“Listen, something just came up. I’ll call you back.”
“Which means, I may not hear from you for another few weeks, right?"
“Something like that,” Jake teased in a serious tone. His gaze still burned into the image of Jody in distress. Suddenly she got up and picked up the phone and hesitated as she was about to dial. She hung up quickly and looked at her beautiful bare legs. Jake’s crotch jumped. Why was he now imagining those legs wrapped around his waist? He took another swig of his power drink. He really did a massive workout today. Mostly to relieve stress and burn off his anger at his father and his dad’s lawyer who tried to gyp him out of his share in the company.
He observed her disappearing probably to her room then reappearing dressed in a casual summer dress.
Ooh, she looked hot! She grabbed her keys that hung by her front door and left.
But without her purse? Was she going to meet someone in the building?
A knock on his door disturbed his thoughts.
He walked back into the apartment. And when he looked out the peephole, he was stunned.
It was Jody!
She looked nervous and bit down on her lip her arms folded across her chest. He pulled the door open and put his arm up on his coat rack by the door.
“Don’t tell me, you’ve got mail for me, too?”
“Um. No,” she said biting down on her lower lip. “Sorry to barge in on you like this…but…I…actually, I’ve got a favour to ask of you. Can I come in?”
“Sure.” He opened the door wider.
“I…I need you. Right now.”
Jake froze.
3
Great going, Jody! You really scared him off now. He thinks you’re propositioning him or something. Idiot! Explain yourself. Explain why you just happened to show up at his apartment seconds after he came to give you your mail. Tell him you’ve got some news for him, too! He’s going to be a new man…literally…in a few minutes. If he agrees to what you have to say.
“Um…I don’t need you. I mean…I need…” Jody fumbled again as anxiety spurted through her body. She could feel her heart thump in her throat.
Why did she always get tongue-tied and say stupid things when he was around her?
She was usually well spoken and confident on a day to day basis but when a gorgeous, sexy god like Jake appears. Poof! Her coherency disappears. “Whoa. Just a minute. Slow down there. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Water’s fine, thanks!”
Jake showed her to the living area and proceeded to the kitchen area in the open concept unit. He watched her carefully while pouring her drink then came back to her side with a glass of cool spring water. She took the glass with shaking hands and squeezed it as if she were holding on for dear life.
“You okay?” He raised a brow.
“Well, not really.”
“Who is he? Cause I’ll rip him-”
“Oh, no, it’s not another guy! I’m not even seeing anyone.” Okay that came out kind of…desperate.
Was she seeing things? Or was that a grin that curled the corner of his delicious looking full lips.
“I mean, I…” Jody finally sucked in a deep breath and told her story. She explained everything to Jake and when she was done she took a swig of the water and gulped down a huge amount. She thought the lump that climbed in her throat would push it back up.
Jody noticed Jake’s eyes grew dark. Dangerously dark. What was he thinking? Was it a mistake to even bring this up? Hi, I’m your neighbour, can you change your name for me and pretend to be my hubby for the next twenty-four -hours so that I can deceive my elderly grandparents into thinking I got married when in fact I was too ashamed to tell them my real hubby-to-be dumped me at the altar? Yeah, that was some official let’s-get-to-know-each-other icebreaker, wasn’t it?
Jake’s face grew hot, he was angry as hell. “This guy did that to you?”
“Yes,” she whispered, her face turning red.
Jake figured the guy was a creep but didn’t even in his wildest imagination think that he could be that much of a lowlife. Luring a sweet girl, like Jody, into a marriage based on fraud? Then dumping her because he found out he couldn’t use her like he wanted to. That jerk! He could tear that guy apart for ripping her heart out like that. Jake had his principles. He wasn’t perfect, but he sure wasn’t reckless with a woman’s heart, either. He was a straight up take-it-or-leave-it kind of guy. Sure he had a lot of women in his time but they all knew up front what the deal would be with him—no commitment, just a good, mutually fun time. He had his thoughts about men who use women. Users were losers in his book—end of story. Jake rubbed his temple not sure of what to make of this. The shocking information struck him with full force. Once his anger sizzled down, he stood up and chuckled as he walked toward the balcony door with a grin on his face. All this time, he wanted to get to know Jody better and well…she shows up on his doorstep wanting to play married. Holy cow! Was that something else or what?
He could see from the corner of his eyes, that Jody was practically trembling.
He drew in a deep breath and shook his head. “Well, I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never been asked to change my name and be somebody else for a day or to play the part of a groom. But…”
He noticed she drew in a deep breath but did not let anything out. Was she holding her breath?
“Okay, now this is just for twenty-four hours?”
“Just for twenty-four hours,” she confirmed as she let out a huge air of relief.
“Okay, first things, first, we have to get things straight in…fifteen minutes now!” He glanced at his watch. “They’ll be here any second, correct?”
“Correct!” It both thrilled her and terrified her that he agreed to this not knowing what to expect over the next twenty-four hours.
Oh, my God! He’s agreeing to this?
“Now…about the obvious.”
“The obvious?”
He inched closer to her, slowly and seductively. She could feel the sexual magnetism between them. It was…almost unbearable. She really craved him but she knew it was off limits. Besides this was just a pretence, right? Trouble was, the moisture in her panties were saying otherwise. She felt a tingling sensation in her belly. The scent of his cologne sent her senses ablaze as a quiver surged through her veins. Of course, she hadn’t really thought it through what they should do or how they should act when her grandparents arrive. Everything sort of happened so fast.
“I….um…I should be going,” she said almost too throaty for her liking—she said the words yet she stood frozen to the spot inches from his muscular chest. Oh, why did he have to wear his gym gear now. He looked undeniably sexy. She realized he was probably going to shower before her grandparents arrived.
“Wait a minute. We’re not finished here yet,” he murmured as he brushed her cheek.
Shivers danced down her spin as her skin tingled when he touched her.
Oh, God! This was not going to be easy. Pretending to be married.
“We’re not?” she whispered.
“We haven’t discussed an important item. What are we going to do about…sleeping arrangements.” His silky, deep voice caused a pleasant shiver to surge through her veins.
“S-s-sleeping arrangements?” she stuttered, almost breathless.
She hadn’t thought that far ahead.
4
Later that evening, Jody's grandparents were sitting in her living room. Jake had taken them to a restaurant. That was so nice of him. Jody could not believe he was going the extra mile for her. Yet, she knew very little about him, except that he gets really important looking mail from property companies and banks and such. As they all sat down in her living room watching her flat screen TV that played an old black and white movie from the 1950s—her grandparent’s favourite, she noticed Jake’s eyes penetrating her, glancing her direction every so often. An undeniable magnetism was building between them. She really wished he was her husband
. Her grandparents loved him. She felt so guilty that it was a charade and prayed they’d forgive her later. He was so charming and down-to-earth with them. He really had a good way with elders. In fact, with most people she saw him interact with.
“So…where are the wedding photos, darling? Your grandpa and I can’t wait to see them.”
Shit!
“Actually,” Jake chimed in. “People hardly take pictures at the registrar office. They usually wait till the big celebration.”
Jody gave Jake a thankful and appreciative look. She bit down on her lower lip. She really should come clean with them but they look so happy for her. And she really does seem to have an attraction to Jake, so it’s not all fake, she tried to justify her actions in her own mind to ease her guilt—wasn’t that what everybody did? Her stomach knotted up when they told her how much it meant to them that she was not going to be lonely after all. That she’d found someone to love her as she deserved to be loved. They told her and Jake that they needed to hear good news from within the family circle since their son and his wife (Jody’s parents) died so tragically. She really wished Jake were a part of the family, now.
God, she wished she could pretend forever to be his wife. Scrap that! She wished she was his wife. During the course of the day and the evening, she’d really gotten a better feel for this man that she’d been seeing over a year as neighbours. He was hot and charming. A caring and thoughtful guy who stood for something. Some guys would have tried to play her but he was a gentleman and told her he’d sleep on the floor for the night that it would be good for his back. He even went as far as to bring some of his stuff over and place them about the house, so that it appeared that he lived there.
Grandpa wandered over to the kitchen table and noticed Jake’s wallet lying faced up and opened. “Oh, dear, this ID of yours says Jake Anderson. Why do you have Jake Anderson’s ID, son?"
Jody looked anxiously at Jake and she froze.
Busted.
5
“Cause Jake’s my real name, Grandpa!” When Jake uttered those words, Jody felt her world crumbling down and her charade exposed. But then Jake continued. “A lot of people use pet names now, don’t they?”
Grandpa smiled. “Oh, yes, of course. Well, I’m going to call you Jake from now on. I like to use real names, if it’s okay with you. Besides, it sounds so much nicer than Gregory!”
Jody expelled a huge sigh of relief. Well, she certainly agreed with her grandfather on that point. Inside she cringed every time they called him Gregory. It was a reminder of that awful pain she felt after what the real Gregory did to her.
6
“Thank you,” Jody whispered.
“For what?” Jake teased after they drove her grandparents back to Buffalo, New York the following day. It was a fabulous ride and the conversations were stimulating. He was so intrigued by her grandparents that he asked them about their life growing up in America. But it was the shocking news about what happened to Jody as a baby that stung him. He guessed they assumed that he knew she was a locally famous Christmas baby when she was left on the doorstep of the church when her then adoptive parents found her.
This girl’s been abandoned twice in her life. She was sweet, humble and compassionate and deserved so much better in life. The thought occurred to Jake that maybe he could be the one to give her the “so much better in life.”
Later in the evening they both sat on Jake’s enormous balcony overlooking the lake. The sun was setting in the distant making the sky red and warm. Romantic.
“You haven’t told me about your own family. You pretty much know everything about mine, and, well, my adoptive family. I have no idea who my real parents were.”
“I’m sure it must have been real rough for them, especially your real mom to make that decision.”
“To dump me on the doorstep of a church?”
“That is cold, but thank God it was a church and service was about to begin, anyway.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Oh, I was on my iPad looking up information while you were sleeping.”
“What, the floor too hard for you in the night so you decided to investigate my background while I slept?”
Jake gave a sexy grin. “Oh, that’s cold. You know it wasn’t like that. You’re too funny. Anyway, I read through a few articles and found out more about you.”
“Why?”
“Maybe because I want to know more about you.”
“Because?”
“Because I care about you, Jody.”
His deep, smooth words bought a shiver of delight down her spine. His warm words seemed to dissolve the padlock she had over her heart. Suddenly, she didn’t feel the need to have her heart under lock down from this point forward. Jody felt something deep down she’d never felt before with anyone. It was indescribable. It was empowering.
“You do? Even though I staged that elaborate lie.”
“It wasn’t what you did, it was the reason behind it that makes your heart gold. Your granddad seemed to pop quite a few of those heart pills last night. He seemed a little frail. Do you really think giving him information that could ruin his time here would be beneficial to his health?”
“No. You’re right.”
“And your grandmother, I was stunned when she told me she was suffering from depression especially having to care for your grandfather and the loss of a child. Do you really think adding that their only granddaughter was a jilted bride would have made her feel any better?”
“Well, when you put it that way, Jake.” Jody grinned as she rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head.
“Sometimes things should be said on a need to know basis. This Greg dude is nothing to them, why bring him into the picture now? He’s gone! You’ve moved on, haven’t you?”
“Well, yeah, sort of. What exactly are you getting at?”
“You don’t think about him, do you?”
“Ew. Of course not. Grandpa always said that being wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.”
“Your grandfather is wise—just as the ancient philosopher Confucius.”
“Thanks.”
Jake grinned and his dimpled smile warmed her heart. There was a magnetic pull between them that was undeniable. She didn’t want the night to end. She’d never believed in love at first sight…but that was before she first met Jake.
“You should only give airtime in your mind to those that matter to you. Not those who can’t be bothered.”
She could not disagree with him. They both went back into his condo unit and stood in the kitchen area as he placed the glasses in the sink. Jody said she was going to leave but she just didn’t want to move. She didn’t want the night to end.
“So, you’ve been watching me?” she said throaty.
“What makes you think that?”
“Because you seemed to know so much about me.”
“Only because I care about who my neighbours are.”
“Really?” she cocked a brow, disbelieving him. “So you know about old man Peterson who lives two doors down?”
“Possibly.” He grinned. “Okay, maybe I was checking you out. But I wasn’t sure if you were still with that Greg guy.”
“He who must not be named. Please, I’d rather forget him. I guess…I am attracted to you, Jake. I really do want to be with you.”
“You do?” he murmured leaning closer to her leaning her towards the granite counter top.
“Yes, I do!”
Jake’s glance slid down her silhouette admiring her form. He leaned in closer as he held her waist and whispered in her ear, his breath hot against her ears. Jody thought she would faint. “I think I’m in love with you.”
“You are?” she said breathlessly gazing lovingly into his dark, sexy eyes.
“No. I know I am from the first time you moved into the unit next door, Jody.”
Jody felt her skin tingle under his warm touch as he caressed her neck with his warm lips movi
ng closer up to hers. No one’s ever taken the time with her like this. She’d read about it in romance novels but she’d never experienced it before now. Yes, it was true, she’d read somewhere that a girl has to love a bad guy at least once or twice in her life to appreciate a good one. She really appreciated Jake. His touch, his warmth. The way he caressed her body and moaned into her skin as he took his sweet time cherishing every inch of her body. The way he showed her respect and treated her like…a lady.
The Jilted Bride Page 2
