by Marie Force
Jenny flattened her hands against his chest and pushed him back. “No,” she said, sputtering with outrage and despair. “You can’t do this to me. I won’t allow it. You sent me away like I meant nothing to you.”
“You never meant nothing to me. You meant too much. That was the problem.”
“Well, great. That makes me feel so much better.”
“I love you desperately. I’ve missed you more than I’ve ever missed anyone in my entire life. Every day I had to force myself to stay away from you when everything in me yearned for you.”
Okay, she had to admit that was some pretty good groveling. And it was a tremendous comfort to know he’d been every bit as miserable.
He focused on something over her shoulder. “I was embarrassed. For the first time since my mother got sick, what she did… I was embarrassed by her.” He released a deep sigh. “And I was furious with her. I’d never felt either of those things in all the time we’ve been dealing with her illness, but it wasn’t about me anymore. It was about you and how it affected you. So I figured if I pushed you away, I could protect you from getting hurt.”
“Just FYI, that strategy totally backfired.”
“I know that now.”
“So what changed?”
“Nothing other than I’ve run out of willpower. I guess I’m a selfish bastard after all, because I don’t care anymore if I’m being fair to you by bringing you into my chaotic life. I don’t care if it’s fair that my mother basically called you a whore in front of your parents. I don’t care about anything other than finding a way to spend as much of every day with you as I possibly can.”
Jenny stared up at him, trying to decide if this was really happening or if she was having one of her vivid dreams.
And then he smiled, and she melted. “I’m just a guy, standing before a girl, asking her to love him.”
Jenny’s composure broke, and she stepped into his embrace. “She does love him every bit as desperately as he loves her.”
He hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe. “I’m so sorry I freaked out. Once the dust settled and I realized how stupid I’d been, I drove everyone crazy until Paul begged me to come cut the grass and fix this with you, if I still could. And he said to tell you he needs you at the store as badly as I need you in my bed.”
Jenny raised a brow. “Was that a direct quote?”
“I paraphrased just a tiny bit.”
“I had a feeling,” she said, laughing. “Are you going to freak out again the next time your mom says something to me that she shouldn’t?”
“I’ll try not to, but even if I do freak out, I won’t push you away again. I promise you that.”
“You broke my heart.”
Wincing, he said, “I know. I hate myself for that. It was the last thing you deserved after you took such a big chance on me. I never want to cause you another second of pain.”
“Then don’t. Let me take this walk with you and hold your hand along the way and help you deal with whatever comes up the same way you will for me.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It is simple. I love you. You love me. What else matters?”
“Nothing, I suppose. There’s apt to be more hand-holding on your part than there will be on mine.”
“We have no way to know that, do we?”
“All I know is I’ll do whatever it takes to get you to forgive me.”
“I forgave you a while ago, actually. What’s not to love about a man who puts his ailing mother ahead of everything else in his life?”
“What’s not to love about a woman who puts up with a man who thinks he can survive without her when he should’ve known better?”
“She does sound pretty awesome. You should come inside and make love with her so she’ll believe you mean all these pretty words you’re throwing at her.”
“Oh, I mean them, and I’d like nothing more, but can I borrow her shower first? I had a little trouble with some tomatoes.”
Jenny laughed and then squealed when he picked her up and swung her around. She held on tight to him until he put her down, took her hand and led her inside to begin the rest of their lives together.
Epilogue
“So I have this big idea,” Alex said, much later that night. They’d spent the entire day in her bed making up for the time they’d lost when they were apart. Alex said he figured they’d be caught up in another couple of days. Then they could start over again.
Facedown on the bed, Jenny hugged a pillow and looked over at him. “What’s your big idea?”
“We own quite a bit of property behind the greenhouses. It occurred to me that we could build a place of our own back there so we’d be close to my mom but still have our own space.”
She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “You want to build a house.”
“For us. Yes. What do you think?”
“It’s a wonderful thought, and maybe by the time it’s built, I’ll be ready to move in with you.”
“Oh, well, um, see the rest of my plan would involve you moving in with me now so we can get busy making those babies you want so desperately. The babies you thought you’d never have.” With a teasing grin, he added, “You’re getting, you know…”
Her scowl discouraged him from finishing that thought. “Since I’ve only recently forgiven you for breaking my heart, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you infer that I’m old.”
“All kidding aside, do you want to wait another year to get started on what we both want?”
Jenny didn’t need long to consider her answer. “No, I guess I don’t.”
“Then it’s settled. You’ll move in with us, we’ll make babies and build a house.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m old-fashioned or anything, but if we’re going to actively try to make babies—”
“We’re going to very actively try,” he said, earning a pillow to the face.
“If we’re going to do that, shouldn’t we, you know, at least talk about…” The stinker watched her, enjoying her discomfort when he knew damned well what she was getting at. “Are you going to make me say it?”
“I think maybe I am,” he said with a smug grin.
“I’d want to be married if I’m going to have a baby.”
“Married to me, or will anyone do?”
“I’m beginning to think anyone will do.”
He pounced on her and rolled her so quickly she had no idea how he managed to end up on top of her, their bodies aligned. “I’m going to forget that you said that.”
Jenny reached up to place her hands on his face, drawing him into her kiss. “No one else will do.”
“Then I guess you have no choice but to marry me.”
“And won’t that go down as the most romantic proposal in history?”
“No, but I hope this one will.” He slid off the bed, dropping to his knees before her. Taking her hand, he brought it to his lips and bent his head over their joined hands for a second, seeming to gather his composure.
Jenny had to remind herself to breathe while she waited to hear what he would say.
“I want you to know I think you’re probably the best person I’ve ever known. You have the face of an angel, the heart of a warrior and the backbone needed to put up with me. I would like for you, Jenny Wilks, to come along with me the rest of the way, to build an amazing future together that also pays homage to the past you shared with Toby. I want to bring him with us, too, because he’s part of you and thus part of who we are together. I love you, I need you, I believe I’ve proven I want you, but I’m available to provide additional evidence upon request.”
Jenny laughed as she wiped away tears.
“I know I’m asking a lot of you by bringing you into my family at this particular juncture, but I’m hoping you’ll be by my side wherever this journey we’re on with my mom takes us.”
“Alex…”
“Wait, I’m not finished. This is the important part. I wa
nt us to have a family together and watch them grow up and then get really, really old together, but still have a lot of sex. I’ll take the little blue pills if necessary, but let’s hope to God it doesn’t come to that.”
She laughed even harder. “You’ve landed your spot in the history books as the first guy to bring erectile dysfunction into a marriage proposal.”
“I believe these things should never be left to chance,” he said gravely.
“Are you done now?”
“I think I might be.”
She leaned forward to give him a lingering kiss. “You had me at the best person you know, and you sealed the deal with Toby.”
“So, wait… I could’ve skipped the rest of it?”
“Not on your life, buster. That would’ve been the most romantically hilarious proposal in recorded history, except for one small detail.”
“What small detail?”
She rolled her eyes. “I can tell you’ve never done this before.”
“You’re damned right I’ve never done this before, and I can’t believe you’re actually critiquing me.”
His righteous indignation sent her into hysterical laughter. “You never asked the question, dummy!”
“Yes, I did.”
“No, you didn’t. I would’ve remembered that.”
“Fine,” he said with a scowl. “Are you going to marry me or not?”
Jenny raised a brow, letting him know he’d have to do better than that.
“Will you officially be my ball and chain so all the pain you inflict upon me will come with legally required sex?”
She shook her head, shaking with silent laughter.
And then he brought her hand to his lips, his face serious and earnest and as handsome as she’d ever seen it. “Jenny Wilks, best person I’ve ever known, masterful chucker of tomatoes and the only woman I’ve ever truly loved, will you put me out of my self-inflicted misery and do me the tremendous honor of being my wife?”
“Yes,” she said softly. “Now, was that so hard?”
“I’ll tell you what’s hard,” he muttered, making her laugh again as he got back in bed with her.
“You’re nothing if not predictable, Martinez.”
“And you love my endless desire for you.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I’ll get you a ring. As soon as I can.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Since I only plan to endure this torture once, I’m doing it right.”
Jenny batted her lashes at him. “When you put it so sweetly, how could a girl say no?”
He looked over at her, his heart in his eyes. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’ll never do it again.”
“Yes, you probably will, but I’ll always forgive you as long as you grovel so beautifully.”
“I’m getting pretty good at that since I met you.”
She wrapped her arms around him, cradling his head to her chest. “Then we ought to do just fine.”
Turn the page to continue with Chance for Love, Jared and Lizzie’s story.
Chapter 1
It’s high time to end the pity party. That was the thought Jared James woke up with on the fortieth day after the love of his life turned down his marriage proposal.
On that Friday morning in late July, Jared woke to the sound of seagulls and surf pounding against the rocks that abutted his property on Gansett Island—and to this somewhat major development in the midst of his retreat from real life. As he did every morning, he thought of his girlfriend, Elisabeth—“with an S,” she always said. His ex-girlfriend now…
He’d called her Lizzie, a nickname she’d always hated until he decided she was his Lizzie. Over time, he’d convinced her she loved the nickname as much as she loved him. As he had every day since it all went so bad, he thought of the night he’d taken her to a rooftop restaurant in Manhattan, which had been reserved just for them. He recalled his carefully planned proposal and the look of utter shock and dismay on her face when she realized what he was asking.
She’d shaken her head, which meant no in every language he spoke. She actually said no. That was the part he still couldn’t believe more than a month later. He hadn’t seen that coming. It hadn’t occurred to him for a second that she’d say no. When he’d gotten down on one knee, he’d pictured an entirely different outcome. He’d imagined a tearful acceptance, kissing and hugging and dancing.
There’d been champagne chilling for the celebration that hadn’t happened. He’d had the company Learjet waiting at Teterboro to whisk her off to Paris for a romantic long weekend. She’d always wanted to go there, and he was set to make all her dreams come true, starting with that one.
She’d said no.
He hadn’t heard much of what she said after she shook her head in reply to his heartfelt question. The movement of her head in a negative direction had hit him like a fist to the gut. There’d been tears, not the happy kind he’d hoped for, but rather the grief-stricken sort, the kind that come when everything that could go wrong did. He knew about those tears. He’d shed a lot of them over the last five weeks.
In all his thirty-eight years, he’d never shed a tear over a woman until he’d finally given his heart to one, only to see it crushed to smithereens after the best year of his life. He had vague memories of standing up, of staring at her tearstained face as she continued to shake her head and tried to make him understand.
But he hadn’t heard a word she said. It was all noise that refused to permeate the fog that had infiltrated his brain. He’d walked away and taken a cab to the garage where he kept his car. He’d driven for hours to get the first ferry of the morning to the home he’d bought on Gansett Island a couple of years ago and had barely seen since. He’d been too busy to spend time on the island.
Now he had nothing but time after taking an indefinite leave of absence from work.
Lizzie had called him a couple of times since that night, but he hadn’t taken her calls. What did it matter now? What could she possibly say that would make a difference? He’d erased her voice-mail messages without listening to them. The last thing he needed was to hear her voice and be set back to day one when he’d honestly wondered if he was going to be able to continue breathing without her.
Yeah, he was a mess, and he was sick to death of being a mess. He was sick to death of himself. He got up and pulled on shorts and a tank, shoved his feet into an old pair of Nikes and headed out to run on the beach, something he’d done nearly every day he’d been here. What the hell good was owning waterfront property if you didn’t take advantage of the chance to run on the beach?
He hadn’t taken the time to appreciate most of the perks of making a billion dollars before his thirty-fifth birthday. He’d been too busy making more money to enjoy what he’d already accomplished. Those days were over, too. In the weeks he’d spent on Gansett, he’d been able to breathe for the first time in longer than he could remember. Without the constant pressure of work, work and more work, he’d discovered he had absolutely no life away from work.
He didn’t have a single hobby, and he didn’t have many friends who weren’t affiliated in some way with his job. His clients were among his closest friends. How screwed up was that? Lizzie had been the exception. He’d met her at a benefit for the homeless shelter she ran for women and children in crisis. One of the guys from work had talked him into sponsoring the event, which was how he’d ended up in a monkey suit on a Wednesday evening, working the ballroom in the Ritz-Carlton at Central Park.
If he lived forever, Jared would never forget the first time he saw her. He’d been talking with some friends, guys he knew from the financial rat race, while his gaze swept the room and landed on her. She’d worn black—slinky, sexy black—that showed off her subtle curves.
However, her curves, as captivating as they’d been, hadn’t been the thing that made him walk away from a conversation mid-sentence. No, it had been her smile and the way it lit up her entire face that had him making his
way across the crowded room, like a magnet drawn to the most precious of metals.
“Why am I thinking about that?” he asked himself as he pounded his footprints into the sand. “I’m done thinking about her, reliving every minute I spent with her. It’s over, and it’s time to accept that and stop acting like a pussy-whipped, pathetic, ridiculous fool. She doesn’t want you. Plenty of others do.”
Except… He didn’t want anyone else. He’d never wanted anyone the way he wanted her, and it was going to take a lot more than forty days for the yearning to subside. Still, that didn’t mean he had to walk around like a lovesick dickwad in the meantime.
He barely noticed the gorgeous scenery that unfolded before him as he hit the mile mark and turned back, a plan forming as he went. He’d invite some people over for dinner. They’d have a cookout like normal people did this time of year. David and Daisy would come, and he’d ask Jenny Wilks and her fiancé, Alex Martinez. He’d tell them to bring others who’d like a free steak and a couple of beers.
People, he thought. That’s what he needed. David and Daisy had been exceptionally good friends to him, dragging him along on many a date night and letting him be their official third wheel. The least he could do was make them dinner to thank them for their extraordinary compassion as he nursed his broken heart.
He came to a halt at the stairs that led to his house, bent at the waist to catch his breath and then walked slowly up the stairs and across the lawn, past the inground pool he’d never used. A guy came out from the mainland every week to tend to it. Perhaps it was time someone actually swam in the crystal-clear water he paid a small fortune to maintain.
Grasping the hem of his tank, he brought it up to wipe the sweat off his face. When he let the shirt drop, he noticed David coming down the stairs from the garage apartment.
“Off to save some lives, Doc?” Jared asked his friend, who was dressed in khakis and a blue dress shirt—or what Daisy called his doctor uniform.