“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing.” Damn Christopher’s perceptiveness! Sara hadn’t told any of her family that she’d flirted with Mr. Ramírez. She’d only admitted to running into him and him offering his coat while they waited for their order. If she told them the truth, she’d never hear the end of it. “It just makes sense to do it this way. That’s all.”
“Mm-hmm. You forget I’ve seen how you get with your volunteer efforts countless times through the years. No offense, sunshine, but you’ve been known to strong arm churches to get what you want. Why are you so afraid of a couple of executives?”
“I’m not afraid.” Not entirely. But when she couldn’t be sure that Jacob wouldn’t fire her on the spot, or that she wouldn’t throw herself at him as soon as she saw him, it seemed safer to keep her distance. For now. The Gallos needed her. And dammit, she’d fought hard not to be her father’s daughter. She didn’t want to fall into his same traps at the first opportunity. Besides, Ray had agreed to help her in a few weeks once the holidays passed. If they had to do it with just the two of them, they would.
Sara could only hope she’d still have her job at that point too.
She changed the subject to try to distract her brother-in-law. “Hey, how’s Tessa doing?”
Christopher’s chuckle proved she hadn’t fooled anyone, but he at least let things go. “She’s good. Or she was until Maddie started doing her hair a few minutes ago. Now she’s howling like a banshee.”
Sounded about right. Sara’s niece hated that part of her morning ritual. “Well make sure you give Maddie a few minutes to decompress once she’s finished.” Tessa might be an angel most of the time, but she still had moments that took a lot out of her parents. Her screaming fits were no joke. “And make sure you give both a kiss from me and tell them that I love them.”
“Will do. But Sara? Whatever it is that’s stopping you from reaching out to your boss, just ask yourself if it’s more or less important than getting that family what they need?”
Humph. Christopher made it sound so easy.
Sara disconnected the call without responding and let Presidio Park beckon her. Whenever she had things she couldn’t work out, even in winter, she visited the white Spanish-style mission museum. The grassy hill it sat atop lacked the crowds of nearby Balboa Park while offering a similarly gorgeous view. She’d contemplated many problems on top of that hill. And those problems didn’t come any bigger than Jacob Ramírez.
She could tell herself all she wanted that she was scared of losing her job, and though there was enough truth to that to cause genuine concern, her greatest fear was actually that she allowed him to bring out a part of herself she despised. She hated what her father had done to her mom.
Sounds from an indoor wedding crowd normally would’ve had Sara avoiding the grounds, but she walked the side footpath, too distracted to care. What if she lost herself in his charm again? Or worse, what if he fired her and she still proceeded to throw herself at him? He had a girlfriend. Even if the chemistry she’d felt between them didn’t deter her, that alone should have. Yet she still fantasized about the man. Last night she’d dreamed of fires and sex that burned her from the inside out.
She didn’t need Christopher to tell her to get over herself and go see Jacob. She knew that’s what she had to do. But it took preparation to deal with Jacob’s kind of intensity. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, least of all some unsuspecting woman like her mother had been.
Sara heaved a sigh and plopped down on the nearest bench, pulling her jacket tighter around her in misery. As if Jacob’s body alone wasn’t drool-worthy enough, his name dripped off her tongue. Ramírez. If she managed a meeting with him, not even picturing a paper bag over his head would allow her to escape the sexy accent of his that came and went like the breeze off the Pacific Ocean. She could happily lose herself in the sound for all eternity. Especially if he whispers Spanish endearments in my ear while he fucks me.
Instead of chastising herself for the thought, Sara relaxed into the bench, freeing her mind from all but him in the safety of the park miles away from the tempting man. For the briefest of moments, she allowed herself to picture what it’d feel like to be in his arms. He could probably bring her to orgasm with just a look. And his hands? Dear God. With the size of them, they could nearly cover the entirety of her breasts. People joked about a man’s foot size in relation to his cock, but if Jacob’s hands were anything to go by, what he had between his legs had to be pretty damn impressive.
Would the reality prove to be a disappointment?
8
Jacob turned off the radio and pushed the button to roll down the driver’s side window of his jeep. He needed the coolness of the winter air to counteract the fire inside of him. It’d taken Elise fifteen minutes to gather up her things and leave, but nineteen hours later he still felt the impact of her deception as if he’d just learned of it.
Mierda.
Jacob wiped the sweat from his brow. He’d thought his nightmares were bad, but this shit was damn near unbearable. When rage didn’t consume him, the uncertainties of his near future brought on panic attack after panic attack. Or at least he assumed they were panic attacks. What the fuck else could it be called when terror grabbed hold of his heart and paralyzed him?
He didn’t know the first thing about being a father. Look at the example he’d been given. That poor excuse of a man didn’t deserve the title.
Neither do I.
Jacob clinched his hands around the steering wheel. His kid was fucked. With him for a dad and Elise for a mom, their child would be worse off than Jacob had been growing up. Mama Bea would help him, and Nic and Marc would make the fiercest of uncles, but Jacob would hate the child’s mother as much as Brian and Lucinda hated each other. Maybe more. Would he be able to get over his anger for the sake of the child, or would he distance himself as much as his parents had with him?
Jacob exited off the freeway at the Presidio Park exit without realizing what he’d done until he pulled into a parking space.
Hijo de puta. Why had he come here? He’d sought the escape of his jeep because he needed a long drive. The kind that the Pacific Coast Highway offered. One with endless miles to outrun his demons. This place only brought them front and center. The last time he’d come to this park, it’d been during the only real mother and son outing he remembered from his childhood.
Had his subconscious brought him here because of that?
Jacob wanted to say fuck that, but his subconscious clearly ruled his feet too because he opted to leave his jeep and follow the same footpath he and his mother had taken that day.
It’d been spring back then. The trees had been in full bloom, and hope had seemed ripe in the air. Jacob hadn’t known at that young age what his and his mother’s recent move to San Diego meant, or how much it would change the woman smiling at him at the time. At four, all he’d been aware of was the puppy playing in the grass two families over and the loaded picnic basket of his favorite foods beside him. It wasn’t until much later that he understood his parents’ divorce hadn’t just killed their love for one another; it’d killed their love for their son too.
But love had at least been in their beginning. Jacob and Elise had no—
A warm body collided with his.
“Omph.”
His shirt muffled the feminine sound, but not his sudden awareness. He recognized her before he glimpsed more than her wild mass of her hair. Jacob gripped the woman’s arms as much to steady her as himself. “Are you okay, míss?” He didn’t say her name until she tilted her head back and looked up at him. “Sara.” Blue eyes tinged with green gazed into his soul and in an instant, his mood went from panicked anger to hope and… want.
It hardly seemed possible that this close to Elise’s deception, he could find himself wanting another woman, but damn if that wasn’t exactly what he felt. Vibrations careened from his head to his toes as if every cell in his body actively tried to be
come one with her.
His voice turned husky. “I didn’t think I would see you again.” What were the odds? Two times in two days she just happened to appear right when he needed her?
Cabrón.
Jacob released his hold on her, stepping back to clear his head. He needed her?
They both spoke at once.
“Sorry about—”
“Sorry for running into you like that.” Her voice rose over his. “I don’t know what happened. Silly me, I was looking at my phone instead of where I was going. Then bam. Did I hurt you? No, of course I didn’t hurt you. You’re a freaking giant. I-I mean…”
Sara trailed off and unbelievably he started to laugh. How the hell did she manage to make him laugh with all the shit going on in his life?
She shuffled her feet in obvious embarrassment.
“Don’t be embarrassed, por favor. You have no idea how much I needed that laugh.” A small smile turned up the corners of her mouth, but didn’t quite reach her eyes, so he held out his hand in an offer to shake hers. “I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself yesterday. I’m Jacob.”
“I know, Mr. Ramírez.” Her admission lay heavy in the air between them in the wake of Elise’s schemes.
He dropped his hand.
How could Sara possibly know who he was?
Jacob backed up a step. He stopped when the truth hit him. A smile returned to his lips when he said, “My wal—”
Sara interrupted, “I guess it’s either luck or fate that I ran into you again, right? Seeing as how I was just thinking about you.”
Jacob had been thinking about her too, not right then, but prior to Elise… He shuddered then pushed that mujer from his mind. He had far better things to think about with Sara standing in front of him. He wouldn’t ruin their time together when seeing her at all seemed like a blessing on an otherwise ruthless day.
Sara brought her gaze to his and said, “Um, now that I have you here and you know that I know who you are—I mean—Well, what if—Oh hell.”
He laughed again, a short burst of sound, but no less amazing as his previous one. As ill-advised as it was, if she asked him on a date, he’d say yes and not think twice.
She took all traces of his laughter and thoughts of a date away when she finished with, “I know you own BCF and I have a proposition for you. It’s forward of me, I know, but if you hear me out, I think you’ll see that I can benefit you as much as you’ll—.”
“This is about money then?” his voice turned to gravel. Why had he thought she’d be different? “I’ve had enough the last few days of women’s financial propositions that only end up screwing me over. Didn’t you get enough money out of me when you stole my wallet?” What had she done, looked him up online, discovered his net worth, then decided she’d see how far that money train could take her? In all the time that she’d rambled away, she hadn’t once apologized for taking his coat or mention returning it.
Instead of attempting to be contrite, she got right in his face, standing on tiptoe to look him in the eyes as she enunciated each word. “Hold. On. A. Freaking. Minute. I am not a thief.”
Unimpressed, Jacob merely raised one eyebrow. “No?” How would she spin that lie? Even Elise had known when to drop the act.
Sara lowered herself back onto the flat of her feet, but spoke no less forcibly. “Okay, maybe I am, but on a technicality only.”
Technicality, hmm? This chick was bolder than Elise, all right. Unbelievably, she could teach his ex a thing or two about entitlement. “I suppose you think since I gave it to you, to borrow, that made it okay for you to run off with it?” Her and Elise definitely lived in the same world. “You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t accept that rationale. I’ve heard enough female justifications in the last twenty-four hours to last me a lifetime.” And then some. Elise had acted like she’d been doing him a favor by trying to get pregnant.
“Did you ever take into consideration that maybe I left with it to teach you a lesson?” Sara gave him a pointed look as if she’d proven herself innocent.
Lo siento, mujer. Try again. “That’s rich. You steal from me, but it’s my fault?”
“Yes! You hit on me while you had a girlfriend. Convenient how you’ve forgotten that little fact.”
“I hit on you?” Was this chick for real?
“Yes!” In an all too defiant gesture, Sara crossed her arms below her chest.
He tried not to notice how that action lifted her breasts. Him staring at her tits wouldn’t give much credence to his incredulous question.
Yet damn if it didn’t become even harder not to stare at them when an enticing blush crept up her exposed cleavage. What the fuck, man? He felt anger toward her. Anger. “I saw you were having a bad day and I asked you to stay for a cup of coffee. Nothing more, nothing less.”
She seemed to contemplate that for a minute while her blush deepened. She finally acquiesced with an, “Oh, okay then.” Her timidity only lasted for a second though. Her hardness returned with a vengeance. “Well, so what if you didn’t hit on me? I thought you had, which is why I took your jacket in the first place. And regardless, I’ll have you know I had no idea your wallet was in the pocket. AND I returned everything that same day.” She punctuated the last two words with a finger jabbed in his chest. “It’s not my fault you haven’t gone into your office yet to see it’s there.”
She’d returned it? “With all my money still inside?” he asked with skepticism.
“Yes, with all your money inside. Like I said, I’m not a thief.”
Maybe not, but she was still opportunistic. “So, you say. Yet you hit me up with a proposition for money as soon as you saw me again.”
“For someone else.” The self-righteousness died in her voice. “I’m hitting you up for money for someone else. Not for me.”
Something about the way she softened when she said that made him believe her.
All of a sudden, Jacob forgot why he shouldn’t be staring at the breasts that now brushed against his chest from how close she stood, or the mouth that tilted up just inches from his own. Without thought, he did what he’d wanted to do from the moment she’d collided into him.
Only their breath existed between them, then nothing at all.
Jacob crushed his mouth to hers. When she opened for him, his tongue met hers in victory.
Damn, she tasted sweet.
But she acted like fire.
She came at him every bit as fast and hard as he came at her, taking everything he gave and offering him twice that amount in return.
And then she was gone.
Sara stepped out his arms and put distance between them. “Forget about your girlfriend again?”
The mention of Elise brought him back to reality. “Forget about your proposal?”
“Forget it. It’s not important anymore. I’ll deal with it myself.”
“I thought someone else needed my help. Are you going to give up that easily?” Why did he have this unreasonable desire to explain himself to her instead of walking away? They’d shared one kiss. He didn’t owe her anything. Yet Jacob dropped the confrontation from his voice and said, “For the record, my ex isn’t an issue anymore. And if I would’ve paid more attention to the lies women tell, she wouldn’t have been an issue during our first meeting either. Had I flirted.” He cringed as the last sentence left his mouth. It was hard to deny his interest after he’d kissed her. Before she could call him on his bullshit, he asked, “Your proposal?”
“Oh, all right.” She blew out a breath. “I have an idea that could prove to be an asset to your business.”
An asset, hmm?
Disgust, and a whole hell of a lot of rage, filled Jacob, and it was all directed at himself. Why had he thought, even for a second, that she’d been different than Elise? She could dress it up as nice as she wanted, but in the end, she was just as opportunistic as his ex and his father.
Jacob smiled as he spoke into the phone. “I agree, Mrs. Everett. You made
the right decision asking me to alert the employees about our Santa Barbara branch. They had more questions than I’d thought they would.”
Mrs. Everett preened on the other end of the line, trilling in her old lady voice, “Why thank you, Jacob. Your grandmother always did say you had the sense of a fine businessman.”
Unlike Brian Smithsfield.
Mrs. Everett didn’t have to say it for Jacob to know that’s what she meant. Right before his grandmother’s death, she’d sold all of her shares in BCF to her best friend and Mrs. Everett’s two boys. It’d been her final fuck you to the son she’d shunned for as long as Jacob could remember, and her best friend clearly held the same bias. He didn’t know why Mrs. Everett had bided her time for so long, but that sentiment had been what he’d been counting on. He’d exploit it as much as he needed to get what he wanted. “Because I value your opinion, I thought I should bring a new opportunity to your attention. I must say, I’m more than a little excited about this and hope you will be as well.” Jacob outlined Sara’s plan to the woman, hinting that it’d been a collaborative effort, one in which his father played no part.
That wasn’t a lie, necessarily. The idea might have initiated with Sara, but if his employee was using him, what did it hurt if he used her too?
Jacob asked Mrs. Everett, “What are your thoughts?”
“I think you’re right. My sons will be pleased with this new development. With the business this could capture for us, it might wash out any extra expenses we acquire from shutting down the Santa Barbara branch.”
Jacob grinned into the phone again. That’s what he’d been hoping she’d say. “Now, I should tell you, my father isn’t quite on board with that last portion yet.”
“You let me worry about your father. We have a board meeting coming up in April. If things go well with this venture, I might just have a proposition for you myself before we all get together.”
Morrow's Horizon (The Morrow Women Series Book 1) Page 8