Except for the part about Caley, of course.
The more I thought about Cam, the sicker my stomach felt. The only good thing to come out of that relationship was Caley. Cam was nothing but a cheating, lying, selfish man and didn’t deserve to be with me. He had never deserved to be with me.
Why would I waste my time on a man, on anyone who treated me with such blatant disregard?
I went upstairs and ran a bath for myself.
As I watched the water fill the tub, I weighed the pros and cons of continuing to see Jake. Images of him with more than one woman at a time filled my mind and caused a blaze of jealousy. If I committed myself to him and he did what Cam did, I didn't know how I’d react.
Yet, if I told him that I never wanted to see him again, I knew that I’d regret it for the rest of my life.
I took off my clothes and eased myself into the whirlpool bath, closed my eyes, and rested my head against the headrest. As I laid there feeling the ripples of the water droplets trickling from the faucet, I made the conscious decision to keep seeing Jake. He was showing that he had the ability to not be a womanizer, that he was good with kids, and it was the second time we had seen each other but didn’t end up having sex.
Even though I knew I had the potential of having my heart broken yet again, I would continue seeing Jake. After everything I’d been through with Cam, didn’t I deserve to be happy for just a little while?
14
Jake
It had been so long since Julianna and I had been alone, and it was hard to believe that a full two months had gone by since we first started seeing each other. I had been working remotely so we could spend almost every spare minute together, and most of the time, Caley was with us. On the one hand, I didn’t mind. In fact, I loved it because I absolutely adored her daughter.
Yet, on the other hand, the man in me desperately needed some alone time with Julianna. Just a night where the two of us could chat as adults without having to censor ourselves.
I dried myself off and slid on my favorite Gucci suit, along with matching loafers, and a white button-up underneath. After applying some of my Versace Eros cologne, I grabbed my keys and went into Richard’s mansion.
“Going out again, I see,” Richard said, working on his laptop at the kitchen counter.
“And you’re spending another night working, I see.”
He eyed me up and down as I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “Gucci, nice. So, have you decided how you’re going to propose to her yet? Have the waiter bury the ring in her food, or maybe get down on one knee as everyone watches?”
I threw the cap to my water bottle right at his face, but he caught it in his hand. “Would you stop it."
“You are so smitten with her,” he said. “Why can’t you just admit that you have feelings? You’re an adult, dude. It’s okay.”
“Why do you assume things that aren’t true?” I leaned across the counter and challenged him, even though deep down, I knew he was right.
“Because you’re pulling out all the stops, especially tonight. Your outfit screams ‘marry me,’ not ‘brief fling.’”
I smirked. “Not that it’s any of your business, but we just haven’t had a lot of alone time lately. You’re a man. You understand.”
“So… what you’re saying is that you two haven’t had sex in a while. That doesn’t mean you have to go all formal on her. Just admit that you’re in love.”
I stared at him for a few moments in silence. Yes, I was falling in love with Julianna. Richard didn’t have to know that, though. “Her sister is babysitting, which means that we can spend a lot of time between the sheets this evening. Okay? Women are like cars. You can’t just walk in and expect it to happen. They need to be warmed up and lubricated.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Richard said, scrolling on his laptop. “I wish they could be more like us. Just get it on then go about your day.”
“You haven’t met someone like Julianna,” I told him. “Trust me. Once you do, you’ll appreciate the time and effort that’s needed for sex to happen.”
“So, you’re telling me that even if you two don’t hook up tonight, you’ll still be happy?”
I gave him a long, don’t-push-me look with my eyes before heading for the door. “Whatever. Don’t stay up for me, Mr. Workaholic.”
“By the way,” he said before I left. “Do you think she’ll take your last name? Because Julianna Truman does have a nice ring to it.”
“Just for that, I’m taking one of your cars.” I grabbed the keys to his 1988 Jaguar Convertible.
“Be careful, and don’t—”
