Chapter Twenty-four
I tossed my phone on the bed and marched down to have a few words with the bad boy millionaire in question. The baby gate stopped me briefly, but once I figured that out, I was back to my search. I found him in the living room watching Casey and Binksie play.
“We need to talk.” I walked up to him and straddled his lap so he couldn’t go anywhere. When he put his hands on my hips, I remembered why this was a bad decision. He could turn our talk into something dirtier.
“Who are you, Jake?”
“Jake,” he answered flatly.
“You know what I mean. I feel like I don’t know the man I’m in love with, and it’s freaking me out. My phone nearly exploded from all the notifications from people flipping out about me apparently being with a bad boy millionaire from New York. I mean, I feel like I’m on an episode of PUNKED or something.” I didn’t flail this time. I watched his face as he took in what I said.
“I’m sorry.” He looked me straight on, no shame or regret in his eyes.
“So it’s true. You’re some big hot shot wild man from the city. You’re a millionaire?” The last part I could have cared less about, it was just the fact that I didn’t know.
“Does it matter?”
“The money? No.” My answer was absolute and quick.
“I just want to know who you are.” He pulled me in for a kiss then leaned his forehead against mine, eyes closed.
“This is me. Who I was before, is not who I am now. Right now I am just a man who wants to be with the woman he loves and have her love him in return.”
My breathing stopped. I knew how he felt. I could feel it with every gaze, with every touch. But hearing it did something to me. Some wall I had unknowingly built just crumbled.
“You have my love,” I whispered to him. We were moving so fast, everything was a blur around us. He had me completely, every breath, and every heartbeat.
“Will you tell me about your life? Old, new, and everything in between?” I asked as I laid my head against his shoulder. I wanted to know everything about this man that I could. We chatted for a few hours, learning everything we could. Favorite colors. Mine was orange, his was red. My favorite movie wasPitch Perfect, his was300.
He grew up in New York, where his dad was a big hot shot in advertising, his mother was a doctor, and his sisters were doing their own thing. After one sister had a big sweet sixteen party with tigers present, he saw how they were treated and wanted to do something. So he traded in his naughty ways at twenty-five, learned everything he needed, and opened up the rescue a few months later. He’d been helping animals ever since. A higher purpose in life.
My story wasn’t as glorified as his. I was a cute little girl, I only had one sibling, parents divorced. Fell in love with pretty dresses and makeup at twelve. Have been best friends with Rayne forever, she’s really like my family. I went to school for cosmetology, worked my ass off until I opened my own super awesome salon. He was a bit of a player, but with his money, good looks, and attitude, who could blame him? But since he started the rescue, there hadn’t really been anyone.
He was too focused on the animals.
I wanted to cut a bitch when he said that most of the women wanted him for who he was and the money he had. Once they realized he was just a laid-back guy that made the rescue his priority, they didn’t want him anymore. Yep, I was feeling pretty stabby after that.
I hadn’t been with anyone since my ex, just because I felt like I was missing something. Turns out it was a sexy man who lived and breathed rescuing animals. Who would have believed it?
“Tomorrow’s the last day of our bet.” I felt like it was bearing down on us, and I didn’t really know what to make of it. Would I go back to my life? Would I stay here? What would become of us? I felt like I needed something from this. A path to follow, some sort of reassurance.
“That it is.” He held me close but didn’t say anything else. I wasn’t ready to drop it, so I kept talking.
“What are we going to do? I mean, we live quite a ways from each other. I have my salon, you have the rescue. When are we going to see each other?” I pulled back and looked him in his beautiful blue eyes. I wanted to make this work with him. I mean, hell, Cammy Jennings didn’t tell just anyone that she loved them!
“We will work it out. Both of us are the boss, we can be a little more flexible than some.” It wasn’t the answer I was looking for, but I wasn’t expecting him to ask me to marry him either. Feelings of doubt and the unknown hit me. I hadn’t known Jake for long, and I was undoubtedly in love with him, but where did we go from there? I had to go back to my life. I had a business, and apartment. Jake couldn’t have me around distracting him, driving off to have sex in the woods.
“Sweetheart. Look at me.” I was staring at his chest. I didn’t even realize I had looked away from his eyes. I returned my eyes to his.
“You love me?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Then don’t worry, any relationship has its kinks. We will work it out. We want it bad enough that there is no other way. I already told you. You’re it.” My heart swelled and I leaned in to kiss him. I had to believe that things would be okay. I had to.
“Okay, kitten.” I called him the nickname I gave him in the beginning, to lighten the mood.
“I’ll show you a kitten,” he growled and mauled my neck. Teasing, licking, and nibbling.
