Burned

by Hope, Amity

  I hunched down in my seat and shoved my sunglasses back onto my face. Intuition—or perhaps just good old-fashioned common sense—told me that nothing good would come from a confrontation with this chick. She paused at the bottom of the stairs with a disgusted look on her face. I watched impatiently as she rummaged around in her purse. She plucked a package of wet wipes out and scrubbed her hands as she cast a quick, disgruntled look at the weathered railing. I continued to wait while she dug around some more. She pulled out a compact and a tube of lipstick. After applying it she tugged her fingers through her hair. From this distance, I couldn’t tell if it had been messy enough to require some taming.

  My curiosity nipped at me. Why would she be applying lipstick after leaving Jake’s? Why…unless it had worn off while she was there. I frowned at the thought. My frown deepened as she straightened her blouse one final time, tossed her hair over her shoulder and sashayed away.

  My hands strummed against the steering wheel as I waited for her to slide into the shiny red car I had somehow missed as I pulled up to the apartment. In my defense, I had been checking for house numbers. Not looking for an ex-turned-stalker.

  I continued to watch as Darby pulled away from the curb. It was a small blessing that when she pulled out into the street, she headed away from me. My brain told my body it was time to get out of the car.

  For just a few moments my body didn’t listen. I stared off into the distance long after her car had disappeared. Perhaps finding Darby at Jake’s wasn’t all that surprising. Finding her emerging so…disheveled? That was another matter.

  I tugged my sunglasses off and stashed them in the console. I flipped the rearview mirror my way, hoping I didn’t look as perplexed and upset as I felt. When I determined that my own makeup and hair were up to my standards, I slid from my car.

  There had to be a perfectly logical reason that Darby was here.

  I was going to let Jake explain it to me.

  I made my way to the stairs and took each step cautiously. The last thing I needed was to take a tumble because I wasn’t paying attention. I reached the top and knocked on the door. The garage itself was dark green. The paint peeling and worn. The white door I had just knocked on looked as though it had been primed but no one had ever bothered to paint it.

  “Hey there!” Jake said brightly when he tugged the door open.

  I smiled as I quickly assessed him for…I wasn’t sure what. Signs of messing around with his ex? I inwardly cringed because that’s exactly what I was doing. His hair wasn’t any more messed than usual. It was impossible to tell if he’d needed to adjust his casual attire that consisted of worn jeans and a comfy, plain gray tee.

  I decided I was being ridiculous. I was not going to let the sight of Darby rattle me.

  I smiled back at Jake, a greeting lodged on the tip of my tongue, when he poked his head out the door and swiftly looked around. My smile faltered.

  I cleared my throat. “Looking for someone?” It was so obvious he was looking for Darby, probably wondering if she still lingered. Maybe he even wondered if we’d had a confrontation. The few extra minutes I had spent in my car probably gave Jake the illusion that I had just arrived and had narrowly missed his ex.

  “No. Not really.” He stepped aside and motioned me into his apartment.

  I was about to press the matter when he tugged me into his chest. He lowered his mouth to mine and indulged me in a slow, leisurely kiss. I tried really hard not to wonder where else those lips had been today. In my quick perusal of him, I had noticed no trace of lipstick. With that thought at the forefront of my mind, I allowed myself to thoroughly enjoy his kiss.

  “Pretty sure I’ll never get tired of that,” he murmured against my lips. He finally pulled away and asked, “How was your day?”

  I forced a smile. “It was good. I finally registered for the classes I need to get my real estate agent’s license. I’m not sure if I’m quite ready to jump into the field yet. I might just continue to work the secretarial side of it awhile longer.”

  “But at least you’ll have it so you’re ready when you want it,” he finished for me.

  “Right.”

  As we moved into the cramped space it was impossible to not take a look around. The kitchen blended into the dining area that consisted of a miniscule table with two chairs. That blended into a sitting area. A sheet was neatly hung across the back of the living area, blocking off what I assumed to be his makeshift bedroom. A door at the back of the apartment—just visible past the makeshift doorway left by the gap between the sheet and the wall—led into what looked like a small closet, but I assumed it was just a teeny, tiny bathroom.

  The new linoleum was a dull gray. The walls had been repainted stark white. The air held a combination of paint fumes and mildew. But the place was spotless. That wasn’t to say there wasn’t clutter because there was. It was all placed in neat piles around the studio apartment.

  The furniture brightened up the place a bit. The sofa and chair were bright red. They looked cheap but new. I wouldn’t have pegged Jake for a cayenne-red type of guy, which made me wonder if maybe he’d gotten the furniture on a clearance sale.

  “So, yeah,” Jake said. “This is it. Home sweet home.”

  “It’s not so bad,” I told him. It really wasn’t. It wasn’t fancy by any means but it was completely livable.

  “It’s not bad now,” he agreed. “But it was pretty bad before.”

  “It looks like you’ve settled in.” He had told me that he’d needed to pack up pretty much everything in boxes so that the carpenters would have an easier time working around his stuff.

  “Yeah,” he admitted as he glanced around. “I’m completely unpacked.” He laughed grimly. “Not that it took long. I don’t have much anymore.”

  “So what else did you do today?” I turned to him and gave him a questioning smile.

  He raked a hand through his hair, hesitating, and the wattage of my smile faded just a bit.

  “Not much,” he said.

  I crossed my arms over my stomach. I remained silent, giving him the opportunity to elaborate.

  “Actually,” he said with a slight scowl, “you just missed Darby.”

  “Is that so?” I instantly relaxed at his confession. If he had something to hide, he wouldn’t be telling me about her visit would he?

  He took a few steps toward the kitchen. Actually, the apartment was so tiny that a few steps placed him in the kitchen. He tapped a small, black velvet box I hadn’t noticed before. My eyebrows quirked up.

  “Is that…?”

  He nodded. “She returned it. Finally. I’m going to see what I can get for it. It should help cover some of my expenses next semester.”

  I breathed a mental sigh of relief. If Darby had returned the ring maybe that meant that she’d finally realized her relationship with Jake was over. Perhaps she was off to see the new love in her life. That would explain the primping before taking off. I felt the tension in my body uncoil.

  I moved toward Jake and looped my arms around his neck. I tilted my face to his, taking just a moment to appreciate the lustful look in his eyes. We were supposed to be going out to dinner and I knew we’d get there eventually. For now I felt like taking a slight detour. His arms slid around me, pulling me close once more. His hands slipped from my waist, descended to my hips as he tugged me closer. He lowered his mouth to mine, pressing a kiss to one side of my mouth, then the other. Finally his mouth landed on mine. His fingers tightened their grip, gently digging into my hips.

  I tugged at him, slowly but insistently moving us backward, toward the bedroom. We didn’t have far to go, didn’t have to break our kiss. We tumbled backward onto Jake’s unmade bed. He lowered his mouth, skimming along my neckline. I half moaned, half sighed.

  Who needed dinner? Maybe we could stay here all night.

  The very thought was so enticing, so all-consuming. When Jake’s body pressed against mine, coherent thought seemed to evade me. This wasn’t
what I had planned for tonight. But did that matter? Ever since Kyle, I had been so cautious. I missed the old, spontaneous me.

  I wanted Jake closer. I wanted my body entangled with his, my legs entangled with his. A mass of blankets became a hindrance. I tugged at them, trying to free my ankle from them.

  “What?” Jake asked. “What’s wrong?” He backed away from me, just far enough that I could see the concern and confusion on his face.

  “I’m tangled up,” I said breathlessly.

  He tugged at the blankets.

  I fumbled with the sheet, trying to pull it back. A strap of some sort became entangled around my pinky. I tugged, pulling the object out from under the covers. The momentum caused a lacy pink bra to fly up in the air.

  I watched it arc upward and then fall back down. It landed at the foot of the bed, near Jake’s feet.

  His eyes narrowed, mine widened as I pushed him aside.

  “What…? Why…?” I sputtered. I moved away from him, nearly toppled as I removed myself from the tangle of sheets and Jake’s legs.

  “Lanna!” he shouted. I heard the bed creak under his weight as he came after me.

  I was already across the room, across the whole damn apartment, reaching for his door.

  “Lanna,” he said again.

  I reached for the doorknob as his arm clamped around my waist.

  “Please stop. That’s not what it looks like. I swear.”

  “It’s not a bra? It’s not a bra in your bed?” I demanded.

  “That’s not what I mean. I mean I don’t know how it got there!”

  “Right,” I said as I tried to pull away from him.

  “No,” he said, his tone going flat. “I know how it got there.”

  “My guess is Darby,” I said. I’d managed to pull away from him. My arms were crossed over my chest. He didn’t reach out for me again but he wasn’t giving me a lot of space, either.

  “Yeah, but I swear, it’s not what it looks like. Nothing happened between us. She asked if she could use my bathroom. I think she went in my bedroom and planted it there. That had to have been what happened,” he firmly said. “There is absolutely no other way a bra could’ve ended up in my bed.”

  I let out a sarcastic laugh. “That’s the lamest excuse I’ve heard in a while. I saw her when she left here! She straightened her shirt, reapplied her lipstick, fixed her hair!”

  “She knew you were coming over.” Jake reached for me but I ducked out of the way, giving him a warning glare.

  “She had no way of knowing that I was here!” I growled in disgust, shoved my feet into my shoes, and tugged open Jake’s door. “Was it one last farewell tumble in the sheets before sending her on her way?” I shuddered, thinking about what we had almost done in those exact same sheets only…what…? Minutes later?!

  My fury sparked anew. I trembled with it.

  “No!” He shook his head. “Do you really think that’s the kind of guy I am?”

  Did I really know what kind of guy he was? I thought I’d known Kyle and look how that had ended up. “My mother was right about me,” I said miserably. “I am a horrible judge of character!”

  “Lanna, please.” His tone was pleading. His hand encircled my wrist but I pulled it away. I slammed the door in his face before he had another chance to protest.

  I made it halfway to my car before my fury morphed into…suspicion. My pace slowed. Was it possible Jake was telling the truth? Would I be stupid for believing him? Would I be even stupider for not believing him?

  My frenzied footsteps slid to a halt. I spun around and eyed up Jake’s apartment.

  Darby couldn’t have known I was there.

  Or could have she? If she had been staking out Jake these last several weeks, was it possible that she’d seen him with me? Did she know what kind of car I drove? Or had she caught sight of me as I pulled up, spotting me before I spotted her? Or…maybe she had just taken her chances and hoped that I would spot her putting on a show for me.

  I pulled my hand through my hair, tugging at it painfully. I gave Jake’s apartment one last, heartbroken glance before shuffling toward my car. My heart pounded against my ribs, causing my blood to slosh in my ears. I felt queasy. It wasn’t just because of what had almost happened. It was also because I wasn’t sure what to believe.

  A mental glimpse of Darby as she emerged from Jake’s apartment flashed through my mind. Then the sight of the lacy bra landing near Jake’s feet. In his bed.

  When I reached my car, I placed a hand on my roof to steady myself. The world in front of me was spinning. I needed a moment to pull myself together before I decided to drive.

  Strong, insistent hands slid around my waist, turning me to face Jake.

  His expression was stricken and I assumed it matched my own.

  “Don’t go,” he pleaded. “If you do, Darby will be getting exactly what she wants. She always does.”

  I studied his face. It was impossible to miss the desperation he exuded. I nodded slowly. “Go on.”

  “You know how I feel about her. You know I think she’s a greedy bitch. I told you she’s manipulative. I think this just proves my point.”

  He had warned me about her.

  “You think she planted it there? Why?” I demanded.

  His arms fell to his sides. “Isn’t it obvious? This, this right here is why. To cause problems between us. How else would she do that? I’m sure the only reason she brought the ring back was because she knew it was the only way I’d even let her in.”

  My gaze scoured over his face, searching for any hint that he was lying to me. I was still getting to know him and I wasn’t sure that I knew him well enough to tell. Did I know him well enough to believe him? Did I know him well enough to believe that he wouldn’t have a fling behind my back with someone he claimed to find despicable?

  If he wanted to be with her, he could just be with her. The fact that she had pleaded with him at the café to return her calls made it clear that he had been avoiding her.

  I felt the tension ease away from my shoulders.

  “I believe you,” I stated simply.

  He blew out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. This is just...it’s such a classic Darby move. I should’ve known she had an ulterior motive. She’d never just give the ring back out of the goodness of her heart. She was hoping to get something out of it.”

  “She thought this would get you back?” I asked. I couldn’t help it. I was skeptical.

  He shrugged. “I wouldn’t go that far. I’m sure she’d just be happy to split you and me up. If she’s not happy, she doesn’t want anyone else to be happy either. I’m sure she thought this would send you over the edge. If it were her that this happened to, she would’ve assumed the worst and that would’ve been that.”

  “Well,” I said, “I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not her.” I gave him a sheepish smile. The romantic moment had been ruined, Darby’s mission accomplished. “How do you feel about dinner?” Maybe we could salvage the evening. Dinner would put us back in neutral territory, put us back on track.

  He gave me a relieved nod. “Dinner sounds like a good idea.”

  Chapter 18

  “Hey, Lanna! How’s it going?”

  “It’s…going okay,” I said hesitantly. I hadn’t recognized the number but I’d answered anyway. The voice sounded familiar…but I couldn’t quite place it. “Who is this?”

  “Oh! It’s me! Maggie!”

  “Maggie, hi.” Maggie as in Jake’s sister? It had to be. She was the only Maggie I knew. Or sort of knew. “How are you?”

  I slipped out of the muggy afternoon heat and into the beach house, tossing my keys on the table by the door. I was just pulling up when Maggie called, my short workday already done.

  “Good. I hope you don’t mind but I swiped your number off of Jake’s phone,” she announced.

  I smiled. “It’s fine.”

  “Awesome. Because I wanted to ask you what you’re doing for Jake’s birthday
.”

  She was met with several long moments of silence.

  “His birthday?” I finally echoed. “When is it?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Today.” She scoffed. “I knew he wouldn’t tell you!”

  “Wow, today. I wasn’t expecting that.” Already, my thought process had moved on to wondering what in the hell I was going to throw together by this afternoon. He was in class right now. I had a little bit of time but not much. “This is really short notice.”

  I bit my lip as I quickly thought things over. We had pans tonight, just like we usually did. I had a hunch he planned on letting the day pass by just like any other day.

  “It is,” she agreed.

  “I wonder if I can throw together a party that fast.”

  “Don’t you dare!” she scolded. “Jake hates parties. He’s never liked being the center of attention. Not before, and definitely not now. Darby threw him a surprise party at the country club last year and I could tell he hated it.”

  “So what does he like? I mean, what would he like to do for his birthday?”

  “I’m so glad you asked.” I could hear the smile in Maggie’s voice. “He likes you. He likes fudge. He likes his privacy.”

  “That’s not a lot to go on,” I said dryly.

  She laughed. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

  “What about you?” I asked. “Maybe I could just host a small get together. Max and Holly will be here. You can come over. Maybe bring Tanner? Anyone else you can think of that he would actually want to see?”

  She let out a growl of frustration. “I wish! That’s actually why I’m calling you. I won’t even be able to see my brother on his birthday.”

  “Why not? I’m sure he’d love to see you.”

  “Last night Dad announced he was taking us on a surprise vacation. He said that we were due for some family time. I’m not stupid,” she grumbled. “I know that it was his way of making sure no one was around for Jake. Mom didn’t even argue with him on it! When I told him I would refuse to go, he told me that he’d take away my car for a month. So here we are. Forced to have some family fun. Mom’s at the spa. Dad’s in the suite having a phone conference with a client. Tanner’s…off chasing girls. And here I am, talking to you. So. Yeah. Dad’s full of BS. This is all about Jake and making him feel left out.”