26. Jake
I can still taste her on my tongue as I slide into the back of the town car that will take me to collect Cherry for the gala. Her perfume lingers in the air and I close my eyes as every second of our time together choosing that dress flits through my mind.
When she’d asked me to get on my knees for her, I’d almost caved and told her how much I still loved her, how much I regretted caving to weakness and fear instead of being the man she deserved. Looking up at her, I know that if it took every cent I have and every minute for the rest of my life, I was going to win her back.
Our lunch was easy, surprisingly so after the heaviness of the scene in the dressing room. We’d talked about the house and she’d asked if I had any designs she’d like me to incorporate. It had been easy like a tentative truce was in place.
Pulling up outside her house, I smooth a hand over my shirt, nerves attacking my composure in a way no other woman will ever be able to achieve because nobody else matters but her.
Walking to the door, I knock and wait, hearing voices from inside. I’m slightly taken aback when an older version of the woman I love appears. Petite but still taller than her daughter, Darla Baker has a timeless beauty and grac e that will lead others to think she’s weak, but I’m no fool. She assesses me before stepping outside and pulling the door closed.
A ball of dread fills my belly, not because I fear this woman but because if she hates me it will complicate any hope I have of a relationship with her daughter.
“May I have a word, Jake?” We’d met before at the baby shower for Lex and Hunter and again as we all waited for news of Lexi and Theo after her ex-husband’s brutal attack, but we’d never really talked more than pleasantries. I have a feeling that’s about to change.
“Yes of course. What can I do for you, Mrs. Baker?”
“Let’s sit.”
Like a schoolboy about to be reprimanded for being caught with the coach’s daughter, I sit next to her on the porch swing my Cherry Blossom had set next to her front door.
“I didn’t realize at first, but now I see it.”
“See what?”
“You’re the one who broke my daughter’s heart.”
My chest feels like it’s filled with cement as she stares at me with all the unflinching determination of a Southern woman about to protect her child. She looks like butter wouldn’t melt and her voice is soft-spoken and sweet but I know from my time with Vivian, that looks can be deceiving.
I have two choices here, I can lie or I can admit the truth and hope it will grant me some kind of credit. “Yes.”
I can see I’ve caught her off guard with my honesty, and a huff of laughter falls from me. “No point lying, Mrs. Baker.”
“You were the reason she gave up her dream.”
“I was, and I’ve regretted my actions every single day since, and I will until I draw my last breath on this earth.”
“Do you love her?”
“With all my heart.”
Darla is silent for a beat before she speaks again. “Are you going to hurt her again? ”
I shake my head, looking her straight in the eye with the respect she deserves. “No. I’ll never do anything to hurt her again. I’ll die first.”
“Hmm, something tells me that would hurt my daughter very much. My sweet Cherry Pie comes across as strong and invincible but she’s soft inside and when she loves, she does so with her whole heart. She protects, and she’s loyal like nobody I’ve ever met, but she often does it at her own expense.”
“I know.”
Her shrewd gaze meets my own and I feel a sudden kinship with this woman. We both love Cherry and it gives us a common goal.
“Make things right with my daughter. She deserves to be loved for who she is, not who she thinks she should be for those around her.”
“I agree. I just need to make amends first.”
“Then make them, and then stop her from going head-to-head with that crooked KLM. My daughter is the biggest love of my life, and my greatest achievement, but sometimes she can be so stubborn I want to tan her hide for her.”
My expression must have shown my surprise because she chuckles and it’s deep and rich.
“Ah, she thinks I don’t know, but people talk and I think Cherry forgets she gets that iron will from someone, and it isn’t her father like she thinks.”
“She just wants to protect you.”
“Protecting me isn’t her job. It’s mine to protect her, so I’ll say this once. Handle those crooks, before she gets hurt.”
“It’s in hand, Mrs. Baker.”
She stands and places a hand on my shoulder, the touch firm and full of warmth. “Call me, Darla.”
“Does this mean I have your blessing?”
“It means I won’t get my gun and shoot you for hurting my baby, but do it again and there won’t be any place you can hide. No matter who you are. ”
A smile weathers my face, as I realize that my Cherry Blossom has more support than she realizes. “Can I ask you something, Darla?”
“You can ask.”
“Why haven’t you told her you know about KLM?”
“Because Cherry needs to be useful, she needs that control. When we lost her dad, she changed. She thought that if she controlled every emotion and everything around her, she could save herself from pain. When you broke her heart, it hardened that behavior.”
Guilt sours my stomach, cutting deep into the scars I wear on the inside. “How did you know it was me?”
“I saw the way you looked at her, and I saw the way she looked at you. No pain like that comes without an even greater love.”
“Mom!”
I stand as I hear Cherry call from inside.
“Cherry pie, look who I found on the doorstep.”
Darla steps inside and I follow suit, my gaze swinging to the bottom of the stairs where Cherry is waiting. My breath whooshes from my lungs, my stomach bottoming out as the world around me dims to nothing. She looks heart-stoppingly beautiful, her pink hair in a softly curled chignon at her nape, her makeup sinful with smokey eyes and gloss lips that make me desperate to taste them.
“You look stunning.”
A delicate blush steals across her cheeks and her head dips, before her eyes find mine.
“You look nice too.”
God I love her, I love this soft side that only a few get to see, and I love her feisty abrasive side too. “Shall we?”
I hold my hand out to her and she takes my arm, as her mom watches on from the doorway of the living room. I give her a nod as we pass and an understanding passes between us. A baton is being handed over to me and with a trust I’m not sure I deserve but will treasure and guard with my life .
“Mom, lock up when you leave, and don’t forget to call Frankie about that leaky tap.”
Her mom shakes her head. “Get on with you. Go enjoy this handsome man in that gorgeous dress and have fun.”
“Fine. I’ll call you later.”
“No offense, my darling girl, but I hope you don’t. I know for sure if I was out with a man that looked like that, and looked at me like he’s looking at you, then I wouldn’t be calling anyone until very late tomorrow morning.”
“Mom!”
I chuckle at Cherry’s scandalized expression and lead her out the door before she can start fussing again.
“We need to get going.”
“Sorry about her,” she says when we are safely in the car and headed to the hotel where the gala will be held.
“Whatever for? I happen to agree with everything she said.”
Cherry snorts, and the sound is so natural, so imperfectly perfect, that I can’t resist the soft kiss I place on her lips. I want more, but I won’t rush tonight. Not when it’s so important.
“So tell me a bit more about what’s going to happen tonight?”
I go over what to expect, starting with drinks in the main hall where people can enter the silent auction, then dinner, speeches, and dancing.
“Are you giving a speech?”
“Yes, I’ll give a speech to kick off the auction but then my official duties, apart from schmoozing, will be done.”
“And what does schmoozing entail?”
“Lots of ass-kissing and generally making them feel like they’re important so they open their wallets and donate to the charity.”
“Will Hank and Vivian be there?”
“They will, and so will Cassie, Hunter’s sister.”
“Oh, I love Cassie. She’s so sweet.”
“Yeah, she’s great. They all are but don’t tell Hunter I said so. He has a big head. He needs me to keep him level-headed. ”
“And who keeps you level-headed when you get too big for your boots?”
“I have you for that.”
“Maybe.”
“Always. Even when you weren’t around, I tried to live my life in a way that would make you proud. I didn’t always succeed but I always tried. You were my North Star, Blossom. Always will be.”
The slack, soft look on her face makes me want to turn the car around, forget about my responsibilities, and spend the night making love to her in a way that would imprint on her the truth of my words. The other part wants every man in the state, no, the country, to know she’s mine and see her on my arm.
We enter the ballroom after walking the red carpet, which I hadn’t warned her about, and her gasp is audible.
“Oh, Jake, this is stunning. It almost makes up for you not warning me there’d be paparazzi and a red carpet.”
“How else was I going to make sure Eddie fucking Crowe knows you’re off the market?”
Cherry stops and glances up at me with a furrow between her brows. “You did not set that up just for Eddie.”
I bloody well had. That asshole needs to know that Cherry isn’t his and never will be. “Maybe.”
Her hand slides to her hip and I face down her wrath as my dick hardens in my tuxedo pants. Cherry in a snit is the hottest thing on the planet.
“You know we’re just friends right? And who says I’m off the market?”
“I say so, but if I have to fight every man who looks at you to prove it, then so be it.”
“Jake, you’re being ridiculous.”
“No, I’m protecting what’s mine, and you’re mine, Blossom. You always have been.”
“Well, let’s agree to disagree.”
She makes to walk off, and I grab her hand and tuck her into my side. “If I’m fucking you, and I will be by the end of tonight, then I’m the only one fucking you.”
“So confident, Jake.”
My hand skims the exposed skin of her spine and dips beneath the lace, making her shiver, and making every cent of the twenty-five grand I spent on it worth it. I’ll happily buy her an entire wardrobe full of these if it means I get to enjoy her in them.
“Jake, Cherry. Oh, don’t you two look adorable together.”
“Vivian, Hank.” We greet my pseudo-adopted family with hugs and kisses and I listen as Vivian gushes over Cherry’s dress, telling her how stunning she is and I wholeheartedly agree. She’s the most beautiful woman in the room, in any room ever as far as I’m concerned.
“Have you got a second, Jake?”
Awareness runs down my spine at the tone Hank uses, but I nod.
“I’ll grab us drinks,” I whisper to Cherry as I drop a kiss on her shoulder, and she nods as if this interaction is perfectly normal for us, and it should be. If I hadn’t allowed fear to control me, I have no doubt we’d be married and living a blissful life together.
I step away as Hank indicates but stay close enough that I can keep an eye on Cherry.
“I spoke with Hunter.”
My spine stiffens at Hank’s words, expecting him to fire me for putting the company at risk by contacting the Mancini family or at least tell me how disappointed he was in me. I don’t regret it but I’ll forever mourn the loss of these people if they choose to cut ties with me. “And?”
“I’m sorry, son.”
I glance at him in shock as I grab two flutes of Champagne from a passing waiter and step back to hand one to Cherry who smiles in appreciation, before going back to her conversation with Vivian and Cassie and allowing me the space to speak with Hank.
“Sorry? Why would you be sorry?”
“I should have known. I should have protected you. ”
“How could you? I never told you about any of it.”
Hank grips my shoulder tight. “As far as Viv and I are concerned, you’re one of our kids and we failed you.”
“Hank, no. You’re the only people in my life who ever gave a shit about me. Without you and Vivian, I’d be dead or in prison. You didn’t fail anyone.”
Hank shakes his head sadly. “You deserved better than the start you had, Jake. I want you to know I’ve spoken to Mancini Senior, and he, as a favor to me, will be handling the situation with Nicholas Kendrick.”
“At what cost, Hank? I didn’t want you involved. This is my mess and I need to handle it.”
“No cost. He owed me. Now the debt he owed is repaid, we’re done.”
“So Cherry is safe from Kendrick and KLM?”
“Yes.”
A weight lifts so fast I feel dizzy with it. “The land?”
“I don’t have control over the KLM board, and they may still go after it, even with Kendrick out of the picture, but my guess is they’ll go after something more profitable and less of a headache.”
“Thank you, Hank. Truly.”
Hank slaps me on the shoulder. “No need, son. Now go enjoy yourself.”
“I have a speech to make first.” I roll my eyes because everyone knows I hate this part. I love this charity and feel passionate about it, so I’ll do what’s needed but I’m the back-room guy. Hunter and Hank are the face of Lungo, and rightly so. No matter how many shares I now own.
But now at least I can let myself breathe without the pressure of KLM and Kendrick, and a deal I almost made with the Mafia to secure the future of the woman I loved. Now all I need to do is tell her the whole truth about the past.