He didn’t like thinking that Megan might leave him again. Only to himself had he admitted that he’d been hurt by her departure years ago. Although, the conversations with his family earlier today warned him that he hadn’t been as good at hiding his feelings as he’d thought.
“Is the food okay?” she called out.
Damn, she was beautiful. He loved her freckles, her figure, her hair…her hand lifted, stroking her hair softly. Why did she do that, he wondered. Back in college, she’d impatiently pulled her hair up on top of her head, ignoring it for the most part.
He was pulled back to the present when she started to step down the wooden stairs. “Jake?” she called out softly, concern in her voice now.
“Its fine,” he jerked into motion. Hurrying back towards her, he wrapped his arm around her waist. “It’s cold out here. And you don’t have shoes on.”
She laughed and the sound went right to his groin. And his heart.
“You don’t have shoes on either,” she told him. Jake looked down, startled but he grinned. “Yeah, but my feet are bigger.”
“Yes. And that has absolutely no bearing on this conversation in any way,” she came right back.
“I’m hungry,” he pulled her back into her house.
He cooked her dinner that night, then took her back to bed, needing her soft sighs and touches. He couldn’t seem to get enough of her. Every time she shifted in her sleep, he woke up and, although he tried to restrain himself, it was pointless. As soon as he felt her soft breast or silky skin, he had to make love to her again.
Chapter 7
Jake woke the following morning to the front door closing. Lifting his head, he was startled to find that the sun was shining brightly through the windows. Megan was no longer in bed with him.
Jerking upright, he pulled his jeans on, determined to find her when she sauntered into the bedroom, wearing a pretty dress and a prettier smile.
“Where did you go?” he snapped, irritated that she’d left without him. He was also furious that his heart was still pounding as fear almost knocked him sideways. Fear that she’d left him again.
Megan dropped her purse and keys onto the chair by her bedroom doorway, then walked over to him. Standing on her tip toes, she kissed him briefly before pulling back. “I went to church,” she offered as explanation. “Are you hungry? I’m in the mood for French toast so I stopped by the bakery and grabbed some fresh-out-of-the-oven sourdough bread.”
His stomach growled, but he still watched her warily. “Sounds good.” He pushed his jeans off, needing a shower after the marathon sex from the previous night. “Church? I don’t remember you being very religious before.”
She smiled and pulled on a pair of leggings, changing out of her dress. “I wasn’t before.”
As far as explanations went, that wasn’t one. “But you attend church now?”
She laughed and he loved the sound. He also loved the twisted braid of her hair. It literally glowed in the morning sunshine. “I go every week,” she admitted, grabbing a sweatshirt. “I hope you have some warmer clothes. A cold front moved in last night.”
He watched, fascinated as she hid the pretty, light blue bra that barely covered her nipples. He’d get to that bra later. Right now, he wanted to know more about this church thing.
“What made you change your mind about church?”
She laughed, turning to head back out of the room. But she stopped, turned, looked him up and down, then happily skipped over to him and kissed him lingeringly, her eyes shining with happiness. “There are no atheists or agnostics in a foxhole,” she said mysteriously.
And then she was gone, dancing happily out of the room.
Jake blinked at the empty door for a long moment, confused. The sounds of cooking floated up to him, jerking him out of his stupor. “Foxhole?” he muttered, shaking his head. “As in…a foxhole that soldiers dig in order to keep themselves from getting killed in a battle?”
There was no answer. He walked to her tiny bathroom and turned on the water. After a quick shower, he pulled his jeans on and grabbed his shirt, but didn’t bother to button it up. He intended to pull off all of their clothes as soon as breakfast was over, so that he could explore that pretty blue bra. That was another thing that had changed about her. Megan hadn’t bothered with pretty lingerie before. Had it only been because she couldn’t afford it? And now that she earned a salary, she liked to spoil herself?
Whatever the reason, he liked it. He liked the pretty bits of lace and satin, thinking of the black, barely there thing that he’d pulled off her last night.
More mysteries at a time when he was trying to remain aloof.
Damn it, Jake didn’t want to fall for Megan again!
Chapter 8
Several weeks later, Jake walked into the computer lab and looked around. The project was going well, the testing phase coming to an end as they polished the final details. It was almost time to start on production and user interface, user testing, and discussing marketing ideas. Jake was amazed by how quickly the project had gone. Normally, something of this magnitude would take much longer. But every time someone mentioned an issue, Megan would speak up and explain how that problem was already fixed.
And because she worked so hard, the rest of the team was driven to impress her, wanted to be like her! So they worked extra hours as well, coming up with new and innovative ideas for every encountered issue.
Everyone was working diligently, their fingers flying over the keyboards, eyes glued to the code on their screens. But Megan wasn’t at the station she usually occupied. That in itself was strange because Megan was always the first into the lab each day and almost always the last to leave, although she’d been leaving a bit earlier lately, meeting Jake at her house for dinner and…well, spending the evenings and nights together wasn’t new to them. They’d done it almost every night while in college. But it felt different now.
“Where’s Megan?” Jake asked George, one of the programmers who had been working next to Megan earlier this morning.
George looked up, pushing his thick glasses higher onto his nose. “Uh…she got a phone call from someone and left. I think she’s going out to lunch with someone.”
Jake stared at the twenty-something genius developer as jealousy surged through him. Megan was going out to lunch with someone? She’d gotten a phone call and left? The woman who spent at least twelve hours a day working on a project that was close to her heart…had walked out?
“When?” Jake demanded, wanting to punch something. They’d spent just about every night together, woken up in each other’s arms in the morning. After work, she’d come over to his place or he’d been at her small house. They’d even started having breakfast together, despite his claim that this was just sex and he wasn’t going to become involved.
Damn it! Megan was out with someone having lunch! And it wasn’t him!
“She just left, sir.”
Jake spun around, ready to tear off doors, he was so furious! He’d never experienced jealousy before. But with Megan, his reactions had always been different. From the very first moment, Megan had been different. And when she’d left him all those years ago, he’d felt…furious. No other woman had ever made him feel that before. That had been bad, but jealousy ranked a very close second to those feelings. It was like a raw, burning sensation in his gut.
Stabbing the button for the elevator, he took several deep breaths. He’d find out who she was having lunch with. Punch him. Hard. Then he’d tell Megan that they couldn’t see each other any longer. He wasn’t the kind of man to share, and obviously, he couldn’t trust her not to leave him. It wasn’t…he couldn’t…All of this just…sucked!
He’d also tell her that she was in charge of the project. Jackson was right. He never should have gotten involved. It was a worthwhile effort and a brilliant idea. They would make millions on it as well as save countless lives.
For a moment, he froze as something occurred him. He still loved her. D
amn it! That realization struck him like a slap in the face just as the elevator doors opened up and he wasn’t sure what to do or how to move forward. In love with Megan?
Jake mentally stumbled. Hell, he might have even stumbled physically, he was so completely unaware of what was going on around him. In love? With…Megan?!
Still?
The doors started to close and he jerked forward, stopping them and lurching into the small interior. Pressing the button for the lobby, Jake tried to figure out what had just happened. When had he fallen in love with Megan?
And then he knew. Hell, he’d always been in love with her. From the very first moment in that damn coffee shop! It hadn’t ever been just the sex. With other women, he could keep his distance. But not with Megan. He never had been able to keep his distance and he hadn’t succeeded now.
Rubbing his forehead, he tried to come to terms with the idea. In love with Megan. For years? Yes, Jake admitted, if only to himself, that he’d been in love with Megan during his years in graduate school. And he was in love with her now. He loved her. He loved her silly ideas about walking barefoot in the grass, of sitting outside to watch the stars. He loved the way she savored every sip of a good glass of wine.
And he loved the way she snuggled up to him at night, as if she couldn’t get close enough to him.
Because that’s the way he felt about her.
Now that he knew about his feelings, what the hell was he going to do about them? Because Megan certainly wasn’t in love with him. She never had been. If she’d felt the same way, she wouldn’t have walked away from him years ago. And she wouldn’t be going out to lunch with some other man now.
The elevator doors opened and he stepped out into the lobby, trying to remember what he’d been planning. A man. That’s it. Yeah, he wanted to meet the man Megan wanted to have lunch with. He wanted to look the ass in the eyes and punch his lights out for daring to touch his Megan. He wanted to roar with fury that she wanted someone other than him, even after he’d brought her to a screaming climax just this morning and then, barely an hour later, smiled at him over the rim of her coffee cup in shared enjoyment of their quiet morning together.
Megan wasn’t in the lobby. The only person waiting on one of those long, leather sofas was an older woman that looked vaguely familiar. But he didn’t want to talk to someone from his past. He wanted Megan. He wanted to know why she would…
“By any chance, are you Jake?” the older woman asked. She’d stood up and walked over to him, smiling politely.
Jake focused on the elegant, older woman, not wanting to be rude. With his hands on his hips, he gave the woman a brief nod, silently telling her that he wasn’t going to start a long conversation. “I’m Jake Hughes,” he replied, taking her hand. “Do I know you?”
The woman shook his hand, her chocolate brown eyes smiling warmly up at him. “No. We’ve never met. But I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Jake didn’t give a damn. “I’m sorry, ma’am but…”
He started to turn away, determined to find Megan and…stop her? He wasn’t sure. But the woman’s hand on his arm stilled his retreat. “You’re the man my daughter fell in love with, aren’t you?”
Jake stopped, really looking at her now. “I’m sorry?” Was her daughter some sort of stalker?
“You saved her life,” the woman continued, her voice softened.
“I’m Amy Carmichael,” she explained, covering their clasped hands with her other one. “Several years ago, you gave my Megan something, or someone, to live for. And for that, I’m in your debt. You saved her life.”
“How…?”
The woman laughed, releasing his hand to wipe away a tear. “During her treatments, Megan was in so much pain.” She stopped, her chin quivering before she took a steadying breath and continued. “She was dying, Mr. Hughes. She was dying and the treatments weren’t working. They were only making her sicker, attacking her body.” She blinked rapidly but the tears came anyway. “The disease as well as the treatments were killing her. Slowly and painfully.”
Jake’s mind was spinning. Megan was in pain? His Megan?
“Let’s sit down,” he ordered and led the woman over to the sitting area in the lobby. When she was settled, he turned to look at her, bracing his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. “Can you start from the beginning?”
The woman smiled gently, wiping another tear from her cheek. “Megan was so in love with you,” Amy stated, shaking her head as she looked down for a moment. “That silly teddy bear! Oh my goodness, I can’t tell you how many times I sewed that silly thing back together.”
He’d won her a teddy bear at an amusement park one day, back in college. “A brown one with a red ribbon?”
Amy Carmichael laughed, nodding fiercely. “Exactly. Unfortunately, the original ribbon somehow got lost in the back and forth from home to the hospitals and specialists, or maybe during one of the treatments,” she sighed. “I wasn’t ever sure what happened to the ribbon. One time, I replaced it with a new ribbon, but Megan wouldn’t want a new one and tore it off.”
Jake swallowed, not sure about his voice, but needing answers. “And you had to sew the bear…why?”
Megan smiled tremulously, obviously wrestling with difficult memories. “Because of the pain. Because she wouldn’t take the cancer treatments without that bear.” She touched Jake’s arm. “She needed some part of you with her, Jake. That bear was twisted and ripped and hugged and…” she stopped, choked up with emotion. “There were times…she lost so much weight during those treatments.” Another swallow. More blinking. “There were times that I thought the bear was bigger than my Megan. She was in so much pain and the chemo…she couldn’t eat. The cancer was so aggressive and the treatments were even worse.”
Amy searched in her purse for tissues and Jake berated himself for not having a handkerchief for her. “Ms. Carmichael, Megan had cancer? And…?”
Megan’s mother patted her eyes with the tissue, nodding. “It was horrible. She wanted to die. She begged me to let her die. The treatments were bad enough, but the days after the treatments, while the poison was killing the cancer and tearing her up inside, all she wanted was to die. But then she’d ask for that bear. As soon as I realized who had given it to her, I asked her to tell me about you when she was at her lowest, to tell me stories about your times together. She’d tell me how handsome you were, how sweet and caring.” She laughed, shaking her head. “And about the fights you had.” She squeezed Jake’s hand, dismissing the arguments as meaningless before continuing. “You got her through it. Telling me those stories took her mind off the pain, at least for a few minutes.” Megan clenched her fingers together, then forcibly relaxed them. “She loves you so much and that love carried her through that hell.” She took a deep breath, pulling herself back together. “You brought my daughter back from the brink of death, Mr. Hughes. I’ll be forever in your debt. If there is ever anything you need, just ask.”
After that comment, Amy Carmichael stood up and took a deep breath, patting her cheeks. “Now, do I look okay? I don’t want Megan to know that I’ve been crying. She hates it when anyone else is in pain.”
Jake stood as well, his hands sliding into his pockets as he looked at the beautiful woman. Now that he knew who she was, Jake could see the resemblance in the mother and daughter. “You are beautiful, Ms. Carmichael,” he told her with deep sincerity.
Amy smiled. “Goodness, you’re charming. I can see why Megan loved you so much.” She patted his hand again. “She still loves you, Mr. Hughes. She’s going to lie to you and tell you otherwise, but she does. Megan never stopped loving you. Ever.” She closed her purse and nodded. “I don’t know how you feel about her, but thank you.”
“Mom?” Megan called, walking across the lobby from the direction of the restrooms. “I thought I was meeting you at the restaurant?”
Jake turned, watching Megan approach. She loved him? He was reeling. As she approached, he noticed all over agai
n how beautiful she was. And how thin she was. He wondered why she hadn’t told him.
“Yes, that’s what we said, dear. But I was early so I thought I’d swing by and pick you up.”
Because Megan hadn’t wanted him to know, Jake realized. She’d been tired those last few weeks before she’d left him. He remembered wondering if she was pregnant. It had never occurred to him that she might be sick. Working too hard? Studying too long? Or spending too much time with him. Yeah, all of those possibilities he’d considered. But not that she was sick. Not that she was dying.
“We’re going to lunch,” Megan announced as she turned to Jake, a defiant glint in her eyes. “I’ll see you this afternoon.” With that, she looped her arm through her mother’s and the pair set off. He watched as they turned right and knew that they’d be heading for the deli down the street. If he’d known that her mother was coming into town, he would have put her up at the corporate apartment two blocks away and made them reservations at Angelo’s, one of the best restaurants in the city. Tables there needed to be reserved months in advance, unless Angelo, the restaurant owner, owed someone favors. Or might need a favor in the future.
Jake was one of the few people that fell into both categories for Angelo. Besides, he and the famous chef were friends and played racquetball every month or so.
But right now, he didn’t have time to wonder why Megan hadn’t let him know that her mother was flying into town. St. Louis, he thought. Or maybe it was Chicago? He wasn’t sure. There’d been a move at some point, but Jake wasn’t sure about the details. He just knew that Amy and her husband didn’t live in the area. Nor did they live near Boston, where he and Megan had gone to school. She’d had to drive home twice during their time together and it had been a pretty major drive. She hadn’t let him buy a plane ticket for her either, even though he’d promised that he could afford it.
Inconveniently Tempted Page 9
