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She gave him a flirty smile and walked across the room with slow hip-swaying steps. Each move she made seduced him. And made the barriers he'd thought he'd built around his heart crumble.
She stopped a good six inches from him. Her gaze skimmed over his body and he couldn't help it, he stood up straighter and flexed his muscles.
"Very impressive," she said.
"I know."
She laughed and he realized it had been too long since he'd seen Larissa smiling. He promised himself that from now on she'd have lots of reasons to smile.
He reached out and dragged her close. He wanted to clutch her to his chest but forced himself to just hold her loosely instead, carefully so not to reveal the intensity of the emotions swamping him. But deep inside he knew he'd never be complete without Larissa by his side. She made him a better man and he knew that if she ever left he'd be incomplete. How was he going to keep her by his side without letting her know?
* * *
Larissa left Jake and Peter at the hospital. She felt more certain than ever that she and Jake were going to make it. That they were going to be one of those couples that succeeded despite the circumstances under which they'd started their marriage. She returned to Jake's town house on autopilot and when she entered the house she went straight to his bedroom and crawled into his bed.
Surrounded by his scent, she fell into a deep sleep. The doorbell woke her four hours later. She stumbled from the bed and shrugged into Jake's robe.
She hoped it wasn't Jasmine Carmody again. Though she'd made a kind of peace with her past, that didn't mean she wanted to discuss it with that reporter.
A quick peek through the peephole showed that it was a man she didn't recognize. She opened the door.
"Can I help you?"
"Are you Larissa Nielsen?"
"I used to be. I'm Larissa Danforth, now." God that sounded right to her ears. She'd feared marrying into a moneyed family but she realized her fears were based on her father's attitude and her mother's marriage. Jake was so different than Reilly Peyton.
He handed her an envelope and walked away. She closed the door and reentered Jake's town house. That was strange, she thought. She went into the kitchen and put a cup of water in the microwave. She used her fingernail to open the envelope and pulled out the papers.
She skimmed them and lost feeling in her legs. Clutching the papers, she sank to the floor. Jake was suing her for full custody of Peter. He'd lied about the paternity test! He'd had it done so that he could take her baby away from her.
She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them tight, realizing that her worst fears had been realized. She'd trusted him. And he'd betrayed her. The entire time he'd been playing a game calculated to hurt her in the worst way possible.
She staggered to her feet and went into the guest bedroom Jake had given her when they'd moved in. She took a shower and dressed with care. She didn't know what to do next but knew that she had to confront Jake. If he thought she was going to give up her son because he needed revenge on her, he had another think coming.
But she knew she'd never drag Peter through any kind of custody battle. She never wanted her son to feel as if his birth was something that brought regret to his mother and father.
When she was dressed, she got in her car and sat in the driveway while her hands stopped shaking. She leaned down on the steering wheel and tried to figure out how things could go from being close to perfect to a nightmare.
Finally she had her trembling under control and a slow anger began to build inside her. By the time she got to the hospital, she was ready to tear Jake Danforth apart. How dare he manipulate her that way? Didn't family mean anything to him? Didn't he realize how legal battles tore at a child's security?
She entered the hospital and rehearsed her words in the elevator on the way up. Then she thought about Jake's parents. Miranda had invited Larissa to call her Mom. Had she known that her son was planning to take Peter away? Had they all been in on the scheme to keep her from her son?
The elevator doors opened on Peter's floor and suddenly she was afraid to face the future. She knew that she wasn't going to be her usual levelheaded self. She knew that she was an inch away from tears and outright wailing.
She got off the elevator and walked slowly past the nurses station. It was early in the morning and the halls were filled with doctors making their rounds. She paused outside the door to Peter's room. Tucking a strand of loose hair back into her ponytail, she cautioned herself not to get emotional.
She pushed open the door and stepped inside. The room was dark except for a stream of sunlight coming through the gap in the curtains. Jake lay on the bed next to Peter. He cradled their son against his chest.
The scene looked so right. Too right. Maybe she should do the adult thing and back away. Let Jake have Peter. Jake could give him so many things that Larissa couldn't. He had a large family, plenty of money and most importantly, he loved Peter.
