“You didn’t line up transportation back? That’s not like you,” Marie asked with surprise.
Jake turned his back so his comment wouldn’t be heard by the valet who was hovering and snapped, “I can’t make a mistake? Will the world end if I slip up even once?”
“What’s really bothering you, Jake?”
With a sigh, Jake said tiredly, “Nothing. Just send a car.”
“Is it Lil? Did you two have a fight? Maybe you should stay and try to work it out instead of coming back to New York.”
Calling Marie had been a mistake. He wasn’t ready to discuss the jumble of emotions coursing through him. “I didn’t call you for a lecture.”
Her tone softened and had she been there she probably would have offered him something to eat. When either he or Dominic got particularly abrupt with her, she often tried to soothe their mood with food. Sometimes it worked. Lacking that option, she was employing the supportive, maternal voice – her other secret weapon. “You didn’t call me for a car, either. You have the Boston car service on speed dial. You and Dominic are so much alike…”
Jake made a sound in his throat, “I cannot imagine two people more different than Dom and I.”
Marie laughed softly and said, “Really? Do you know that he called me the night he met Abby?”
“This is an entirely different situation.”
“Jake, it’s me, Marie. I know you well enough to know when you have something you want to tell me.”
Jake loosened his tie and took off his jacket. The mid-day sun was baking him in his dark suit and was the reason for his foul mood – the only reason he was willing to acknowledge. “Coming here was a bad idea, Marie. Just a bad idea.”
“Oh, my God. You slept with her.”
He didn’t say a word.
“Jake! Well, there is no way you are coming home tonight. What were you thinking?” she asked. He imagined the disappointment in her eyes and scowled.
I wasn’t.
Jake didn’t have to answer. Marie continued on. “You turn yourself around, Jake, and you go back in there and make sure that girl is okay.”
He felt about five years old when she used that tone with him. “I can’t do that.”
“You can and you will.” Steel entered the older woman’s voice. “I don’t care what happened between the two of you today; she’s a single mother. You were supposed to make sure she was settled in. Did you check to see if the groceries had arrived? Do you know if she needs anything?”
“No,” he admitted and felt more like a heel with each word Marie threw at him. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Why did I call you again?”
Her tone softened. “Because you knew you were wrong, but you needed someone to say it.”
He half laughed in self-depreciation. “She’s going to think I’m crazy when I knock on the door now.”
“Do you remember that time Dominic sent you into the Republic of Dabron to talk them into honoring their contract even as their government was under attack by rebel leaders? I asked you if you were afraid–”
This was not the time to reminisce. “I don’t see what that has to do with this situation.”
Marie corrected him gently. “You said, ‘Fear is the first guest you should un-invite to any party.’”
“I’m not–” he stopped mid-denial.
Damn.
He could handle rebel leaders. He could talk his way around irate dictators. For the right incentive, he could even negotiate a lucrative truce between two governments that were out to destroy each other. There was something invigorating about bringing order and calm to where there had been none.
Lil was different.
She scared him because around her he was the chaos.
“Dominic sent me to make sure she was safe, Marie.”
Fine job I did of that.
With a wry tone of humor, Marie responded, “Painful as the revelation is, Jake, you’re not perfect. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t fix this situation, though. Lil just had a new life dumped on her. Imagine how lost she must feel.”
“I already feel badly about how I behaved.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
What can I do?
Before the question was even completed in his mind, an idea came to him.
He hung up, turned around and headed back into the building.
He knew exactly how to make this right.
Chapter Seven
Lil heard the knock on the door and wondered if such a place had room service. Maybe some of her things had arrived? She secured her jacket over her now button-free shirt. A quick look in the hallway mirror confirmed her fear that her hair was tumbling down out of its bun and her face was still flushed from sex.
Well, not too much I can do about either.
She opened the door and almost slammed it shut. It was Jake, jacket flung over one shoulder, looking a bit more disheveled than she remembered from just a short while ago.
“May I come in?” he asked politely as if they hadn’t recently engaged in wild, animalistic table sex.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she said, holding the door firmly in one hand to block his entry.
“We need to talk,” he said bluntly.
Au contraire.
“I think we said everything that needed to be said.” She went to close the door, but he moved one foot forward and blocked it from fully closing.
“I didn’t.”
“Don’t make this ugly, Jake.”
He gave her that bland look that she was learning meant that regardless of what she said he was going to wait out the situation and then do as he pleased.
With a sigh of resignation, she swung the door open. How much worse could today get? “Oh, come on in.”
Barefoot, she led the way to the living room and sat on one of the oversized chairs; he sat on the couch across from her. The silence was heavy and prolonged.
He cleared his throat. “So you have everything you need for Colby?”
“Yes,” Lil said slowly.
“And the pantry is properly stocked?”
Lil shook her head in confusion. What was he doing? She defaulted to sarcasm. “I have no idea. I haven’t gotten much farther than the couch.”
His face reddened ever so slightly, but he didn’t counter. Instead, he stood and crossed to the refrigerator and then the cabinets, opening and closing each. “Your books will arrive in twenty minutes along with some clothes, but the rest of your things will be delivered tomorrow so you won’t be disturbed tonight.”
“Thank you?” The stilted and superficial conversation between them felt a bit surreal. Where was the man who had torn her shirt off with one lustful move?
He returned to the living room area, looking unsure if he wanted to sit down or pace the room. “Your car is still valet parked in the garage. You’ll have a choice tomorrow morning of taking it or calling for a driver. I left the number with the front desk. They know to have a car seat for you.”
“It wasn’t necessary…”
“It’s what I came here for.”
Well, that stung.
Lil stood and took a step toward the door. “Of course. Well, then, thank you and I’m fine now. You can go back and tell Dominic that you fulfilled your task.”
Instead of responding to her jab, he said, “So, you have an exam tomorrow morning?”
“Yes,” she replied, wondering where this conversation was going.
“I contacted the nanny you’ve used before. She should be here in an hour. That should allow you to study tonight.” Wow, Jake thought of everything. Too bad leaving so she could start pretending today had never happened had not yet occurred to him.
She had to admit that getting her a babysitter for the night was thoughtful. Not that she wanted to see him as anything but an arrogant, controlling ass, but having someone there that night would help her. Wait. “And she was available? She was good; I would have thought she’d have an
other position.”
“She did, but she was willing to leave it. The service found a replacement for her.”
“Just like that?” Did anyone say no to Jake?
“Everyone has a price.”
What an awful and absolutely untrue way to view people.
She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t and I’m not comfortable with a nanny who can be bought, either.”
His eyebrows rose in recognition of her point. “I’ll cancel her and have the service send someone else.” He took out his phone.
Lil shook her head and reached out to stop him, pulling back just before she touched him. “No, I’ll see who I can find. I might have to drop Colby off, but I have friends who will help me on short notice.”
“I’ll watch her.”
Whoa. Just whoa. “What?”
One of his eyebrows rose as if to say that she had heard him perfectly well and he didn’t appreciate repeating himself. “I’m already here; it makes sense for me to do it–unless you’re not comfortable with me watching her either.”
“You’re serious.”
“I don’t joke much.”
No kidding.
He couldn’t seriously be offering to watch her daughter while she studied, could he? He was a billionaire, a man in charge of countless companies. He didn’t get to where he was by hanging around. Was he hoping she’d sleep with him again? If so, he was sure going about it in an odd way.
“Colby is going to wake up hungry,” she said, testing his offer.
“I’m sure you can direct me to the necessary supplies.”
“And wet.” When he said nothing, she added, “You might have to change her diaper.”
The frustratingly even tempered Jake had returned. He didn’t so much as bat an eyelash at the possibility. “You’ll be here. Shown once, I’m sure I’ll be able to handle subsequent changes. How old is she?”
“Six months old.”
He typed something into his phone.
“Are you looking up how to care for a six month old?”
A slight flush spread across his cheeks. He sounded a bit defensive when he said, “Information gleaned from the Internet has a high reliability of accuracy if cross-referenced with at least three reputable sites.” He paused his search for a moment. “How much longer do you think she will sleep?”
“Maybe twenty minutes more? Her normal nap is two hours.”
“Great,” he said, throwing his jacket across the back of the couch and settling himself back onto its thick cushions. “By then I’ll be a pro. Set up her things over here and you can use that table.” He pointed to the one in the adjoining dining area.
“Sure,” Lil said and felt a bit like she must be dreaming. She gathered Colby’s toss blanket and a few of her toys and set up an area on the floor near Jakes feet. She also readied a bottle. The main desk rang up to say that a few boxes were being sent up. Lil spread her books across the table and looked across the room at Jake who was still reading something on his phone.
A wail from the bedroom announced the end of Colby’s nap and the smell that assailed Lil’s nostrils when she entered the room almost convinced her to change Colby in the bedroom, but then a wicked thought came to her and she brought the diaper bag and changing pad with her to the living room instead.
Let’s see what Jake is really made of.
She chose an area on the floor just past the blanket she’d put down earlier for her daughter. Lil positioned herself on the opposite side of Colby.
Jake put his phone down, his expression devoid of the distaste she’d expected.
Taking nothing for granted, she explained each step from wipe to paste, periodically peering up expecting a reaction that never came.
He simply asked, “Do you use the paste every time?”
Lil closed adjusted the new diaper and placed the soiled one in a sealable, disposable baggie. “She is just starting with cereal and snacks, so I do right now. I didn’t have to as much when she was only on formula.”
Positioning Colby in the middle of the blanket with some toys, Lil gathered up the supplies and went to wash her hands in the pantry.
On her return, she saw Jake lean down and move a toy just beyond Colby’s reach. He must have seen the question in her eyes, because he said, “Research says that if you place things just out of a baby’s reach, they are more motivated to move. It also lays a foundation for problem solving.”
Emotion constricted Lil’s vocal cords, making a nod her only response. She wanted to hate Jake or at least to find a reason to dislike him. Dear Universe, you already tempted me with him and I failed your test–must you rub it in?
Lil returned from the kitchen with a bottle and a towel for Jake’s shoulder. She was going to hand Colby to him, but he moved down onto the floor and rested his back against the front of the couch. He lifted Colby easily until she was eye to eye with him and said, “I will pay you a thousand dollars if you don’t spit up on me.”
Colby grabbed his nose and pulled. He smiled and said, “You’re a hard bargainer, but you won’t get a penny more.” He settled her into the crook of one arm and held up a hand to receive the bottle from Lil.
Lil knew her mouth was open in the most unflattering way, but she couldn’t help it. She handed him both the bottle and the towel. He placed the towel over one shoulder like he’d done it a hundred times before.
“Do you have children?” she asked.
He shook his head and looked down at Colby who was now happily guzzling her formula. “No, but I have friends who do.”
“And you babysat for them?”
He shuddered. “God no, I don’t like children.”
Colby twisted his bottom lip between her little fingers. He pulled back to escape the pinch, but didn’t look bothered. When Lil continued to stand over him–staring, he said, “Go study.”
As she headed across the room, she heard Jake say to Colby, “I don’t do Peek-a-boo even if it’s developmentally appropriate for you. However, when you finish your bottle, we can look at your toy portfolio and determine if it is adequately diverse.”
Impossible as the task appeared at first, Lil lost herself in her class notes and test prep questions, allowing herself no more than quick glances to ensure that Colby and Jake were still fine. After the first run through, she made the mistake of allowing her attention to linger on them.
Colby was on her stomach on her throw blanket and Jake was seated next to it, talking in that even tone. Lil only caught a word here and there–all of which sounded like he was explaining investment strategies, but since her daughter appeared to be enjoying the undivided attention of an adult, Lil didn’t comment on his choice of discourse.
“I don’t like kids,” he’d said.
Oh, how much easier all of this would be if that were true.
Jake didn’t know it yet, but one day he was going to be a wonderful father to some lucky woman’s child.
Just not mine.
Lil stood and closed her book. She was as ready as she’d ever be. Time to release Jake from his obligation. Walking over, Lil picked her daughter up and cuddled her against her chest. “Thank you,” she said.
Jake slowly unfolded himself from the floor and stood, stretching when he reached his full height. “Did you get everything done that you wanted to?”
“Yes.”
Jake stretched again and reached for his jacket. With quick precision, he adjusted his clothing, tightened his tie, and ran a smoothing hand through his slightly disheveled hair. In a matter of moments, he was back–the perfectly groomed, perfectly in control man whose mere existence made her a bit defensive.
He handed her a card. “If you need help for tomorrow morning, call this number.”
It was the nanny service.
“I should be fine. I lined up a sitter a while ago.”
“Yes, of course. Then I should be going.” He looked around as if assuring himself that there was nothing left undone. Their eyes met and for just a
split second Lil thought she saw a spark of desire in their dark depths, but it passed and might easily have only been in her imagination. “A limo will come for you on Friday. A jet will take you and Colby to a private airport in New York.”
Her heart missed a beat.
Was it possible that he was inviting her to join him in New York?
She couldn’t do that.
She shouldn’t do that.
But for just a moment, she wanted to agree to go wherever he wanted to take her.
What am I saying? She gave herself a mental shake.
Jake said, “Dominic and your sister are having a large party this weekend. They said it was important for you to attend.”
Lil’s stomach lurched painfully and she bit her lip to hold in her thoughts.
Dominic and Abby.
Of course.
“I’ll think about it.” She walked with him to the door. Please just leave.
“I believe it’s related to their engagement. This is one you shouldn’t miss.”
A part of her wanted to believe that he was saying that because he wanted to see her again. Don’t be a fool. She asked sarcastically, “So, Dominic told you to make sure I went?”
The slight incline of his head was all the acknowledgement she required.
I might be sick now.
“Goodbye, Jake.” Baby in one arm, she held the door open with her other.
He stepped through the doorway and paused. “You were right, Lil. This afternoon doesn’t have to change anything. We’re going to see each other at events. It doesn’t have to be awkward.”
Sure, only listen when I’m talking out my ass.
She closed the door in his face and leaned her back against it. Looking down at her daughter, she said, “Don’t look at me like that. I know he’s not coming back. I’m just being stupid now so that I’ll be more sympathetic when you’re older and dating.”
Colby smiled.
“I know. I like him, too.” Lil pushed away from the door and carried her daughter back into the living room, their new living room.
Another day, another story I can’t share with Abby.
Later that night, back in his home, Jake sent Dominic a quick text. “It’s done. She’s in her new place. Meet tomorrow morning?”
Bedding the Billionaire (Book 3) (Legacy Collection) Page 6