by Ashley Blake
Lauren Harper was told devastating news when she reunited with the long lost love of her life, Jake Hunter. When she saw him at the reunion she thought that they would be able to heal old wounds and pick up where they left off, but that did not happen. She believes in her heart that they are meant to be together forever. But now that a huge obstacle has been thrown in the way, will Lauren and Jake get a second chance at love?
My Forever is You
Book 2 of 2: Resolution
(Submitting to the Billionaire Series)
by
Ashley Blake
***
Other Books by Ashley Blake:
The Billionaire’s Desire
The Billionaire’s Desire 2: Dubai Confidential
The Billionaire’s Desire 3: Ultimate Bliss
Published by Lovely Day. Copyright, 2012 by Ashley Blake.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental. No portion of this work may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.
CHAPTER 1
I felt like I had been punched in the gut as I heard Jake’s words over and over in my head: Vivienne is pregnant. I wanted to scream as I stood there on the dock the week before. I was so upset but I didn’t want to make a spectacle of myself. Jake ended up leaving with Vivienne from Cozumel because she cried hysterically and said she was scared when he said he would come see her and talk with her after the reunion. Jake and Vivienne left literally an hour after she broke her news to him.
Amy was the only reason I was able to get through the week. I was numb for the next two days and didn’t want to leave the ship. But we went to some really beautiful places and she told me that I would regret it if I didn’t go exploring with everyone, so I went. I actually had a good time since my mind was occupied with exploring new adventures and Adam was being really sweet. He knew how I upset I was and he knew the reason why and he didn’t try to make any moves on me. He was just a supportive friend and I appreciated that. So for a while I was okay. But once I got back to the ship, everywhere I turned, I was reminded of my time with Jake because we had explored nearly every inch of the ship together. I didn’t want to leave my room and I just wanted to be alone to wallow in my sadness. But Amy, God bless her, wouldn’t let me do that.
“Lauren, you need to be around people right now. It’s not good for you to be alone, so please come join us.”
I remember Amy standing in the doorway, hand on her hip, lightly tapping her foot, waiting for me. I knew she wasn’t leaving without me so I reluctantly joined her. And it was Amy doing things like that, which helped me get through the rest of the week.
It was now Friday night, we had just flown in from Miami, and we were all ready for bed. We were sitting on my bed back in Chicago, and I was still in shock over everything that had happened over the past week. Amy decided she was going to spend the night with me just to make sure I was okay.
“How are you doing?” Amy’s concern was so sweet.
“I just can’t believe it Ames. I really can’t. Just when I thought my life was going to be complete, this happens. Jake and I belong together. I can’t believe another woman is carrying his baby. It’s just not fair!” I tried to hold back the tears, but for the umpteenth time that week they flowed down my cheeks.
Amy hugged me and just let me cry. She lightly patted my arm and reassured me that everything was going to be okay.
“Hey, hey, look at me Lauren.”
I lifted my head from her shoulder and turned my weepy eyes to her.
“You guys are going to work this out. I truly believe that you and Jake are destined to be together. You just need to talk to him and see where his head is about all of this.”
“What if he decides to marry her? What will I do?”
Amy gave me a stern look. “Don’t get yourself worried for no reason. Jake wants to be with you Lauren. We all saw it. He’s crazy about you. I don’t think he is just going to throw away the fact that he found you again. Trust me, you guys will figure this out.”
I wanted to believe her, I really did. But in that moment, I felt like things were completely over with me and Jake.
“Well, it’s late and I am exhausted. We should both get some rest and I know you will feel a lot better tomorrow after sleeping in your own bed. Try to get a good night’s sleep Lauren, okay? See you in the morning.” Amy gave me a big hug and then she headed down the hall to my spare bedroom.
I crawled into bed, sad, tired and emotionally exhausted, and drifted off to sleep.
The bright sun, peeking through my blinds, awakened me early the next morning. I lay in bed for a few minutes, with thoughts of Jake running through my mind. This can’t be the end of us. And then I felt a touch of emotional strength. And I can’t continue to mope around here like this, I am stronger than this. With a renewed sense of fortitude, I hopped out of bed, and took a nice long shower. I wore a pretty, but comfortable, black summer dress and flip flops. I took my time curling my hair and applying my makeup so that I looked like some semblance of a woman who had a backbone and wasn’t a blubbering mess.
I heard Amy tinkering around in the kitchen and went to join her.
“Well, well! That’s the Lauren I know and love! It’s nice to have you back.” She teased me but I knew she must have felt relieved to see that I was able to pull myself together. “Do you feel better this morning?”
“Yes.”
She raised an eyebrow at me as she was making eggs for us. “Um, let me hear you say it.”
I hesitated and let out a deep sigh and smiled at her. “You were right. I do feel better this morning and it was good to sleep in my own bed.”
“Good, I’m glad. Now, here is your breakfast madam, I hope you enjoy my delicious cooking.”
“Thanks for making breakfast Amy, you didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s no big deal. So, what are your plans for the day?”
“Well, I am going to go grocery shopping, unpack, and then do some laundry. I also have brief that is due in a couple of weeks so I have to tackle that. That’s pretty much it. What about you? What are you doing?”
“I am unpacking and then taking a nice, long, hot bath before my date with Paul.”
I almost choked on my food and dropped my fork as I looked at her with bewilderment. “Your what??”
“We have a date tonight, don’t look so surprised.” Her eyes were twinkling as she grinned at me.
She has a date? With Paul? But he’s in Alaska!
“Am I missing something here? Isn’t Paul in Alaska, Amy?”
She was now grinning uncontrollably at me. “Yes he is, we have a phone date.”
“Oh! I thought I was losing it there for a second. I think it is so awesome that you guys reconnected, he’s a great guy.”
“Yeah, he is. We’ll see what happens. Well, I better get going. We both have stuff to do today.”
She grabbed her suitcase and her purse and I walked her to the door. As she reached for the door knob, I stopped her and grabbed her hand. She turned her eyes to meet mine, which were filled with gratitude.
“Amy, thank you so much for helping me to get through this really difficult week. You are the only reason I was able to make it through. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for what you did for me. You are the best friend that anyone could ever hope to wish for, and I am so blessed that you are mine.” I gave her a long hug, so happy and grateful that she had b
een there for me.
“Aw, you’re welcome Lauren. It’s my job as best friend to pick you up when you’re down. I know you would do the same for me. I’m just happy that you are okay.”
We hugged a few seconds longer and then smiled at each other as I opened the door for her.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, unless you need me before then?”
“I’m okay. Enjoy your date tonight and tell Paul I said hello.”
“Okay, see ya chickadee.”
I smiled at her. “Bye.”
CHAPTER 2
I made a quick call to my mom to let her know that I made it back safely. I decided to unpack before I went grocery shopping and I was just putting my suitcase away when my phone rang. I glanced at the clock and it was a little bit after 12 noon. Mom must have forgotten to tell me something. As I reached for the phone, I noticed that the caller id showed that the call was coming from my lobby.
“Hello?”
I heard my doorman’s voice. “You have a delivery Ms. Harper. The delivery man says he needs your signature and will be right up.”
“Thanks John.”
Hmmm. I wonder what this is. Did I order something online and forget about it?
I decided I would sign for my package and then head to the grocery store. I grabbed my purse and was searching for my keys when I heard a knock at the door.
“Just a second!” Where are those damned keys? There you are! My keys had fallen off of the end table onto the floor. I grabbed them and quickly flung open the door, “Sorry to keep you wai…”, and was shocked into silence. Gazing back at me were the dark, beautiful eyes I loved so much. My heart was nearly thumping out of my chest and I was completely parched. I couldn’t even swallow to moisten my throat.
“Jake, wh…wh…what are you doing here?” Is this real? Thank goodness I took time to look presentable this morning!
His tired eyes smiled softly at me. “We had a date. Did you forget? I told you I would be here this Saturday. Can I come in?”
“Oh, I’m sorry! Yes, of course you can come in.”
“Your doorman is a very nice guy. He was worried that you would be upset by my surprise, but I assured him that I would take all of the blame if you were. I hope it’s okay.”
I just stared at him in disbelief, unable to wrap my brain around the fact that he was in my condo.
“Lauren? Are you okay?” The light chuckle in his voice snapped me out of my shocked trance.
My words came slowly. “Sorry, yeah, I’m okay. And of course it’s okay, I’m just surprised to see you.”
He set his bag down near the door and stood looking at me, his hands in his pockets. I started to squirm under his intense gaze and realized I had my purse and keys in my hands. I started to put them down when he gently touched my arm.
“Were you on your way out?
“Oh, I was going to go to the grocery store.”
“I can go with you if you’d like.”
I was going to say no, that I could do it later, but I did need groceries and I had a busy week ahead of me at work since I had been gone for a week. I also had a brief that I needed to work on so this was the best time for me to get it out of the way.
“Well, if you don’t mind. I do need groceries and this is the best time for me to go.”
“I would love to go with you.”
I smiled and waved at my doorman John on the way out to let him know that it was okay to have sent Jake upstairs. I smiled to myself as I saw the look of relief on his face. John could be over protective at times, but it was so sweet.
Jake’s security was waiting outside and I had forgotten that he had and his brother had to always have security around. Most of the time I didn’t even know they were there because they stayed far enough away to give them privacy, but they were close enough to jump in if necessary.
It felt so natural to be with Jake as we strolled through the grocery store. We chatted about work, what we were going to do the rest of the day and the weather. We talked about everything but the huge question that was burning a hole through my heart. What was he going to do about Vivienne? I decided that the grocery store was not the best place to talk about it. He helped me carry my groceries home and luckily, the grocery store was only two blocks from my condo. We put the groceries away and then we decided to go out to lunch.
It was a gorgeous afternoon as we strolled to Tavern on Rush, and I was on cloud nine. I knew that we had a lot to talk about later, but in that moment I wanted to enjoy my time with Jake. We sat outside and watched people go by as we waited for our food. I glanced over at Jake and my eyes met his as he smiled at me.
“You look beautiful Lauren.”
I felt my belly flutter in a way that only he could do to me. “Thank you.” My eyes searched his and I felt like a teenager again.
We had light chatter while we ate lunch and people watched, and then we took a stroll over to Washington Square Park. We were sitting on a bench in comfortable silence enjoying each other’s company.
“Chicago is such a beautiful city, I like your neighborhood. What is it called?”
“The Gold Coast. I love it here, it feels like home to me.”
Jake cast a curious glance at me but decided not to pursue his thought and started asking me about the buildings around us.
“What is that beautiful old building across the park?”
“That’s the Newberry Library. It’s not what you think of as a regular public library. It’s an independent research library. There are real gems housed inside those walls.”
“Is it open to the public?”
“It is.”
“Hmmm. Is it open now?”
“No, they close at 1:00 on Saturdays.”
“That’s too bad; I would love to go inside. I’d like to go there and the Willis Tower one day.”
“It’s the Sears Tower. Any true Chicagoan calls it by its real name, the Sears Tower.”
He raised an eyebrow at me and a slight smirk danced at the corner of his lips. “My apologies, the Sears Tower. True Chicagoans, huh? Is that what you are now, a true Chicagoan?”
“I think so. I have adopted this as my home.”
“Well, I like your adopted home. I’ll have to explore it more during my next trip here.”
His next trip to Chicago? I tried to hide my excitement about his decision to come see me again. My eyes sparkled as I gave him my best flirtatious and demure smile.
“Oh? Did I extend an invitation to you for a second trip?”
Jake looked at me with a blank face. “Oh, I’m sorry Lauren. I hope you didn’t think I meant that I was going to come visit you. I have business here in a couple of weeks.”
My cheeks immediately felt flushed and I wanted to die of embarrassment. “Oh, how silly of me to assume…”. Great Lauren.
A smile quickly spread across his face as he grabbed my shoulders. “Lauren! I’m just teasing you! Of course I will be coming to visit you. I just assumed my invitation to see you would be open ended.” His finger tipped my chin up so that my eyes met his. “You do want to see me again, don’t you?” That sexy smirk was almost too much to bear.
“Of course I do.”
“Good.” He gave me a gentle kiss, his eyes sensually searching mine. “Because I know I want to see you again.”
His words made my belly tighten and I wanted him to ravage me right there in the park, but we would get arrested if we did that.
“Let’s go back to my place.” I could barely get the words out as thoughts of Jake running his fingers over my breasts and up my thighs left my knees weak.
As we walked into my building my doorman, John, tried to be subtle about making sure I was okay.
“Did you have a nice afternoon Ms. Harper?” He gave Jake a glance but was careful not to be combative. John was probably in his late 50’s, he had worked for the management company for over 30years, and he always looked out for the single female residents.
“We did John. This is my
friend Jake. We had lunch and then sat in the park for a while. It’s a beautiful day. Since your shift is almost over, you should get out there!”
“Nice to meet you sir. Well, I will make it a priority to enjoy the nice weather once my shift is over. You both have a nice evening.”
“Thank you, you too!” We both said that in unison as the elevator door closed. We were alone on the elevator and I was going to tell Jake how sweet the doorman was for looking out for me, when Jake swiftly pinned me against the elevator wall taking my breath away. His body pressed against mine and I could feel his hard length against my hip. His hand gently stroked my cheek as he leaned down to give me a deep kiss. His tongue slid over mine as my arms crawled up around his neck drawing him closer to me. The elevator landed on my floor and we pulled apart before the doors opened.
Once inside my condo, Jake grabbed my hand and pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me, as his beautiful dark eyes looked deep into mine. “I am so happy to be here with you Lauren. There is nowhere in the world I would rather be right now.” He leaned down to kiss me and his hands slowly roamed down the sides of my body, over my hips and around to my backside. My arms crawled up around his neck and I raked my fingers through his thick hair. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he walked me to my bedroom. He gently laid me down onto the bed and sank to his knees on the floor. He slowly took off my flip flops, kissing each toe before sliding his hands slowly up my calves to my thighs and sliding his hands under my dress. He hooked his thumbs around the waistband of my panties and I lifted my hips so he could slide them off of me.
“Turn over onto your stomach.” It was a definite command.
I did as I was told and I felt the bed give beneath his weight as he unzipped my dress and unhooked my bra. He slid both items off of me and I lay there with my ass completely bare and exposed.
“Turn over Lauren. I want to see you.” As I turned to reveal my naked self to him, I wanted him to see the raw emotion on my face. This was the only man I had ever felt this comfortable with and the only man I wanted to have me. His eyes glazed over with lust as they roamed my body, and I could feel the wetness between my legs dampening my inner thighs.