Please Remember Me (27 page)

When they parted for air, Marlon kept her close. “What’s in your heart, Jaden Marie? Who is in your soul?”

Between gasps, she told him her truth. “You.”

Before he could respond, the door to the cuddle room slammed shut. Jaden jerked in her seat. Sabrina plastered herself against the wooden barrier, a pair of beautician’s shears in her hand. Her eyes blazed. “You can’t have him. He’s mine and I’ll rip your bloody little heart out if you try to challenge me!”

Jaden clutched her stomach. Sabrina could beat the living hell out of her as long as she didn’t harm the baby. “You’re better than this, Sabrina.”

Marlon edged out from under her and stood. He put himself between the couch and Sabrina. “What are you doing?” With his hands in the air, he inched towards her. “You’re going to ruin all the things you worked for, like your spot at Callum and Callum. Jaden’s right. You’re a good actress and accountant. Don’t throw your new career away over me. I’m not worthy of you.”

Although she knew he was pumping Sabrina’s ego to calm her down, Jaden winced. Her gaze darted around the room. Why the heck hadn’t she put a phone near the couch? Pushing herself off the sofa on unsteady legs, she edged towards Marlon. If she slipped his cell phone from his belt, she could call for help. She held Sabrina’s gaze as she moved forwards.

“No you don’t.” Sabrina surged towards Marlon and slapped Jaden’s hand from his waist. “I’ll stab him through the heart if you try something so stupid.” Her eyes narrowed to angry slits. “My life was perfect until you showed up. Marlon and I had a rocky time, but we were on the verge of working it out. Then you came along and shot my world to hell just like on the set of Kicks. I won’t have my heart ripped apart again.”

From the corner of her eye, Jaden noticed Logan and Corbin strolling down the hallway. Gain their attention. Her gaze vacillated between Sabrina and the door. Now or never.

“Help me!”

“Bitch. I loved you.” Sabrina lunged at Marlon, swinging the shears. At the same time, Logan shoved the door open. As the barrier gave way, Marlon strong-armed Sabrina into a headlock. The shears slipped from her fingers, plinking across the floor. “Don’t do this to me, Marlon! I love you. We belong together.”

Logan sprinted into the space, his footsteps muffled on the carpet. “What the hell? Are you hurt, Jaden?”

Collapsing into Logan’s arms, Jaden forced her gaze to Marlon. He had Sabrina on the ground with her hands behind her back. “That’s what you get for trying to hurt my fiancée,” Marlon snapped. “Never again.”

Corbin knelt next to Marlon. “I called nine-one-one. Back-up should be here in a second.” He tapped the floor near Sabrina’s face. “That’ll teach you not to fuck with the law. Marlon knows mixed martial arts.”

 
“Your fiancée? Jaden? Should I know something here?” Logan did a double-take. “I don’t know martial arts, but I have your back.”

“I don’t know what’s going on.” Jaden stared at Marlon. “I need to sit down.”

Before she could say more, two uniformed officers and the bouncer from the door stormed into the room. Dropping her head to Logan’s shoulder, Jaden let the tears flow. Blame it on the hormones and the never-ending disasters in her wake. Logan caressed her shoulder with the pads of his fingers. “Marlon’s got this under control. He’s a good man—a little slow to come around, but a good guy.”

Wriggling from his arms, she collapsed onto the couch and buried her face in her hands. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a few minutes, a pair of putty-coloured knees edged between her sandal-clad feet. When she looked up, Marlon smiled his crooked grin. He smoothed his fingers over her jaw. “It’s all over, Jaden Marie. You’re safe.”

Her resolve shattered as the gravity of the events collapsed down around her in a landslide. “Safe? What’s safe? You mean no paparazzi chasing me to get pictures of me doing stupid things, no strange women threatening me with scissors because they thought we’d had a romantic relationship, no more forcing those who care about me to leave me because I’m a hot mess?” Fresh tears slid down her cheeks. “I just wanted to create a place for animals to go when no one wanted them. I wanted them to be happy. I wanted to be happy and free from Daddy’s constraints.”

Wiping her tears away with kisses, Marlon rested his forehead against hers. “And you created it.”

“Create? I wreck everything I touch.” She picked at the buttons on his shirt. Her voice caught. “Why do you love me?”

“I can’t explain why, I just know I do.” He cocked his head. “There’s more going on in that beautiful head of yours. Let me in, baby girl.”

Time to unburden herself. “Rex isn’t my father. My life is one big lie.”

“How?”

“When I went to California, I asked for my money—my trust from my mother. Long story short, when Pia’s baby kicked, he realised all the mistakes he’d made with me and how much he still loved Momma. He said until that moment, he’d forgotten how much I meant to him, because he only ever saw my real father when he looked at me. He’d wasted sixteen years of my life allowing that hatred to sour our relationship. I don’t want that with you or the baby.”

Pulling her down astride his lap, he wrapped his arms around her. “No way in hell. I finally got you back in my arms. I’m not letting you go. Ever.”

A cross between a laugh and a cry escaped her throat. She pressed her face in to his neck. Her world righted on its axis. Marlon loved her. He wanted her—forever.

His hands smoothed over her hair. “I love you, Jaden Marie. In front of the press, in the eyes of God, our friends, yeah, I love you.”

Looking him straight in the eye, she dragged air into her lungs. “Do you want the baby? Tell me you want us.”

He rubbed the knuckle of his middle finger over her belly. “A mini Cross? You bet—and his or her mother. We’re a pretty damned good team.”

Tears of joy fell from her eyes. “I love you, Marlon.”

“Then marry me.”

“Before the baby comes?”

“Whenever you want, baby girl, as long as you’re willing to be Jaden Cross.”

Covering her mouth with her hands, she cried yet again—this time happy tears.

“I know this is probably a hormone overload, but is that a yes? ‘Cause if you want to wait until I walk out to the cruiser, I have a ring—a very special one.”

She threw her arms around his neck. “I can’t wait to see it.”

“I have a question or two. We arrested Joe and impounded his Ford. Who is this new, mysterious, black-haired guy, anyway?”

“That’s Ronny Harlan, my publicist for the shelter. I went to school with him, but he’s not a threat. He’s got a thing for Goth chicks.”

“And Bobby?”

“Was a mistake I wish I could take back.”

“What’s going on in here?”

Jaden and Marlon turned in tandem. Judi sat in the doorway, with Sparky and Riley on either side of her wheelchair. Both dogs barked. “What’s going on? The party isn’t fun without you…” A bright grin spread across her face. “Marlon! So nice to see you. And I assume you have that piece of jewellery you found.”

Jaden’s gaze vacillated between Marlon and Judi. “You two conspired.”

“Apparently, she wanted to make sure when I actually proposed, it would be something special.” Marlon nodded. “I’m sorry I waited too long to show you I really love you.”

“You both needed the time apart. It was for your own good, Jaden, honey.” Judi folded her hands on her lap. “When I saw that you weren’t happy because he strolled out of your life, and that he wasn’t acting right because he needed you, I instigated a little Judi-intervention. Have you asked her? Because I wanted to see you ask her.”

Chuckling, Marlon nodded again.

Judi cocked a brow. “And what is your answer, missy?”

Jaden glanced at Judi, then the dogs and finally at Marlon. The things she wanted the most in life were right at her feet. All she needed to do was grasp them with both hands and live. Easier done than said. “Sparky has been lonely without you. He won’t shut up, barking at all hours of the night and day, and in this building, it echoes.” She nibbled her bottom lip. “Would you be willing to live with us upstairs? I have the top floor of the building all to myself. And if you are, there’s a garage and everything so we don’t have to park in the street.”

He silenced her with a kiss. The joining turned primal in an instant. She whimpered and melted into his embrace. She belonged with him. Her stomach did flip-flops…or was it the baby? Hell, she wasn’t sure. When they parted for air, Jaden gasped. “I’ll marry you. I love you, Marlon.”

“Hot damn! I’m going to get to wear pink after all!” Judi clapped her hands and grinned.

“Do you think Sparks will walk me down the aisle? He helped bring us together.”

“I’m sure of it.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kicking her feet up, Jaden leant back in her blessedly overstuffed office chair. If anyone had bothered to tell her about six months earlier that having a child was so labour-intensive, she might have shied away from the task. Between the bouts of morning sickness that took place at any time of the day but morning, the backaches, and the horse pill-sized vitamins, she wasn’t sure she liked the idea of being pregnant. Then again, she didn’t need the implants to increase her cup size, much to Marlon’s delight.

Glancing at the wedding photo on her desk, she sighed. The past month seemed like a dream. After marrying Marlon at the now-infamous little stone church, she had settled in at the shelter as the director. With twenty pets in the building and four on loan to the nursing home, the idea was a success.

She flipped pages on her clipboard. More volunteers sent in applications each day. Due to Marlon’s insistence, she had rigourous background checks done, in case anyone who might hurt the animals or the other volunteers slipped through the cracks. In the alcove under her desk, Sparky snored. Lump, Marlon’s cat, sprawled across her desk with Tantrum and Unruly in a furry grey and black conglomeration of cat.

A knock at her office door startled her. Sparky barked and Tantrum darted under the couch. Lump opened one green eye before curling up again and resting against Unruly’s back. Jaden took a deep breath. “Yes?”

Ron poked his head around the frosted glass door. “Calm down, Sparks. It’s just me.” He strolled into the room and knelt to scratch the dog’s floppy ears. “See? I’m not a masher. Hey, I have the new release for Delish, and the local news channel called. They’d like to interview you for their Person of the Month column. Are you up for that?”

Sparky trotted around the desk and jumped up onto the couch. He circled the cushion once and plopped down in his sleeping spot.

Jaden scratched her belly. The baby kicked, pressing against her ribs. “Junior’s busy today. I think he’s going to be a gymnast or do mixed martial arts. He’s certainly got the legs for something athletic.”

“He’s a fighter like his mother.” Grinning, Ron stood and folded his arms. “So are you sure he’s a boy?”

 
“I have no idea. Marlon doesn’t want to know and I’ll be happy when he or she’s in my arms, not kicking my bladder.”

Ron chuckled. “And once he or she is, you’ll want another. Speaking of children, Marlon’s on his way back. I do believe he’s got a present. Oh, and the bus from the retirement centre should be here in about ten minutes if you want to see Judi today.”

She nodded. “Thanks. I’ll be out there in a bit.”

He dipped his head and disappeared through the doorway.

With Ron gone, Sparky vacated the couch and strolled to her chair. He dropped his chin on Jaden’s lap. Without looking down, she closed her eyes and scratched his head. “What do you suppose the surprise is?”

When she opened her eyes, Marlon was seated on the edge of her desk. She screamed. “You’ll give me heart failure.”

He shrugged. “I know mouth-to-mouth. I can resuscitate you. No sweat.” He held one finger up. “Second thought, there’d be a little sweat, but we’d both end up sated.”

She stared at him. In his uniform, the man could stop traffic—figuratively and literally. But in a simple long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, he made her body flush. He made love to her each night and held her when they had finished. Her heart swelled each time she saw him.

He folded his muscle-corded arms. A hank of copper hair slipped across his brow. “Don’t you want to know what the surprise is?”

“I always want to know what your surprises are.”

“Well, it’s really a two person surprise.” He turned to the door. “Bring her in, Ron.”

In the doorway, Ron appeared. He whistled. A caramel-coloured Basset hound with black freckles on its legs ambled into the room. “Meet Mrs Nesbit.”

The new dog barked in a throaty voice. Sparky sat up and struggled to stand. Mrs Nesbit sat and panted, her long pink tongue dripping doggie slobber onto the floor.

Jaden squealed and clapped. “You got Sparks a girlfriend!” She struggled to her feet and rounded the desk. Marlon’s hand warmed her lower back. Wrapping her arms around him, she kissed his neck. “What a fabulous surprise. I love her and I think Sparks does, too.”

Feathering a kiss over her temple, Marlon chuckled. “Good thing. She belonged to an elderly gentleman over in Jarvis. When he passed, the family opted to put her down. But they read the ad for PRM and decided to drop her off here instead. Looks like she’ll fit in just fine. What do you think?”

Jaden sighed. What did she think? Life was perfect. “I have the dogs, the cats, a baby on the way, and a building that’s paid for. I’m good.”

“What about me?” Marlon wrapped both arms around her and rested his forehead against hers. “Am I good?”

“You’re the icing on my cake.”

“I love you, Jaden Marie.”

“I love you, too.”