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“I know, Jenae. I’ve thought about how to approach her. I think she just needs to know that I accept her, and I just need to understand her.” He omitted the deceit; he wanted answers to the lies.“I’m fine, calm,” he reassured her. “It will be fine,” he added, quickly hugging her, trying to ignore the disbelieving look in her eyes. “Go have fun. I’ll see you guys later at the party. You’re stopping by around nine, right?”
Jenae nodded, then turned toward Winnie, who was talking to the Uber driver at the end of Jake’s driveway.
As he walked through the door, he did as Jenae had suggested, taking a long, deep breath. He told himself again:She is special.This was something he hadn’t felt before. He did love her.He needed that to guide him as he talked to her. Quietly, he walked up behind her, putting his arms around her, nestlinghis head into the groove of her neck and shoulder before lightly peppering kisses up her neck to her ear.
“Mm…mm,” she murmured, his warm breath pulling at her senses, making her skin tingle. She turned in his arms, taking in his electric blue eyes, their fierceness wrapped in warmth, almost overwhelming to the point of confusing. “Jake, you, okay?” she asked. “Are you just tired from all the…”
Shifting his mouth, he swallowed her next words, kissing her lips firmly but gently, forming her lips to his before easing his lips off. He looked at her wide, concerned green eyes, mixing with the empathic tone in her voice.She cares. “Sweets, let’s pour something really good and sit by the fire in my suite.”
“Okay, but us in your bedroom…not sure that’s a good idea. I am meeting Lana tonight,” she answered measuredly, offering him a coy smile.
“Not looking for that.” He said flatly, opening the wine refrigerator.
They moved into the suite with their wine glasses, settling into his oversized chair in front of the fireplace. Taking a sip of wine, he looked at her, sitting with her legs squeezed together, the sweater dress inching up toward her crotch, her long, muscular legs rubbing against each other. The sight of them was distracting, making him reflect on the last time she was in this suite, how he had relished her pussy before he entered her, slowly in the beginning, but her prurient request for more had stripped him of any control, so he’d lost himself in her, his cock driving into her. How she had pretended like she was making a snow angel on his bed, giggling. That whole day, the day he knew without a doubt he loved her but couldn’t take the chance then of losing focus from the game. Since that day, no other woman could hold his interest; even when he’d tried to block Rakell out, his brain and heart always let her back in. They hadn’t ever reallybeen a couple, but there was already so much history between them.
“You really do look a little too sexy,” he finally said, the corner of his mouth twisting up, hiding his vacillating emotions. “Always driving me crazy, you know that, right?”
She craned her head toward him, a smile erupting on her face, her eyes doing that jig thing that they did when she was teasing him. “That’s my goal. Want you to remember me tonight when all those UT girls are hanging all over you at the party.”
“Is that it?” he said, sitting up straighter. “Then why haven’t you made a stake on what’s yours?” he challenged.I know why, he thought, his chin tilted toward her.
“Um, not sure it is yet.” There was still a soft smile on her face.
Taking a slow sip, he said, “It can be.”
“Hmm.” Her mouth flattened, knowing he might not feel that way once she talked to him, once she let him know why she’d really run from him last year. She knew she’d soften the information about her past, but still, he’d be able to put things together since he’d seen her in Miami with Marco. She wished there was a way not to tell him. “Plus, that’s all the media would be talking about, and I know the local stations will be there tonight. I don’t want to take any of the focus off you and your team.”
“I don’t care, Sweets.” He blinked slowly. He needed to get this out tonight; he had to do it now. The information was burning a hole in him. He looked at his watch; they had an hour and a half before they’d need to leave, but this would not be a short conversation. He wished he didn’t have to attend the party tonight and could just hold her in his arms after they worked through this.
“I know, but I’m doing the caring on your behalf.”You may not want me to have the title of Jake Skyler’s girlfriendafter tomorrow,she thought, gazing from the fire to him. His face seemed tight, strained. He definitely wasn’t getting enough sleep; weariness marked his body and face. This should have been the best time of his life, just winning the Super Bowl, yet his carefree style seemed crowded out by stress. She wondered what was going through his head.
Abruptly, he sat up straight, his posture rigid, his large frame moving to the front of the chair, his knees turning toward her. “Rakell, I need to talk to you,” he exclaimed. His tone was sharper than he had intended. With more force than necessary, he thunked his glass onto the small wooden table between them. “Tonight—now.”
She watched the wine slosh. “Jake?” she said, sitting up, her pulse throbbing in her throat. “What, what is it...?” She could see his chest rising then falling, his breath quickening, but it wasn’t the ardent arousal that she’d witnessed so many times before. Something else was driving him. His face was scrunched as if he were grappling with how to proceed.What the hell was going on? Was he about to end this—No, he’d just asked her to come out with him tonight. What the hell?
God, just get it out,keep yourself together, he told himself. “I know, I know,” he mumbled.
“What?”
He shut his eyes for what seemed like a long moment. “I know why you freaked last year. I know. I know you’re an escort.” He blew out the breath he had been holding, watching as shock contorted her expression.
Her mouth dropped open, searching for something to say, but her brain was vacant. “What? What are you talking about?” Distress pierced her tone, and her mouth hardened. She couldn’t think of anything to say; she’d had no idea this was coming.
“Damn it, Sweets, I know. I know you worked as an escort to billionaires in Europe, probably for Matt, too, right?” He squeezed his hands together, trembling.
She shook her head with her splintering thoughts; nothing made sense.How did he know?was all that came to her—how? “How? How did you know?” she mumbled through forced breaths. “How?” Her eyes were lost, staring at the fire before her.
He slid off the edge of the chair, kneeling in front of her. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is… look at me now.” His tone was more demanding than he had intended.Damn it, Jake, reel this in.
Her eyes jumped to his face, his hands now resting on her knees, the heat of them radiating through her body, fear banging at the back of her head.How did he know…how?“Yes, it matters.” A professional coolness suddenly dominated her voice, her eyes looking beyond him.Disassociate.
“No, Sweets, what matters is us. We can move past this. I want to talk it through and understand. I know your family went bankrupt when you were seventeen, so you probably needed to…” He jumped in, feeding her an explanation.
The impact of his words, the pity she registered on his face, in his tone, it felt like a brick hit her sternum. “What are you talking about?” Pained confusion surfaced in her whispered question.
His palms were gently rubbing her bare legs as he leaned forward on his knees, bringing his face close to hers. “Sweets, I’ve been thinking about how I need to let this go. I want you to know I forgive you, I…”
“Fuck…what?” she muttered, shoving his hands off her knees. “You—you…fucking forgive me?”
