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“What have you eaten today?”
Shifting her arm to behind her head, Lily glanced up at him. “I had some orange juice and toast a couple hours ago.”
His eyes narrowed. “Lily—”
“Mom said you wanted some water.”
Lily jerked her attention just beyond Jake’s shoulder and saw a young boy with honey-wheat hair tousled by the wind or just the lack of a comb. He came closer, extending the bottle to Jake.
“Thanks, buddy.”
The boy smiled, showcasing a couple of missing teeth. “Hi,” he told her. “I’m Tyler.”
Lily couldn’t help but smile back. The boy had no clue who she was and that was just fine with her. He was adorable, but Lily couldn’t help but wonder who he was to Jake. The boy looked nothing at all like Jake, but he didn’t resemble the lady he’d referred to as mom, either.
“Tyler is Liz’s son,” Jake informed her as if sensing where her thoughts had gone.
“Hi, Tyler. I’m Lily.” She took the water from Jake and sat up a little higher as she uncapped the bottle. “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”
He turned and ran toward the back of the house, obviously finding nothing exciting with the new arrival.
Taking a long drink, Lily welcomed the cool liquid as it slid down her throat. She needed to get out of Jake’s house. The longer she stayed, the more questions she had and she really had no business asking them since she’d left Jake. Well, she physically left him. Emotionally had they ever truly been vested? When a relationship was built on lies it was really difficult to say who left whom first.
When she twisted the lid back on, Jake took the bottle and set it on the coffee table. “Lie down. I’ll get you something to eat.”
Remaining upright, she shook her head. “I’m not staying, Jake. I just need to pay you and I wanted to let you know about the baby and my appointment. I’ll never keep secrets from you.”
His shoulders fell and he gave a curt nod. “I deserved that.”
Lily laughed. “Oh, Jake. You haven’t begun to get what you really deserve.”
“Then let me have it,” he challenged, his chin tipped up now. “Say what you want, ask whatever you want. Don’t shut me out, not when we have so much between us.”
He was serious. He truly thought talking would place a bandage over the hurts and they’d go on their merry way to make a family and happily-ever-after. If she started on her rant of how hurt and angry she was now, she feared she’d never stop.
“Whatever we had between us was a lie,” she reminded him. “No matter how much you wish you’d done things differently, you still chose not to come clean with me, with Damon. You can’t claim to care about us when you hurt us so deeply.”
Jake stared at her for a minute, his eyes penetrating straight to her heart. Smelling him, sitting this close to him, within reaching distance of his bare torso, was pure hell. She missed the man she knew, the groom. The man before her was a stranger, a millionaire, but still...he was the man she’d fallen in love with.
Jake jerked to his feet and walked out of the room, leaving Lily confused. He wasn’t going to fight? Was he done here?
Seconds later he came back in and stood beside the sofa. “I know you hate me, I know you want nothing to do with me, but I have a proposition for you.”
Lily stared up at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
He settled back down beside her, taking her hands in his. Lily tried to ignore how the simple gesture still made her heart beat faster, how she wanted to keep that familiar touch locked away forever. She wanted to tug her hands back, but she wouldn’t be childish. Whatever he wanted to say, she’d hear him out. Fighting at this point was moot. The damage was done and she’d officially steeled her heart...okay, she was in the process of doing so, which was why he needed to stop touching her.
“Where have you been staying?” he asked.
“At Stony Ridge.”
“I figured,” he muttered. “I want you to stay here.”
“I don’t want to be here at all, let alone to stay.”
“Give me one week,” he pleaded, his eyes never leaving hers. “That’s all I’m asking. One week for you to see the side of me I wasn’t able to show you. After seven days if you still want nothing to do with me, I’ll let you go. I will still want to be part of my baby’s life, but I won’t pursue you anymore. I just want you to see the man I’ve become, the man who loves you and wants to show you he’s not the selfish bastard who originally came to Stony Ridge.”
