Page 56 of The Billionaire Land Baron

Chapter 14

Jake hadn’t stopped moving since the driver dropped him off in front of L’Auberge with his bags. He dropped them off in the suite upstairs, briefly checking out the space. It felt completely wasteful after the Airstream, which had taken him three long steps to cross. The suite had two bedrooms, a dining and living area, and a large outdoor balcony almost as large as the living area.

He’d gone down for dinner, but changed his mind after being seated. After leaving a significant tip just for the water he drank, Jake went out to the casino, where he lost a lot of money on craps. Oddly, he was glad the house won. Losing his money felt karma—he was getting exactly what he deserved.

Every nerve of his body felt lit with the anger, like he was sensitive to the touch. The space made him angry. Thinking about Xander getting him this suite made him angry. Remembering how he’d left Shelby made him angry. When the elevator took too long, he found himself jamming the button with his finger repeatedly. Walking into the beautiful and spacious suite, his lip curled and he wished he was in a regular room. He longed for an outlet for this rage, but he had never felt this angry before. Just mildly annoyed or frustrated.

He owed Xander a phone call, but couldn’t talk to him. When all his chips were gone, he went up to the empty suite and simply sat, alone in his thoughts. He tried to trace back what had gone wrong the past few days. From the start, though, this deal had been different. The scope was grander, the pressure higher, and this was the first deal since Obsidian had gone public. Then Layla broke down, stranding him. When Jake met Shelby, it all broke apart.

Jake wanted nothing more than to go against Xander. He wanted to drive back to Lucky and tell Shelby what Xan made him promise not to. Maybe she would rail and rant and slam the door on him. He deserved it. But at least then he would know. He would be sure that things were over between them.

Of course, what he hoped is that she would forgive him and kiss him again like she had in the pool.

He had been shocked when she kissed him, right in the middle of the pool in front of both Daisy and Rhett. But in that moment, it felt like no one else was around. It was only Jake and Shelby, drawn together and sealed there with the passion that moved between their lips.

Then they’d gone back to her house, his car had been waiting, and he’d left without talking to her about what happened between them. The kiss seemed to confirm the feelings Jake hoped Shelby had. She had to know how he felt—he poured all that he had into the kiss. But maybe Shelby went around kissing half the town of Lucky and that’s why so many people were proposing. He had zero idea.

Letting her walk away was so stupid. He could see that now. He should have broken down her door to make her talk. He should have sent the car away and told Xander to deal with the fallout and he should have told her right then. He was a coward.

It wasn’t too late.

The realization washed over him and within thirty seconds he had his cell phone and wallet and was leaving his room. He would hire a car or buy one or do whatever it took to get to Lucky, Texas the fastest. Later, he could call Xander to tell him that this was his last job. They would work out the details of how he would leave Obsidian once he had secured Shelby.

The thought thrilled Jake. It only confirmed the restlessness he’d been feeling: it was time for his life to shift.

He was almost to the elevator when he glanced down one of the side hallways and saw a figure hunched over by the wall. Something stopped him. His feet slowed to a stop on the plush carpet. He walked backwards to look down the hall.

Shelby?

He ran to her, not wasting a moment. She leaned against a wall, her legs bent to her chest, head on her knees. For a moment, Jake stood there, looking down at the top of her head, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of her breathing. He felt a surge of protectiveness. Was she hurt? Why was she there? Who left her?

As gently as he could, Jake bent and enfolded her in his arms. He’d had practice watching his nieces and transferring them while sleeping from the couch or car to a bed and employed the same technique, folding her into his body so that when he shifted his weight and stood, she was almost in the same position. She moaned and her head lolled against his chest, but Jake was able to get her back to the suite and carefully get the keycard to work without waking her.

He carried her all the way to the master bedroom in the suite and placed her on top of the covers. She shifted slightly and stretched, but didn’t wake. He could take the secondary bedroom and let her sleep. Smoothing the hair back from her face, he tucked the comforter in half, laying the part from the empty side of the bed over top of her. The AC in the suite made it cold and her legs were bare. Jake wanted to kiss her temple, but was afraid he would wake her.

He hesitated in the doorway. Shelby had fallen asleep in the hallway and wouldn’t know where she was when she woke up in a strange bed.

She had to have come for Jake. But why didn’t she just call him or text? Ask him which room he was in? Or tell him why she had come? And why was she so tired? They had been up kind of late the night before, talking in the Airstream—which somehow now seemed like years ago. Before the kiss, before he’d left her.

Not wanting her to wake up alone and confused, Jake grabbed a blanket from the other bedroom and settled awkwardly on the small couch across from the bed where Shelby slept. When she woke, he would be the first thing she saw.

Poke.Jake stirred, feeling out of sorts and sore. A hand touched his shoulder. His eyelids popped open and he bolted upright. Shelby knelt before him, hand outstretched. She stood as he sat up. They were almost eye-to-eye with him sitting on the couch, her on her feet. The suite was dark and only a sliver of light from the main room lit up her face. It was hard to see the expression in her eyes, but he caught a white flash of teeth.

“Hey, City.”

“Shelby.”

“It’s not every day I find myself in a strange hotel room with a man I hardly know. Guess I need to be more careful when I travel alone.”

“Shelby,” he grinned back. “It’s not every day I find a beautiful girl sleeping in a hallway.”

“When you put it that way, it sounds a little creepy. Let’s hope this is the first and last time you kidnap a sleeping woman and bring her back to your room. But thanks for taking in a stray.”

He had so many questions, but for now he said the dumbest one. “What time is it?”

“A little after midnight,” she said.

“Oh.” They stared at each other for a moment but Jake still couldn’t read her eyes in the dark. “Shelby, why were you sleeping in the hallway? What’s going on? How did you get here?”

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