Page 61 of Pure Seduction (Chamberlin Brothers 1)

I tiptoed precariously across what was left of the floor, and as I made my way around what I presumed was a corner, I spotted him. Jake was sitting over on an old built-in window frame. As I moved closer, the click of my heels alerted him to my presence.

He glanced over his shoulder, and instead of the welcoming smile he’d usually aim my way, his face remained impassive as he went back to staring at the rows of vines below.

I took a fortifying breath and made myself put one foot in front of the other, and when one of the floorboards cracked and I stumbled forward, Jake whirled around automatically to catch me.

Well, on the plus side, he still cared whether I broke my neck.

“Thanks.” I squeezed his forearm, and Jake shook his head.

“You shouldn’t have come up here in those shoes. It’s not safe.”

He was right: my heels weren’t exactly the smartest footwear for trekking up a hill and traipsing through a pile of rotting wood, but I would’ve crawled up here if I’d had to.

“I wanted to talk to you.”

When Jake was satisfied I wasn’t about to fall over, he turned back to his original position. “Well, I don’t really want to talk to you.”

Those words from him cut deep, and while I knew it was my fault he was feeling this way, I was determined to get through to him.

I took a seat on the window beside him, and as we stared out into the vast valley ahead, I clasped my hands in my lap and waited. This was his show, his timetable, and if I had to wait five minutes, five hours, five days or years, I would wait.

As it turned out, five seconds seemed about all he needed.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

There was no question as to what he was referring to. I nodded. “I was. I just… I was trying to work out how and when it would be right for you. For him… I…I never expected to see him again. Not that that’s any excuse, but there’s a lot more to this than—”

“The golden boy who just rolled into town being my dad?” Jake shot to his feet and began to pace back and forth. Then he stopped and glared down at me. “Or maybe the fact that I’ve worked for my uncle for the past two years and didn’t know?” He shook his head. “Well, at least I know why Harry used to treat me like a fucking pariah now.”

I didn’t bother calling him out on his language, considering the gravity of the issues at hand. He was angry and had every right to be. I got to my feet and reached for him, but Jake took a step away.

“Don’t,” he said, turning his back on me, and the rejection was as good as a slap.

I wrapped an arm around my waist and fought back the tears that threatened. “I should’ve told you.” My voice was soft, barely above a whisper. But it was all I could manage for now. “I should’ve told you the minute he got here. Before he got here, but—”

“But what, Mom?” Jake said as he turned to face me again. “What could possibly have stopped you from telling me about him?”

“Harry.” I spat the word out as though it were dirty. “Harry stopped me…for years. But then he died, and before I could even wrap my head around being able to explain all of this to you, Noah was here, and—”

“What do you mean, Harry? What’s he got to do with this?”

This was it: the moment when Jake would finally realize how much of a coward his mother really was. And the reality of being anything other than the person he loved and trusted above all others made me sick.

“Mom?”

“Sorry,” I said, and took in a gulp of air. “I…I was very young when I got pregnant with you.”

“Yeah, I worked that out when I was thirteen, and we’ve already discussed it. What’s that got to do with Harry?”

“Well…” I straightened my shoulders and looked Jake in the eye. “The day after our high school graduation, Harry sent Noah away.”

Jake frowned. “Sent him?”

“Yes. To a university in Europe. Noah had no idea he was leaving, and by the time I did, he was already gone. I was given no contact information, had no idea where he was…” I pushed through the torment that accompanied those words and took a step closer to Jake. “And a month later, I found out I was pregnant with you.”

Jake crossed his arms, his jaw clenching as he processed all I was saying.

“To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I’d only ever been with Noah that one night, graduation, and then I wound up pregnant.”

“How inconvenient for you.”

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