled her eyes. “My girl parts are in play, you idiot, not my heart.”

  He grinned and bumped her shoulder with his. “I’ve known you since before your girl parts knew they were girl parts, and I’ve watched you moon over Jake Malone, despite there being no chance you’d ever meet him. Now you have…Fate has spoken. You’re a one-man woman, and your heart’s already made its choice. You’re toast.”

  Dear Lord, please don’t let that be true.

  Eyeing Jake’s big SUV parked beneath the old pines, she hoped to kill Max’s matchmaking agenda, at least for tonight. She uttered the lie without an ounce of remorse. “Jake may not even be here, you know. Curfew isn’t for another three hours.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve got nothing planned for tonight, and I haven’t seen the twins in a while. I’ll wait.”

  After insisting he drive her home, he’d pumped her for details on everything that happened since the reading of the will. She’d spent the entire ride doing her best to say as little as possible. Not an easy task, considering she’d never been able to keep a secret from Max, including her long-time crush on Jake Malone.

  Under normal circumstances, she’d have savored describing how she dumped Jake on his ass. Max would’ve gotten a kick out of it, but she could imagine his reaction should he learn of the molten kiss she shared with Jake prior to the dumping. Even worse, what would his reaction be if, when they went inside, Jake picked up where he left off this morning with his blatant flirting?

  The matchmaker song from Fiddler on the Roof echoed in her head. She ground her teeth. Why hadn’t she insisted on taking the train? She glanced up with a scowl. “You’re being an obnoxious jerk.”

  Max grinned, not bothering to refute her complaint, as the door swung open suddenly and ripped the key from her fingers. Larger than life and looking as if he’d recently come from a board meeting, Jake stood on the other side of the threshold in a stark white dress shirt and black slacks.

  In contrast, Max resembled a biker gang president in his battered leather jacket, time-faded jeans, and black boots.

  “I’ll be damned.” He shot her a wink. “You were telling the truth.”

  Her jaw went lax, then she sniffed. “You thought I was lying?”

  He slung his arm around her shoulders, tightening his hold when she attempted to toss it off, and tapped a fingertip to her forehead. “Nah. I just like seeing this zigzag wrinkle you get between your eyes when you’re pissed.”

  Her elbow to his rib did nothing to diminish his gleeful sneer. Facing Jake, he stuck out his hand. “Max Grayson.”

  “Jake Malone.” Jake’s intent gaze bounced between them as he shook Max’s hand.

  Max would never know how close he came to getting dumped on his ass. He was saved when she noted Jake’s watchful gaze crawling over Max’s arm wrapped around her shoulder. Well, well. She might be able to salvage this situation after all. If Max would only cooperate.

  Why hadn’t she considered playing the boyfriend card? Surely, if Jake thought she and Max were an item, he’d back off from his heavy-handed flirting. Then maybe her girl parts and her heart would settle down, and she could focus on the all-important task of winning the custody battle.

  Tucking closer to Max’s side, she blinked at him with a simpering smile as if he alone could deliver the moon and the stars. Deviltry flashed in his eyes. Not a good sign, but at least he wasn’t busting a gut laughing. She pinched his waist in a silent demand he play along.

  Jake stepped back to let them enter. Max proved himself as perversely contrary as usual. He dropped his arm from around her and left her high and dry. She scurried after him, hoping to salvage the ruse, and shrugged from her coat without meeting Jake’s eyes.

  “Where are the girls? Uncle Max thought he’d surprise them by coming for dinner.”

  Max shot her a pointed smile, but if he planned to contradict her, matching squeals from above stopped him in his tracks.

  “Uncle Max!”

  Two pair of tiny feet thumped on bare wood as the twins raced down the stairs. They’d reached the landing when Murphy shoved by them to launch himself to the foyer floor. Gracie choked on a laugh when Jake jerked up one knee and crossed his leg in front of his crotch. Horror flooded his features, and he called out a warning when Murphy pivoted toward Max.

  Well acquainted with her dog, Max spun sideways at the last second. Murphy skidded to a stop and plopped to his butt like a perfect gentleman. His tail swished back and forth over the floor. Max bent to greet him with a rub and a grin.

  Jake glared at the dog. Gracie bit her lip to keep from laughing.

  “Uncle Max!” Angel plowed into Max’s leg. Charlie joined her a moment later.

  He dropped to a squat, pushing Murphy aside to grab the girls in a bear hug. Employing his usual ritual when greeting the twins, he purred an animal growl and rubbed his whiskered chin over Angel’s jaw then repeated the tickling caress with Charlie.

  Their delighted giggles made Gracie’s heart swell with appreciation for her friend’s demonstrable affection for her nieces. They’d had far too few reasons to laugh lately. Count on Max to understand and set aside his matchmaking agenda long enough to greet them the way he always did.

  He winked at her over Charlie’s shoulder. Gracie’s smile stretched wide until she happened to glance up and caught Jake watching the warm welcome with tightened features. As if sensing her attention, his guarded gaze ricocheted off hers before he turned his back and closed the door.

  Her smile slid away. Though unsure of exactly what he was thinking, she didn’t need to read his mind to know the scene playing out left him uncomfortable. Because the girls were his sisters and yet hadn’t greeted him with warm hugs, as they were Max? Was he stung by the reserved welcome he’d received last night? Could he possibly be that naïve?

  He’d been here less than twenty-four hours and he’d made more headway than she’d have expected in a week. Give Charlie another day or two, to shed her residual shyness, and she’d be slobbering all over her new big brother the moment he walked through the door. Angel might be holding him at arm’s length at the moment, but deep down, she dreamed of a big brother and all that entailed. This morning at breakfast, he’d proven he was willing to try to build some kind of relationship with his half sisters. Didn’t he realize he’d already won over Charlie and, with the tiniest bit of effort on his part, Angel would soon fold like a bad hand of cards?

  Gracie didn’t want to think about where that left her.

  Max lifted his nose in the air and sniffed. “What do I smell?”

  “Sketty and meatballs.” Angel wrapped her arm around his neck.

  He twisted his head to meet her smiling gaze. “Do you think Miss Mary made enough for me?”

  Charlie rubbed her fingers over Max’s scruffy chin and nodded. “Miss Mary made an extra big pot ’cause Jake said sketty is his favorite.” Her smile grew huge. “He’s our big brother!”

  “Oh, yeah?” Max grasped Angel’s hand and rose to his feet. He rested a hand on Charlie’s shoulder and, in true Max style, offered Jake a pained smile. “That must have come as a shock.”

  Jake snorted slightly, but his shoulders relaxed marginally. “You have no idea.”

  Max chuckled, squeezed Angel’s hand, and wrapped an arm around Charlie’s shoulders. “Well, I’m jealous. I’ve always wanted a couple of petite, black-haired twin sisters.” He grinned, and the girls giggled their pleasure. Then he swung his gaze t
o Gracie. His grin tilted into a taunting smile, and he winked. “Instead, I had to settle for a tall blonde with a smart mouth and an attitude.”

  She dared a glance at Jake.

  He crossed his arms and the tension on his face melted away with his challenging smile. “I didn’t realize you had a brother.”

  So much for her boyfriend ruse. She was going to kill Max when she got him alone.

  He drew her attention when he spoke to Jake. “She has no brother, but she has me. When a woman’s been tagging along behind you and generally causing you grief from the time she was fourteen, she can’t help becoming the next best thing.” Affection softened his smile and his voice when he looked back at her. “A best friend.”

  The rat! Typical Max, slipping something sweet into the middle of his trash talking. Tagging along behind him. Ha! He’d be getting a lesson in grief, all right, and soon.

  She angled her chin defiantly. “Don’t you mean ex-best friend?”

  His teeth flashed with his pleased laughter. She rolled her eyes.

  Jake’s eyes twinkled boyishly as his gaze bounced between them. “Remind me to tell you about my best friend sometime.”

  Max turned his smile on Jake. “Is she a leggy blonde?”

  “Nope. She’s a petite redhead, but she could give Gracie a run for her money in the attitude and smart mouth departments.”

  “Auntie Gracie has a pretty mouth!” Lips puckered in a mulish twist, Angel glared up at Jake.

  On Max’s far side, Charlie wrung her hands uncomfortably and bit at her bottom lip. Surprised by the vehemence of Angel’s defense, Gracie opened her mouth to say…what, she wasn’t sure. Clearly too young to understand the nuance of the conversation, Angel had misread Jake’s comment as an insult, but neither Sarah nor Pete would have tolerated her disrespectful tone. Neither could she, not if they were going to live in peace for the next eleven and a half weeks.

  Jake didn’t notice, or he chose to ignore Angel’s hostility. He propped his hands on his knees and leaned down until he was on her level. “Do you think so?”

  He rotated his head and studied Gracie for a long moment. She refused to squirm beneath his intent regard, especially with Max paying such close attention, and was relieved when Jake returned his focus to Angel—until he spoke.

  “You know, you’re right. Your Auntie Gracie has a very pretty mouth.”

  Max’s smile lit up keenly. For a moment, Gracie half expected him to slap Jake’s hand in a high five. Humor simmered in Jake’s eyes. She’d have smacked them both if she could’ve moved, but her toes were curled in her boots.

  Angel spun away, her brow puckered with confusion, and headed down the hallway. Charlie skittered after her.

  The hell with her curling toes. She fried both men an exasperated glare then ground her teeth at the deep laughter trailing her as she huffed toward the kitchen.

  Chapter 11

  Twenty-four hours later, Gracie’s feet dragged as she climbed the stairs to prepare the girls for bed. If these first few days were any indication, she’d be a raving lunatic by the end of the three months. Hell, by the end of next week! No one could ever accuse Gracie of being weak, physically or emotionally. Losing nearly everyone you loved either broke you or made you tough. The events of her teenage years had forged a strong backbone and an ability to adapt. The problem was, her willpower had never been tested the way it had the last couple of days. Max, the jerk, was right. She was toast when it came to Jake.

  If only she hadn’t attempted to teach him a lesson, then they wouldn’t have shared that kiss. That completely stupid, completely…wonderful kiss. The shared memory simmered in Jake’s eyes when they met hers across the dinner table earlier this evening, and the accompanying heat in those green orbs nearly seared her soul.

  Ugh! She was an idiot. Give a man like him an inch and …

  Right. Like their heated clutch was all his fault. She’d been right there with him, gleefully embracing the opportunity to taste what she’d only dreamt of in numerous fantasies. One taste would never be enough, but sipping from that well again was out of the question. Lusting after her unwanted housemate was one thing, acting on the lust was another matter altogether.

  Max insisted she’d already lost her heart to Jake. She disagreed, but she wasn’t foolish enough to believe her heart wasn’t dangerously vulnerable where he was concerned. She’d been helplessly fascinated with him from the moment she first learned of his existence. Meeting him in person only intensified the fascination. The leap from fascination to love would be a short, disastrous one.

  At the end of Pete’s time frame, one of them would lose. If the loser ended up being her, she’d at least like to walk away with her heart intact. She scowled and climbed to the second floor.

  It simply wasn’t fair. Jake Malone emitted some kind of secret pheromone, slaying females without working up a sweat. His presence threatened both her custody hopes and her peace of mind, but did the invisible forces knocking her well-ordered life off its axis care? Hell no. If they did, Pete’s son wouldn’t have been a sexy hunk and famous athlete with a killer smile and the body of a god. He’d have been a short, rotund, toothless accountant from Hoboken.

  She reached the top of the stairs and shuffled down the hall toward the nursery, where Charlie had dragged Jake several minutes earlier. The truth was, beyond her helpless fascination with the man, watching him work to connect with the twins depressed the hell out of her. First, because his efforts were working. Charlie had already fallen under his spell. From her giddy reaction whenever he spoke to her, she was in the grips of full-blown Mr. Irresistible worship, and she wasn’t the only one. Mary was a goner, too, fussing over him as if he were the crown prince of Long Island or something, and despite Angel’s continued sullenness, it would only be a matter of time before she caved.

  The man might not know much about little girls, but he was a frigging quick study—and clearly, he wasn’t afraid to use bribery. After yesterday’s minor altercation with Angel, he’d stepped up his game. Gracie had no idea how he’d discovered Angel was horse crazy, but his sources had skills. He couldn’t have used a better carrot to dangle before his reluctant half sister than to mention he’d be bringing his prized horse to the farm. Though Angel tried to hide her reaction, dipping her head to poke at her dinner with her fork, there was no missing her desperate flush of pleasure at the idea.

  Gracie ground her teeth. Damn it. How was she supposed to compete with a stallion named Hercules? Maybe she could find a unicorn for sale on eBay.

  Jake’s charm and seeming success at winning the girls over wasn’t her only problem. Since reading her mother’s diary and learning her father’s name, she’d been beyond curious about the man who’d fathered her, becoming a football junkie in an effort to feel close. Yet she froze in terror at the thought of making contact with him. Jake, on the other hand, faced a similar scenario by waging a single-minded campaign, determined to make the best of a situation he’d neither expected nor wanted.

  She tried not to envy his confidence as he did his best to befriend the twins, but his focused effort made her feel like a coward in comparison. How she wished she could simply forget about the man who fathered her. He was out of reach. End of story. But thanks to this situation with Jake, shame and envy prodded her, and Max’s comment in the gym kept taunting her.

  That makes you family, too.

  Ha! As if sharing a person’s DNA automatically made you family. Jake’s unexpected arrival as the girls’ family caused plenty of upheaval, but at least he’d been invited. No, springing herself on her father was a bad idea. She already had enough turmoil in her life. She’d simply have to get used to feeling like a coward.

  They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The one meeting her eyes when she stopped in the nursery doorway spoke volumes.

  Murphy lifted his head, his tail thumping against the mattress, where he lay sprawled beside Angel on one of the matching beds
preads. On the opposite side of the room, Jake dwarfed the oversized chair where Sarah had fed her infant daughters. His bulk left barely enough room for the slight form of Charlie to squeeze in beside him, their dark heads dipped in concentration over the book in his hands.

  As though sensing Gracie’s arrival, he glanced up. His gaze clashed with hers, and his widened eyes held a desperate appeal for help. Okay, his confidence wobbled here and there, but that only made his efforts more admirable. Her insides went mushy on a soft wave of sympathy, and her depression deepened. For crying out loud, going soft over his vulnerability with the twins would shoot her straight toward that disastrous leap if she wasn’t careful.

  She heaved a relieved sigh when Charlie flipped back a page and spoke, regaining his attention.

  “You skipped a part. See?”

  He looked away, down at the book.

  Charlie tapped her finger to the page. “Right here. The princess smiled and her dragon scales shimmered with happiness.” She twisted her neck to grin up at him. “The princess has a secret. She’s a dragon lady, but the prince doesn’t know it yet.”

  He tucked his chin to his chest, staring at her. “How do you know what it says?”

  Angel looked up from her coloring book. Rolling onto her side, she sneered across the room. “She’s in the first grade. She knows how to read.” She flopped back to her stomach, grumbling, “Even a dummy knows that.”

  Charlie’s eyes bugged wide. She peeked at Jake before shooting a warning frown at her sister.

  “Angel!” Gracie stepped through the doorway, as concerned at the heated animosity in Angel’s eyes as she was surprised to see color spread on Jake’s high cheekbones. “Apologize to Jake, young lady.”

  “I don’t need an apology.”

  “She needs to offer one.” She stiffened and turned. Her intent gaze locked on his, silently demanding he not contradict her. After a moment, he dipped his head in a slight nod. The breath she’d been holding came out in a sigh. She turned to Angel. “Sarah and Pete taught you better than to speak to anyone like that.”