Page 2 of Embrace
That question made a lot of thoughts shuffle through my mind, so I said the one that beat out the others. “How did you know I was flying in?”
He hesitated then readjusted in his seat. “I have my resources.”
I quickly looked away from him.Holy shit, Pen, don’t look at his lips. Don’t want to kiss him.I’d also noticed how far away from me he was sitting. Suddenly, I knew exactly what I had to do—I had to accept that fellowship in Boston. It was perfect timing. I’d never felt closer to my aunt. I wanted to continue nurturing a good and solid relationship with her. She could be the answer to my bouts with loneliness and hooking up with the wrong people to ease that feeling.
“What are you thinking?” Jake asked.
I wanted to turn and face him, but I didn’t have enough willpower to stop myself from being dazzled by his pale and intense blue eyes. “What should I call you?” I turned and cleared my throat. “Asher or Jake?”
“Jake.” He sounded sure about that.
“But your birth name is Asher Christmas.”
His eyebrows furrowed as his back seemed to hug the corner of the seat even tighter. I wasn’t going crazy—Jake was indeed shifting himself farther away from me. Then I realized that he certainly didn’t know about the possibility of us being siblings, so that wasn’t the reason he was putting distance between us. In his many messages to me, he’d debunked Gina’s claim that she was his girlfriend. Maybe they’d rekindled their bond while I was away. If that was so, I would be heartbroken, but perhaps it would be for the best.
“What else are you thinking, Penina?” Jake asked again, reading my strained expression.
I heaved a sigh. “Jake, I have something to tell you that would probably throw a monkey wrench in all this relationship business between us.”
His jaw flexed, and his eyes narrowed to slits. “Relationship business?”
“Well, you lied to me from day one, so...”
“No, I didn’t,” he claimed. “I’ve confessed to you that I was hiding something. You allowed me to hold those secrets.”
“But you said your secret wouldn’t hurt me.”
His eyebrows drew even closer together. “Gina is not my girlfriend. I hadn’t seen her in six years.”
I vigorously shook my head. “Not that.” Suddenly, I felt the deep loss of Jake or Asher and what he could’ve meant to me for the rest of my life. “The thing is, you could be my brother.”
“I know,” he said, sighing.
My mouth fell open. “You do? How?”
He turned away to look out the window then glared at my face again.
“What?”
Jake reached into a pouch on the back of the driver’s seat. “Gina wrongfully went through your mail and opened this.” He handed me an envelope.
I pressed my back against the seat before taking it. “It’s my DNA results?”
“Yes.” He almost looked sick saying that.
“It’s not your fault that she opened my mail, Jake. So it’s okay.” My fingers were frantic as they took the contents out of the envelope. “But this was why I was in such a hurry to get home.”
“The letter doesn’t contain the information you’re looking for,” he said. Then he went on to explain that I would have to go onto the website, use a pin that was written on the page, and then use it to unlock instructions on what to do next.
“All of those steps?” I asked, feeling defeated by the process.
Jake nodded then cleared his throat. “I want to be with you when you make the call, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure,” I said, reading the letter. It detailed all of what Jake had just explained to me.
We stared at each other in our usual way. I didn’t know if I smiled first or if he did.
“Was the guy in baggage claim trying to pick you up?” he asked.
