Two steps away from freedom, Elise’s sleepy mumble immobilized him. “We sure would make cute babies, though, wouldn’t we? Can you imagine it? A Jacob and Elise baby?”
He could imagine it all right. And the thought sent him straight back into Hell.
Bile pooled in Jacob’s mouth while his stomach clenched in agony and every breath became a battle that had his chest heaving from the effort.
He needed to leave. Right now, before he lost his shit.
But he couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything but stand there, rooted in terror, and struggling for air.
“Isn’t she beautiful? They’re letting me go home for Christmas. I only get five days, but I’ll finally see my baby girl.”
Jacob squeezed his eyes shut, fighting desperation.
The image of his last encounter with PFC Moorhouse rose fresh in his mind. In the back of the Humvee, unaware of his fate, the Marine passed a snapshot of his newborn daughter around to the rest of the team while the canvass from the top of the vehicle flapped around them and the supplies they were delivering.
Move. Now!
Unlike then, his brain screamed a warning, and his body finally listened.
Jacob didn’t check to make sure Elise was asleep, he didn’t shut the door as he escaped, and he didn’t pick up the jeans that fell to the floor. He didn’t do anything but sprint to safety while his mind trapped him in the past.
On the run, he barely registered his bare feet pounding the cool hardwood of the hall. Instead, he watched the scene of his nightmares unfold, helpless to change the outcome. Look out! There in the window! Despite his shout, his words had no impact. Jacob made it to the privacy of his bathroom right as his fellow Marine’s head exploded.
He fell to his knees and stomach contents splattered the insides of the toilet, but all Jacob saw was the spray of blood and brain matter and the gaping wound that used to be the face of one of the men under his command.
6
“Yes, you can help me.” The woman at the counter in front of Jacob glanced about the high-end boutique with disgust. “I expected better from a place like this.”
Jacob tuned her out much as he had Elise the night before and tried holding his breath to not inhale the sickeningly sweet smells from the shelves of product around him. Mierda, what is it with women and their desire to smell like a damn garden all the time?
Not that he should be complaining at the moment. Any excuse was a good one when it came to escaping his unwanted houseguest. He’d woken up that morning to Elise standing over his bed as if she belonged there. He didn’t even remember falling asleep.
At least he hadn’t passed out hugging the toilet though, that would’ve inspired more questions than the million Elise had already asked as to why his bed looked like they’d had sex in it instead of hers. Did she think he’d snuck another woman in while she’d been sleeping? The idea was ridiculous on a good day, but on a day when he wanted to be alone? Jesucristo.
Explaining to her wasn’t an option, however. He must have had another episode because both his pillows and comforter had lay in a heap on the floor. Luckily, she’d moved on from that to the next topic that distressed her before he’d even managed to get out of bed. Her running out of face cream had almost brought the woman to tears. She’d carried on with her Why me? Why didn’t I get some yesterday when I was out? for a good ten minutes until he volunteered to pick a new container for her. After she threw a third fit about something equally meaningless, he decided that errand took precedence, grabbed his keys, and got the hell out of there.
“I will not pay full price for a product that will expire in forty-five days!” The woman at the counter became harder to tune out as her voice rose in volume and intensity. “A container this big lasts two and a half months.”
Jacob couldn’t help comparing the waxed-and-buffed fake blonde in front of him to the woman he’d left behind at his house. He imagined Elise had sounded just like this when she’d spoken of her own displeasure at the spa not having the exact color of fingernail polish she’d wanted.
The young cashier behind the counter seemed ill-prepared to handle someone with Elise’s attitude. Her poor jaw trembled. “Ma’am, there’s more than a dozen on display that don’t expire for a year. Can I get you one of those?”
“No, you cannot.” A click of manicured nails on the counter punctuated each word. “I want this one, for free, for my trouble.”
Jacob stepped up beside the disgruntled customer. “Excuse me, míss?” He grabbed a container from the shelf next to him and handed it and his credit card to the cashier, granting an encouraging smile at her before giving the diva his full attention. “Let me. Por favor. A beautiful woman like you shouldn’t have to pay for anything.”
Damn it was hotter than Hell in there. Between the heater cranked on high and the crush of the holiday crowd, sweat beaded on his forehead. But he kept his smile in place as the woman batted her lashes up at him.
“There you go, ma’am. Come again soon.”
Thankfully a gift bag now dangled from the cashier’s fingers.
Jacob disentangled himself from the woman’s grasp and sent her on her way with a wink before handing his own purchase to the still frazzled employee. “Why don’t you put this one on my bill, too?” He pointed to the product nearing its expiration date and winked. “If it helps wrinkles like it claims, I might try it myself.”
A flattering blush stole across the clerk’s cheeks, and she grabbed his purchase in hands that no longer trembled.
Before he could relax himself, fingertips brushed his elbow. Jacob braced for the return of the diva but auburn curls greeted him instead.
“The Ramírez charm is dangerous.” Paige linked her arm through his, her smile equally charming.
“Didn’t think I’d see you again this trip.”
“Lucky for you, I’m here because they advertised a twenty percent off sale.” She pointed toward the far display case while giving a booty wiggle. “Mascara, eye shadow, who could pass this up?”
“All the important stuff I see.”
“You bet your ass.”
Her excited dance surprisingly did more for his mood than sex with her friend had, and the tension around his shoulders relaxed slightly. “I’m surprised you and Elise didn’t have a spa treatment set up for today. She made it seem like you’d be busy the entire seven days you were here.” It’d been the only reason he’d agreed to the visit. Well, that and the fact that she hadn’t let him know about it until she was already in town.
Paige elbowed him in the ribs, a sparkle lighting her eyes. “Spa treatments, huh? Is that what they’re calling it now? Good thing Elise had the sense to snag you when you asked. A gorgeous man who runs errands for his woman? You are definitely the marrying kind, Mr. Jacob.”
“I’m about as much the marrying kind as your friend is.” Jacob laughed. Surely the woman was joking. If not, she didn’t know Elise very well. He grabbed his proffered gift bag and stepped aside for the next customer. “I think I’m satisfied to stay single the next thirty years as long as marriage means living with someone else.”
Despite Elise’s mutual feelings on the subject, her friend directed a stern look at him. “Are you serious? Because if you’re serious, I might have to get my brothers to kick your ass.” Paige’s look didn’t morph into the expected joke. Instead, her gaze hardened. “Let me get this straight. You asked my best friend to marry you, you’re trying to have a child together, and now you’re claiming you want to stay single?”
Jacob blinked, finding it hard to focus on the words that blurred after “child”. He didn’t want a wife or a child. He wouldn’t put himself in a position where he was responsible for another human life again. He could handle having the financial responsibility, but their happiness or worse yet, their safety? Fuck that. Not ever again. “I’m not sure what gave you that impression, but you’re absolutely mistaken. You do know we’re talking about Elise here, right?”
“What I know is that it took a lot to get her to go to the fertility specialist, given her issues. But, no, you were adamant you wanted a son.”
Mierda, Paige was serious. She thought him and Elise were planning to have a son.
Those two words brought on the same panic he’d experienced the night before.
Jacob clenched his hands into fists at his side and started his backward countdown.
I cannot lose my shit here in public. I can’t.
Paige didn’t give a damn about his internal struggle. She got in his face like she was ready to deck him. “Oh no, you don’t. You don’t get to play the brooding male with me now that Elise is ovulating. It’s a little late to be changing your mind, don’t you think?”
Jacob forced himself to focus on the woman in front of him, saying through teeth clenched in fear, “Why would you think Elise and I are trying to have a child? Elise would never agree to have kids.” He left his own feelings out of it, pointing out instead the only truth that he knew as he stood there. “Your friend hates children.”
Paige stared at him like he’d lost his mind.
Hell, had he? He’d never known Paige to lie.
He had, however, known Elise to manipulate situations to suit her advantage.
Panic gripped his throat, threatening his ability to breathe.
Elise was trying to have a child. His child.
“You didn’t know.” Paige backed away, her face pale, looking as horrified as he felt. “I’m sorry, Jacob. I had no idea she’d stoop to something like this.”
Neither did I.
How had he let this happen?
How had he been so fucking stupid?
Jacob’s hands shook so badly he almost had to pull his jeep over and park on the side of the freeway.
Elise was trying to get pregnant.
How the hell was he supposed to deal with that, let alone process it? The very notion seemed impossible. If it were true, it would mean that not only had last night been a lie, but so had their entire relationship.
But damn, what was the likelihood that Paige was wrong? Jacob had seen the look in her eyes.
He passed the small café he hadn’t known existed until the day before and immediately his thoughts turned to Sara. Somehow thoughts of the appealing stranger helped to center him enough to stay on the road.
How did she do that and she wasn’t even there?
He should’ve stayed with her yesterday. He should’ve gone with his gut and not answered the phone when Elise called. They were fuck buddies. That was all. He didn’t owe Elise anything. If he’d only told her he wasn’t interested like he’d wanted to, he wouldn’t be in this mess now.
Why had he felt obligated? Because of his father? Come on, the old man had thought Elise would be an asset to Jacob. How much further from the truth could he have been?
Jacob’s hands started to shake again.
A child.
Moorhouse’s face flashed in his mind and Jacob gripped the steering wheel harder.
Just five more minutes.
Five more minutes and then he’d be home.
He kept his vision straight ahead, blocking out everything but the road in front of him until his privacy gate came into view. Flashbacks hovered at the edge of his consciousness, but he needed to hear the truth from Elise’s lips more than he needed the solitude to deal with his fear-induced memories.
Jacob parked around back and entered his home through the sliding door in the hallway, paying little attention to his surroundings. From this side of the house, glass rose from the floor all the way to the ceiling of the second story, offering a panoramic view of his backyard and the Pacific Ocean. He usually loved the soothing roll of the waves right at his fingertips. But not today. All his focus stayed on the woman he’d thought he knew.
He strode to his home theater room, confident he’d find Elise there. “Is it true?” He barked the question before he fully stepped into the room.
Elise smiled at him as if she didn’t hold the very future of his life in her hands. “Is what true?”
“Are you trying to get pregnant?”
“Why on earth would you think—?”
“Stop with the lies, Elise. I saw Paige today. She told me you went to the doctor, that you’re ovulating. Why would she say this?” He glanced at the wine glass in her hand and the half-empty bottle on the table in front of her.
“I…” She stood up and put the wine glass on the table. “There’s no need to get angry here. I—”
“Yes or no, Elise. Are you trying to get pregnant?” For the briefest of moments, he thought she’d laugh off his question and give him some logical explanation.
Unfortunately for both of them, she simply shrugged her shoulders. “Is it really that big of a deal? We’re both in our thirties—”
“Get. Out.” There was no need to let her finish. Nothing she said could justify her actions. Not only had she deceived him in the worst possible way, she drank as if their possible child’s life meant nothing. Jacob might not want a child, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do everything in his power to protect one if he became a father.
Jesucristo, he might actually become a father.
The room spun around him. While she stared at her nails as if they talked about something no more important than the weather, the day that had changed everything for Jacob merged into his reality at the moment, and all of it threatened to take him to his knees. Only discipline he’d learned from six years in the Marine Corps kept him rooted in place. “I wasn’t kidding, Elise. It’s time for you to leave.”
“Stop being unreasonable. Your father—”
“My father?” What the hell did the old man have to do with anything?
“We’re a good match, Jacob. We could be assets to each other.”
Assets…
That’s exactly what Brian Smithsfield had said. Elise hadn’t paraphrased; she’d used his exact word.
Jacob’s world righted in an instant, his panic leaving him as anger filled its place. “Did my father help you with this? Did he suggest…?” Jacob couldn’t bring himself to finish the question. To be betrayed in that manner by his own flesh and blood was reprehensible. Instead, he focused on her role, spitting out, “If we’d be such assets to each other, why not ask me for marriage from the beginning?”
“Because you’d never go for that without a little incentive. Your father thought helping out BCF would be enough, but I knew you’d need more. Since you come from a broken home, the answer seemed obvious. He clearly thought so too because he told me marriage and a child would be good for you.”
Jesucristo. “Are you fucking telling me that you both plotted together?”
“What does it matter?”
What does it matter? Jacob raged internally.
His father hadn’t merely played matchmaker behind the scenes, he’d been the mastermind of the whole thing. The man had betrayed his own son to ensure BCF’s financial security. Jacob looked across the room at Elise, seething. “You’re too selfish to do anything just for your father’s benefit. What’s in this deal for you?”
“Daddy’s threatened to cut me off, giving me a deadline of June to get married. Jacob, he’s planning on putting me out on the streets.” She whined as if Jacob should give a single fuck as to what happened to her.
Jacob clenched his fists at his side, digging his nails into his palms as much to keep his nightmares at bay as to keep himself from picking her up and throwing her out on the street. Inexplicably, he wanted to know everything. “Why did you wait so long to try then? We could have been having unprotected sex from the beginning.”
“I did have to get you to believe me, didn’t I, if I wanted to ensure I received a piece of all of this?” She cast an entitled glance about the room. “Daddy was a fool if he expected me to live a life less than what I’m used to.”
You’re the one who’s the fool, mujer. And Jacob was too. He should’ve listened to his gut instead of his cock. He’d k
nown it while standing in front of Sara when Elise had called, and he’d known it when she’d asked him to have unprotected sex
He glanced at the woman still lingering casually by his couch as if she had a right to be there. His voice came out hoarse when he snarled, “You have five minutes to collect your things and arrange for a car to pick you up. From this point on, each week, starting tomorrow, you’ll go to a doctor in Santa Barbara, of my choosing, for a pregnancy test. I want confirmation from the doctor when your period starts or you test positive.”
“Jacob…”
He dug his nails harder into his palms, forcing his demand through clenched teeth. “Get your things now or I toss them.”
Moorhouse smiled at him again in his mind and showed off the picture of his baby. “Just wait until you’re a father. You’ll see. Your whole world will change for the better.”
Jacob swallowed back bile. There’d be no reprieve from his nightmares anytime soon.
Hijo de puta. How the fuck would he survive this?
Revenge.
Seeing Elise married to a dirty old man or living in middle-class suburbia would be fitting enough punishment for her. Either prospect was likely as close to Hell as the spoiled princess would ever get. But his father? Oh, no. Where that man was concerned, if Jacob was still standing after all of this, he’d make damn sure the old man paid, and he wouldn’t stop until he saw blood.
7
“Stop being such a coward.”
“Ugh!” Sara parked her car at her favorite park, hoping time there would give her more insight than her conversation with her brother-in-law. “Why’d you have to answer the phone instead of Maddie?”
“Lucky for you, I did. You girls coddle each other too much.”
Yeah right. That would be the day. “So, you think I should… what? Forget I stole from my boss and storm into corporate demanding they help me?” When she’d been with the Gallos, it’d seemed like such an easy conclusion to take the idea of a fundraiser to the owners of BCF. But now that Harrison had called her six times without leaving messages… How could she help anyone if she lost her job? “I need more time. If I can get some major donors on board first, then…” Jacob would have to forgive her and help, right?
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