by Brook Wilder
That was something Jace had never spoken about to anyone, neither to Broken Hounds nor to total strangers. Even when women tried to get the story about his family out of him, all Jace would say was that his mother had walked out as soon as he was born and he had been raised by a single father. All of them seemed to have been the types who wanted happy family or to fix broken ones who came from broken families.
Jace didn’t see himself as broken – he didn’t know his mother, it was all he had ever known – but he saw himself as resentful. Forgotten. Unloved. It was like his dad had been capable of showing love and affection with everyone else but not with him. He couldn’t show any love towards his own son, the person who had needed it the most. That stung, badly.
It had hurt to see everyone talking about a man Jace didn’t even know. They led separate lives and Jace seemed to be outside looking in. Maddie had gotten more affection off David Howard than Jace ever did. And that had been painful.
Jace knew he had been immature to take out his frustration on Maddie, but his teenaged brain hadn’t thought beyond wanting revenge. Maddie had seemed to be the child his father wanted while he’d just cast Jace aside. It had been the wrong thing to do and Jace felt bad about it now. But there was nothing he could do now to change that.
He did, however, hope that Maddie would forgive him.
She had to be something special for Jace to have blurted all of that out. And Jace knew she was special. Maddie was the type of person you came home to every day, someone who looked after you and the first thing you saw when you woke up. It was a picture that Jace found himself wanting.
It wouldn’t take much at all to fall in love with a woman like Maddie Lyman.
Jace was jerked out of his thoughts by a cell phone ringing. It wasn’t his ringtone and his cell was lying silent on the coffee table. Then Jace saw another cell phone, buzzing away across the table.
Maddie’s. Who was calling her at this hour?
Jace picked it up, hoping it wasn’t Roberts. Then again, it would be very satisfying to answer and then hang up. But Beth’s name was flashing up in the ID. What was she doing calling so late?
Jace answered.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed, Beth?”
“What? Jace?” Beth stuttered. “What are you doing answering Maddie’s cell?”
“She left it in the lounge.”
“And where’s Maddie?”
“In her room, asleep. I’m on the couch. Why are you still up?”
“I had a date. We just got back from the club and now he’s sleeping off all the booze,” Beth grumbled. “So much for having a good time. Then I saw a text from Jeremy about Maddie, so I thought I’d see if she was still up.”
“She fell asleep a couple of hours ago.” Jace glanced towards the bedroom door. “I haven’t heard a peep from her.”
“Dare I ask why you’re in her place?”
Jace paused. Beth was Maddie’s friend and Jace remembered her as a decent person. So, he told her what had happened that evening, leaving out the part where he had told Maddie about his father. But he did mention Martin coming over at two am and acting as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.
When he finished, Beth was silent. Jace looked at the phone, wondering if they had been cut off.
“Beth? Are you still there?”
“I’m still here.” Beth let out a low whistle. “Shit. She’s had a busy night.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I’m glad you were there. I can’t begin to think what would have happen if you weren’t.” Beth let out a heavy sigh, which turned into a yawn. “And what’s going on with Martin? I knew he had a thing for Maddie, but I never realized he would break the patients’ privacy code to find out where she was. Or that he would hang around outside her condo until she returned home.”
“I don’t know what’s going on with him, I’m not a psychologist. But there’s something off about him and I don’t like it.”
Jace trusted his gut on a lot of things. It was very rarely wrong and Jace could feel his gut telling him that Martin Roberts was bad news.
“You and me both.” Beth sighed. “He’s been hankering after Maddie since he arrived. It’s like he had a boner as soon as he saw her at the desk. It’s only recently he’s actually made a move.”
“You mean asking her for a date and whatnot?”
“Exactly. Either he’s really shy or Drake freaked him out enough not to try anything.” Beth snorted. “He sees himself as a white knight.”
Jace groaned. He hated white knights. They always turned out to be tarnished with less than honorable intentions.
“Well, he’s certainly not Maddie’s white knight.”
“But you are?”
“I’m not a knight of any description.” Jace rubbed at his eyes. They wouldn’t stop burning. “I’m not even a good guy, Beth.”
“But you’re being a good guy for Maddie.”
It wasn’t a question. Jace sighed.
“I doubt Maddie sees it that way.” He was going to lay himself bare again for another woman. That was unheard of for Jace. One woman was bad enough but two? He swallowed. “I never thought about being a father, Beth. I didn’t want to make the same mistake my father made.”
“Think of it this way, Jace: do you want this baby?”
“I do.” That Jace had no doubt about. “I just…” He closed his eyes and swallowed. “I don’t want to be an emotional vacuum like Father was with me.”
“Then make sure that you’re not. Nobody’s asking you to be like your father.” Beth’s voice was firm. “But that doesn’t mean running away.”
“I’m not planning on running away, trust me on that.” Jeremy would have his hide if he attempted to leave. “I just wish Maddie would let me in a little.”
Since when had he gone all girly and started divulging his feelings? Jace never did that. Maddie had started something and Jace wasn’t sure he liked it.
“She’s got a lot to deal with right now.” Beth’s voice was soft, starting to become thick with sleep. “Let her deal with it in her own time. She’ll open up to you eventually.”
“By that time our kid will have graduated college.”
Beth chuckled. That chuckle turned into a yawn.
“Don’t be so hard. She’ll come around. Just give it time.” Then her voice hardened a moment. “Don’t forget that I’m Maddie’s mate. You hurt her, and I’ll hurt you.”
Jace grinned. He had always liked Beth’s fire.
“I promise it won’t ever come to that.”
Chapter Twelve
Maddie woke up to find the sun streaming in through the open curtains. The sun lay across the bed, inches away from her face. It was warm, and Maddie could feel it through the duvet.
She felt better than she had for a while. Maddie had no idea how long she had slept but she felt a lot better for it. Her stomach wasn’t churning, she didn’t feel like she was going to be sick and her cramps had gone.
That was something.
Rolling over, Maddie looked at the clock. Half-ten. It had been a while since she had slept in like that. She was sure the surgery would have called, wanting to know where she was. But Maddie didn’t really care right now. If Martin was going to be there, she didn’t want to go back to work.
She would simply email her resignation in later. Once she had got her bearings.
It wasn’t until Maddie had gone to the bathroom and was finishing up that she remembered Jace. He had slept on the couch, leaving Maddie to sleep alone. Maddie wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for the space or annoyed that he hadn’t taken the opportunity to seduce her. Was he still here? Or had he left?
Venturing out the bathroom, Maddie didn’t see anyone in the lounge. The bedding was piled neatly on the bed, the pillows on top. Then the aroma of cooking bacon reached her nostrils and her stomach growled. That smelled really good.
Jace was in the kitchen. He was pushing things around in a frying pan. Toast was o
n two plates beside the hob and sausages were on the grill. Moving closer, Maddie saw bacon and eggs in the frying pan. Baked beans were bubbling in a saucepan beside it, moments away from being ready.
That smelled really good. And he seemed to have timed it perfectly.
Jace suddenly turned around and Maddie jumped back with a gasp. She hadn’t been aware he could hear her. Jace gave her a grin, casting his eyes over her.
“Morning.”
“Morning.” Maddie nodded at the hob. “Since when have you been able to cook?”
“Since I learnt to fend for myself as a kid.” Jace shrugged and went back to turning the bacon over. “I was cooking Sunday roasts at the age of eight.”
“Seriously?”
“Okay, that’s an exaggeration. I was nine.”
Maddie laughed. She then wondered when last she had laughed like that. From the look Jace threw over his shoulder, he had been gunning for that. Maddie indicated the plates.
“Need any help?”
“No, thanks. I’ve got it under control.” Jace indicated the pile of cutlery on the counter. “You can lay the knives and forks out, if you like. I’ve charged your cell phone, by the way, the washing in the machine has been hung out and I brought the mail in. You’ve got a package by the front door.”
Maddie stared at him. She hadn’t expected breakfast from this man. Hell, she hadn’t expected him to look after her house.
Where had the Jace Howard she had known gone? She didn’t recognize this man at all.
“You’re quite domesticated when you want to be, aren’t you?” she teased, laying out the cutlery.
“Me? Not a chance.” Jace winked at her. “Just don’t tell Dave about it. He’ll never let me live it down.”
“Noted.”
Maddie sat at the counter and watched as Jace began to dish up their food. It smelled really good. She rubbed at her stomach.
“I hope you’ve got seconds because I think I’m going to need them.”
Jace laughed.
“Not too much or you’re going to bring it back up.” Then he glanced over at the cell phone charging on the counter as it started to ring. “Do you want to answer that?”
“Not really.” It was probably the surgery. Maddie sighed. “But I think I’d better.”
Without a word, Jace unplugged the phone and passed it over. Maddie glanced at the caller ID and groaned. The one person after Martin she didn’t want to hear from.
“It’s Drake.”
Why the hell did he keep calling her? They were over, and he knew it. It was his own doing. Maddie wanted nothing to do with him and yet he would keep calling as if he expected Maddie to come back to him, just as she had done every time he snapped his fingers in the last three years.
Not anymore. And Maddie wasn’t about to put her baby on the line with that man.
“Don’t answer him,” Jace said, turning back to the food.
“He’s going to keep calling until I do and that would ruin my day.”
“Then block his number. You should’ve done that already.”
Maddie sighed.
“When I do that he calls from other numbers and I get forced to pick up. It’s easier to know when he’s calling.”
Jace grunted as he started putting the beans onto the plates. Maddie sighed and answered, putting it on loudspeaker. If Drake tried to twist things around again then she had someone listening in.
“What do you want, Drake?”
“What’s wrong with calling my girl?” Drake drawled.
Maddie heard Jace growl and glared at him. Despite his recent kindness, there was no ‘them’. Jace shook his head and turned away.
“I am not your girl,” Maddie snapped. “I doubt I ever was during the whole time we were together. Not with the number of women you slept with.”
“Oh, come on, Maddie. You’re my number one girl. You know that.”
How many times had Maddie heard that before? She was aware of Jace glaring at her, but she ignored him.
“Stop feeding me bullshit, Drake. I’m sick of the taste. And stop calling me.”
“I just want to talk. We need to have some closure, Maddie.”
“No, we don’t. You just want another fuck if you can get it. I’m not playing that again.”
“You didn’t mind before.”
Maddie was aware of Jace putting her plate in front of her. The smell of the food was really good and very tempting. Maddie wished Drake would vanish in a puff of smoke.
“That was before I realized you were constantly playing me,” she snapped. “How many girls did you have on the side? Or was I the side piece?” She bit back a growl, wanting to throw her phone against the wall. “I’m going to say this one last time, Drake. Stop calling me or I’ll file a restraining order.”
Maddie hadn’t threatened that before because a part of her still cared about Drake. Now she had nothing but contempt for him. And now that she was pregnant and had someone else to worry about, Maddie wanted to keep herself protected.
Drake chuckled and sneered at her.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“You try me, and I will. I won’t be pushed around.” Maddie glanced at Jace, who was starting to smirk. “Get the fuck away from me, you piece of shit. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.”
“Maddie…”
Drake started to protest but Maddie hung up. As an afterthought, she found his number and blocked it. Moments later a text came through, but Maddie sent it straight to the spam folder. Then she tossed her phone onto the counter and put her face in her hands. Suddenly she was feeling very drained.
“It’s not fair!” she moaned. “Why do I always attract the bad guys or the crazy ones?”
“You’ve probably got a magnet attached to you somewhere.” Still smirking, Jace leant over and inspected her, pointing looking at her backside. “I can’t see one from here, though.”
Maddie rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
“Stop it, you.”
She slapped his arm and Jace moved away laughing. That sound made Maddie’s breasts feel heavier. Sure that he could see her nipples tightening, she crossed her arms. Maddie watched him as Jace sat at the counter, his full plate in front of him.
“I’m sorry about your father.”
Where had that come from? Maddie hadn’t meant to say that. Jace’s fork had speared some bacon and was halfway to his mouth before he stopped. Jace’s expression froze and then went blank. Then he started eating as if he hadn’t reacted.
“It’s in the past,” he said gruffly. “And I don’t want to talk about it.”
Maddie knew they needed to discuss them. What they were going to do. Whatever was between them seemed to be up in the air and Maddie didn’t like uncertainty.
Jace wasn’t the bully anymore. He was a man who had shown that he cared about her. He wasn’t someone Maddie should be associating with at all but, when it came to her, he was protective, and his papa bear side was coming out. Maddie liked seeing that side. Chances were not very many people, if any, knew about that part.
Maddie felt privileged to see it. But she didn’t want anything hanging between them. For her, this needed to be sorted now.
She pushed her food around her plate, her appetite waning.
“I know you want a relationship with me, Jace…”
“Too damn right I do.”
Maddie heard the possessive tone in his voice. She glanced up at him and found him staring at her. She swallowed.
“And I know Jeremy wants me in a relationship with you. But I won’t do something like that for just the baby. It won’t be for the sake of the child. And I don’t think I want to be in a relationship again so soon after Drake.”
It was going to be a while before Maddie wanted any type of romantic relationship. Drake was going to be hanging around and Maddie felt too screwed up for anything else. Jace’s expression softened. He laid a hand over hers.
“I
understand that. I’m not going to push you into anything you don’t want to do, okay? The only relationship I want us to focus on right now is being friends. We can take it slow and see where it goes.”
That sounded very tempting. Maddie could happily take that sliver of a chance to have something closely resembling something normal. She understood Jace a lot more and was willing to reach out to make amends, see Jace in a different light.
