by Alexis Anne
“Congrats. You’re in the playoff’s then, right?”
“Yep.” She got down on the ground and rolled onto her back. “It’s been a long, long time since we’ve done this.”
“Gotten dirty under the Orange Beast together?”
She nodded, but the look in her eyes was off. Eve looked like she was deep in thought. She was looking at me, but she wasn’t looking at me. “Next month it’ll be a year since you proposed.”
That was a strange thing to bring up. “True. You thinking we need another vacation?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe. We haven’t really gotten away since our honeymoon. It might be nice to disappear for a few days… just you and me.”
I really didn’t like the sound of her voice. Something was bothering Eve. “Let me get out from under here and we can talk, ok?”
Eve smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’ll see you inside.”
I quickly finished up and hurried in. Eve was sitting in her library reading in silence.
“What’s up?”
She set the book aside and held up a large packet. “We need to talk about a few things.”
I really, really didn’t like the sound of that. I settled down on the opposite end of the couch so we could face each other.
“This packet is the final contract from Everlight Technology. Ashley has already signed everything and is good to go. They just need your signatures.”
I took the packet. “Why did Greg give this to you?” There was absolutely no reason for Eve to be involved in any of this. The new deal with Everlight had come as a surprise about two weeks after the deal with Steele fell through. After another two months of walking through all the steps, everything was in place—including a new job for Ashley out in San Diego.
Eve took a deep breath and blew it out. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
You know that feeling of complete terror? How your skin feels hot and prickly a split second before your heart takes off racing and pounding in your ears? Yeah, that’s how I was feeling right then. “Ok…”
“Greg and I are the reason the deal fell through with Steele.”
And just like that my terror shifted straight over to rage. “You two did what?” I didn’t mean to yell, but it came out before I could stop it.
Eve flinched and looked down at her hands. “I’m so sorry we went behind your back and I’m even more sorry I haven’t been honest with you before now.”
I felt like the rug had been yanked out from underneath me and I was lying on my back looking up at a strange ceiling. “Why?”
Eve’s jaw flexed and her face flushed with anger. When she locked eyes with me I saw that hard determination I usually found incredibly arousing.
“She had to go.”
“That wasn’t your call.” Greg I could see setting all this up, but Eve?
“You weren’t getting rid of her. What was I supposed to do Jake? Sit around and watch her seduce you? Tear you down? Because that was what she was doing.”
Suddenly I understood Eve’s strange mood for the last couple of months. She’d been distant and unhappy. I thought it was just the lingering aftereffects of having Ashley in our lives. But now that I had all the information I realized it was much more than that.
“I can fight my own battles, Eve.”
She shot to her feet and stuck a finger in my face. “That! That right there. This is why I did it. This is our marriage she was messing with. Yours and mine. It wasn’t just your battle to fight and besides,” she knelt down in front of me, taking my hands and looking up into my eyes. “We’re a team. We fight together, Jake.”
“Together? If this were a team effort you would have told me what you did sometime in the last two months.”
She winced and looked down at her hands. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t tell you because I…”
“You what?” I sounded angry because I was angry. I was fucking pissed.
“I was ashamed of myself, alright?” Eve stood back up and returned to the couch across from me. “I didn’t know what else to do. She wasn’t leaving and she was being awful. But I worried I went too far.”
“So you didn’t tell me?”
“I tried to make things right.”
What did that mean? “Eve, I’m trying, really I am. But if you don’t explain I’m going to walk out of here and cool off.”
Her eyes went wide. “I had Greg find her a new deal. That was how Everlight came into the picture. He worked with Ashley to find her a situation that would work for whatever it was she needed. Everlight was ecstatic to get The Nugget and Ashley. Greg put in a great word for her.”
“So you just cut me out of the equation entirely? Thanks a lot, Eve.” I stood up. I couldn’t look at her. I knew she was trying to help and she’d done what she thought was right, but I couldn’t hear those things. All I could hear were the lies and the lack of trust. The lack of faith in me. And that hurt like hell. “I’m taking a walk.”
She didn’t fight me, which I was glad for. I really needed a chance to think things through. I walked out to the yacht club and watched the sailboats bobbing in the water. The sun was sinking into the horizon and turning the sky bright orange. It reminded me of the night I gave Eve my necklace and journal.
We’d lived so much since that night.
I stared blankly, letting the anger eat away at me. I didn’t want to think, but eventually the sun set and I was standing in the dark. The anger started to fade which made it was easier for me to sort through what I was feeling.
I hated that Eve kept something from me. Sure I was pissed she went behind my back, that felt weird, but ultimately I appreciated that she loved me enough to do what she thought was right. I’d eventually get over it.
But she lied to me. It just never occurred to me Eve could keep information like that from me.
I started walking back toward the house kicking every rock and branch that had the unfortunate luck of landing in my path. The lights were on in our bedroom and I could see Eve moving around inside. She was probably worried about me.
I’d been coming back to this house for so many years. We were basically still kids when she moved in. The parties and junk cars had been replaced by rising careers and renovations. It was a beautiful home and I wondered how it would change in another decade. Would there be bikes and balls lying forgotten in the grass after school? Drawings on the driveway and car seats in the car?
Ok, so I’d been keeping my own secrets from Eve. I hadn’t brought up the kid thing once. Every time I talked myself into it, I chickened back out. This was the one time I didn’t know how I would react to hearing “no”. So instead I avoided it.
Was this what our marriage had already devolved into? Keeping things from each other and being afraid of talking about how we feel?
That wasn’t what I wanted at all.
I marched into the house and up the stairs. Eve was standing in the middle of our bedroom with her jaw open. “Jake?”
“I want to have kids.”
Her eyebrows shot up. Eve was probably expecting a diatribe on how mad I was, not a declaration of starting a family. “Kids?” she asked.
“Kids,” I repeated. “Little ones that look like you and me, ideally. Or we can adopt if you prefer.” Actually, adopting sounded like a fantastic idea.
Her mouth was still hanging open.
“Kids?” she repeated.
I took a step toward her and took her hand. “I know I said I’d never surprise you again, but I didn’t know how else to say it.”
She closed her mouth but she still looked stunned. “Where is this coming from? Is this a new way to end a fight?”
I grinned. “Nope. We can still fight if you want to. As I recall we’re really good at makeup sex.”
Eve nodded with a glint of mischief in her eyes. “Yes we are. You’re not mad anymore?”
“Oh I’m good and pissed and we’ll talk our way through this mess later, but ri
ght now I need to lay my cards on the table, too.”
I took a deep breath. There was no reason to hold anything back; Eve wasn’t running in the opposite direction. “Having a family is incredibly important to me. I never had one, not really. I want to give a kid what I wish I had. I want to be what I never got.”
Her whole expression softened. “Oh.”
“Is that a good ‘oh’ or a bad ‘oh’?”
She put my hand on her hip and ran her free hand along my jaw. Our bodies connected for the first time all day. “A good ‘oh’. I had no idea this was on your mind.”
“What do you think?” I was holding my breath. I honestly had no idea where Eve stood on the whole idea of kids. She had two sisters so I always assumed she’d want a family, too. But maybe she didn’t. Maybe that was the last thing she wanted…
She put both hands on my face and pulled me down for a soft kiss, then looked up into my eyes. “Having kids scares the crap out of me. But my sister did it and Josh has Rosie and lived to tell the tale…”
“You are killing me Eve. What do you think?” I dipped down so we were on the same level.
She smiled and shrugged. “Kids mean a lot to you, huh?”
“I love you, Eve. I love you so much and that will never, ever change. If you say no, then sure, I’ll be disappointed, but we’ll move on. We always do. But yes, having a family of my own means a lot to me. I can’t think of better way to erase my past than to make a future with a family I love.”
She kissed me again and looked into my eyes. “Then I’m not so scared anymore.”
I stood straight up. “Are you saying yes?”
She nodded slowly and tentatively. “Yes. I want to have a family with you, Jake.”
I pulled her up into my arms and hugged the crap out of her. Then I took her to our bed.
“Jake! You silly man! I’m on birth control. I can’t get pregnant now!”
“It’s practice!” I laughed, kissing her.
“Practice, huh?”
I sat up, pulling her shirt over her head and unbuttoning her jeans. “Yep. We need lots and lots of practice.”
She was as beautiful as ever. Not because she was sexy and amazing, but because I loved her and she loved me. I touched her skin, feeling the electric charge that always shot up my arm when we connected. What we had was unique.
“Jake,” she whispered.
“Yes, darlin’?”
“I love you.”
And that was the beginning and the end of everything.
~~~~~
If you enjoyed The Storm Inside series, check out the erotic serial, Tease! Available now!
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Acknowledgments
I want to start by saying, “THANK YOU!” to everyone who has read my books. You have all been so supportive and made this insane journey so much fun.
Now, down to business. I can’t say thank you enough to my writing group and to Romance Writers of America (RWA). When I took a chance and paid the fees to join, and then attend, the convention in Atlanta, I hoped to make it worthwhile. I had NO IDEA it would change my life. Those days in Atlanta I was submersed in what I can only describe as “home”. An entire community of people who love to read and write books. Women empowering other women. Creativity celebrated, unleashed, and directed toward success. It was amazing, but that was only the beginning.
At the “First Timers” orientation I happened to sit down with Tracie Puckett, Lashell Collins, and Mary Chris Escobar—the beginning of the beginning of Write Club. We picked up Julia Kelly at the Contemporary Romance Ice Cream Social and never let her go.
In the months that followed, these ladies have changed my life through advice, encouragement, and example. And we’re just getting started! Because of these ladies I’m continuing to meet new writers and industry professionals. I can’t thank you guys enough!! Because of you, I learned to believe in my dreams. Belief is powerful. So thank you ladies, from the bottom of my eternally grateful heart.
I need to thank Jennifer Southard for being the best cheerleader ever, Tracie Puckett for cheerleading (and general Jake team support), and Julia Kelly for talking me out lighting my manuscripts on fire. And for your super CP powers.
P.S. Thank you to the sexiest editor on the face of the planet. I love you and those little super heroes we have running around our crazy house. LYWAMHASMM.
More from Alexis Anne
Erotic Romance
The Storm Inside
Reflected in the Rain
Tease (an erotic serial)
Romantic Serial: Filters
Polarized (Filters #1)
Grayscale (Filters #2
Focus (Filters #3)
Find purchase information and more for all my books here:
http://alexisannebooks.com/books/