If I Loved You (Harper Falls Book 1) (15 page)

"I know how it sounds.” He said when he'd
finished. In fact, it sounded even worse than when he was running
the explanation around in his head. And it had sounded awful in his
head.

“So it had nothing to do with me?” Rose
asked. Her voice was almost unrecognizable. She didn't sound
anything like the happy, expressive woman he'd gotten to know over
the past two weeks. It wasn’t very encouraging—it was scaring the
hell out of him.

“No, I promise you, the whole mess was just
crazy bad timing.” Jack lifted a hand. He wanted to touch her, to
feel a connection. But the look she gave him left no doubt that if
he wanted all his fingers he'd be smart to keep them to
himself.

Jack finally understood what it meant when
some said
the silence was deafening
.
If she didn’t say something, anything, soon he was going to jump
out of his skin.

“Okay.”

Well, something more than that.

“I believe you, Jack.”

Jack felt the weight of the world lift off
his shoulders.

“Thank you, sweetheart. I can’t tell you how
much it means to me that you trust me that much.” Then realizing
what all this meant, Jack grinned. “What do you say we get out of
here, go back to my place and spend the next week in bed?”

“Absolutely not.”

“But, Rose…”

“After all this do you think I’m going to
let you lose that bet?” Rose asked in amazement.

Now Jack was confused. “There
is
no more bet. Once you found out,
I lose. Besides, I deserve it for making the stupid thing in the
first place.”

“But you haven’t lost,” Rose told him. “The
bet, as I understand it, was that you couldn’t tell anyone. Well,
you
didn’t. I found out from Tyler,
who found out from your drunken friend. So—”

“So I didn’t lose the bet,” Jack finished.
His Rose was very clever, indeed. “I regret making the bet, Rose.
And I’m sorry I dragged you into it. But,” Jack took her hands in
his, “it did give me the chance to get to know you and I wouldn’t
trade the last two weeks for anything, blue balls and all. I
couldn’t care less about losing the bet.”

“Well, I care,” she exclaimed. “I don’t want
Drew and those other assholes to win. One more week, Jack. And to
make it easier for us both I’m going to spend it in New York.”

“That seems a bit drastic,” Jack frowned. “I
might not like it, but I can keep my hands off of you for seven
more days.”

“I got a call this morning from a friend of
mine who’s recording one of my songs,” Rose explained. “Things
aren’t going very well; she’s clashing with the producer. So I
agreed to fly in and help. I’d only planned on being gone one or
two days, but I think it would be best if I stayed the week.”

“You
are
mad.” Jack knew it had been too easy.

“I’m not,” she assured him. “But I do need a
little time to sort it all out in my head. It just feels a little
strange, Jack. I can’t tell you why because I don’t know myself.
But I promise you this isn’t some passive/aggressive move to punish
you. I’m not trying to get the upper hand. Games like that are
nothing but destructive. I would never do that to you.”

Jack held open his arms and Rose sank in
gratefully. He lifted her chin and gave her long, hard look.

“One week,” he said in a voice that brooked
no argument. “This thing ends at eleven thirty next Sunday
morning.”

“That’s pretty precise.” Rose grinned up at
him.

“I have it engraved on my brain. Now,” his
voice was warm and affectionate. “Can I at least have a kiss?”

“Make it a week’s worth.” Rose pulled his
mouth down to meet hers.

“Now that’s hot. Want to share?”

Jack stiffened but didn’t pull away from
Rose. Instead he slowly raised his head, getting a good look at
what he was dealing with. Four burly bikers, arms heavily tattooed
and muscled but a bit flabby around the middle. He could tell
they’d had quite a bit to drink but were still pretty steady on
their feet. Carefully and with deliberation, Jack pushed Rose
behind him, shielding her with his body. He breathed a sigh of
relief that she didn’t protest, didn’t speak. He needed to get her
back into the bar and out of harm’s way. Pulling himself up to his
full height he shifted his stance, inching a bit closer to the
tavern door.

“I don’t share.” He wanted to tell Rose to
get ready to run. But that was impossible so he would have to count
on her knowing what to do when the time came.

One of the other bikers stepped closer. He
was a little taller than the rest and a lot more ripped. “What
makes you think we were talking to you?”

“I don’t share, either,” Rose called out.
She tried to give them her best tough girl sneer, but Jack's body
was blocking her efforts.

“Why don’t we go inside and I’ll buy a round
of drinks.” Jack knew it was a lame attempt to avoid the
inevitable, but he figured it was worth a try. He could handle the
four of them, probably. But he had Rose’s safety to think about,
that was his first priority.

“We can buy our own drinks, pretty boy.
Right now, I have me a craving for some fresh ass, and I don’t care
which of you gives it to me.”

Great, Rose thought, equal opportunity
rapists. She knew what Jack had in mind, so she grabbed the
waistband of his jeans and started backing up toward the door. They
weren’t more than ten feet away and they were both fast. Just a few
more feet and they could make a run for it. And if they were lucky
somebody would come out and cause a distraction. Damn it, it was a
busy place. Why hadn’t anyone come out? It seemed they wouldn’t be
able to count on that, so they were on their own. Come on, just a
little farther. Unfortunately, the bikers decided they’d had enough
talk.

“Run,” Jack shouted. He gave Rose shove
towards the bar then threw a hard punch, breaking the nose of the
guy unlucky enough to be the closest.

Rose didn’t hesitate. She heard the crunch
when Jack’s fist connected and gave a silent cheer as she threw
herself into the noisy tavern. She needed to get Drew’s attention
and fast. Luck was on her side because it seemed the whole crew had
been watching for them to return. Waving like a crazy women she
gestured for them to come outside. Relief surged through her when
she saw six powerfully built men carving a path through the crowd.
She didn’t wait for them to reach her, Jack was in trouble and
needed her whether he knew it or not.

Bursting back the way she came, Rose saw
Jack was causing a lot of damage. But this wasn’t like the movies
where the thugs came at the hero one at a time, the others standing
by passively until it was their turn. These assholes were attacking
all at once and getting in a few punches of their own. No matter
how good a fighter he was, and she could see that Jack was amazing,
it was still five against one. Rose decided to do her best to
improve the odds.

Jack caught sight of Rose out of the corner
of his eye. Damn it, why hadn’t she stayed inside. These guys were
big, but they weren’t trained fighters. They got in the a few good
licks that he was going to feel tomorrow, but he knew he would
eventually take them out. He didn’t need the distraction of
worrying about Rose.

Suddenly one of the bikers howled in pain
and hit the ground. Giving a quick glance Jack saw Rose, fierce and
beautiful, standing over the guy with a block of wood in her hands.
She was poised to cold cock another one when the cavalry arrived.
Once he had Drew and their security team on his side, the fight was
over in less than minute. Three of the bikers lay on the ground
bleeding, but alive, the other two had stumbled off before the
fight was even over leaving their friends to fend for
themselves.

A crowd had gathered around the combatants.
Where had they been when they could have been useful? Rose
wondered. She threw down the piece of wood and rushed to Jack’s
side.

“There’s my warrior woman,” Jack said
pulling her to his side. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“Me?” Rose shook her head in amazement. He
was the one with the split lip and scraped knuckles. “I’m fine, not
even a broken nail. But we should get you to the hospital and let a
doctor check you out.”

“It's just a few bruises.” Jack kissed her
cheek, wincing slightly. “Nothing a hot shower and some antiseptic
won’t cure.” He leaned close to her ear so only she could hear.
“And by the end of the week, I’ll be healed and waiting for you. If
that’s what you still want?”

She just smiled and whispered, “Eleven
thirty-one, Sunday morning.”

Jack grinned back, no grimace this time. One
week. After everything they’d been through it was going to be a
piece of cake.

“THE FINAL TESTS show no glitches in the
program. We should be able to have it on the market by September.
This release is going to be huge, the biggest we’ve ever had.”

Jack and Drew grinned at each other like
little kids on Christmas morning. They had been developing their
latest security software program for over three years, and finally
it was done. Nothing was one hundred percent hack proof; cyber
thieves were getting smarter all the time. But H&W Security was
about to provide protection that was as close to impenetrable as
possible, head and shoulders above anything else on the market. And
as a result they were going to get a whole lot richer.

“Remember out goal back in college?” Drew
leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. “Millionaires by
the time we were twenty-five, billionaires by thirty.”

“Cocky little shits, weren’t we?” Jack shook
his head when he thought of the two of them, huddled together in a
tiny work space, bursting with ideas and ambition. They hadn't even
consider the possibility of failure. And here they were ten years
later, just months away from getting everything they'd always
wanted. Who ever said be careful what you wish for was a fucking
idiot. They’d wished and dreamed and worked their asses off. And it
was better than he could have imagined.

“To our first billion."

“A whole year ahead of schedule.” Jack
tapped his cup against Drew’s.

“Thirty seemed liked such a foreign concept
back then. Now I can hardly remember what eighteen felt like.”

Jack looked at his friend trying to picture
him back then. It was harder when you’d spent almost every day with
someone, worked and played beside them. They had pictures, however.
The one that hung in the lobby showed the two of them, arms slung
over each other’s shoulders, fresh out of college and ready to take
on the world. They couldn’t have known just how quickly everything
would change, that success would come first as bodyguards
then
as software moguls. But as they
sat here, about to accomplish one of their biggest dreams, they
were just as eager to push towards new ones. Jack knew that no
matter what else changed Drew would always have his back. If, God
forbid, they lost it all tomorrow, the two of them could dig in and
build it up again just like they always had, together.

“I got a visit from Terry this morning,"
Drew said, reaching over to refill his cup.

“Is there a problem?” Terry Moss was one of
their best bodyguards, in high demand and reliable.

“He took Craig home Saturday night and
stayed with him until he was dried out. When he couldn’t get him on
the phone yesterday he went to check on him and he'd gone.”

Jack frowned. “I know he and Terry are
friends but I can’t work up a lot of concern for Craig. We tried to
help and he paid us back by causing trouble. I hope he gets help,
but it’s no longer out responsibility.”

“I agree.” Drew stood, needing to stretch
after sitting for so long. “Terry’s main reason for stopping by was
to make a confession. It seems while he was visiting Craig in rehab
he told him about the bet. Terry thought it would give Craig a
laugh and help him feel like he wasn’t out of the loop, that he was
still a part of the crew. Terry was sick that he’d been the one to
spill information that Craig used against you.”

“Terry can’t take responsibility for Craig’s
actions. I’ll call him later and make sure he knows I’m not angry
with him.”

“Good.” Drew lifted the cup to his mouth
then thought better of it. He needed something solid in his
stomach, not more caffeine.

“Any word from Rose?”

“Nope.” Jack looked at the calendar on his
desk. Still Wednesday. He found himself checking several times a
day as if he could will the time to pass. Rose had promised to be
at his house on Sunday morning, but she had also insisted they not
talk while she was in New York. She said she needed to sort
everything out in her mind. Jack had agreed, what else could he do?
Craig had dropped a bombshell and Rose had left town before Jack
could begin to clean up the mess. At least he knew she was coming
back, this was her home. He just had to hope she was coming back to
him.

“Damn, Craig,” Drew said disgust.

“The timing could have been better,” Jack
conceded. “And it didn’t help to have it come from someone else.
But to be honest I hadn’t figured out what I was going to say. I
didn't know how I was going to explain why I hadn’t told her from
the start or why we’d made the stupid bet in the first place. It
all came out—wrong place, wrong time—but Rose was amazing. She
believed me and forgave me. I’m just afraid she’ll spend the week
we’re apart deciding I’m not worth any more of her time.”

“Tyler said she almost cried.” Drew relayed
what Tyler had told him while they had been waiting for Jack and
Rose to come back in the tavern. “She’s invested, Jack. I don’t
think she’ll give up on you for something that happened before you
started seeing her.”

Jack felt a constriction in his chest at the
thought of bringing Rose to the verge of tears. He wanted to make
her smile and laugh. He wanted to hear her moans as he brought her
pleasure again and again. But he never wanted to be responsible for
making her cry.