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She eyes my glass of water. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“I am, but meat is not what I want to eat.” I give her a suggestive look and she flushes.
“How about mac and cheese? I’ll cook,” she says quickly, and I laugh.
“Okay, Bella. If that’s all you are offering.” She narrows her eyes at me and I raise my brow at her in challenge.
She suddenly perks up. “What about lasagna? I know this bad ass recipe. You’d love it. I promise.”
We head to the grocery store from the restaurant and Bella has me pushing the cart while she picks out the ingredients. “We should get ice cream too for dessert.” She gives me a bright smile as she drops a tub of ice cream in the cart. That is definitely for her.
I pick up two more tubs. “Just in case,” I say and she quickly turns around, but not before I catch the blush on her face. She continues to shop for the ingredients and I continue to drop little hints of invitation into the cart. I even pick up some tampons and some ladies not far from us giggle.
We return to my place and she gets to work in the kitchen while I am contented to sit at the counter and watch her bustle around the place like it’s hers.
Once she places the lasagna into the oven, she stretches. “I could really go for a bath and some ice-cream right now.”
“Why don’t you freshen up and I’ll handle the ice cream.” She gives me a smile of gratitude before heading in the direction of my room.
I take the tub out of the freezer and grab a bowl, whenI suddenly freeze. The soft sound of my doorclicking shut, alerting me to an intruder. I am not expecting anybodyand only a few people whom I can count on one hand know the code to my house.Slowly reaching for a knife, I creep towards the living room door as I listen for footsteps. This person is being careful to walk silently.
Carefully turning at the entrance to my living room, I lift my hand above my head, ready to attack when the knife clatters down at the sight of the person in front of me. Is that, Stephanie?
She eyes my weapon before waving. “Hello, Jake. Long time, no see.”
CHAPTER17
BELLA
As I step out of the bathroom, I hear voices and give the bedroom door a curious look. Jake never said anything about anyone coming over.
I quickly dress and walk out of the bedroom. I follow the sound to the living room.
“It’s been quite a while. You look good,” I hear a woman’s voice and pick up speed. She does not sound like Jessica or any other female I might know. I walk into quite a peculiar scene,a woman dressed in a plain white pantsuit and shockingly red lipstick is standing some distance away from Jake and he on his part looks ready to kill.
Her eyes dart to me immediately. I walk in and narrow. “Hello.” She smiles at me and I respond with a raised brow. She turns to Jake. “Last I heard, you were single. This must be new.”
“You should leave,” Jake growls and I look up at the ferocity in his voice.What the hell is going on?
The woman surprisingly holds her own against Jake’s glare, matching it with one of her own. “I didn’t come to see you. I came because of Marilyn. Her health is getting worse.”
I look between Jake and the woman. The way Jake stiffens at the mention of that name makes me uncomfortable. Who is this woman that can elicit such powerful reactions from Jake?
“You promised you would take care of her like she is your own. Yet you are too busy to come and see her,” she tells him with as much venom as Jake’s words earlier.
“You could have dropped a message,” Jake says.
“I wanted to see you,” she replies casually. “But it seems you are quite the busy man.” She eyes me from head to toe and I suddenly feel self-conscious in Jake’s clothes.
Jake sighs and bends down to pick up a knife off the floor. “I’ll see you at my office tomorrow. In the meantime, get out of my house, Stephanie.”
My eyes widen slightly at the mention of her name. I’veheardthat name in the same sentence asJake’sfloating around at the resort. I look at her. She is the infamous Stephanie.
Stephanie scoffs. “She must be important for you to kick me out.” She picks up her bag and turns to the door. “I’ll see you at your office, sir, so we can discuss your sick daughter.” I hear the sarcasm in her voice and see Jake flinch at her words. I can feel myself getting jealous. I have never been able to affect Jake as much as this woman did in a few minutes with just her words.
Jake returns to the kitchen quietly and I follow him. He drops the knife on the counter with a sigh. I almost want to drop it because of how torn he looks. But I need answers. “Care to explain what just happened?” I raise my brow at him.
“No.” His words hit me like a ton of bricks. He is shutting me out. His expression is guarded and his body tense.
