Her eyes widened at his statement. Just then his hands were around her waist. She squealed loudly when she felt herself being thrown into the air and then splashing down into the water. She came up laughing. “That was no fair. You didn’t give me a chance to run.”
“You can’t run in this family honey.”
They were all laughing soon and he was taking turns throwing the both of them. Lily continued to play in the water as Sierra decided to get out. Following behind her to the blanket they had spread out Jacob sat beside her. He was right. The wet underwear made her look even more beautiful.
They sat there and laughed as they watched Lily.
“How long were you planning on staying Sierra?”
She turned to look at him with a stricken look. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I know Ernest said that you needed a place until you got back on your feet. Lily is becoming attached to you so… I just don’t want to see her hurt is all.”
“Oh. I understand.” The smile fell from her face quickly as she listened to his words. “I guess I will leave with the next stage back home then. With the money you have given me I can find a place to live until I find work.”
“Ok.”
“Ok.” The rest of the time was spent in silence as they were both caught up in their own thoughts.
She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Did he not want her there? He was suddenly trying to get rid of her. Did she do something wrong? She didn’t know, but she needed to get away. If he didn’t want her there then she couldn’t stay. She felt herself falling for him. That was the last thing she needed.
His thoughts were of the same accord. If she cared then why didn’t she say something? Did she want to leave? She hadn’t put up much of a fight to stay on. He looked out at Lily. She had been through so much in her young life. So much pain and misery. There was no way he would see her hurt again. If Sierra didn’t want to stay then she needed to go before Lily got attached and hurt.
Time went by slowly over the next few days. Sierra began to pack her things. She was removing the books off the shelves and putting them in her bag when Lily came in.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, the stage leaves the day after tomorrow.” She had assumed that Jacob told Lily she was leaving but by the look on the young girls face she knew that she was mistaken.
“You mean you’re leaving? Why? I thought you liked it here? I thought you were going to stay?”
“Honey I can’t stay. You know that. I need to go back to the city. I don’t think I belong here.”
“You’re wrong. You do belong here. You were to be my new momma. I saw you and papa kiss. I know he likes you. Why don’t you like him?” There were tears streaming down her face as she looked over at her.
Lily ran from the home and Sierra went to go after her. Unknowingly tears were streaming down her own face. She came to the porch and watched Lily run from the yard. Her eyes came up to meet Jacob’s as he left the barn. Looking towards where Lily was running away he made his way over to her. “What’s going on? What happened?”
Suddenly upset she glared at him. “You should have told her. You tell me to go and then you don’t even tell your daughter I am leaving. Shame on you Jacob. Shame on you.” Turning she ran back into the cabin and slammed the bedroom door shut.
Jacob quickly followed behind her and stood outside her door. His hand raised to knock but instead he stood there and listened to the muffled sounds of her cries. Shaking his head in despair he made his way back outside. He went in search of the person he could talk to and help. Lily.
Two days had passed and Sierra hadn’t spoken a word to him since that evening except what was needed. She didn’t sit on the porch at night either. After dinner she made her way into her room and shut the door for the night. Lily didn’t come out either. She went to the loft to lay down. He listened to her cries and the first night fell asleep in the rocking chair not wanting to disturb her. He loaded the luggage onto the wagon and turned back to look at Sierra. She quickly averted her gaze. Lily came out and decided she would rather sit in the back of the buggy by herself. They rode in silence until they finally reached the town limits.
“Ms. Landson I’m sorry to tell you that the stage won’t be here for at least another day. They got caught up.”
“That is fine. I will get a room at the inn.”
“Ok ma’am. I will have one of the boys sit your stuff upstairs in your room when you get settled.”
“Thank you.”
She turned to look at Jacob and stared into his eyes. She felt like her heart was breaking into a million pieces. Holding out her hand she tried to smile. “Thank you Mr. Stevens. It was good to meet you. Where is Lily?”
“She ran off when we got here. Thank you Sierra for everything.”
“Thank you.” She turned around to walk away as she felt the tears well into her eyes. Just then she was ambushed by a little body.
“Thank you Ms. Sierra. I will miss you forever. I love you.”
Bending down she hugged the little girl tight to her chest. “Oh Lily honey. I love you too. I will miss you greatly.”
“Will you miss Pa too?” The little girl asked in a pained voice.
Sierra looked up to meet Jacob’s eyes. “Yes I will.” Looking back down, she kissed the little girl on the head. “Goodbye honey. Remember what I told you.”
“Yes ma’am. Be there for papa and be good. Always remember my manners and be a lady first.”
“That’s right.” Sierra hugged her again and turned to walk away without looking back. Lily made her way back over to her father.
“Why’s she leaving papa?”
“Cause I wanted her to and she wants to go back home.”
“But her home is with us papa. I know she don’t want to go back to Boston. She said so herself.”
He looked down at his daughter in wonder. “She did uh?”
“Yep. She said she would be glad if she never had to go back to Boston. Do you feel about her the way you did momma?”
“I care about her yes. Your momma was special.”
“So is she papa.”
“Yes she is.”
“Then what are you doing still standing there. Go get her son.” He turned around to see Maddie standing there with her hands on her hips. Her eyes were angry as she looked at him. Standing beside her was a disgruntled Scott who just shook his head at him.
“Take it from me son if you are able to find a woman that warms your heart then don’t let her go. This is a second chance for you. What’re you waiting for?”
He looked down to see Lily smiling up at him. Kissing her on the cheek he quickly made his way to the inn and the room he knew Sierra was in. He knocked quickly on the door and it slowly opened. There stood a red faced Sierra. Her eyes were puffy and swollen and red rimmed from the tears that steadily rolled down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry. I’m such a fool. Please come home.”
She wiped her face as he stepped closer and closer to her. “What do you mean?”
“Come home. Your home is with me and Lily. Your place is beside me. I don’t want you to leave.”
“But I thought you said.”
“I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“I could never leave you and Lily. Not of my own doing.”
“Oh. Sierra I was a fool please forgive me.”
“Tell me why you want me to go home with you Jacob. Give me a reason to stay.”
“Because I love you damn it. Isn’t that reason enough?”
“You love me?” Her eyes looked up with wonder as they met his. “Really?”
“Would I be standing here telling you if I didn’t?”
“Oh I love you too Jacob.”
“Good then marry me then.”
“Yes. Yes I will marry you.” His lips met hers and she felt his arms wrap around her and bring her closer to him.
Served
Billionaire Ménage Romance
Chapter 1
Trish looked over at the woman like she had grown three heads.
“What do you mean you don’t know? I have already ordered everything.”
“Yeah. About that, you need to provide a refund. Now.”
“I am sorry, but no. The stuff is on its way in and I am having nothing to do with it other than passing it on to you. It’s paid for. So, as we agreed, everything will be delivered to your place of business, as it comes in.”
She turned and walked away from the woman who looked like steam was going to erupt from her ears. Renee Millington was a world-class spoiled brat and never heard the word “no”. Trish wouldn’t be surprised if that was the first time the girl had heard the word in her entire life. She needed a vacation. Somewhere hot and tropical. Her eyes closed briefly as she thought of it. She was imagining the sun and a drink in her hand until she ran into a palm tree head first. Startled she opened her eyes to see that it was actually a man that she had run into.
“Oh. I am so sorry.”
She righted herself with his help. She would have fallen flat on her face if he hadn’t caught her. Trish looked up into a pair of light blue eyes. They had to be the most amazing eyes she had ever seen.
“Oh no darlin’ the pleasure is all mine.”
She felt the blush as it creeped up her cheeks and then continued to spread down into her chest. She knew that she would soon look like a tomato if she didn’t leave soon. Men were not her forte. Actually they were as far from it as possible.
“It seems; however, that the woman behind you with her hands balled into fists isn’t quite so happy uh?”
“No, it would seem not. I didn’t tell her what she wanted to hear... I busted her bubble so to say.”
His laugh was deep. “So it seems. I am Alexander.”
“Trish.”
“Well, Trish you have a wonderful day.”
He slipped his hand into hers and she felt the charge of electricity shoot through her arm. He grinned and, as he brushed his lips briefly across her knuckles, you could half tell he knew the buzz he was giving to Trish was very purposeful.
Blushing, she pulled her hand back and began laughing.
“I really must go.”
“But wait. Let me get your phone number. I may need your services. What is it you do?”
“I’m a caterer and party planner.”
She smiled as she handed him her card before walking away. She had things to do. Shaking off her thoughts she hurried to her car and started back to the office. She needed to find more work and fast. Especially since Ms. High and Mighty bailed out on her birthday, the brat having decided that instead of a party she would now take a tour of Europe and Asia, the one her father had proposed. However, many of the decorations and such had already come in and they were required to be paid for. The deposit they gave her barely covered the stuff coming in. She finally made it back to the office and pulled into the parking lot. There was Belinda in the middle of the floor looking lost.
“I don’t know what to do? We don’t have anything.”
“I know: The next couple days we will be looking for work. That party was supposed to bring in more clients. You know, with all the people there and such?”
“I know. It’s ok Trish. We’ll get it.”
“I know.”
She made her way to the back office to figure out if they had anything left over after paying for the non-refundable items and to see if there was anything that could be returned. She needed to find a job. A large one and fast. She heard the phone ring but knew Belinda would get it.
“Trish! Get in here!”
Thinking something was wrong, which wouldn’t be a surprise with the way the day was going, she rushed into the front room.
“What happened?”
Her eyes were wide as she looked over at her partner. Belinda was red in the face, and there was a smile plastered on her face.
“You didn’t tell me that’d you’d ran into Alexander White.”
“What. I didn’t. Oh hold on… was that who I ran into? I was leaving Renee Millington and ran smack into a man who said his name was Alexander.”
She shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal. Then she remembered the name. She looked over at Belinda again.
“Yeah. That’s right. Alexander White. You know, billionaire and partner to Duncan McIntyre? They are some of the richest men in the city. Not to mention gorgeous and the most eligible bachelors.” She winked at the last.
“Yeah. Everyone knows that, but what does it matter? Plus, how do you know I ran into him today?”
“He just called… and guess what?”
“What?”
“He wants to meet with you. He wanted to know if you could come to his office today. He said the sooner the better. He has a gala coming up and he wants to hire you. Guess what? The gala is for over 500 people.”
“What?”
Her face showed her amazement as she thought of the amount of people. The party for Renee had been for almost 200, and that was a goal that she had wanted for so long. A gala of over 500 was like a dream come true.
“OK. Please call him back and tell him I will be there. Ask what time is good for him.”
“Ok. I suggest you go home and put on a pretty sundress or something. Those jeans won’t do to catch a job like this one.”
Trish found herself laughing.
“You’re right. This could be the opening we need. OK, call my cell after you talk to him.”
“OK.”
Chapter 2
Trish had just made it into her little apartment and slipped into a sundress. Her phone suddenly rang and seeing it was Belinda, she quickly picked it up.
“Hello.”
“Hey girl. He said he has an opening in 45 minutes. Are you ready? I told him OK and if you hurry you can get across town in time.”
“OK. I’m on my way.”
Trish flicked the phone off and quickly ran the brush through her hair once more. After looking in the mirror and sighing she grabbed her portfolio and purse and ran from the apartment. She looked down and almost freaked when she realized she had no shoes on. Running back inside, she slipped into her pumps and came back out the door.
Trish looked at the huge glass building and took a large gulp of air. This could be the start of something. This could be the first major step for her and Belinda’s catering business. They had worked so hard for the down payment on the place. It had taken a year of sharing an apartment and working three jobs. Finally they had succeeded to secure the loan they needed to start Smart Girls Catering. Now that they were up and running, they needed some business to keep it afloat.
She walked into the building and to the large marble desk in front of her.
“Hello, can I help you?”
“Trish Peters. I have an appointment with Mr. White.”
“OK. Hold on one minute please.” The woman picked up the phone and smiled. “Mr. Jacobs will be down to get you.”
“OK.”
She was puzzled why another man would come down to get her for a meeting with someone else but shrugged it off. A few minutes later a tall man with blonde hair came over to her.
“You must be Trish?”
“Yes.”
“Please follow me.”
His voice was deep, but there was something about it. Shaking it off she followed him to the elevator and gripped the side as the door closed in front of her.
“Not fond of elevators, huh?”
“No sir.” She smiled at him weakly.
“I understand honey. When I first started with Mr. White I wanted to try and walk the 15 floors. Then I was told the amount of money I would be given and I faced my fears.”
She figured out what her first thought had been. Mr. Jacobs was apparently gay. She smiled and nodded as they rode up the floors. When they came to the 15th floor, he pushed the button to close the doors and shook his head at the people who were standing there to get on the el
evator. She felt a shiver run through her body. What was going on? She watched as he pushed a white card through the slot above the numbers of the keypad. She hadn’t even noticed there was a spot for it, but it must have been disguised that way. He pushed in six numbers that she couldn’t’ even keep up and then the elevator began to move up even further. It rose to the 17th floor and stopped. When the doors opened he held them for her.
“If you go through the door on the left Mr. White is expecting you.”
She turned back to see him step into the elevator and then the doors closed. OK, this was a little weird. She started forward in the direction where he had directed her to go. When she got to the door, she knocked tentatively.
“Come in.”
She walked in and stopped at the man standing in front of her. Unlike earlier, his tie and coat were gone and he stood there in his dress pants and button-down light blue shirt. The top buttons were undone.
“Hello, Trish. It is good to see you again.”
“And you as well Mr. White.”
“Please, call me Alex. So I am sure your partner told you what was going on. From the spiel she gave me I would assume that this is something that you would be interested in doing.”
He turned from her and gestured towards a seat.
“Yes, sir.”
“OK. Well then, let’s get started. The gala is to be held in two weeks. I need to know if you can commit to coming in every morning and going over the progress with me.”
“Yes, sir. I would be available for anything you need.”
He felt his body stiffen again and turned to look at her with her next words.
“Are you now? Be careful what you say my dear.”
She sucked in a breath at the intensity that shone from his eyes. She had a funny feeling he was being sexual with her and she felt her heartbeat quicken at the thought. If she wasn’t careful, she would start rambling.
“Please call me Alex when speaking to me about the gala.”
He turned back around as if they were now holding a regular conversation.
“OK. I brought my portfolio to show you. I have to admit that I have never done anything quite so big, but I am good, and Belinda is awesome with the food.”
Hang Em' Up: A Bad Boy Sports Pregnancy Romance Page 52