by Soraya Lane
Jack let his chin rest on top of her head. “Kind of ironic that it burned to the ground, then.”
“Yep, you got it.”
Faith had had a rough deal, no one could deny it, but she was clearly made of tough stuff. “So what’s your plan?”
“You know what? I don’t care about the house, but I do care about having enough money, being financially stable so that I can give Tommy the life he deserves.”
Jake dropped a kiss into her hair before making her turn around. “I think you’re doing a great job with Tom. He’s a good kid.”
She smiled, but he could see the sadness in her gaze. “Yeah, but I’ve had to work like a crazy person for years to get to where we are now. I want to spend time with him. Enjoy the amazing boy I’m so blessed to have.”
“Then stay.”
She stepped back, still in his arms but putting some distance between them. “Stay?”
Jake laughed, let go of her and ran a hand through his hair. He looked at Faith, then past her, then made himself look into her eyes. He was never impulsive and he could tell she wasn’t either, but he was damned if he was going to spend another five years feeling pissed off with the world when he could be happy.
“You’re doing that hand through the hair thing. You’re nervous.”
“What?”
Faith grinned. “You did it the very first night I met you. When you were asking me to stay.”
“And I’m asking you again.” He couldn’t believe he was saying it, that the words were even coming out of his mouth. But if he didn’t ask her now, when would he get the chance? If she left tomorrow, he might spend the rest of his life wondering if he should have tried to make her stay.
“I like you, Faith.” Jake wished he knew how to ask her, how to tell her how he felt, but it didn’t come easy to him. All he knew was that he wanted her here.
“You like me?” she asked, tongue darting out to moisten her lips as she stepped back into his space. Faith stood on tiptoe and pressed a wet kiss to his jawline. Then another.
Jake groaned. “Yeah, I like you. Isn’t it obvious?”
She kissed him again, before grabbing hold of his collar and dragging him down, closer to her so she could press an equally wet kiss to his lips this time.
“Tell me again,” she whispered.
“No.”
She nipped at his bottom lip. Jake was only a man and he could only take so much. He grabbed her bottom, bent down slightly so he could swing her up in the air, enough for her legs to lock around his waist. Faith was pressed tight to him, and Jake had no intention of taking his hands off her butt.
“I don’t like you, Faith,” he said, staring into her eyes before he kissed her. Jake didn’t hold back this time, kissed her like he’d been wanting to kiss her all day. Lips crushing, tongues dancing, hands exploring. This is what he wanted to come home to every day. This was what he wanted right now.
He pulled back, lips hovering over hers but far enough apart that he could still whisper. “I think I really like you.”
Her eyes were wide, disbelieving. “You really like me now?”
Jake chuckled. “Is it that hard to believe?”
“Yeah,” she whispered, stroking his face then, letting her hand curl around the back of his neck. “Considering we hardly know each other? Yeah, it is.”
He stared into her eyes, hating that she hadn’t been loved in her life before, that she’d fought so hard and had no one by her side to fight with her. “I like your eyes,” he said, smiling back at her as she tilted her face up to his. “I like your mouth,” he murmured, placing a kiss to her lips. “And your shoulders.” He dropped a kiss to her warm skin, before chuckling to himself. “And if you want to know all the other body parts I like, then maybe we need to head back upstairs.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, we’re not exactly alone right now.”
Jake groaned. “We could be quiet.”
Faith just laughed and dragged him by the hand. “Come on, lover boy, before things get too hot and heavy.”
“Lover boy?” He held tight to her hand and forced her to stop, swinging her out then in so she landed with a thump against his chest.
Faith held on to him, arms looping around his waist.
“So what do you say?” he asked, voice low as he spoke into her ear. “Want to take a crazy chance and stay here?”
She looked up, like she knew what he was thinking, had read his mind. “It scares the hell out of me, Jake. The way I feel about you.”
“Believe me, I know the feeling,” he admitted. Telling Faith how he felt was hands down the hardest thing he’d done in a long time. “Just promise me that you won’t up and leave. That’s all I need to know. I don’t care that we technically haven’t even had a first date. I’ve wasted away too long on my own, and whatever it is we have going on? It feels right and that’s all I care about.”
She kept pressed to his chest as she spoke. “So you want me to tell you that I really like you too?”
Jake’s body went stiff. He took a deep breath, held her tighter.
“Do you?”
Faith sighed. “I didn’t want to admit it, Jake, but yeah.” She laughed. “So much for spending one night together and one night only, huh?”
Jake laughed, and he didn’t force her to look up or step away from her, just cradled her in his arms. There was nothing else he needed to know. So long as she wanted to be here with him, it was all he needed. Now he just had to work out a way to protect her and make sure she never wanted to leave Fairview ever again.
To hell with being sensible and trying to protect himself from being hurt. He wanted her here and that was all he gave a damn about. Which meant he had some business to tend to in the morning, whether she wanted him to or not.
CHAPTER EIGHT
JAKE had a bad feeling about what he was doing. A really bad feeling. It had seemed like a great idea the night before, but now? Not so much. But the only way he was ever going to convince Faith to stay permanently in Fairview was to confront this dickhead of an ex of hers. And that meant getting him to confess to starting the fire, which wasn’t exactly going to be easy.
He stepped out of his truck and onto the pavement, eyes trained on the house ahead of him. There were toys scattered, and the place need fixing up some, but he ignored everything and focused on the door.
It was obvious the guy had a family, children of his own, which gave him good enough motive. It was also clear that he needed to tidy up his yard.
Jake stepped over a bike and knocked at the front door. He heard movement inside, and then he was greeted by a pretty but tired looking blonde.
“I was hoping to find Phillip at home,” Jake said, smiling. He was feeling like shit just looking at the woman, given what he was about to say to her husband. But it had to be done.
“You’re a friend of his?” she asked, still not fully opening the door.
Jake grinned. “We haven’t seen each other in a long time, but yeah, we go way back.”
She nodded and turned around, calling out. “Phil! Someone here to see you.”
Jake took a step back and leaned on the porch railing, not wanting to invade her space. A thud of footfalls made him look up, to see the man himself approach the door. Jake hadn’t exactly thought through how he’d get him on his own, but his wife disappeared without Jake needing to find an excuse.
“Do I know you?”
Jake gave him a slow smile, fighting his anger, refusing to be anything other than calm. “You and me? We need to talk.” Jake knew him on sight, but Phil wouldn’t have a clue who he was – Phil had been younger than him back in school.
The other man looked hesitant, but he shut the door behind him and slowly crossed the porch to stand opposite from Jake.
“You remember a girl called Faith?” Jake asked, never breaking his gaze.
He shrugged, but Jake didn’t miss the flash in his eyes, the way they darted to the side, nor the way he tapped his finge
rs against his leg.
“Doesn’t ring a bell.”
Jake chuckled, making fists with his hands and then releasing them. “You make such a habit of getting teenage girls pregnant that you can’t even remember their names?”
He didn’t have an issue with getting a girl pregnant. It could have happened to him enough times when he was young and stupid. But what he did have a problem with was how the guy had treated Faith.
“Look, I don’t know who the hell you think you are, coming here and…”
“Stop talking,” Jake commanded, walking closer to him, swallowing the red bite of anger that was threatening to make him snap. “You got her pregnant, your family made sure she got the hell out of dodge, and when she finally came back, you fire bombed her house so she wouldn’t get a chance to tell anyone the truth.”
Now the other guy was starting to sweat, but Jake didn’t back down. He was pleased he had a height advantage, so he wasn’t secretly shitting himself that the guy could knock him out if it came to that.
“I don’t give a fuck right now about what you did back then, but I do give a damn about her. So listen up.”
Phillip walked backward and knocked into an old chair.
“You look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t do it. Tell me you didn’t try to burn your own son alive just to make sure Faith didn’t show up and ruin your happy little life. Maybe you didn’t mean to do anything other than scare her, but if there hadn’t been any smoke detectors in the house? You’d be facing a murder charge, my friend.”
Silence was his only response.
“Just what I thought.” Jake shook his head, disgusted. “So listen up. You stay the hell away from her, or I tell your pretty wife exactly what you did to your pregnant girlfriend, and what you almost did to your son. I don’t want to hear your name or see your face ever again, and I sure as hell don’t want you to run to daddy for help. I already know he’s covering for you, and if you don’t piss off? I’ll make sure you don’t ever have the chance to hurt anyone again. Am I making myself clear?”
Jake wasn’t an aggressive person. Hell, he didn’t even raise his voice to his horses. But Faith? Well, Faith was making him turn into the kind of man she needed him to be, and he wasn’t going to let this shithead do anything to hurt her.
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
Jake laughed in response. Now he was going to try talking back? He closed the distance between them, until he was so close he was guessing the guy could feel his breath on his face.
“Who am I?” He stared him down. “I’m the guy who’d smash your fucking face in and burn your goddamned house down to protect her.”
He hadn’t been able to protect Rachel, but he sure as hell was going to protect Faith. Because he wasn’t going to lose a woman he loved ever again.
Jake winked and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “We have an understanding?”
He received a nod in response. It was all he needed. Because this guy might have been cowardly enough to torch a house in the dark, but he was scared as shit right now.
Jake walked a few steps backwards before turning and heading to his car. He even whistled a tune.
He’d just been a prize asshole, but he’d done what needed to be done. And protecting his girl felt better than good. It felt right.
CHAPTER NINE
“LET’S go camping.”
Faith looked at him like he had rocks in his head. She stopped what she was doing and put her hands on her hips.
“What’s put you in such a good mood?”
She was teasing, he knew it, but he pretended like he was offended. “Aren’t I always in a good mood?” Jake raised an eyebrow and grabbed her hand, tugging her closer.
Faith sighed and tilted her head back.
“It’ll be fun,” he said, bending to drop a slow kiss to the hollow just below her jaw.
“When?”
“Tonight,” he said.
“And what exactly are we going to do on this camp-out?”
Jake walked past her and headed for the fridge, pulling out a carton of milk. After a second’s hesitation, he reached for a glass instead of drinking it direct from the source. He knew she was watching him, but he was biding time to figure out how exactly he was going to sell the idea to her.
“I’m thinking we ride horseback, find a nice spot, light a campfire, you know, cowboy style.”
She laughed. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Of course I’m serious.” He gave her a wink. “Go tell the kid.”
Faith gave him a look that said she knew something was up, but she called out to Tom without questioning him again. It gave him a kick, teasing her, laughing with her. He might have resisted how she made him feel when she’d first arrived, but he’d tired pretty fast of being that guy.
If Faith was prepared to hang around, to give him a chance, then he’d be damned if he was going to let his fears stop him from enjoying the best thing that had happened to him in a long time.
Faith couldn’t take her eyes off of Jake. The way the man moved, the way he looked at her… she almost turned to liquid just when his gaze was on her. And when he touched her… Faith forced herself to look away. If Tom hadn’t been with them, maybe, but he was so she needed to forget all about doing certain things with Jake. Right now, anyway.
After years of being alone, of not letting anyone close – let alone a man – here she was thinking about a man and his bed. A man she already trusted so much, even though it made no sense at all given how long they’d known one another.
“You ready to ride?”
Faith looked back up when she heard Jake speak. He was walking along with Tom, only her son was having to move fast to keep up with Jake’s long stride.
“Will you be leading her?” Tom asked.
Faith picked up her own pace to make sure she could hear the entire conversation. Hearing Tom chat with Jake like it was the most natural thing in the world made her smile – the kid had grown up without ever having a male role model, yet he’d taken to Jake like a fish to water.
“I’ll saddle up my horse, ride right beside you, but you’re brave enough to not have the lead attached, right?”
Tom nodded and broke into a run, bouncing along like he’d never been so excited in his life.
“Yeah, I’m brave.”
She watched as Jake slung an arm around her son’s shoulder, slowing him down.
“I’ll put your mom up on one of the quiet geldings. What do you reckon?”
Tom laughed, shaking his head. “My mom? On a horse? I don’t think that sounds like a good idea.”
Faith burst out laughing herself – she couldn’t help it. “I’ll have you know that I’ll be just fine on a horse.”
Jake stopped and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, we’re a horsewoman now, are we?”
She wasn’t exactly an expert, but she wasn’t going to fall off. “I rode a few times as a kid, thank you very much.”
As Tom ran ahead to the corrals, Jake slowed his walk so she could catch up. Faith slung her arm around his waist, looking up as he looked down at her.
“He likes you. A lot,” she told him, sighing.
Jake dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m not going to hurt him.”
She hoped not. After protecting him for so long, not letting anyone close, here she was letting Jake close in a way she’d sworn she’d never do. “I know. It’s just…”
“Hard to open up. I get it.”
Jake stopped walking again and wrapped her in his arms, legs spread wide so his feet were outside of hers, hips pushed forward. He dropped his head, waited for her to raise her mouth, before brushing his lips over hers and stealing a kiss. Faith opened her mouth and let his lips explore hers, before he pulled away.
“We need to keep this PG, mommy,” he whispered in her ear.
Faith groaned and punched his arm. “What have you done with the real me and where are you keeping her?”
J
ake’s response was to slap her on the bottom and push her forward.
“Tonight,” he teased, winking. “You’ll have to wait until tonight.”
The night air was cool against Faith’s bare arms. She smiled when Tom ran around to sit between her legs, staring into the campfire like it was a magical beast. Jake sat beside her, close enough that their thighs were touching and it sent a shiver through her body.
“I managed to find this,” he said, holding a long stick out to Tom with a marshmallow skewered on the end.
“Awesome!”
Faith laughed at Tom’s response. “When you said a real campfire, I didn’t know that meant marshmallows.”
“Just so happens I have chocolate and graham crackers, too,” he said, winking as he flashed her a wicked smile, “so we’ll be making s’mores.”
“What are s’mores?”
She was glad Tom had asked—she needed the distraction because the heat in Jake’s gaze had made her turn to marshmallow.
“S’mores,” he said, slinging an arm around Faith’s shoulders, “are when you have a hot marshmallow smashed between two graham crackers and a square of chocolate to make a gooey, delicious dessert.”
Faith couldn’t help laughing again at the rapturous look on Tom’s face. She didn’t remember the last time her son had been so excited.
“After s’mores it’s bedtime,” she announced, knowing they’d all be up until sunrise if she wasn’t the sensible one. And she wanted some alone time with Jake, too.
Their tents were erected, one on each side of the campfire, but she had a feeling that Jake was going to tempt her to sneak to his in the middle of the night.
“Tell me, do you know some good camp fire songs?” Jake asked Tom.
Her son shook his head, setting his marshmallow on fire at the same time by dipping it into the flames.
Jake leaned forward and took the stick, blowing to stop the little flames from licking the sweet treat before passing it back to Tom.
