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Now he was in a race against time. One that meant he was going to lose one of them. Two people who, in the shortest period of time, had become the most important to him, and now he had to give one of them up.
No, he couldn’t think like that. Wouldn’t.
He would get them both. He had to. Jake wouldn’t give up. Not on them. Not on himself.
Time wasn’t on his side. He was being forced to choose who to chase first. But that’s all it was. Not a permanent choice, just one that determined the order in which he would get them back.
He needed to move. Needed to act. Jake glanced at his watch again.Shit.
Until he could get back to Phoenix, he needed to rely on hope. He needed the woman before him, especially if, as he suspected—or hoped on a wing and a prayer—that she knew Phoenix to help him. “Look, I know you said you don’t know him, but in case you run into him, can you give him this?” He slipped a card out of his wallet and handed it to her. “I’m not working there anymore, but I can always be reached on my mobile. Day or night. I want to speak with him. Really want to speak with him.”
When she nodded, he spun on his heel, stopping dead in his tracks. He knew the man before him. But from where? He’d seen him around before.
It took a second, but then it hit him. He’d been with Phoenix the night before last. They’d walked to the club together.
Trav.
“I’ll tell him,” the man—Trav—said. He reached out for the business card Phoenix had left with the woman and held it up. “I can’t guarantee he’ll call. He’s pretty pissed, but I’ll give him this.”
“Thank you,” Jake breathed. “You have no idea how much this means.”
*****
The airport was busy. People streamed along the walkways hauling luggage behind them. He dashed through the massive concourse, dodging between people as he ran, not slowing his pace until he reached the line for security.
He was late and there was a long queue.
He needed to get to each of the three gates and hope that he saw her. Jake prayed that she hadn’t chosen the fourth, or he’d have no chance.
Watching the clock and tapping his foot anxiously, he inched forward as security scanned each and every person and their hand luggage. He flipped his phone over and over in his palm, wishing he’d been able to contact Cassidy. She’d either blocked his number or had her phone turned off. He was doing this low tech. Relying on timing and sheer luck to point him in the right direction. Jake had never been a big believer in fate, but there was no doubting the universe had aligned to give him a taste of what he truly wanted. He couldn’t, no wouldn’t, believe that the glimpse was just to torment him. To tease him only for it to be snatched away.
On paper, Jake wasn’t the best kind of person—he despised the only family he had, he was a failure in his career, and had never really amounted to much of anything—but he had to believe that there were reasons for that too. His father’s meddling, the control he exerted over every aspect of his life had bled into Jake’s too. His father had treated him as a pawn from the moment he’d been born. Used to further his father’s agenda. He’d enjoyed watching Jake fail to achieve the impossible standards he’d set, making his life hell for doing so.
Jake’s pansexuality was just another of those things he’d failed at. He could just imagine the lecture his father would have given him had he voluntarily come out to the man. Perhaps, if he’d done that rather than getting busted right in the middle of loving on the most beautiful man he’d ever seen, Jake would have stood a chance.
He huffed out a laugh, but the bitterness it left in his mouth was telling. There was no way his father would have accepted him. That was why he’d kept it a secret—some misplaced desire to maintain the last remaining tie with the only family he had—but Jake understood now. He’d seen the way his father had spat vile hatred at him like he was an abomination rather than his own son. He’d hurt Jake, and the people who were coming to mean more to him than Jake could ever have fathomed. Now it was time for Jake to step up and reclaim his life.
He knew what he wanted and what he had to do.
Jake smiled, grim determination settling within him. He would get them back, and he would escape his father’s clutches once and for all.
Finally passing through security, Jake sprinted through the wide walkways to the gates he needed. Announcements played overhead, airline staff calling passengers to their flights. Destinations awaited. Holidays, business meetings, last-ditch attempts at having the woman he was falling in love with hear him one more time.
He skidded to a stop at the first gate and scanned the crowd of people. There, among a group of businesspeople, was a blonde head of hair swept up into a high bun. He couldn’t see the woman properly. Jake stepped closer, jockeying for a better view. She turned, and he held his breath.
It wasn’t her.
“Damn it,” he muttered under his breath, looking around again. The gate was packed, but no one else stood out. He gritted his teeth and hoped beyond any sort of reasonable measure that he hadn’t missed Cassidy on his perusal. Glancing around one last time, he ran to the next gate.
The boarding call was announced. There. It was her. Unmistakeably, the woman of his dreams.
“Cassidy!” His voice boomed over the hum of the crowd, and she froze mid-stride. She turned slowly as she swept the crowd of people, looking for him. But Jake was already moving, his legs carrying him toward her. She found him, and as her gaze locked on his, the look she shot him had his steps faltering. Heat and longing mixed with a healthy dose of anger.
“You,” she breathed as he snapped out of the spell she’d cast over him.
“Yes, me,” he murmured, reaching for her hand. “Cass, I’m sorry. There are no words to describe what he did to you. To us. I know I’m responsible for everything he did and for all the damage he caused. I don’t deserve forgiveness, but I’m going to ask for it anyway.” Cassidy started to shake her head, but Jake reached out, cupping her face and running his thumb over the smooth skin on her cheek, stilling her movement. “I want this. Us. Both of you, and I’m willing to fight for it—”
“How? How can you fight him? Your father’s a monster. With a few telephone calls, he’s managed to completely screw up both your career and mine. What chance do we have against that?”
