Chapter Twenty-three
I had just finished washing the conditioner out of my hair and started brushing my teeth when another tune I hadn’t heard in a while started playing.
I looked at my phone like it was some sort of mind reader. FirstStacy’s Momand now this. But as the voice of Akon started to mix in with the shower’s steam I couldn’t help but give into it.
I started mumbling the words toI Just Had Sexby Lonely Island as I finished cleaning my teeth. I spit out the paste just as the chorus started and I sang along with the ridiculous lyrics to this song about having just had sex. Which I did. Which made me put my Cammy flair into it because it was fitting.
My toothbrush was my mic. I gyrated, and rolled my hips. I sang to the people of the world that had just had sex, like me, making a mental note to sing this song at karaoke one night. I closed my eyes and did what I did best, giving the performance my best. I was just finishing the final high notes when I had a feeling I was being watched. My eyes opened, toothbrush mic still dangling above my tilted head, to Jake standing against the door jamb, watching me. AGAIN.
“Do you have cameras watching me so you won’t miss any of my private performances?” I mean, seriously. He caught me every time!
“Just great timing,” he chuckled. I washed my face and put my toothbrush in its new shower holder before exiting the shower, turning off my phone before another song could snare me in its grasp.
“Great timing, my ass. You’re a secret agent, spying on innocent girls while they sing and dance. Creeper.” I was teasing.
“Especially ones that sing about having sex, and that it felt so good.” Cue embarrassment. Yep, I was totally singing like a fool, naked, about having sex. My cheeks grew warm, but I tried to pull off a kick-ass come back.
“Yeah, well, my fingers are pretty talented, so they deserved some praise.” Nailed it. I pretended to drop the mic in front of his face. He was smiling at me, obviously not at all bothered by my posturing. He was like a proud little peacock, standing there. I grabbed my towel and dried off, changing the subject so I wouldn’t dig another embarrassing hole for myself.
“I thought you were waiting by the wolves.” I walked into the room and started getting dressed while Jake watched me.
“My watch alarm went off that the cameras caught you doing a dance, so I got here as quickly as possible.” He was fighting back laughter and I wanted to die. Once I was fully clothed in a pair of cute tan shorts, my boots, and a blue T-shirt, I turned to him.
“Okay, let’s go, smart ass.” I walked out of the room and down the stairs. I knew he followed behind me but I was on a roll so I kept on walking, out of the house and towards the wolves’ area.
“So what happened this morning?” I asked him as we came to a stop.
“Bobcat got shot in the leg by a punk with an arrow. The parents of the kid brought it to us. We have a rehabilitation area, so Doc fixed it up and put it in a temporary home for now. We’ll release it in a week or so, whenever Doc says he’s good to go.” His arms circled around me from behind, and like a cat doused in water, I lost all of my fight.
“Oh, I’ll have to make it a pretty toy or something.” And the crazy thing was, I meant it. I wanted to bring a little joy into that poor kitty’s life.
Over the next hour, Jake introduced me to the wolf pack. There were seven of them. The top dog, if you will, was bonded with Jake and listened to him. But there were some that kept their distance. Most of the animals at the rescue were completely hands off. For a select few, Jake or Derek could get in the habitat with them. One of the wolves growled at me, and I might have peed a little. Well, that was a lie, but it made me jump enough that I could have!
We left the wolves, and went to go check in on the new bobcat. She was doing well. Very skittish, but she hadn’t really had any human contact, so I couldn’t blame her there. We kept walking and checking on all the animals, making sure the workers didn’t need anything from us, then went to go get my precious baby, Casey. Jake carried the wiggly kitty back to the lodge and I talked to her, telling her about how Jake and I finally got together, and I was going to see her as much as possible, even when she went into her big kitty habitat. Her big blue eyes watched me, and I swear I saw a wink, so I know she got me.
When we made it back to the lodge, Jake got everything set up for Casey, making sure nothing breakable was in her reach and covering all the furniture, because those claws of hers were starting to do some damage. I ran up the stairs to check those notifications on my phone, but got distracted watching Jake put a baby gate on the stairs. Cute.
I could see him doing that for his babies, so they wouldn’t fall down the stairs. His kids. My kids? Having kids with Jake wouldn’t be so bad. He would be a really good daddy. I smiled as I turned to go get my phone, feeling all sorts of jitters from thinking about Jake as a daddy.
“Holy hell!” I was shocked at how many notifications, calls, and emails I had missed. Were zombies attacking and I didn’t know about it?
Rayne, my sister, my mother, the salon, Mary. Everyone had tried to reach me. Even though I should have read everyone else’s stuff first, I read Rayne’s message. What if something happened to the baby?
Rayne- Babe. You need to read this.
There was a link below her text. I clicked on it to see the headline
Sorry, Ladies, Jake Wild is finally taken.
Uh, say what?I kept reading.
Notorious millionaire, and bad boy gone animal rescuer has been scooped up by a saucy redhead.
As you know, women all over the country have been waiting in the wings ever since Jake gave up his New York bad boy image and traded it to help exotic animals in Southwest Florida.
Son to Bernard and Lenora Wild, Jake lived up to his name of being exactly that, WILD.As the oldest child of four, his net worth was over fifty million and counting. But then one day, he traded that life of luxury to help animals in need—which only made the female population swoon even harder.
Jake was seen at the local Aquarium Gala with the redhead, then was spotted dancing at the club Yimka with said woman as well, before they sped off in his Shelby GT 500.
Who is this mystery woman who has apparently tamed the Wild man himself?
I sat there staring at the article with wide eyes and confusion. There was a horrible picture of us together, dancing sweetly. Someone must have taken it on the sly. Jake Wild, bad boy, millionaire.
They had to be wrong. Jake was so down to earth, although he had to be a little on the nutty side to want to be around my bag of crazy. But, seriously, besides the GT, he drove a truck that looked okay, but not millionaire worthy.
Although, he did run this place, and it kind of made sense. I think he said the care and feeding of just one tiger alone was ten thousand a year. And the rescue sat on 200 acres. I’m sure he got donations, and other state assistance, but if he was loaded, then he would be able to take care of most of it himself.
All these little dots in my head started connecting. What happened at the Gala, the car, piece by piece, things I had overlooked were making sense. I glanced through the rest of my notifications to see they were all about Jake and me. Nobody had died. Yet.
