Delay of Game

by Amber Lynn

  “That should’ve been a hint that I don’t want to talk to you. The only reason I showed up was to make sure you left Hope alone.”

  Jason saw Kate’s arm move towards him out the corner of his eye. He turned to glare at the woman and the warning in his eyes seemed to make it through as her hand hovered in the air before she moved it back down to the top of the bar. He had never been abusive towards a woman, but he could see himself breaking Kate’s arm.

  “You haven’t wanted to talk to me, but that was only because I was with Erik. I found him with his dick deep into some floozy a couple weeks ago and kicked him out. Now we can forget all about that little divorce and go back to the way things were meant to be.”

  Jason’s focus had only stayed on Kate long enough to ensure she wouldn’t touch him. He saw Hope’s eyes dart in his direction when the reason for Kate’s appearance was revealed. She only looked for a second as she went about her work, so she missed the head shake meant for her. Whatever story Kate was telling, he wasn’t buying it for a second.

  “And you were surprised about that? How many guys do you have on the side?”

  He’d never tortured himself by digging into Kate’s infidelity. Knowing that she’d been unfaithful once made him think there were probably other times, and it wouldn’t have surprised him if instead of kicking Erik out, she’d actually asked to join in on whatever fun he was having.

  “That isn’t important. What is important is that I want you to come home. I know your contract is about up, so why don’t you get your agent working on a deal so you can move back to New York. The house is just how you remember it and you’ll love Lily.”

  Jason had grown to think Kate was delusional, but he’d never had the proof. What she’d just said was enough he thought she should be committed somewhere for her own safety.

  Lily wasn’t just some puppy she’d picked up somewhere. She was Kate and Erik’s daughter, someone who Jason wanted nothing to do with. If Kate knew anything about him, she’d know how much it would hurt him to even wave the baby he thought was his in front of his face.

  “You must have been busy searching the internet for the details, because you sure as hell didn’t know a thing about my contract when we were together. If you would’ve waited a few days, you could’ve seen that my agent has been working on getting me an extension here so I can finish my career. Since my girlfriend’s from these parts, I’m holding out for a no-trade clause, but it sounds like we’re close to an agreement on the money involved and terms.”

  Saying it was only days away from being a deal was a little generous. Earlier in the year, Jason had thought about seeing what free agency could bring, but when Hope had pointed out that she didn’t know whether he’d be around in a year’s time, he’d made some calls. There was a good chance he was going to see a few dollars out of his salary for the no-trade clause, but it wouldn’t hurt him. Not seeing where his relationship with Hope could go would.

  “You love New York. Why in the world would you settle for Nashville? The music in here alone has to drive you crazy.”

  “You’re wasting your time here. I’ve moved on, much like you did a year ago. There is nothing you can say that would make me change my mind about that.”

  “Lily is your daughter.”

  Jason almost looked over at Kate when she said the words. She had to be desperate to get him back, which didn’t make a lot of sense to Jason. She’d already proven it was easy enough for her to find someone new, and really, when it came down to it, she and Erik were perfect for each other. He may have been caught with someone else, but Jason had a feeling they could fix their relationship easier than his marriage.

  Hope had heard the claim from across the bar. She’d been doing what she could to stay away from the action, busying herself cleaning things whenever there wasn’t someone requesting a drink. The male bartender had come over and talked to her for a few seconds and Jason didn’t like the way the guy’s hand lingered on her shoulder.

  The guy hadn’t ever seemed like a threat, but maybe Jason’s display of affection had triggered some instinct in the guy. It was something Jason made note to keep an eye on.

  “Even if she was, that doesn’t change the fact that we’re over.”

  “What do you mean ‘if’? I just told you she was yours.”

  Jason had to laugh. It was sad to hear Kate being so desperate, but her problems had nothing to do with him.

  “It took me years, but I’ve finally realized that you never knew a thing about me. Clearly, I was blinded by the nostalgia factor we had going on.”

  “What are you talking about now?”

  She sounded frustrated, which was good. It could be the first indicator that she was on the road to realizing she wasn’t going to get anywhere by stalking him. Kate never seemed to give up on something she wanted that easily, but there had to be a first time for everything.

  “You honestly think I didn’t verify the baby wasn’t mine? My lawyer got a copy of the test and we ran my DNA to verify there wasn’t a chance. I think the percentage ended up at point two or something like that.”

  Jason hadn’t spent a lot of time looking at the paper. Once he had the verification, the only thing he had left to do was hold up the divorce to spite the couple. He had to do something to get back at them for stabbing him in the back, and it was the last thing he had going for him. He slept better at night knowing they couldn’t get what they wanted because of him.

  Kate was silent. She had actually thought she’d be able to trick him into thinking the baby was his. It was the first thing she’d done in over a year to make him feel anything but anger towards her. He was angry that she thought she could pawn someone else’s kid off as his own, but more than anything, he just felt sad for the woman.

  He was pretty sure he’d found someone who could make him happy. Hope had already made him want to live again, which was something he didn’t think was possible for a long while. There were months when he vaguely remembered they were happening because he was just going with the motions.

  Bringing Hope into his life had made him want to see and plan for a future. Even if Lily had been his and the paperwork was all some sort of scam, Jason wasn’t going to give up Hope.

  “I’m pregnant,” Kate muttered under her breath.

  Jason shrugged. The revelation had nothing to do with him. Unless she’d done some harvesting while he slept, there was no chance the kid was his.

  “Then why aren’t you stalking the father?”

  Assuming the baby was Erik’s seemed foolish. Jason figured it was someone who lived a certain lifestyle, but Kate had surprised him before.

  “Because he’s married and won’t leave his wife.”

  Jason laughed quietly and shook his head. If he’d only been able to see the kind of woman Kate was before, he would’ve saved himself a lot of heartache. He didn’t think she’d been like that when she was sixteen, but her behavior wasn’t something that just happened overnight.

  “And because I’ve always been an idiot when it comes to you, you thought I would swoop in and provide for your two children, while you presumably continued to screw all of New York. I’m sure there’s a guy out there who could be that person for you. Heck, he may even be sitting in this bar as we speak. I ain’t that guy anymore, Kate. I never should have been.”

  “You really think she’s going to make you happy? That she’s not just into you because you’re famous and have money to burn?”

  The rays of hatred coming from beside him were easily felt. If he could, Jason would’ve stood between them and their target, but there was a bar in his way.

  “She makes me happy because she doesn’t care that I’m famous. Since you know absolutely nothing about her, I think it’s in your best interest to leave and not come back.”

  The reasons Kate believed Hope was interested in him were the woman’s own reasons for trying to get back together. It was easy to see that she was just looking for someone to bankroll her fu
n. It was either that or she realized he was moving on and wanted to try to mess up his chances. In her hurry to get the divorce finalized, the papers he’d eventually signed didn’t provide her with a penny. She probably thought leaving alimony out would make it quicker, but Jason would’ve signed in his own time whether there was money involved or not.

  “The smoke is starting to get to me, so for now, I think I’ll head back to my hotel. I’m not going anywhere just yet, though. We still have plenty of catching up to do.”

  Kate brushed her arm against his as she stood to leave. Jason sat motionless as he waited for her to collect her purse; his eyes glued to Hope as she watched.

  “By the way,” Jason said, not meaning to prolong things, but he had a gripe he couldn’t leave unsaid. “If you really are pregnant, slamming cocktails and sitting in a smoke-filled room shows how irresponsible you are.”

  “I guess that means next time you’ll have to take me to your place so we can keep this baby healthy.”

  Kate had leaned down so she could whisper her response in Jason’s ear. The hardened look on his face didn’t change as he saw a scowl creep onto Hope’s face. Once her words were out, Kate slinked her way across the room to the door. If she expected him to watch her, she was in for a disappointment.

  His focus was on what he owed Hope for the torture they had both just gone through. To try to ease his mind out of the conversation, he wondered if she liked dogs. A cute little puppy seemed like something she’d like over flashy jewelry.

  Picking up his drink, he slammed the warm beer. He really wished the alcohol could make him forget everything he’d heard out of Kate’s mouth.

  “Is it finally time to try something a little harder?” Hope asked as she made her way over.

  “Why not? I’m guessing I’m paying for those two Manhattans she guzzled, so I might as well expand my tab.”

  “I said to myself when she ordered the first one that some schmuck would end up paying for them. How big of one did you end up being? Do I need to check your pockets to see if she slipped a hotel key in one of them?”

  Other than Kate’s scoffing about Hope’s intentions, Jason had managed to keep the conversation quiet. The people sitting on either side of them or walking by probably overheard, but Hope wouldn’t have got all the details from across the bar.

  “He told her to get lost,” a man two stools down provided before Jason could answer.

  Jason looked over to the man and vaguely recognized him as someone who’d been in the bar before. The man looked like an everyday stiff who put in his eight hours at the office, and then ran to the nearest bar to drink away his boredom. He was young, with a short, black hair that had a million pounds of product holding it in place. He was exactly the kind of guy Hope usually got hit on by.

  “Is that right, Ollie?” Hope responded without looking away from Jason.

  He didn’t like the fact that she was indeed familiar with the guy. Jason had never really felt the jealousy bug before, but it was biting him hard.

  “Nothing she had to say changes anything between us. If it’s okay, I’d prefer not to get into any of the details until you’re off work and I can go back to the state I was in before your call.”

  Kate had been a buzzkill, like he predicted she would be, but seeing Hope in one of her tight t-shirts did wonders for his mood. She usually didn’t wear that kind of thing to work, so he had to assume she was purposefully showing off the fact that there was a hickey barely visible at the top of her left breast. He only noticed it because he knew it was there.

  He supposed they were even, since she’d left a giant one on his neck that he had no choice but to show off. He’d known when she started playing around that there’d be something left behind, and he had no problem wearing it like a badge of honor.

  “If you say we’re good, then I can wait to hear what she had to say. I’m not so sure we’ll be talking naked, but we can wait.”

  Jason winked, happy to know she understood his reference. He wasn’t giving up on the possibility of clothes being optional.

  “Good. It looks like I have a couple hours to kill, so why don’t you set me up with whatever you think will put me in a good mood, because sitting through that talk was not it.”

  Hope smiled, with a little mischievous in her eyes. She leaned across the counter and planted a kiss on his lips before turning around to get him a drink. It was a good start to taking the edge off. The bottle of Scotch and glass she brought back was bound to help a little more.

  “Is that the bottle that was calling your name earlier?” Jason asked as he waited for her to fill the glass about halfway full.

  “Nah, I couldn’t afford this stuff, but since you said you were building up a tab, I figured you could.” She winked at him and left him to wait and watch as her shift continued on.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “You ready to leave yet?” Hope had asked Jason the question a handful of times, but he insisted on waiting for her to be done for the night.

  She’d originally thought having him around would be nice in case Kate came back looking for trouble, but his glaring scared off three customers. When she’d thought about getting dressed for work, she spent five minutes staring at the pretty purplish marks he’d left around her breasts and decided to be daring enough to see if she could show them off.

  She wasn’t that daring, but she’d worn something Jason didn’t seem to approve of, at least not without him there by her side to scare away anyone who looked for too long. Since she’d wanted to drive a corkscrew through Kate’s head, Hope really couldn’t fault the guy.

  “Does that mean you’re finally ready to go?”

  The bar had been empty other than Jason and the staff for thirty minutes. When they’d closed, she’d asked him for the fourth time if he was going to head home, but he decided to wait. The way he glanced over at Carl told her he didn’t like the vibes the bartender was giving off.

  “I am.”

  Hope left it at that as she took the hand Jason held out for her. His hand was warm and the grip was reassuring. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear everything she’d missed. She wanted to know why the witch had shown up after a year, but she didn’t really care to hear any more about the woman’s opinion of Hope.

  The air was a cool welcome as they walked out of the bar. The revealing shirt without a coat was coming back to bite Hope. The rumor of snow was a little more believable when the air temperature dipped down into the forties.

  “I guess neither one of us really dressed for the weather.”

  Jason let go of her hand and moved his arm up to her shoulders so he could pull her close to him. The air was cold, but the touch of his skin wasn’t. He hadn’t bothered picking out something new from the closet, instead choosing to wear the outfit he’d worn earlier in the day.

  “Compared to what Kate was wearing, I think we did a pretty good job.”

  Getting the picture of Kate leaning down to whisper into Jason’s ear out of her head was hard. He didn’t make it easy to read what he was thinking.

  “Before we get into the ugliness that is my ex-wife, we need to discuss the phone call.”

  Hope wasn’t sure where he was taking the conversation. It’d been a long night and the cat nap she’d dreamt about when she first got to work didn’t seem probable. Waking up with Jason around her had been an invigorating experience, but walking into the bar had zapped some of the extra energy once she got into her routine.

  “What about the phone call?” Hope asked as Jason held the door to their apartment building open for her.

  If they were going to her place, they would only need to walk halfway down a long hall. Since they were heading to Jason’s, they decided to take the stairs up. Jason didn’t seem to be jumping to answer her question, so they climbed the three flights of stairs in silence.

  It wasn’t as awkward as it should’ve been. They were used to saying nothing to each other. The talking is where they sometimes ran into probl
ems.

  Jason used his keys to open the door and ushered Hope in. Before anyone could say anything, he spun her around and pushed her into the back of the door. She thought for a second she was about to be assaulted by his tongue again, but he only lifted her arms to pin her to the door and stared at her.

  “You drove me crazy all night, Hope. Eventually, I’m going to have to spank you for that, but I want to make sure you know that what I said had nothing to do with Kate showing up. Knowing how naturally it came out, I would’ve said it if you’d called to tell me the sky had magically turned green.”

  Hope had stopped to think about him spanking her as he continued on with his statement. It took her a second to catch up. Her face had started to feel warm from the erotic pictures playing in her mind, but it turned even redder when she realized what part of the conversation he was talking about.

  “You’re admitting you meant it when you said you loved me?”

  Hope hadn’t planned on bringing it up. She was curious where the motivation for saying it had come from, but she didn’t dare to believe it was a true emotion.

  “That’s exactly what I’m doing. I almost told you earlier today, but chickened out. I know it’s kind of soon to state my claim, but evidently my subconscious isn’t afraid to let you know.”

  Coming up with the right words to follow that left Hope speechless. Her emotions were all over the place when it came to Jason, and all of them were things she’d never experienced before. Figuring out if any of them were what love felt like was going to take her a little time.

  With Kate showing up, Hope’s need to guard her heart seemed even more imperative. That made it a little awkward to repeat the words.

  “I want you to know without a doubt you feel the same, so don’t worry about saying something you’re unsure of now. We’ve got plenty of other things to talk about.”

  Hope bit her lower lip and let a smile spread across her lips. There was something about Jason that brought out a mouthy part of her.