Amorous (The Lincoln Series Book 1)

by Baer, Susan

  She pulled her phone out and turned it on. There were several missed calls and messages from Warren. A mix of hope and fear stirred in her chest. Maybe he was calling to say that he was wrong and he wanted a family with her, or maybe he was calling to tell her it was over between them. After all, if he loved her he would have come after her.

  She closed her messages and opened a text to Janet. She looked at the screen and tried to find the right words. She didn’t want to believe her best friend would lie to her about this. They’d been through so much and Janet was always on her side, but this was different. Warren was an old friend, one she was very close to. She took a deep breath and started typing. Her message was brief. She’d call Janet later when she was alone. She finished the text and turned her phone off then set it on the console between them to dig through her purse. She needed an aspirin for her aching head.

  “What happened between us is in the past, Marie. I’m sure you have some regrets, as do I, and we’ve both grown since then. You can trust me to take care of this for you, to take care of you. All you have to do is tell me what happened. I’ll fix everything.”

  “Some things can’t be fixed with money. I have to figure this out for myself.”

  “Money can fix more than you realize. Take a couple days to think about it. I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk.”

  Jake was wrong. Money couldn’t make Warren love her. It couldn’t make him want their child, and right now that was the only fix she was interested in.

  ****

  Janet sat at her desk and read Marie’s text.

  He doesn’t want the baby. I’m going away to think. I’ll call you when I get there. Please don’t tell him. I’ll take care of it.

  The words were too benign for Marie. She had been so excited about the baby she was ready to explode. Now she made it sound like he didn’t like her choice of curtains. Something was wrong, eerily wrong.

  At first Janet thought it was a joke but when her call went straight to voicemail she got worried.

  What the hell did she mean ‘please don’t tell him’? Don’t tell him what? That she was going away? Wouldn’t he figure that out pretty quickly? They were supposed to have dinner at his place tonight.

  She was lost in thought trying to make sense of the message when her phone rang.

  ****

  Warren paced in front of his desk and made a call to Janet. He wanted this call to be over with so that he could find Marie. He needed to hold her. He wanted to feel her body pressed against his.

  “Becker Realty. This is Janet.”

  Warren stopped pacing and closed his eyes. “Janet, I need your help. I have to find Marie.”

  “Warren what the hell did you do?”

  “What?”

  “She ran from you, didn’t she? What happened?”

  “She called you? Where is she?”

  “No, she didn’t call me. I’ve been trying to call her. What the hell did you say to her?”

  “I wish I knew, Jan. She won’t talk to me. She just walked into my office looking like the world had ended and she wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.”

  “What are you talking about? The last time I saw her she was fine, actually more than fine. What did you say to her?”

  “I didn’t say anything. She…she told me she needed a break and she needed to get away for a while. Jan, I think she left me.”

  “What? Well, maybe your silence told her more than you realize, dumb ass! Why else would she start crying? Honestly, Warren, I thought you were smarter than that.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about? She was crying when she walked through my door and she wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense, Warren. Why would she…Shit!”

  “Damn it, Janet. What aren’t you telling me? What’s going on?”

  “Look, Warren, I don’t want to get in the middle of this. This is between you and Marie. Okay?”

  “Janet, please don’t start keeping secrets from me now. She won’t talk to me. Tell me what you know.”

  “Don’t put me in the middle of this. I care about you both. One of you is going to be pissed at me in the end. I know it.”

  “Janet, I love her.” His breathing seized. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He loved her. He took a deep breath. “Please, Jan. I can’t lose her.”

  “Okay, listen. She asked me not to tell you so I’ll ask you a question.” She sighed. “Why would she think you don’t want your own baby?”

  “What? I don’t have any children. What the hell are you talking about?” He paused to think then nausea swept over him and he whispered, “She’s pregnant?”

  “She told me you didn’t want the baby. Is that true?”

  Warren felt the air rush from his lungs. The conversation with his sister replayed in his mind and he dropped back to sit on the end of his desk. “Fuck. She heard me say…”

  “Say what, Warren? Answer my question.”

  He took a deep breath to steady his voice. “Janet, please tell me where she is. I have to talk to her.”

  “Answer my question.”

  “You said this was between me and Marie. Just tell me where she is.”

  “I don’t know where she is. How could you tell her you didn’t want the baby? Are you insane?”

  “I didn’t tell her that. I would never tell her that…she must have overheard my conversation with Liz.” He swallowed hard. “Liz asked me when we were going to give her kids a cousin to play with and I told her…I told Liz I didn’t want a baby screwing up my life.”

  “Wow. I would say that did it.”

  “God damn it, Janet! I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t know Marie was standing there and I didn’t know she was pregnant! I need to explain to her what I meant and I can’t do that if she won’t talk to me. I have to find her. I have to make her listen to me.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you didn’t know, all she heard was you didn’t want the baby.”

  He turned his back to AJ. He couldn’t let him see how badly he was trembling. “I have to find her, Janet. I have to fix this. I have to…”

  “Warren, I don’t know where she is. She sent me a text and said she was going away and she’d call me when she got there. I’ll call you when I hear from her.”

  “Yeah, you do that. In the meantime I’ll find her.” He started pacing again. He needed to be out looking for her. Suddenly his office felt small and constricting.

  “Warren…you need to understand what you’ve done.”

  “What do you mean what I’ve done? Do you think I planned this?”

  “Okay. Let me rephrase that. You need to understand how devastated she is.”

  “I know how devastated she is! I saw her damn it!”

  “Warren, listen to me, please? When I had lunch with her today she was convinced you were going to be thrilled when she told you about the baby. I tried to tell her you might not be happy at first and to give you some time to accept it.” She sighed. “I knew she was going to be upset with your reaction because it wasn’t going to be what she was hoping for. Now imagine how she felt when she heard you say that.”

  “But I didn’t mean it like that. I was just talking.”

  “She’s scared Warren. She needs you to tell her everything is going to be okay. That’s why she convinced herself you were going to be head over heels about the baby. It was the only way she was going to keep it together. Now she thinks she has to go through this alone.”

  “I’d never let her go through this alone, Jan, you know that.”

  “I know that, but I don’t think she does. She still thinks she’s not good enough for you.”

  “What do you mean she thinks she’s not good enough for me?”

  “It’s a long story but she thinks she’s not pretty enough for you.”

  “What?”

  “Warren, she loves you. Don’t break her heart.”

  “I’d die for her, Janet. And when
I find her I’ll make damn sure she knows it.” He sighed. “Thanks, Jan.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Warren hung up with a heavy sigh. He had to find Marie. The thought of how much pain she must be in was too much for him to contemplate.

  He grabbed his keys from his desk and turned to AJ.

  “I have to find her.” He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets to hide the trembling. “Christ, she’s pregnant and she thinks I don’t want the baby.”

  “Do you?” AJ shrugged on his jacket.

  Warren hesitated. He’d been worried she might be pregnant but he never really thought seriously about being a father.

  “Want the baby? Hell yes. But it scares the shit out of me. I’m not ready for this.”

  “Well you better get ready. Come on. I’ll go with you.”

  Warren didn’t move. Guilt seeped into his heart. He should have told her about the tear in the condom. Then she wouldn’t be scared and alone. They could have dealt with this together.

  AJ crossed his arms over his chest. “You knew she was pregnant, didn’t you?”

  “I suspected.”

  AJ scrubbed his hands over his face. “How long have you known?”

  Warren shrugged. “The last couples weeks, maybe? Unless her periods only last a few hours she hasn’t had one since we met.” He walked to his window and looked out at the cloudy sky. “Actually, I’ve been terrified this was going to happen.”

  “Why?”

  Warren rubbed his hand around his neck and squeezed the aching muscles. “Let’s just say condoms aren’t indestructible.”

  “Let me guess. You didn’t tell her about it.”

  “I didn’t know how.”

  “How about, ‘hey, Marie, we might have a problem here. The condom tore.’?”

  Warren turned and glared at AJ. “It was the first time I made love to her and she was a little nervous. She’d just told me she was a virgin and she thought I had a problem with that.”

  “Warren, what the hell were you thinking?”

  Warren plopped back into his leather chair. “I wasn’t. She whispered to me that she didn’t want to be a virgin anymore and my brain made an immediate departure to outer space.” He sat forward and stared at the floor. “Then as soon as it was over she freaked out because she thought we’d had unprotected sex. I told her I had it covered and then I discovered…”

  “That you didn’t have it covered.” He paused. “Warren, you have to tell her.”

  “I know.”

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  “Tell her the truth and hope she doesn’t cut my balls off.”

  AJ smiled. “If she does, I want to watch.”

  “Sick bastard.”

  AJ laughed. “Come on, Wild Child. Let’s go find your woman.”

  They headed for the parking garage. Warren had only one thing on his mind, he had to find Marie. If anything happened to her he would never forgive himself.

  Chapter 20

  Jake’s house was huge. Warren had told Marie Jake’s parents had money, but she hadn’t really thought about just how wealthy they were. The house looked like a castle. It was on the edge of town, away from the main flow of traffic. The long drive was lined on both sides with trees that canopied the brick lane and by the time Marie could see the house in full view, the last sign of civilization had disappeared. It would definitely be quiet here. She would have a chance to think about what to do next.

  The driveway curved around to the front of the house and a man waited at the foot of the enormous stone staircase to the entryway. He came to her side and opened the door. He offered her his hand and bowed his head slightly.

  “Madam.”

  “Thank you.” Marie took his hand and stepped out of the car.

  He bowed his head again and without another word turned to Jake and took the keys Jake handed to him. He drove the car around the house as Jake led her up the stone stairs.

  The front door was oak, carved in an ornate pattern and wide enough to drive a small car through. They stepped inside and Jake stopped to speak to the butler.

  “Jensen, have you taken Ms. Adams’ bags to her room and prepared it for her?”

  “Yes, master Jacob.”

  “Thank you. Have a place set for dinner. Ms. Adams will be dining here tonight.”

  The butler nodded his assent and disappeared down the hall.

  Marie barely recognized Jake when he spoke. His voice sounded almost regal. She never imagined he was anything other than an arrogant womanizer with a large bank account. But the Jake she was seeing right now was a wealthy aristocrat.

  She thought back to the past hour she’d spent with him. After she’d agreed to go with him, he had made a call from her kitchen and helped her pack. He seemed to understand her need to get away quickly before she ran into Warren.

  Then two men had shown up to take her bags. She’d rolled her eyes at that. She only had one small suitcase and a backpack, but Jake’s car didn’t have room for anything more than the two of them. She had waited next to his car and watched as he gave orders to the men.

  “Thank you for helping me, Jake. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

  “I told you Marie, you don’t owe me for anything. Help yourself to whatever you need in the house. If you can’t find something, Jensen will be happy to help you.”

  He put his hand at the small of her back and led her a short distance down the hall. His touch catapulted her into the past. She remembered him touching her the same way as he led her to his penthouse. A chill crept up her spine and she suppressed a shiver of dread.

  “Make yourself comfortable in here. I need to speak to Jensen before I join you.”

  She watched him walk through the door at the end of the hall and turned to stare into the den. She blew out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. For the first time since she had walked out of Warren’s office she began to question her reaction to what she’d heard him say. She missed him already. Maybe she should have told him about the baby before she left. Maybe he would feel differently if he knew she was pregnant.

  She sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes tighter to hold back the tears. If he had cared at all about her he would have come after her.

  She was trying to convince herself she was glad he hadn’t shown up, yet a part of her mourned the fact that he had let her walk away. Apparently, he didn’t love her as much as she thought, nor was she pretty enough to keep him interested. Now that she was pregnant, he would probably avoid her like the plague. A small stab of pain pierced her heart and she quickly smothered it with a deep breath.

  She walked into the den and looked around. It was bigger than her whole apartment. Despite the dark atmosphere it felt warm and cozy. A large painting of a man hung above the fireplace. The man resembled Jake and she assumed it was his father. She walked to one of the large wingback leather chairs in front of the lit fireplace and Jake walked in with Jensen two steps behind him.

  “Lemonade, Ms. Adams?” Jensen presented a glass to her on a silver tray. “If you prefer I can mix another drink for you.”

  “Lemonade’s fine, thank you.” She smiled at Jensen and took the beverage from the tray.

  Jake stepped to her side. “Please sit down, Marie.”

  She sat back into the soft cushions and watched Jensen walk to the fireplace. She could feel Jake watching her before he sat in the chair next to her. She kept her eyes on Jensen as she spoke. “I really appreciate everything you’re doing for me and I promise I won’t stay long. I just need to figure out where to go from here.”

  Jensen carried the glass of bourbon she watched him pour from a decanter and present it to Jake in the same manner. “Master Jacob.”

  When Jake took the glass Jensen bowed his head and walked out the door he had entered.

  “Take all the time you need, Marie. The house is virtually empty, there’s no need for you to rush. My parents have moved to their home in Europe for a while so it�
�s just me, Jensen, and a few other house staff to ramble around this monstrosity.”

  A moment of uncomfortable silence stretched between them before he spoke again. “I’m sorry Warren hurt you. I tried to warn you.”

  “Yes. I guess you did.”

  He smiled. “I’ll admit I could have been gentler about it. But the important thing is now you know the truth about him.”

  “Jake, I just need help getting to my mom’s place. I don’t…” She looked down at her hands she had placed in her lap. She could feel his gaze on her and despite everything he was doing for her she knew it was for his benefit more than hers. She just wished she knew what he was up to.

  “I know you think I’m enjoying this but I’m really not. I don’t generally care what happens to the women Warren tosses aside, but you aren’t like the others.”

  She gritted her teeth and held back her retort. Despite what had happened, she still loved Warren and Jake’s insults hurt her more than she wanted to admit.

  “I want you to know I’ll be here when you need me.” He finished his drink and stood up. “Would you care to freshen up before dinner? Jensen tells me it will be ready in an hour.” He held his hand out to her.

  Hesitantly she took it and rose to her feet. “Yes. I’d like to. But, um…” She felt out of place. The sheer elegance of the house was overwhelming. And the way Jensen had treated her, like she was royalty, was unnerving. “What should I wear for dinner? I didn’t bring anything formal with me.”

  He smiled. “I’m sorry, Marie. I guess old habits die hard. My parents are always so formal. But, since they aren’t here it really doesn’t matter. Wear what you have on or come down in your pajamas.” He hesitated. “I have plans for tonight so I won’t be able to join you for dinner. Jensen will show you to your room. I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned and walked out of the room.

  This was a mistake. She should never have come here. She remembered Warren telling her he didn’t trust Jake. Her own experience with him told her she shouldn’t trust him, but what other options did she have right now? She felt trapped.