Page 43 of Baby for My Billionaire Rival

“I insist,” he says.

My heart flutters. Gram’s cool gaze immediately dampens the feeling.

Jake and I go into the kitchen with the cups. The flowers sit in a vase on the counter. “I’m sorry about all this,” I whisper.

“It’s okay, it’s good actually. They’re such nice people,” Jake says with a smile.

I’m glad he hasn’t been able to sense Gram’s distance with him. Her elitism was built on the backs of the working class. Though Jake’s in the same tax bracket, she still sees people who dig in the dirt as something less than her.

I turn on the sink faucet and begin rinsing the delicate teacups. Jake comes up beside me, a safe enough distance away that if someone walked in, they wouldn’t suspect anything was happening other than quiet conversation. “I’d still like to take you on a date if you’d let me, Caroline.”

“Oh gosh,” I say, laughing. My mind is all turned around from the events of the past hour, I’m not even sure what to say.

“I’m serious,” he says. “Would you stop for a moment and look at me?”

I take a deep breath and finally look into his blue eyes. They are nourishing. Like water. They fill my heart in a way I can’t seem to describe.

“I want to take you out,” he says firmly. “Because I can’t do the halfway thing. I can’t be the person you run to in secret. And I can’t really do the not-at-all thing either. I know it’s what we agreed to, but Monday, when I thought you wanted nothing to do with me…” Jake juts his chin forward proudly. “I want you to give me a shot.”

I open my mouth to speak.

“And screw the program. You know? We can be adults. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t –” Jake blushes. “Sorry, I interrupted you.”

Whatever I was going to say before completely disappears. All I can do is smile. I touch his cheek softly, the bristles of his beard hair scraping my palm. I rise onto my tiptoes and kiss his other cheek. “Okay. You can take me out.”

Jake smiles in relief, eyes traveling to the heavens with some sort of gratitude. “Great.Great. Well, then, I’ll get out of your hair now and be in touch and we’ll figure out a time for just us, then, okay?”

I’d like to tell him not to go, but it’s for the best. Jake makes his exit, bidding everyone a friendly farewell. A handshake to Chase, a hug to Jude, and a near bow to Gram which makes me have to stifle a laugh. As soon as he’s out the door, I go to the window to watch him go. He nearly dances down the front stairs, walking off toward his pickup truck, smiling as he checks there are no cars coming so he can cross the street.

“Well, bless his heart,” Gram says with a light laugh.

My blood runs cold. Everyone in the Western hemisphere knows that “bless his heart” spoken by an elderly Southern woman is never a good thing.

“What makes you say that, Gram?” Jude asks.

We all look at Gram as she settles into her chair, folding her hands at her stomach. “Well, it’s very clear to me that he has stars in his eyes for you, Caroline. And it’s very sweet, but misguided. Don’t you think?”

Everyone looks at me, a pinpoint spotlight centered over my head. Gram doesn’t have to say much to say a lot. And her observation that Jake likes me is couched with judgment. That he is not worthy of someone like me. Because he is a country boy. Because he has dirt under his nails. Because he drives a pickup truck.

I want to scream at her for suggesting such things. That attitude is the whole reason Jake hated me in the first place. I was intolerant and disrespectful. Now I understand. But I shouldn’t have had to. Because he’s a person. An amazing person. With an enormous heart.

Still, I have no power here with her. I nod slowly. “Don’t worry. He’d never try anything unless I wanted him to.”

I leave it at that. It’s not a lie, at least not outright.

What Gram doesn’t know and what Chase and Jude both seem to know from their clandestine glances is that I want him to. I want Jake to try everything.

Chapter 14

Jake

“Almost there…”

“I’m afraid I’m going to fall!”

“I’ve got you, don’t worry, I’ve got you,” I reassure Caroline as I guide her into the barn with my hands over her eyes. “Okay, open!”

As soon as I draw my hands away, Caroline’s head juts up like a calf who has just been born, looking up to the sky. Her mouth falls open at the sight of the barn. “Jake, this is beautiful.”

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