Burning Up

by Marie Coulson

  “You are my turn on. The sex outside was just a bonus.”

  I smiled, and as he placed me on the bed, I glanced at the closed wardrobe. I was still upset about those girls, but if I was serious about Jared and really making this relationship work, I was going to have to accept his shortcomings.

  Lying next to me, he trailed his fingertips up and down my abdomen.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  His eyebrows were furrowed, and I could see worry on his face. Leaning into him, I buried my face in his broad chest and sighed heavily.

  “Nothing. I was just thinking how sweet it was of you to think of me.”

  He lifted my chin and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

  “You mean the sex?”

  I smiled and shook my head. “No, well, yes but I mean the clothes.”

  He nodded and wrapped his arms around me. Placing a kiss on my forehead, he let out a long breath.

  “I am sorry, Layla. I would never intentionally hurt you.”

  Gazing into his eyes, I nodded. “I know. You know what I want right now?”

  The corner of his mouth curved into a cheeky grin. I giggled and tapped him playfully on the arm. “No, not that. I want pancakes. I’m starving. We get room service here, right?”

  Reaching for the phone beside the bed, he dialed a number and pulled me to his chest.

  “Hello? Room service? Yes, bring Miss Jennings anything her heart desires.”

  Taking the receiver from him, I replaced it and grinned.

  “Mr. Garrett, the only thing my heart desires right now is you.”

  Chapter 15

  Unexpected Turn Of Events

  Europe was proving to be more of a difficult trip than I had anticipated. From shopping at all the stunning and expensive boutiques in Paris, to the sightseeing and elegant restaurants in Rome, I was exhausted. Jared’s promise to spend more time with me in the cities was short lived. I knew it was unavoidable, but I was still pissed at the abandonment. Our stop in Berlin had been the worst. When he wasn’t elbow deep in meetings, he was knee deep in paperwork. If it hadn’t been for Daniel joining us, I would have considered throwing in the towel or possibly hanging myself from it. I was cripplingly lonely, and with every phone call home, I was feeling more and more desperate to be back there.

  Amy and Mel were now firmly settled into their new home, and with summer approaching, I could only smile at the idea of days at the beach, evenings at the bar and girly nights in with a bottle of wine. Our current stop on our tour of Europe was Spain. Aside from the heat, I loved this place. The beautiful beaches, glistening water, and delicious food were definitely a welcome substitute for the silence of our apartment suite. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was glamorous and luxuriously comfortable, but with Jared trying desperately to negotiate a deal between the Spanish contractors and the Italian architects, he had very little time to take in any of its beauty.

  Sitting at breakfast in my white toweling robe, I sighed heavily as I brooded over my omelet. I glanced over at Jared who was pacing back and forth across the dining room in his tailored, navy blue suit. His cellphone pressed to his ear, he growled down the phone at Raul.

  “I don’t care what time it is, if I’m working, you should be, too. Raul, I expect this deal to be done by the end of the week. Millions of dollars and a great deal of my time and that of my staff have been spent on this project. Stop stalling and sign the damn contract. Holding out for more money will get you nowhere but fired. I’ll happily seek my contractors elsewhere.”

  He was stressed and I probably should have felt sympathetic, but I was too irritated at the idea of yet another day alone in paradise. Reaching for the soft cheese, I smothered a large helping all over my omelet. Hanging up, Jared slammed the phone on the table and slumped heavily into the chair opposite me. Picking up his coffee, he took a large gulp, and looking over at my plate, raised his eyebrow at me. It was no secret that when I was unhappy, I ate, and Jared was fully aware of this fact.

  “You’re doing it again,” he stated, still grasping his coffee.

  I shrugged but didn’t reply.

  He shook his head and opened the newspaper that was sitting on the table in front of him.

  “You are what you eat, Layla.”

  Picking up a Danish from the plate in the center of the table, I hurled it at him. He didn’t even flinch as it flew past his head across the room. Standing, I shoved my chair away and snarled at him.

  “You are what you eat, huh? Well, do you recall swallowing an overbearing, patronizing asshole recently?”

  Turning my back to him, I stormed out of the room to the bedroom. My fists were clenched, my palms were sweating, and I was sure I had just earned myself a whole world of trouble. Slamming the bedroom door behind me, I pulled off my robe and headed for the shower.

  The warm water cascaded down my body and the tension I was holding began to slowly unwind. I couldn’t shake the anger, frustration, and irritation, though. I’d been feeling this way for weeks. My whole demeanor was that of a pissed off child. I had wondered if my new contraceptives were to blame. While in Italy, I had been sure to renew my prescription, and the doctor, being sympathetic of my traveling, gave me several months’ supply. But that was a while ago, and I was still so tightly wound.

  The sound of the bathroom door opening caught my attention. I didn’t make a sound, but I watched the frosted glass of the screen door carefully. I could see his tall frame on the other side, but he too remained silent. We seemed to spend more time not speaking than speaking these days. Sighing deeply, I ran my hands over my face.

  “I’m not going to apologize, Jared. If that’s what you want. You don’t have the right to tell me where to go, what to do or even what I put into my body. It’s my temple, and I allow you to worship at it. I’m not in the mood for some of your inventive punishment tactics. So why don’t you do us both a favor and go to work.”

  I waited for a response, but it never came. I watched as his shadow disappeared from the room. My heart sank. He hadn’t even attempted to reconcile. Was this really what we had become? Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around me and walked out into the apartment, searching for him, but he wasn’t there. Exhaling loudly, I returned to the solace of the bedroom and began the task of choosing my outfit for the day and trying to untangle my mass of blonde locks. The heat was doing my hair no favors, and I looked as worn out as I felt. The sooner we returned home, the better.

  * * * *

  Lying in the sun on a lounger by our private pool, I flicked through my e-reader lazily. I’d read a plethora of books in the past few months and each more irritating than the last. It wasn’t that the books were bad, oh no. It was that they were full of deep, meaningful, and sweet love stories. They were all about gorgeous men who lost their hearts to shy and unassuming girls. It was making me sick when my own romance was officially on a downward spiral to hell. My cell phone was clutched in my other hand as I hoped, prayed, and waited for some sort of contact from Jared. I didn’t even care if it was an apology; I just needed to hear his voice, to feel comforted. Placing both my cell and e-reader on the ground beside me, I shifted on the lounger and closed my eyes, soaking up the warm rays. A shadow cast over me, and I quickly opened my eyes to find an enormous bouquet of white roses hovering over my face.

  Raising an eyebrow, I sat up and turned sideways as Jared rounded the lounger to sit beside me. He’d discarded his jacket and was now dressed in his white shirt, navy trousers, and a loosened tie. Handing me the bouquet, he leaned in and kissed me gently on the cheek. I scowled back at him.

  “Flowers won’t make me forgive you, Jared. You can’t throw money at our problems this time.”

  Staring over at the pool, he nodded weakly. “Then what can I do to make it up to you?”

  I dumped the bouquet into his lap and stood abruptly. “If you have to ask what you can do to make it up to me, then already half of the battle is lost. You shouldn’t keep doi
ng shit that I have to forgive you for in the first place. We go around and around in circles, and I’m fucking dizzy!”

  Throwing the flowers on the floor, he stood up and met my gaze.

  “Why are you so pissed at me? I came back early from work to apologize and say I’m sorry for how I’ve been these past few weeks.”

  I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest. “And I’m supposed to what? Say it’s okay then rip my clothes off and let you fuck me senseless by the pool?”

  A ghost of a smile spread across his lips and I found it infuriating. “Not a chance. Sex isn’t even on your menu, Garrett. I’m tired of all the fighting and fucking. It solves nothing. I thought, maybe after what happened in Paris, you and I had turned a corner or at least learned something. Clearly I was wrong.”

  I turned to storm away, but he caught my elbow and halted me. “Hey, I don’t remember you protesting back on that balcony. And I don’t recall you telling me no since then, either. Like last night, I’m fairly sure that was you begging and crying for more. Or did I have some other girl tied to the table?”

  I glared at him. “These days … who fucking knows? I mean, you’re fine with having them parading around your apartment in their underwear, so what’s the fucking difference!”

  I watched as his eyes burned with anger and I could see the fury in his expression as he pulled me closer to him. His hands were gripping my arms and his eyebrows furrowed as he snapped at me.

  “What is this really about, Layla? You’ve been walking around with that chip on your shoulder for weeks. Out with it.”

  Tearing my arm from his grasp, I growled at him. “I’m surprised you even noticed! You’re so wrapped up in work and contracts that I wonder if you even acknowledge my existence. The first few words you spoke to me today were a snarky comment at breakfast!”

  Rubbing his eyes with his finger and thumb, he sighed loudly. “I’m sorry. I had business to attend to, and for the record, I wasn’t making a comment on your eating habits. It was more about the way you keep swallowing your damn mood swings instead of just letting it out. You want honesty and actual communication? Then you have to play by those same rules, Layla. I’m tired of having to drag everything out of you with sexual teasing or by making you so pissed off that it finally boils over.”

  I shook my head and stared across the still water of the pool. “I’m tired of this. I’m tired of being alone all the time, and I’m tired of all the fighting. Maybe I should just go home.”

  Looking back at Jared, I watched as panic and worry flooded his body. His eyes widened, and reaching for me, he pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me tightly. It was as if he were a child who was about to be abandoned by his mother. His face buried in my neck, he apologized over and over again.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, baby. Please don’t leave me again. I couldn’t take it. I swear I’ll make it right.”

  I stood rigidly in shock. Jared Garrett, the big shot businessman and dominating control freak was crumbling in my arms. It was a total personality change and I was unsure how to handle it. It was as though the power in our relationship had suddenly shifted to my side of the court. It was unsettling. My heart was hurting for the hot mess of a man in my arms. His fear of me abandoning him again was frightening. Lifting his head, he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. I wanted to reassure him that everything was all right, but it wasn’t. Placing my hands on his broad and muscular chest, I could feel his heavy breaths.

  “Jared, I’m not leaving you. I’m just …”

  Gazing into my eyes, he finished my sentence for me. “Lonely,” he whispered. I nodded and he let out a long and staggered breath.

  “I have to work, Layla. This business is all I have left of my parents. My father and mother put everything they had into it, and I owe it to them to keep it thriving. I dropped everything to make it successful.”

  “I get it, Jared. But for once in your life would you just forget about being a big shot property developer and try being twenty-three?”

  His eyebrows furrowed and he gave me a confused look.

  “What do you mean?”

  I rolled my eyes, and pulling away from him, I turned and walked inside the villa. Sitting down on the couch, I groaned in frustration. Were we seriously having this conversation? Surely I didn’t need to spell it out for him?

  He stood in the doorway, and I had to try not to stare at him. Even when I was pissed and seething, Jared was incredibly sexy, and as the sun shone on him, I found it totally disarming. Looking away, I sighed heavily. “You’re so uptight and serious all the time. You need to lighten up.”

  He chuckled and it immediately drew my attention back to him. Walking into the room, he pulled off his tie and began unbuttoning his shirt. Don’t stare, Layla. Don’t lose your resolve now!

  “So, I’m boring? Am I getting this right?”

  “Well, I didn’t want to put a label on it, but most of the time, yes.”

  Throwing his shirt at me, he grinned playfully. “I see. Well, I’ll have to rectify this immediately.”

  I watched as a familiar look spread across his face. The wild and hungry hunter in him was stalking me from across the room. Getting to my feet, I slowly walked toward him, determined not to be intimidated by his prowling grin. I was almost home free and a foot away from the door when he lunged at me. Scooping me up, he threw me over his shoulder and carried me outside. I protested and demanded he put me down, but honestly, I was only semi-serious and he knew it. Swatting my behind, he laughed.

  “You called me boring, and you’re absolutely right. I think I do get a little too hot and heavy sometimes. So what else to do, but cool off.”

  Gasping, I caught sight of the pool and quickly held my breath as Jared jumped in and pulled us both down into the cool water. Pushing myself to the surface, I coughed and spluttered as I looked around for him. It was like a scene from a shark movie as I found myself suddenly flying through the air. Lifting me by the feet, Jared had vaulted me from the water and hurled me across the pool. Resurfacing, I stared at him as he chuckled and swam toward me. I backed myself up against the side of the pool and raised an eyebrow at him. He was still wearing his pants, and I was sure the perfectly tailored pair was now totally ruined. Reaching me, he pressed his body against mine and smiled with triumph.

  “So, how was that for fun and spontaneous?”

  Pressing my lips together, I shrugged. “I’ll give you that one.”

  Fist bumping the air, he kissed me deeply before pushing away and swimming backward across the pool.

  “This doesn’t mean I forgive you,” I yelled after him.

  Stopping, he smiled at me. “I know. But I’m hoping it buys me another chance. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

  I gripped the side of the pool and lifted myself out. I wrapped myself in a towel and walked back over to the lounger. Jared swam lazily to the side and rested his arms on the edge of the pool.

  “Is that a yes?”

  Laying in the sun, I glanced over at him and shrugged.

  “I guess we’ll see.”

  Opening his mouth to no doubt give me one of his signature cocky responses, Jared was silenced by a frantic looking Daniel rushing through the villa doors. Quickly getting out of the pool, Jared scanned him from head to toe as I swiveled around and watched them both. Daniel was panting and clutching his cell phone tightly.

  “What? What is it?” Jared demanded.

  Holding himself up against the door frame, Daniel handed Jared his phone.

  “Lucy. She’s in labor.”

  Wide-eyed, Jared looked at me with panic. Calm and collected, I stood, grabbed the phone from his hand and walked into the villa. Dialing Lorraine, I rolled my eyes as the two men paced back and forth across the living room.

  “Hi? Lorraine?”

  “Layla?”

  “Yeah, it’s me. We just got a message that Lucy’s in labor. Is she okay? What’s happening?”

&
nbsp; “Everything is just fine. It’s only just started and this could take hours. The pain has her climbing the walls, but between contractions, she’s just fine. Is Jared completely losing it?”

  I glanced over and smiled to myself as Jared raked his fingers through his golden hair.

  “A little.”

  Lorraine chuckled on the other end of the phone. “And Daniel? Suitably concerned also?”

  She knew them well. “Of course. Tell Lucy that we’ll be on the next flight home and give her our love. Keep us updated as much as you can.”

  “Of course. No rush. Try and calm him down, too, before he arrives and starts throwing his orders around.”

  I rolled my eyes as Jared pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket that was hanging over the back of the dining chair. He was calling the hospital to ensure Lucy had a private suite, and then promptly called the airport to arrange our flight.

  “Too late, Lorraine. Sorry.”

  She sighed. “It figures. Okay. I guess we’ll see you all soon. Take care, sweetheart.”

  I smiled at the term of endearment. “We will.”

  Hanging up, I tossed the phone to Daniel, who along with Jared, stared at me expectantly.

  “Well!?” They yelled in unison.

  “She’s fine. Her labor only just started. It could be several hours before anything really happens.”

  Jared let out a long breath. His pants were soaked and dripping water all over the marble floor. I clearly needed to take charge of the situation.

  “Daniel, you bring the car around and meet us out front in ten minutes? We’ll pack and meet you down there.”

  He nodded and shot Jared a worried look. Why do man panic so much? Women had been having babies for centuries after all.

  I took Jared’s hands in mine and kissed his cheek. His eyes were full of anxiety, but staring into mine, I could see I had his attention.

  “Jared, go and get changed. Try not to worry so much.”

  He shook his head. “She’s my sister. She’s the only family I have, and I will always worry about her.”