Page 67 of Dr. Brandt

“Listen,” Avery said as we all walked through the luxurious boat toward the dining area, “the guys are heading back on the helicopter tomorrow, and Ash took the week off. Jake informed the captain that the yacht is ours for the week if you and Jacks want to take a fun little cruise down to Southern California with us.”

“Oh, wow. That sounds incredible,” I said, loving the idea of spending more time with my new friends. “Let me check with Cam, though. I think he has an appointment for Jacks to do some more scans on Thursday, but I’m not sure.”

We walked into the dining room to find an elegant spread of fruits, vegetables, roasted turkey, ham, and even a prime rib roast sitting in the center of a large, polished wooden table. It looked like a Medieval feast.

“Wow,” I said, sitting next to Cameron and smiling at him. “This is quite the spread.”

His mood hadn’t changed since this morning. I’d had the feeling earlier that the helicopter issue was an excuse for him to avoid whale watching, and now, I knew it was.

I kept replaying the sincerity in Cam’s sapphire blue eyes when he talked about us being a family and the look of devastation when I basically told him to fuck off. Of course, I’d treated him as if he were still the Cameron I remembered from high school, the man who could say one thing, then crush me while doing another immediately afterward. I didn’t want to take a chance and risk that kind of heartbreak again. The stakes were higher now.

But my mind wouldn’t let it go last night. I tossed and turned, thinking about how Cam helped Jacks through that seizure the way he did and how he talked to Jacks like a he was his son, not his patient.

I was aware that my cold exterior was unhealthy and that after all these years, my reaction was possibly unfair, but what difference did it make now that I’d iced him out? He was pissed, and I was confused.

“Tomorrow, I’m flying the guys back to Southern California because they’ve got to work. Jake has left the captain orders to bring the yacht down the coastline to Long Beach this week with the ladies and kids.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to keep my spirits up. “What should Jacks and I do?”

I was confused by the tone of his voice and not being direct with his point.

He swallowed a bite of meat and wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. “I wasn’t sure if you and Jacks wanted to spend the rest of the week with the ladies and the children or go back in the chopper.”

I swallowed a bite of the ham I’d sliced into. “Didn’t you have plans to run more tests on Jacks?”

“I will proceed with ordering more tests once the surgery is decided upon,” he said.

Guess I can’t get mad when he does what I tell him to do and act like the surgeon instead of a boyfriend, I thought, completely uncomfortable with this conversation.

“We’ll probably just go home with everyone. I need to stay focused on our next steps, anyway. I need to find a place to rent, find a car, and—” I stopped when I felt my heart rate pick up a little at the thought of the responsibilities I’d been neglecting. Getting caught up in this billionaire wonderland was effortless, but I needed to start prioritizing things.

“Jessa,” Ash said from across the table, “you’re staying in Malibu, right?”

“Yeah, we are for now,” I responded more calmly than I felt.

“Jake and I have a beach home there, and we rarely use it.” She pursed her lips and looked at Jake, who was nodding along with her, “You’re most welcome to it if that helps ease the burden of everything that’s going on.”

“I couldn’t,” I said. “I can’t thank you enough for the kind offer, but I really couldn’t.”

“Why the hell not?” Jake asked, sitting back and sipping a beer after inhaling his lunch. “We’ve got no use for the place. We always rent it out during fall and winter; what’s one month early? The place is yours for as long as you need it. No strings attached, of course. Use it before the cobwebs take over.”

“And don’t say no because you think it’s rude to say yes,” Ash insisted. “We wouldn’t offer if we didn’t want to help make your life easier. You aren’t putting anybody out or anything.”

I felt tears pool in my eyes at their generosity, and the relief that washed over me was bigger than I expected. “Okay, yes. I really can’t thank you enough,” I said. I laughed and smiled at Cameron.

“He’s got a pretty badass Bugatti parked there, too,” Cam said, grinning at Jake. “I’m sure he’d be happy to let you run that sucker back and forth between appointments.”

“I’m afraid that’s where the charity dies on my behalf,” Jake laughed. “You can, however, use Ash’s Land Rover. I’m sick of acting like we’re the Brady Bunch in that thing anyway.”

Ash rolled her eyes. “Is that what you think about it?”

“It’s a Land Rover, not a minivan,” Jim said. “Don’t be such a whiny bitch about it, Jake.”

Because the children were eating in another area of the yacht, I finally heard Jim speak up more. The striking man, who could’ve been Jake’s twin, had previously seemed stiff and reserved. I liked this side of him.

“I’m the bitch?” Jake questioned in a funny high-pitched voice as if he were astonished at what Jim had said. “Shall we address your bitchiness with the fact that you insist on being chauffeured in a Bentley everywhere you go?”

“Oh, fuck that,” Jim said, rolling his eyes.

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