Without a wave or a smile, Olivia pulled out of the driveway and vowed to not look back.
****
Jake wasn’t sure which was more of a shock right now – finding out he was the father of twins or seeing Olivia again. It had been eight years since her birthday party, and he hadn’t seen more than glimpse of her from a distance since.
Not that he blamed her. He could have reacted with a little more finesse back then, but she had shocked the hell out of him. For years she had simply been Mike’s sister; then she had blossomed into an incredibly attractive young woman and she was off limits. There was no way he was going to risk his friendship with Mike; they were like brothers. He shuddered as he realized that that would make Olivia technically like a sister to him. That was certainly never the image he’d had of her.
As her taillights disappeared down the driveway, he felt completely defeated. She barely looked at him, and when she had it was with disgust. Not that he didn’t deserve it, it was just not what he was expecting or needed right now. With his head thrown back, Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath. What the hell was he supposed to do now? When Mike had suggested calling Olivia, he knew it was a mistake. The only problem was that there didn’t seem to be any alternative.
“I could call my parents,” Mike said as he came to stand beside Jake.
“They’re in Arizona while your mom’s recovering from her surgery,” Jake stated miserably. “They’re two-thousand miles away. I don’t think they’ll be able to help us tonight.”
Mike raked a hand through his hair. “No, not tonight, but I’m sure if I called them they’d get a flight out tomorrow.”
Jake shook his head. “No. This is my problem, not theirs.”
“That’s a load of bull, and you know it! You’re family, Jake; you always have been. Our folks were best friends for years, and you know good and well that if you ever needed anything, they’d be there for you.” Mike stopped and paused. “And obviously, you need help.”
His head still shaking, Jake turned and looked at his friend. “You have no idea how much I appreciate the fact that you are trying so hard to help me out here. I don’t know what I would’ve done today without you here to keep me sane.”
“I honestly thought you were joking when you called.”
“Lucky for me you’re the best lawyer I know, as well as my best friend, and you were able to draw up those papers so quickly.”
Mike looked at the ground as he thought about the events of the day. “I still can’t believe that Marilyn did this. You never suspected that she was pregnant?”
“No.” Jake’s voice was both weary and sad. “She knew how much I wanted kids; wanted a family. It was one of the reasons we broke up – I wanted kids, and she didn’t. We were always so careful, so cautious; she was near fanatical about birth control.”
“Accidents happen.”
Jake glared at him. “Obviously.”
“So what do we do now?”
Looking over his shoulder, Jake glanced at the still-open front door. “You don’t have to stay. They’re my responsibility, and I’m sure you have a life of your own to get back to.”
“Don’t give me that,” Mike snapped. “It’s pretty damn clear that you’re not prepared for this, and maybe between the two of us, we won’t traumatize them too much.”
Jake couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m not so sure about that. For all we know we’ve already scarred them for life.”
“Nah, they’re too young for that.” Placing a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder, he inclined his head toward the house. “Come on. We’ll order in pizza and do a little online research on how to take care of babies. How hard could it be?”
Chapter Two
The ringing of the phone was enough to make Olivia want to scream. It was barely nine in the morning, and she hadn’t gone to sleep until four. Part of the reason for her sabbatical was to get some rest, but it eluded her here. With a growl of frustration, she reached over and slid her finger across the screen without looking to see who it was.
“Honestly, Olivia; it’s about time you answered the phone.” Her mother. This was so not a good sign.
“Hey, mom. You’re up early.”
“One of the hazards of retirement – your father’s, not mine. He still gets up with the birds, but he has no place to go so he putters around the house, making all kinds of noise until I get up and make him breakfast. Honestly, the man is driving me crazy.”
Clearly her mother felt the need to pass it on. “You’ve spoiled him. He knows exactly what to do to get what he wants.”
“I don’t think loving and spoiling are the same thing, sweetheart. You’re father isn’t that devious or manipulative.”
Wanna bet? “So how are you doing, mom? How are you feeling?”
“Oh, you know…the doctor told me that it would take some time for me to get back to normal. I go to physical therapy – and honestly, that therapist is some sort of masochist! I go and do all of the exercises that I’m supposed to, but I still don’t feel quite like myself.”
“You had a hip replaced, mom. It wasn’t like it was some minor procedure.”
“Still, you know me; I hate to be idle.”
So did Olivia. For three days she’d been home – well, at Mike’s guest house – and she had yet to fully be able to relax. She was restless, couldn’t sleep and couldn’t quite shake the image of Jake Knight from her mind. “You could take up a hobby?” she suggested.
“Oh, I have plenty of those – there’s my book club and my knitting, and you know how much I love my garden…”
“All of those things are good, mom. So what’s going on?”
“Actually, I was calling to ask if you could pick me up at the airport tomorrow.”
“What?” This was so not what Olivia had expected. “Why…? I mean, why are you flying in? You’re still recovering. I didn’t think that travel was good for you right now.”
Her mother made a tsk-ing sound. “Well, normally I wouldn’t, but Mike called and told us all about Jake’s situation. Poor boy; I can’t even imagine what he must be feeling.”
“Wait a minute…they called you? They asked you to come and help them?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Like I said, mom, you’re recovering from surgery! What on earth is Mike thinking?”
“For starters, he’s thinking that he and Jake can’t possibly take care of two infants. Secondly, Mike has that trip overseas that he needs to leave for tomorrow. You know how long and hard he’s been working on that deal with the Chinese company, Olivia; he has to be there.”
Actually, she had forgotten about that which was odd considering the reason she had chosen to come home now was so that she could have a couple of days with her brother and then the better part of a month to herself to get her head back together without any distractions.
“How would it look if he didn’t show up?” her mother continued. “For six months he’s been planning this, and apparently it was hard to coordinate schedules and well…I just couldn’t let him miss out on that.”
“Why hasn’t Jake hired a nanny? What is he waiting for?”
“He doesn’t want to hire one.”
“What? Why? That’s completely ridiculous!”
“One of the things that I always had a hard time with was the fact that the Knight’s left Jake alone so much. I realize that we didn’t really get to know them until Jake was older, but from what I’d been told, they left him alone a lot.”
“Completely alone?”
“No, no, of course not; there were nannies and neighbors and the like. Jake doesn’t want that for his kids, so he’s determined to figure out how to take care of them on his own.”
“But he has a business to run!” Olivia said with exasperation. “How does he expect to run his company – a construction one at that – from home? Or is he planning on putting them in little baby slings with hard hats and taking them on the job?”
/>
“Don’t be ridiculous, Olivia. Sheesh. Like I said, he is trying to figure it out. Obviously he doesn’t have all of the answers yet. He’s only had the babies for two days.”
“Mom, you can’t fly in here and take care of them.”
“Sweetheart, Jake is like one of my own. I know his parents would appreciate knowing that I helped him out when he needed it. He has no one, Liv. No siblings, no parents…I’m not heartless you know.”
But clearly she was. “Did you already book your flight?” she asked with that familiar sense of dread.
“No, I wanted to talk to you first and find out what your schedule was like.”
“I have no schedule, mom. I’m on sabbatical, remember?”
“Yes, yes, yes, I remember. What is that anyway?”
“An extended mental-health vacation.” Which she clearly was no longer going to have. “Look, I’ll go over there and help Jake out so that Mike can leave. You stay where you are and finish recuperating. You know it’s the right thing to do.”
“Are you sure, sweetheart? I don’t want to ruin your mental health thing.”
Too late. “You’re not ruining it.” Jake Knight is. “It’s not a big deal. The important thing is that you get better.”
“You were always so good with children, Olivia. You were the most sought-after babysitter in town, remember?”
Not really. “Well, it’s been a long time since I babysat anyone, and hopefully I’ll be able to make Jake see some reason – he needs to hire a nanny. He’s not doing himself or those babies any favors by struggling so much.”
“Don’t go in there with a superior attitude, Olivia! Jake is in a tough place right now, and he needs to be surrounded by people who love him. Now, I’m trusting you to go there in my place and help out, not harp on him.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “I don’t harp, mom.” Much. “All I’m saying is that it would be better for all of them if he didn’t try to take it all on himself.”
“Please just go and be an extra set of hands, that’s all. Don’t try to fix anything, don’t lecture, and for the love of all that is holy, don’t be so bossy.”
There was no point in arguing with her mother, so Olivia simply agreed to behave herself before hanging up. She’d go and do what she could to help, but if Jake asked her opinion on something, there was no way that she was going to be able to keep her mouth shut.
Kicking the blankets off of her, Olivia rose and looked around the room. Luckily she hadn’t unpacked her suitcases, because it looked like she was going to be packing them back up and heading off to play nanny.
She only hoped that she wouldn’t walk away needing more of a break than she did already.
****
“Olivia?” Mike said with surprise as he opened the door. “What are you doing here?”
Before she answered, she stepped around him and into Jake’s house. “Don’t go acting all surprised. You played dirty, and you know it.”
“Me?” he asked, all innocence. “What did I do?”
“You called mom, who in turn called me and laid on the guilt trip.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “Really? That’s so unlike her.”
“Oh, knock it off. You knew exactly what you were doing and got your way,” she said sarcastically. “Now I’m here, and you can go and play over-seas-lawyer while I babysit.”
It would have been easy to rile her up some more, but instead Mike just pulled her into his embrace. “I knew you still had a heart in there,” he said softly. “I really appreciate this, Liv.”
Pulling back she gave him a crooked smile. “Yeah, yeah, yeah…sure you do.” Ruffling his hair as she walked by she added, “Now go get my luggage.”
Walking into the family room, Olivia saw what looked like two make-shift bassinets. Essentially, they were dresser-drawers that now contained the sleeping infants. Unable to resist, she ran a hand gently over each of their backs and sighed.
That’s how Jake found her. Stepping from the main-floor master bedroom after his shower, he was shocked to find Olivia standing in the room. He was shirtless and drying his hair with a towel and he simply froze at the sight of her. She hadn’t noticed his presence yet so he took a moment to just look at her. Long, chestnut hair pulled back into a ponytail, her curvy body cased in snug, faded denim and a t-shirt had her looking better than he had ever imagined.
And he’d imagined her.
A lot.
All those years ago he had pushed Olivia away, not because he wasn’t attracted to her, but because he was too attracted to her. He was older, and there was his friendship with her brother to consider. He always knew that she’d grow up to be beautiful, but the woman standing before him was more than that. She didn’t even have to try; dressed as casually as she was, she made more of an impact that any of those celebrities that she photographed. Was she even aware of that?
He took a step into the room and a floorboard creaked. The silence broken, Olivia looked up and spotted him, a wary expression on her face. She looked down at the infants one more time before stepping away and walking toward Jake. He motioned for her to follow him to the kitchen and once they were there, he felt like he had a little more control over his emotions.
“Mike didn’t mention that you were coming over.”
Olivia’s mouth had gone dry. There were still some drops of water that were lingering from his shower, and Jake’s bare chest was practically glistening. How was she supposed to concentrate on having any kind of normal conversation with that sort of distraction? She may hate him, but she was still human. Hell, she was a woman who appreciated the site of a well-sculpted male.
And Jake certainly fit that bill perfectly.
They stood there face to face, and she cringed inwardly at the possibility of him remembering what a fool she’d made of herself all those years ago. “Mike didn’t know,” she forced herself to say and barely recognized her own voice. Jake nodded and waited for her to continue. “My mother called. She’s recovering from hip replacement, and even though she was determined to come and help, I thought it would be better if I…” She cleared her throat. “If I came and helped instead.”
Jake studied her. “I thought you weren’t interested in helping.”
He had her there. Right now she wanted nothing more than to simply agree with him and leave. Unfortunately, she had gotten a look at those two helpless babies, and everything inside of her had turned to mush. “I’ve had time to think about it.” If you could call two hours time to think. “Mike has the China trip, and mom is still recovering.”
He nodded but remained silent. Olivia wished he’d just say something – anything – so that she could tell how he felt about her being here. For all she knew, he didn’t want her here anymore than she wanted to be here. She crossed her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. “It looks like you’re stuck with me.” It came out as a challenge, a dare, and she couldn’t help but hold her breath and wait for his response.
With a small shrug, Jake turned and walked over to the refrigerator. “You want something to drink?”
That was it? That was all he had to say? Olivia wanted to stamp her foot and demand that he be as outraged by all of this as she was, but as she watched him, Jake simply poured them each a glass of iced tea and placed them on the kitchen table. He sat down and waited for her to join him. Where the heck was Mike? She wondered. Wouldn’t it have been easier if he were sitting there with them as some sort of buffer?
No sooner had she finished that thought than her brother walked into the kitchen carrying his luggage. “Thanks for doing this, Liv,” he said as he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “I have just enough time to stop at home and pack some more stuff and get to the airport.”
“You’re leaving?” she squeaked. “Now?”
He nodded. “I never canceled my original flight. Jake was aware that he’d have to manage for a day by himself if mom was coming in. Now that you’re here, there’s nothing to
worry about.” Turning from Olivia, he walked over to Jake. “You’re in good hands,” he said as he and Jake shook hands. “I hate to take off so quickly, but I have a ton of stuff to do before my flight.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” Jake said before pulling Mike in for a brotherly embrace. “You saved my life.”
Mike smiled as he pulled back. “You would do the same for me.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement of fact. With a wave and a smile, he was gone.
The silence left in his wake was deafening.
Jake sat back down opposite her, and they simply stared at one another for far longer than was comfortable. Olivia decided to leave her comfort zone and speak up first. “Okay, so I’m guessing that you’ve gotten the basics down – feeding and changing them. But the drawers that they’re sleeping in have to go. Have you done any shopping at all yet?”
He shook his head. “Neither of us wanted to be left alone with them. They can be quite a handful when they wake up.”
Olivia couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m sure. Well, the carriers that I saw them in the other day had bases on them so that means that they can be used as car seats. How about we go and do some shopping once they wake up. It will be good for them to get used to being in the car and going from place to place.” Now was as good of time as any to see what he was planning for the future. “Especially since you plan on being a stay-at-home dad.”
“How did you know about that?”
This time it was more of a laugh that escaped from her lips. “Please, you think my mother didn’t give me the entire low-down on what you’ve got planned?” There was a hint of disapproval in her tone, and she watched Jake’s expression turn serious.
“You don’t think I can do it?”
Baby, Be Mine (Life, Love And Babies Book 3) Page 2