AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jake shot out of bed, and I sat up, pulling the sheet to my chest. He started toward the bedroom door, yanking on a pair of sweats.
“Honey, we’re home!”
A woman’s voice echoed off the walls from the direction of the foyer, followed by a shushing sound and two murmuring voices.
Jake whirled around, none of the panic displayed in his frantic actions reaching his stony expression. He pointed at me. “Stay here. Keep the door closed. I’ll take care of this.”
He stalked out of his bedroom, firmly shutting the door behind him.
I didn’t know what was going on. The one thing I did know was I wasn’t going to sit in his bed naked, waiting for him to deal with the woman in his foyer with a key to his home who was close enough to him to call him honey.
As quickly as I could, I shoved my clothes on. Shame settled in as the seconds ticked by. I knew next to nothing about Jake, and the truth was, I hadn’t asked anything aside from whether he was married. For all I knew, he could have been in a serious relationship.
If he was, I wouldn’t be a party to keeping his secret, and there was no way in hell I’d follow his orders.
Jake’s low, unhappy voice was the first thing I heard when I quietly swung the door open. “...need to call first,” he gritted out.
“I did, Jacob. It isn’t my fault you didn’t answer.” The woman’s voice wasn’t as low, and there was a teasing lilt to it. “Why are you getting so hot and bothered about—ohhh, you have company, don’t you?”
I peered around the corner to find Jake standing in the foyer with a pretty, leggy blonde in leggings and a crop top, his arms crossed over his bare chest, which she poked the center of.
Jake grunted. “It’s nothing.”
“She must be something if you have her here. You’re seeing someone and didn’t—”
He swiped a hand through the air. “I said it’s nothing, Carly. Jesus. It’s just satisfying a bodily need.”
She laughed. “Oh my god, are you embarrassed right now? How young is she?”
He shoved his fingers through his hair and chuffed like a raging bull. “Opposite. She’s older and knows the score. I give her attention, she lets me in. Nothing more than getting off and getting gone.”
My heart stopped, twisted, and plummeted to my feet. Wow, that stung. Worse, he wasn’t wrong. Despite the front I’d tried to put on, I’d let him in awfully easily.
I had to get out of there, even if that meant passing them. Had my purse and shoes not been by the front door, I might have jumped out a window to avoid the awkwardness.
Then I remembered I’d done nothing wrong. Jake was the asshole ordering me around and bad-mouthing me to the gorgeous woman with a key to his house. He’d have to deal with me walking by him. I would not sit still and be quiet.
Sucking in a deep breath, I strode toward them. He noticed me immediately, turning his hardened gaze my way. The blonde twisted to see what he was looking at, and I was struck by how stunning and young she was.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll grab my shoes and purse so I can get gone.”
Jake made a choking sound, and the blonde offered a sympathetic smile while stepping aside to make way for me. I slipped between them, my eyes trained directly in front of me. With my back to them, I stuffed my feet in my shoes and grabbed my purse.
“Clara,” Jake gruffed.
I waved over my shoulder. “I can see myself out.” Of course I fumbled with the lock, slowing down my escape, which had been going oh so smoothly until now. With my insides a trembling mess, I’d actually been impressed with how cool I’d played it. Why wasn’t this lock coming undone?
In those few seconds—which felt like an eternity—it took to yank open the door, another layer of Jake’s secrecy revealed itself.
“Dad! I forgot my field hockey stick!”
Jake Hayes was a father.
And he never thought to mention it.
Chapter Thirteen
Jake
