Chapter 36

The hotel restaurant is bustling despite the early hour. Daniel was quick to invite a leggy blonde beauty to join us for breakfast. He is currently feeding the poor bimbo strawberries, but he manages to drop most of them into her exposed cleavage, retrieving them with his fingers. It’s cringe-worthy. Jake watches him with a serious frown creasing his brow, and he eye rolls every time Daniel swoops in for another berry. We both know he’s using the girl as a buffer, so Jake won’t bring up Leila again, the sweet blonde bundle Daniel is hopelessly in love with. Jake has pretty much gotten nowhere with him on that front.

The bimbo giggles hopelessly, pretending to be embarrassed, but the look on her face shows she isn’t shy about it at all. Jake looks down and starts flicking through his phone with one hand, answering a message from his little brother Arrick, coffee held in the other, while I eat my pancakes beside him. We’ve been here around half an hour, and the conversation has been strained. Jake stuck on wanting to talk, and Daniel doing his absolute best to make it impossible.

I’m tired today, so I’m happy to sit in silence and eat while Jake, beside me, is absorbed in exchanging messages with his brother, and Daniel is acting like a complete sleaze in a five-star hotel’s dining room.

I catch the girl throwing a flirty look Jake’s way for the fiftieth time as Daniel’s mouth heads back to her cleavage, my inner rage washing over me. Despite being Daniel’s date and allowing him to eat food from her boobs, it’s obvious that she has the hots for Jake and hopes he might be interested.

My Jake! My man!

I glare at her coolly, wondering if stabbing a fake breast with a fork would cause an explosion of silicon. I can hardly conceal my disdain as I stare at her across the table, yet she seems oblivious or doesn’t care. Jake’s movement catches my eye as he puts his cup down, scratches his chin absent-mindedly, and stretches out his jaw in a typically male way. His eyes are still glued to his phone, unaware of his little macho mannerisms’ devastating effect on the female population. I catch her staring openly at him, her lips parting, her eyes growing heavy with desire. The anger inside me finally snaps, and I throw down my fork and stand up fast.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I say, smiling tightly, my voice laced with venom. Jake looks questioningly at me and sees the direction of my glare; looking across he catches the she-devil’s lusty focus on him. She has the nerve to bite her lip and wink while Daniel’s face is fully buried in her bust.

Ugghh.

Jake turns back to me quickly with a raised eyebrow, and I smile as if to say ‘yup’ before I turn to leave. He catches me by the wrist, yanks me down, and plants a jaw-dropping kiss on me that’s too steamy for a morning breakfast table. It makes my knees go weak, and I almost end up in his lap, my face flushing with heat as I grab his upper arms to steady myself. Finally released, I’m left panting, and as I attempt to walk off, he smacks my ass firmly and loudly, pulling a shocked giggle from me. Jake throws me a devilish smile and wink, claiming his territory and sending the other girl a clear message.

He’s not interested, sister!

I glance back and see he’s smirking to himself as he returns to looking at his phone, and the busty girl is more than a little annoyed. She seems utterly disgusted. My inner Emma swells with satisfaction; he has no idea how much what he just did made me love him even more. Only Jake could understand what I needed, even if it was ridiculous.

It’s why he’s perfect for me, so understanding of all my crazy fucked-up-ness.

On my return, I find Jake arguing with Daniel over some sport, something to do with the Yankees, no doubt. The girl is staring at the plate in front of her, oozing boredom now Daniel has lost interest in her “assets,” and Jake’s giving her zero attention. I slide down beside him, instantly smiling as his arm comes around my shoulders, pulling me over to him. As he continues talking to Daniel, he shifts in his seat so we are nestled together. I take a moment to look the bimbo up and down and catch her doing the same to me. She’s wondering what I have that she doesn’t. She’s wondering how someone like me has managed to pull Jake Carrero into an actual relationship. I smirk at her with malice and turn my face onto his shoulder to snuggle in and feel a huge surge of satisfaction at her expression of sheer envy, which she isn’t even trying to conceal.

“Emma could knock one out better than him.” Jake’s voice breaks into my inner dialogue, and I look up at him in confusion. He’s still talking to Daniel about baseball. “Guy hits worse than a girl.” Jake motions for the waitress to refill the coffee mugs and sits back as she leans over.

“You’re clueless. Just stick with jumping out of perfectly good airplanes and leave the baseball to real men,” Daniel taunts as he grabs his mug and starts downing the refill. I move to the side as the waitress leans in to fill mine with a gentle smile.

“You wouldn’t know how to be a real man, even if Emma wrote you a checklist,” Jake retorts, leaning over and flicking Daniel on the forehead, as Daniel’s delayed batting of his hand misses it entirely.

“Leave me out of this,” I say and shove Jake’s elbow playfully, catching his animated expression. He’s entering childish Carrero mode, and Daniel has no chance against that.

“Emma is way more man than you, Jake,” quips Daniel, “Maybe get some pointers for yourself. I bet she talks sports better than you do too.” He slides his mug back onto the table, barely glancing toward the bimbo. She’s making motions to get up, but no one acknowledges her.

“I honestly don’t know anything about sports, but trust me, he’s all man.” I smile adoringly at Jake. “You, on the other hand…” I throw him a questioning look and smirk. Jake laughs heartily.

“Meaning?” Daniel retorts in defensive mode.

“Real men don’t sleep with girls they have feelings for and then leave them hanging,” Jake interjects on my behalf with almost exactly what I was about to say.

“Pot, kettle, black!” Daniel frowns at Jake, his stubbornness veiling his face.

“Okay, I admit, I fucked up when it came to Emma. But look where we are now. Man up, Daniel. Leila isn’t always going to be available; some guy will swoop in while you’re busy chasing your own ass.” Jake leans back in his chair with one arm draped across my back, stroking my shoulder, the other arm lying casually on the table.

Daniel sits up and tenses. “Look, can we drop this?” he says, rolling his eyes toward the bimbo like she matters, and both Jake and I smile in unison. Neither of us believes she cares; she’s absorbed in her phone with a face that says she’s oblivious to anything we’re talking about—totally uninterested.

“I’ll drop it when I know you’ve at least called her and groveled. She deserves more, and you know it as well as I do. You know her story,” Jake says, fed up, but Daniel seems evasive.

“I will…when I figure out what to say to her,” Daniel mumbles. Then everyone is alerted to the bimbo’s leaving with the scrape of her chair and dramatic hair toss aimed at Daniel’s face. Daniel sees it as an excuse to evade more interrogation and offers to walk her out. She doesn’t acknowledge us as he guides her out, just a moody glare, and she’s off. I have to admit; I feel a little guilty that we were just the most awful breakfast companions, but then she spent most of the time eye-raping my boyfriend.

“Do you think he’ll call her?” I ask when they’re gone; the look on Jake’s face says it all, and I bristle in anger.

“It is what it is,” he says tightly, still looking across the restaurant. “Daniel’s messed up in the head when it comes to women; thank his mother for that. Leila is caught up with a guy who’s too afraid to feel anything for her but too in love with her to stay away.” He puts down his mug without taking a drink and picks up his phone instead; his little habit of fidgeting with things when he’s being evasive or when something is bothering him is making itself known.

“What exactly did his mother do to him?” I slide my arm through his, now that he’s got both hands on his phone, and rest my head against his shoulder, looking up at him with wide-eyed, inquisitive adoration.

“Let’s just say Daniel caught her in many compromising positions early on in life with men who weren’t his father. She had time for affairs but never any time for her only kid or her actual husband. The boy has serious mommy issues that I don’t even think he understands, and he completely idolizes his father.”

“So that’s why he surrounds himself with endless porn stars and one-night stands?” I blink in surprise at this little insight into a guy I thought was just a jerk and a sex addict. Maybe he has as many issues as me.

“Daniel doesn’t trust women; he doesn’t have much respect for them either. He looks at them all the same way he looks at his mother. The guy needs therapy, but try telling him that.” Jake throws me a look that means the conversation is over as we see Daniel swaggering back toward us, his hands jammed in his pockets. Watching him walk over with my new knowledge helps me see him differently. The face I had always dismissed as smarmy and arrogant now looks a little lost and vulnerable, the confident swagger more like a veil to hide an insecure person, something I know about all too well.

“We done here?” Daniel looks us over and doesn’t attempt to sit.

“We’ll meet you back at the apartment just after lunch,” Jake says, “I want to take Emma shopping for some things we need.” He glances at me blankly as though checking if I’ve any objections, and I smile up at him.

I’ve never been shopping with Jake; I used to either deal with it for him or had no part in it. He did it on his own time, and, despite most men avoiding any form of shopping, Jake seems to enjoy it.

“We?” Daniel smirks, and I dismiss the urge to make a face at him, still a jackass under his sad look.

“She lives with me, Daniel. There are things we need. I know that’s beyond any of your mental capabilities to comprehend. Like, you know, what a relationship is?” Jake smirks and throws down the napkin he was using on his hands. He stands quickly and pulls my chair out for me, offering a hand to help me up.

“I thought you were just shacked up temporarily for some hot sex and tension release; I didn’t predict you’d join the long line of shackled men in the world.” He grins, but Jake shakes his head at him.

“Green isn’t your color, Princess. I know you’re hot for me, Danny Boy, but don’t belittle yourself this way.” Standing beside Hunter, Jake pats his butt and gets a slap back in the chest.

“Whatever, asshole.” Daniel grins, and we turn to go, heading out through the hotel foyer into the bright morning light.

“We leave for the airport at two; don’t be late, as I won’t wait for you,” Jake continues.

Daniel shrugs then turns and takes off with a grin toward our car, with Jefferson patiently waiting. “He can drop me off first, then you pansies can enjoy your shopping without a third wheel,” he throws back, but Jake shrugs in return.

“Take him, Jefferson. We can walk; I need the air.”

We watch Daniel slide into the car, then turn away toward the busy streets, Jake’s hand already entwined with mine. He stops me from walking forward with a small tug, and I turn to face him.

“Can’t go anywhere with you looking like that without me doing this first,” Jake leans down, kissing me softly, his hand coming to the back of my neck before deepening the intensity. Pretty soon, he has me almost panting as his tongue smoothly caresses mine, his lips brush delicately, and his whole mouth makes me melt against him. It’s a sensual kiss meant for the pleasure of the kiss, yet he has me burning up with longing. Finally, he lets me go, and I lean back on my heels, unaware I was on tiptoe.

“Bit sexy for the pavement, isn’t it?” I giggle as he smooths the corner of my mouth with his thumb, fixing my lipstick smudges.

“Just staking a claim on my beautiful girl. Too many men are already checking you out,” he grins, twirling me under his arm as though we’re dancing, before pulling me along the sidewalk toward the hustle and bustle of the busy New York streets.