Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series)

by Danielle Rose-West

  Jake tolerated it for several moments before he pulled back and placed her hand on his uninterested body. “Sorry, still nothing.” He laughed at her again.

  Victoria slapped him around the face, the sound bouncing off the walls like a pistol shot. “How dare you humiliate me this way!” she screamed. “You don’t get to finish with me! Men don’t finish with me! Men pant after me. You’re no different. You begged me to stay with you. Begged!”

  “That was two long years ago and a lot has changed for me since then. I wouldn’t have you now if you were the last woman on earth. Get your clothes and take your sorry ass out of my house and off my ranch this minute!” Jake’s expression turned deadly. “I don’t want to even catch a glimpse of you after tonight.”

  Victoria hissed, but she turned and gathered up the clothes she’d hidden under the bed. Dressing swiftly, she cast him a malicious glare as she turned to leave the room. “You haven’t won you know. You may think you have, but it won’t be long before you realise I’ve already taken my revenge.”

  She laughed wickedly as she swept out of the room. Jake’s heart thudded painfully as he wondered what she meant by that last remark. Worried, he dressed quickly and was heading down the stairs when the front door banged open. Kerry whirled in, her expression murderous. Dan followed behind her. He glanced at Jake with a disgusted look.

  “What the hell is wrong with you two?” Jake snarled, having had just about all he could take today.

  “Are you out of your stupid mind? What are you thinking?” Kerry shouted waving her fist at him.

  “If you’d tell me what you’re on about, I might be able to tell you.” Jake could feel the beginnings of a headache. All he wanted to do was find Laura, sort things out with her and put this whole sorry day behind him.

  “I saw Victoria leaving. So you’re back on are you?” Kerry ranted. “Are you completely stupid? How could you toss Laura over for that scheming witch?”

  “I haven’t!” Jake snapped, wondering if his sister had taken complete leave of her senses.

  “Well you could have fooled me. Pardon me for getting things wrong, but usually when you sleep with someone, you are saying you want a relationship with them. Unless you are saying you’re suddenly into one night stands.” Kerry stood with her hands on her hips, her eyes spitting darts at him.

  “Of course I’m not. She knows when I slept with her that I was making a commitment. What the hell is all this?” Jake was getting more and more confused.

  “So, you are back with her then? Of all the stupid, idiotic, foolish things you could do, this one takes the prize!” Kerry screamed in irritation at him. She turned to Dan, her face a mask of fury. “You talk some sense into him. I might just kill him!”

  “She’s right Jake. Letting go of Laura is the worst mistake you could make,” Dan told him seriously, his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels, a sure sign he wasn’t comfortable.

  “Hold it right there? Why are you saying I’ve dumped Laura?” Jake’s head was now feeling like someone was driving nails through it.

  “You slept with Victoria!” Kerry yelled, throwing a cushion from the nearest chair at him. “What did you think it would mean? Of course things are over with Laura!”

  “I haven’t slept with Victoria,” Jake denied. “Did she tell you that? She’s lying through her teeth. She hasn’t said that to Laura has she?” Jake thundered down the rest of the stairs, he’s face going deathly white. “Where is she?”

  Kerry was staring at him with a deadly expression. “Don’t you lie to me Jake. We’re family!”

  “I’m not lying.” Jake ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Did she tell you I slept with her? Was Laura there when she said it?”

  “No, Victoria didn’t say you’d slept with her.” Kerry folded her arms over her chest.

  “Then what the hell made you think I had?” Jake was beginning to lose patience.

  “Because Laura phoned me in the worst state I’ve ever heard her in and told me she’d seen you in bed with Victoria!” Kerry informed him in a hard clipped tone.

  “You what!” Jake felt his heart stop for one instant, before it started to bang in his chest like it was going to come right out of it. He couldn’t breathe. So that’s what Victoria meant. She must have known Laura had walked in on them. He felt sick at the thought of what she must have seen and how it must have looked to her. “How could this be happening to me? Where is she? I have to talk to her.”

  “Before I say anything, I want answers first,” Kerry poked him in the chest. “What went on here this evening? And you’d better tell me the truth.”

  Knowing she wouldn’t budge an inch before he filled her in, Jake sighed. “Fine, if you must know Victoria was here. I found her after I’d had to take a shower, thanks to Walter dumping me in a pile of horse manure. She’d staged a nice little seduction in my room for me. She’d even put some of Laura’s clothes on the floor so I’d think it was her. Call me stupid, but I thought I was getting into bed with Laura. As it turns out, it was Victoria. When I realised it was her, I kicked her out. Nothing happened. It didn’t get past some kissing and touching. Believe me, I feel ill at the thought of it.”

  Dan swore. Kerry’s mouth dropped open. “I knew she was scheming and dangerous, but this is beyond even what I thought she’d do!” She pulled Jake into a hug. “I’m sorry I doubted you. Laura was so sure you were back with Victoria. You have to explain things to her.”

  “I will as soon as you tell me where she is,” Jake gritted out, fed up with all the delays.

  “Hold on.” Kerry pulled her phone from her pocket. “It will be faster if I try and call her.” She rang Laura’s number, but she got straight through to the machine. “Laura, please call me. I’ve talked to Jake and it’s not what you think. Victoria staged the whole thing. Jake didn’t sleep with her. Please call me back when you get this.” She turned to Jake. “She’s not answering. I’ve left a message but there is no guarantee she’ll get it in time.”

  “In time for what?” Jake cried, grabbing her arms.

  “She’s driving to the airport. She’s determined to go back to England.” Kerry barely got it out of her mouth before Jake swore and tore into action. Grabbing his keys and his wallet, he took off in his truck.

  Dan hugged Kerry to him as they watched him go. “He’ll find her. Don’t worry. Those two belong together. You’ll see.”

  “I hope you’re right. I never imagined for one moment Victoria would try something like this. I hope Laura believes him.” Kerry bit her lip in anxiety.

  “She will. Jake will find a way to make her understand.” Dan wished he could be as sure as he sounded, but he knew all too well what sleeping with Victoria could lead to. He hoped Jake wouldn’t suffer for his mistake with the loss of the one woman he really loved.

  *****

  Victoria stormed into her cabin, fury flowing steadily through her veins. She stopped short at the sight of Walter sitting on her sofa.

  “What the hell are you doing in here?” she shrieked.

  “I’m waiting for you, what else?” he snapped back, his eyes turning stony at her attitude.

  “You are supposed to be sleeping with that little wren. What are you doing sitting in my cabin instead?” Victoria’s face contorted with her fury, making her usually beautiful countenance ugly.

  “She ran off before I could get to her,” Walter explained in disgust.

  “You idiot!” Victoria snarled. “How could you let her get away from you? You needed to sleep with her. How else are we meant to make sure she and Jake don’t get back together?”

  “Does it matter?” He’d be damned if he’d let her rip into him for this. He was already pissed as hell that he hadn’t managed to play the good guy and seduce Laura after what she’d witnessed with Jake. She ran out of the house so fast, he’d been unable to catch her quick enough. He wished now he’d had the foresight to stand and wait for her at her car, but he’d foolishly
thought she’d want comfort and a shoulder to cry on. He’d fully expected her to come back to him. But she hadn’t. Something he dearly wanted to pay her back for.

  “Of course it matters!” Victoria snarled, her fingers curling into fists at her sides. “I didn’t get Jake to finish what he started. He caught on to the fact it was me far too fast. That bastard didn’t even continue with me when I offered it to him on a plate!” That was something Victoria wouldn’t be forgiving anytime soon. Jake had dealt a severe blow to her ego by first refusing her, then laughing at her and finally showing her how little he desired her. Victoria needed to have men adore her. The fact Jake no longer did and had blatantly shown her it was the little wren he wanted and not her, ate at her like acid.

  She paced back and forth in front of Walter, fury making her movements jerky. “I needed you to come through with the back-up plan if that happened, but you couldn’t even get that right! As it stands, neither one of them slept with someone else, so it leaves things far too easy for them to reconcile.”

  “What do you suggest it is I should have done?” Walter asked sarcastically.

  “Is it really so tough for you to seduce one plain little woman? Are all your charms wearing off now?” she jeered.

  Walter shot off the sofa, grabbing Victoria by the arms. He shook her hard. “Like your charms are so wonderful. Jake tossed you aside like an old shoe. How come you couldn’t get him to follow through?”

  Victoria slapped him so hard his head whipped to the side, the red imprint of her hand clearly standing out on his cheek. She glared into his face, her eyes narrowing to slits. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me again! Do you hear? Just remember how very dangerous I can be. Just because it’s you won’t make any difference to me.”

  “Like I don’t know that. Who knows you better than me?” he sneered rubbing his cheek with his hand.

  Victoria whirled away from him. “I am going to make both of them suffer,” she hissed. “Jake will live to regret the day he treated me so harshly. We’re stepping things up a gear. I am going to ruin Jake and grind him into the dirt if it’s the last thing I do!”

  Walter watched her as she continued to rant around the cabin. He knew her well enough to know she would not be calming down anytime soon. When she did, that was when she was at her deadliest. That was when they would plan. Heaven help anyone getting in their way!

  *****

  Flo sniffed indignantly. “It was a great plan!”

  “You can’t ground a whole airplane for just one person. Think of all those other people who want to get home. My idea is better. Jake will find her and it affects nobody but her.” Lotta perched delicately on a branch overhanging the road Laura’s car would come down anytime soon.

  “But they could have the romantic airport scene. You know, where the man rushes to stop his love from leaving him, all in the nick of time. He parks his car where he’s not meant to, leaving it in a hurry as he races through the airport……..”

  “I get the picture,” Lotta interrupted, seeing Flo working herself into full story telling mode.

  “But it could be so romantic! If you’d only let me do the spell!” Flo insisted. “What’s romantic about finding your love broken down on a layby? How do you know he will even see her?”

  “He will find her, have no fear. They will have a chance to work things out and it won’t stop several hundred people from reaching home!” Lotta commented dryly.

  “You should have let me turn Victoria into a toad,” Flo sniffed suddenly. “I told you she wouldn’t play fair. If we’d only listened in the cabin we could have prevented this.”

  “We weren’t allowed to,” Lotta reminded her. “The end of the test is in sight. If Jake can show Laura and get her to accept him and his love through this last challenge, they will have made it.”

  “But it’s caused so much hurt,” Flo said quietly. “What if Laura won’t listen to him and still goes home?”

  “Hopefully we’ll get one more chance to work with her and help her to open her eyes and her heart. Then we’ll have done all we can and it will just be a matter of waiting and watching.”

  Flo sighed. “Always the waiting. I hate that part!”

  Lotta chuckled as they waited for Laura to arrive.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Laura finally turned onto the main interstate, determined to get as far away from Willow Creek as she could. She put the radio on, turning it up high as she tried to drown out her thoughts. It didn’t work. Her mind kept playing over and over again the scene she’d walked into, tormenting her. She shook her head in a ridiculous effort to drive the images from her thoughts. With haunting clarity, she kept seeing Jake and Victoria locked together in a passionate embrace. Her stomach rolled over at the horror she felt seeing the man she loved with someone else.

  Wiping her hand over her face to clear her tears, she tried to get a hold of herself. Nothing she’d ever been through could compare to the pain she was feeling now. Not even when she’d found out about Brad’s secret girlfriend had it hurt this badly. She’d been humiliated and upset, but she realised now that she’d never really loved him. What she’d experienced had been painful, but right now she honestly wondered if she could die from the wound in her heart. The blessed numbness she’d felt come over her as she left town, seemed to have worn off rapidly and the events that had happened were beginning to surge up, threatening to choke her.

  Despite all her efforts, she had made the same mistake as her mother. She’d fallen for a man who loved someone else. Who’d used her and cast her aside. She finally understood her mother’s inability to move on from what her father had done. She was unsure she would ever get over Jake’s betrayal. Fear pounded through her veins. More than anything she didn’t want to end up as bitter as her mother had become. Would she never find another man she could give her heart to? Was her destiny to repeat her mother’s life? She shivered at the thought.

  Laura had made the biggest mistake of her life coming here. She should have remained in England, in her safe boring little life. At least she’d have been saved from this nightmare. Why couldn’t Jake have loved her the way she loved him? She should have known he wouldn’t. She’d allowed herself to forget that she didn’t inspire love in men. That was for the Victoria’s of the world. The beautiful women that men never forget about. How could she have been so foolish as to hope she’d actually found true love, the kind of love she’d dreamed about her whole life.

  She sniffed, tears flowing down her face like a river. She wiped at her tears again, trying to stop the flow without success. She could get through this, she told herself. But she didn’t really believe it. Jake had filled her so completely, she was sure a hole with his shape would be forever inside her. Nobody else would be able to fill it. Despair hit her hard, making her want to curl up and hide. But she couldn’t hide from herself. All she could do was run.

  The sound of clanking from her engine drew her attention. Alarmed, she slowed as the sound grew louder. All of a sudden, the car gave a coughing noise and began to sputter. Worried, Laura drew her car into the layby. She reached it just in time for the car to shudder a couple of times before the engine died.

  Disbelief flowed through Laura. She turned the key on the car. It revved laboriously then conked out again. Trying twice more, Laura realised the car wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. She hadn’t the first clue how to fix a car engine. She was well and truly stuck. What else could possibly go wrong? She let out a slight scream, wanting to hit something.

  Taking deep breaths, she twisted in her seat to riffle through the bag she’d packed. Although she’d picked up everything she needed to catch a flight home, she’d stupidly forgotten to pack her car rental details. She had no idea what number to call to contact someone about having broken down. Thumping the wheel several times, Laura screamed long and loud, grateful nobody was around for miles to hear her. If anyone had heard her, they would have assumed she was certifiable. After everything that had h
appened, she wouldn’t be surprised if she was!

  Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, Laura ordered herself to think. Grabbing her phone, she ignored the message that someone had left her and went straight onto the internet, finally finding a number she could call. She only hoped they could find her on their system without her rental details to hand. She called the number, spending the next half an hour being put on hold and transferred. Finally, the company found her details and she was told someone would be sent to recover the vehicle. Laura declined another car being sent to her, as she was heading for the airport anyway and wouldn’t need one. She would simply get a lift to the nearest garage with the pick-up truck and call a taxi to take her the rest of the way.

  Hanging up, Laura tried to make herself comfy while she waited. Her mind drifted to Jake and she wondered if he’d even notice she was gone or if he’d be so caught up with Victoria, that she wouldn’t be much more than a passing thought. She squeezed her eyes shut against that prospect. She would like to think she’d meant something to him, she only wished it was what she’d wanted it to mean.

  Feeling exhausted from her ordeal, Laura flattened her seat and put her jacket over her for a cover. She closed her eyes and tried to still her raging emotions. She needed to get some rest. She had no idea how long it would take the recovery truck to arrive. She drifted into a fitful dose.

  *****

  Jake found her car a short way along the interstate. It was by sheer luck he realised there was a car parked in the layby. He nearly passed it when something glinted in the corner of his eye, catching his attention despite being so distracted. It had taken a few precious seconds to realise it was Laura. Relief flooded his body.

  He was surprised she’d stopped, as he’d expected her to drive non-stop to the airport. He’d been frantic to reach her before she could sort herself on the next available flight. He had no idea where she lived in England and realised he knew next to nothing of her life there. If she’d returned home, he may never have found her again. The terror of that thought had driven him on like a madman. He couldn’t lose her now that he’d found her. He was determined to do everything in his power to sort the mess Victoria had landed him in.