Jake was the entire package. If she had a checklist of attributes she wanted in a man, he would hit all of them and then some. Hell, the man cooked, and he’d spent the first week of their odd relationship helping her get rid of the last guy. Who did that?
“Shayla?”
He looked so nervous, like she’d stabbed his puppy or was threatening to. She needed to find some words. “I’ve never been as interested in anyone in my life as I am in you, Jake. It just scares me, so I think I’ve been pretending it wasn’t real, or at least wasn’t real for you, so that I wouldn’t be disappointed when it all fell apart.”
He sucked in a breath, blinking at her. His hands dropped to his jeans and he rubbed them on his thighs. In a moment he narrowed his gaze and then smiled slowly. “You…are not…playing fair.”
She frowned. “How’s that?”
“Because now I want to grab you around the waist and slam you up against the wall.”
She cringed. “The last guy who slammed me against a wall has now been stalking me for three months.”
He winced. “Bad choice of words, but believe me, after I slam you against a wall, you’ll beg me to do it again.”
She shuddered and then crossed her legs and squeezed them together. “Challenge accepted.” She gave him her most coy smile.
He groaned and then took a deep breath and leveled her with his gaze. “Sweetheart, I’m not playing around here. I didn’t ask you out so I could get in your pants and then walk away. I’m interested in more. A lot more. Can you handle that?”
“Yes.” She could. Absolutely. She just needed to trust that her heart wouldn’t end up trampled on in doing so because, just like he expressed, she really liked him too. A fuck of a lot. If he fucked her and walked away, it was going to hurt.
He pointed at her food. “Eat your dinner and then go to your room.”
She tipped her head to one side and gave him what felt like a very odd smile. “Pardon?”
He grinned. “If you hang around in the same room with me tonight, I’ll never make it until tomorrow. And I don’t want to lose this deal.”
“Mmm.” She wondered if she should continue to tempt him into having sex with her tonight so she could hold it over him for the rest of their lives, or if she should be kind and give him this one. She decided to go halfway. “Hey, does the bathtub in the master bathroom have jets?”
He gave her a sideways look. “Yesss. Why?”
“Because I’m looking forward to a long soak and I’d rather use yours.”
“Be my guest, of course. But if you try to trick me…” he warned playfully.
She shrugged. “I’ve tried everything to trick you this week, up to and including nudity. Nothing worked. Which, by the way…” She lifted her fork and pointed the tines at him. “How the hell would I think you were really interested in me if you could resist not only nudity but watching me finger myself to orgasm?”
He groaned.
Good. Served him right. She still had a small slice of the upper hand.
An hour later, Shayla leaned back in Jake’s bathtub and closed her eyes. She really did want to soak in the tub. It was relaxing. After her chat with Renee this evening, she needed to think.
It was mind-boggling that Hawke had such a long list of women he’d fucked, abused, and harassed, all while being married. Maybe she could somehow turn the tables on him and send him threatening texts? She could bombard him like he did her, but with messages like:
I know you’re married. If you don’t stop harassing me, I’m going to tell your wife.
I know where you live. How would your kids feel if I showed up at your house uninvited?
Shayla shuddered from head to toe. No way could she ever do something like that. It would scare the fuck out of her. But damn, it would be nice.
She forced herself to stop mulling over Hawke and closed her eyes. She hated that the man took up so much of her energy. It would be nice if she could be free of him and move on with her life.
It would be so much easier to start a real relationship with Jake—who apparently wanted that badly—if she didn’t have to deal with a psychotic ex.
A knock on the door startled her. “Shayla?” Jake said.
“You can come in.” For one thing, she was fully covered in bubbles. For another thing, she didn’t give a single shit if he saw her naked.
Jake opened the door and stepped inside. “Sorry about your bath, but you’re gonna want to get dressed and come into the living room. You have guests.”
Shayla lifted her brows. “Guests?”
“Yes.” He grabbed a towel from the shelf in his linen closet and set it on the vanity. “Just come out.”
“Okay.” She was confused by his cryptic request as he left the room and shut the door. She released the plug so the tub would drain and rose out of the warm cocoon. Who was here to see her and hadn’t even called?
Ten minutes later, she was dry and dressed in her tank top and shorts. That was all she had in the bathroom. She could put more clothes on, but they were in the guest room and she’d easily be able to see whoever was visiting before she could slip inside to change.
As soon as she came out of the master bedroom, she could hear Raeann’s voice but also another woman. When she reached the guest bedroom, she could see them but they had their backs to her, so she quickly ducked into the room and put on clothes. Jeans, bra, T-shirt. More presentable than the clothes she used to tease Jake.
What was Raeann doing here and who the heck was with her?
Shayla was nervous by the time she made her appearance. With everything going on, she was worried Hawke might have shown up at the condo or something.
“Hey,” she said as she entered the living room.
Jake had graciously seated them on the couch and given them drinks. He really was a wonderful man. She needed to accept the fact that he truly liked her and go all-in.
Raeann smiled up at Shayla as Shayla lowered onto the sectional at an angle from the two women. “What’s going on?”
“Shayla, this is Katy. Katy, Shayla.”
Katy nodded toward her apologetically. “Sorry to stop by unannounced. I feel bad about this.”
Shayla frowned. “What do you feel bad about?”
Raeann sat forward. “Katy came to the condo hoping to find you. Since you weren’t there, she told me some things I thought you should know.”
Katy licked her lips. “I’ll be blunt. I dated Hawke before you.”
Shayla drew in a breath and let it out slowly. She shouldn’t be surprised. Katy fit the look. “How long ago?”
“I left him about two months before you started seeing him.”
“And let me guess, he harassed you right up until that moment?”
“Yes.” Katy glanced at Raeann. “I gather from what Raeann has told me, that’s his MO.”
“Yes. He hasn’t found someone else to fuck with yet after me.” She didn’t give a shit about her language right now.
Katy cringed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know that there’s anything I can do to help, but I wanted to at least tell you. I didn’t realize there were others. I mean, I knew he moved on to you and stopped bothering me, but I didn’t know there were women before me and it was a pattern.”
Shayla looked at Jake who was leaning back in the far corner of the sectional, rubbing his jaw. “How did you find out about Shayla?” he asked. “Do you work for the airline?”
Katy nodded. “Ticket agent. It took a while for the rumors to reach me, but eventually, they did.”
“Oh good,” Shayla muttered sarcastically. “I’d hate for my name to be smeared only among flight attendants.”
Katy nodded. “Right?” Her sarcasm was just as thick. “Listen, I feel really bad about this. I thought hard about going to HR, and then decided against it. Who would believe me? I just wanted him to go away. I was so relieved when he stopped texting me. And then I heard about you…” She pulled in a deep breath. “I haven’t been able to s
leep because of the guilt.” Her hands were trembling against her thighs.
Shayla shook her head. “Don’t do that to yourself. I’m no different. I didn’t even tell my closest friends he was harassing me. I felt so stupid for ever going out with him in the first place. And then when I considered telling them the entire story, I just felt even more ridiculous. I didn’t want anyone to judge me. Who keeps seeing a man like him over and over again?”
Katy looked like she was going to cry. She dabbed at her eyes with her knuckles and nodded. “Yeah. That about sums it up.”
“How did you find me?” Shayla asked.
“Did a Google search. Paid the five dollars for the information.” She shuddered. “Not gonna lie. That was scary in and of itself.”
Jake groaned. “Yes. It’s insane how easy it is to get information these days.”
Shayla nearly laughed at the man who was undoubtedly hacking every system he could find to get more dirt on Hawke. She didn’t even want to ask how he knew some of the things he knew.
“So, what do we do now? If there are four of us, should we go to HR?” Katy asked.
Jake shook his head. “No. Not yet. Hang tight a bit. Not forever. Just give me a little time.”
Shayla answered the confused look on Katy’s face. “Jake is a computer god. He’s hoping to find some interesting dirt on Hawke that might take him down a notch without all of us having to take a giant risk to our personal safety and probably even our careers.”
“Oh, good. That makes me feel better.” Katy nodded slowly. “I mean, for me, and I assume for the two before me, it’s kind of over. All that’s left is the psychological damage. But it sure would be nice to nail his ass to the wall. Wouldn’t it be a shame if he was involved in some kind of insider trading or hadn’t paid his taxes or has a secret family on the side?”
Shayla laughed. “He does have a secret family on the side. Wife and two kids.”
Katy’s eyes widened. “No shit?” Then she sighed. “I guess that’s not a crime. Darn.” Then she lit up. “Oh, but we could turn the tables on him.”
Jake shook his head. “Not a chance. I don’t want any of you contacting him for any reason. It’s not safe.”
Shayla nodded. “Believe me. This thought occurred to me too. I thought about texting him and telling him to back the fuck off or I’d tell his wife. But then I decided I don’t know how volatile he is. I’m not going to risk it.”
Jake shifted his attention to me. “You didn’t even tell me you were considering that option.”
Shayla shrugged. “For like a hot minute. And it was while I was in the bath. I haven’t even spoken to you since then. Pull your claws back in.” She smiled at him to soften the snark.
He narrowed his gaze at her, but he was smirking. Something about his look told her she was going to end up in some kind of trouble for her cheekiness. She shivered at the thought. Once she let him get his hands on her tomorrow, all bets were off. She was looking forward to it in a masochistic kind of way.
Jake turned his attention to Raeann. “Raeann, have you seen any evidence that Hawke has come by your condo?”
“No. Do you think he will?”
“Not really. It’s not part of his MO. He just likes to threaten that he will. Or at the very least, I don’t think he would approach. He might be trying to stalk Shayla though. I wouldn’t put it past him to be sitting in his car watching the place.”
Raeann cringed. “I’ll keep my eye out.”
“You’re welcome to stay here if you feel unsafe,” Jake suggested.
Shayla could have hugged him. Except touching wasn’t permitted until tomorrow. He was so damn hospitable.
“Thank you. I think I’m fine. If I get nervous or see anything out of the ordinary, I’ll take you up on it.”
At that moment, Shayla’s phone vibrated on the coffee table. Shayla cringed. She’d reached the point where she hated receiving texts from anyone. She glanced at Jake.
He lifted a brow and reached for the phone. Good. She wasn’t in the mood. If he ended up seeing something from her mom or one of her friends, so be it. It wasn’t like she had secrets from him.
He tapped the screen with her code, and then she watched his face as he read the text. Her hope died when he didn’t look away for far too long. Finally, he lowered the phone, drew in a breath, and looked toward Raeann. “I’d feel much better if you stayed here tonight.”
Raeann winced.
No one asked what the text said. Shayla didn’t even want to know. She was pretty sure Katy and Raeann didn’t either. Thank God they had Jake to be the gatekeeper. It was far better for her mental stability.
Chapter 15
Katy left a few minutes later.
“Are you sure you don’t mind me staying here? I don’t want to impose,” Raeann whispered to Shayla when Jake headed to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water for Shayla.
“It’s totally fine. You’re not imposing.” It was on the tip of her tongue to add a snarky comment like, after all, it’s not like I’ll be screaming out from an amazing orgasm during the night. Instead, she said, “You can have the guest room.”
Shayla made this offer just as Jake returned, and she thoroughly enjoyed the way he subtly stiffened just long enough for Shayla to notice.
Raeann tipped her face toward Jake. “You’re sure about this?”
“Of course. I’ll sleep better without worrying about that asshole camped out in front of your condo. I doubt he’d do anything, but people like him are not reliable. Eventually, he’s going to snap. I don’t want any of you in his path when that happens.”
“Come on.” Shayla nodded toward the hallway. “I’ll lend you something to sleep in. All my stuff is in the guest room anyway.”
“Why?” Raeann asked, glancing from Jake to Shayla. “Shit. Never mind. Don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.”
Shayla waved her off. “No big deal. I just dropped it all there the first night and never moved it. I kept thinking eventually I’d go back to the condo.”
“Ah.”
Shayla led Raeann to the guest room and rummaged through her bag to find something for Raeann to sleep in. After that, she showed her where the bathroom was and pointed out the towels and toiletries.
Before Shayla could leave, Raeann grabbed her arm, tugged her fully into the bathroom, and shut the door. She nailed her with a look, eyes narrowed, and then whispered, “You’re not sleeping with him, are you?”
Shayla started to speak, but Raeann cut her off. “I’m not judging you. It’s just that I can see all your things are in the guest room.” She pointed at the sink. “The rest of your stuff is in this bathroom. Not the master bathroom. So, I’m confused.”
Shayla giggled softly, covering her mouth in case Jake happened to be walking by. “I’m totally fucking with him.”
“Pardon?”
“Okay, that was a bad choice of words. It’s a long story, but Jake got on this chivalrous rant when I came here, and we have a bet that we can keep our hands off each other for an entire week. That bet ends tomorrow. I’ve done everything I can to get him to lose the bet. You just made my last-ditch effort so easy. I owe you one.”
Raeann chuckled. “I have no idea what the hell you’re plotting, but I’m glad I could help. Do you have earplugs? Sounds like I might need them in about fifteen minutes.”
Shayla groaned and rolled her eyes. “Don’t count on it. The man has tremendous willpower, but it’s so damn fun tormenting him.”
Raeann laughed again. “Okay then. Enjoy yourself. Thanks for letting me stay here tonight.”
“No problem.” Shayla gave Raeann a hug and left her in the bathroom to pad down the hallway to the master bedroom.
Jake was coming out of the bathroom. He had on flannel pants and nothing else. His bare chest made her drool. But this was her game right now. She needed to keep her head.
He narrowed his gaze at her. “What was that all about, imp?”
She s
hrugged nonchalantly. “I didn’t want to tell my roommate that the guy I’ve been staying with for a week doesn’t want to have sex with me. That would be embarrassing.”
He smirked at her and rounded to the far side of the bed. “I’m not buying your story for a moment. Don’t even try to add on to that crappy lie. I hope you’re not a poker player.”
She gasped dramatically. “Why would I lie about something like this?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s not going to work, Shayla. You can sleep in my bed but stay on your side. If you so much as accidentally touch me with your pinky toe, I win.”
She humphed as she approached the bed. It was king-sized, so it would be entirely possible to avoid touching in the night, but she didn’t intend to make it easy. As if it were no big deal in the world, she unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them over her hips in a sensual striptease.
Kicking off the denim, she pulled her shirt over her head and then unclasped her bra and added it to the pile. In nothing but her panties, she climbed under the covers and rolled onto her side, facing away from him.
She was fighting the urge to grin wickedly.
Jake flipped off the light and then climbed into the opposite side. As soon as he was situated, he spoke. “I hope you don’t mind a little impact play with your bondage, sweetheart, because when I get my hands on you, not only am I going to tie you to my bed, but I’m also going to spank your ass for all the times you tried to get me to fall for your antics. And then I’m going to make you come so many times, you’ll beg me to let you rest.”
Shayla gasped, probably loud enough for Raeann to hear from down the hall. She had to bite into her bottom lip to keep from moaning. Dominance in the bedroom wasn’t something she’d ever personally experienced, but Jake had mentioned it several times now, so she had to believe he was going to carry through on all his threats—or promises.
And she was looking forward to it.
Now, all she had to do was somehow manage to fall asleep in Jake’s bed. She was surrounded by his scent, and she really wished she was wrapped in his arms instead of a mile away on the other side of the mattress. It felt kind of lonely in this zip code.
Standby (Open Skies Book 4) Page 9