The Billionaire Playboy (26 page)

Charlie turned
the magazine over so Jake's smiling face no longer stared back at her and
tossed it onto the counter. She didn't want to know what the magazine had to
say about him.

“You okay? You
look a little pale.”

Charlie's eyes
flew open at the sound of her friend's voice. She'd been so distracted that she
hadn't heard the door open.

“I saw the cover
of your magazine,” Charlie nodded toward the counter.

Beth moved
toward the cupboards above the counter. “Did you look at the rest of it?”

As her friend
turned the other way, Charlie caught the triumphant smile that spread across
her face.

“You left it on
the table intentionally. Why did you do that?” Beth was one of the few people
who knew how much Jake's betrayal hurt her. She didn't consider Beth a cruel
thoughtless person so she didn't understand why her friend would leave the
magazine behind.

Beth shrugged as
she took the seat across the table with the magazine in one hand. “I thought
you might be interested in it, but I take it you didn't read the article. He
was telling you the truth about Blair. I saw it on Celeb Talk last night and
the article confirms that some up-and-coming actor I've never heard of is the
father of Blair Peterson's baby.”

“So?” Charlie
tore off a large chunk of her roll and bit into it in order to give herself
something to do. In all the time they'd been friends, Beth had never given her
advice unless Charlie asked for it. However she suspected that Beth was about
to give her some now and she knew she didn't want to hear it.

“The story he
gave your mom could be true too. I don't know if he'd lie about his family like
that. Would you?”

“I hear an 'and'
coming.” Charlie tapped her fingers on the table.

“Since he was
telling the truth about this,” Beth picked up the magazine. “I'd give him the
benefit of the doubt on the other too.”

Charlie refused
to look at the cover of the magazine. She didn't need to see a picture of Jake.
His image was burned into her memory. At least once a day it made a cameo
appearance in her thoughts even though she did the best she could to bury it.

“So what if he
was, Beth. I don't do long term relationships. You know that. I'm not looking
for the ring and the happily-ever-after like you.” Charlie recited the words
she'd been telling herself and her friends for years, yet somehow they felt
hollow today. They lacked any true conviction this time. And deep down in her
gut she knew they were not true, at least not anymore. Somehow she'd let her
guard down and let Jake sneak his way into her heart.

Charlie tore off
another piece of her cinnamon bun. “I'm not interested in having Jake in my
life.”

Beth raised an
eyebrow and pointed her own cinnamon bun in Charlie's direction. “You Charlotte
O'Brien are a lousy liar. You've been miserable ever since you got back.”

Charlie opened
her mouth to protest, but Beth didn't give her the chance.

“You might get
away with lying to everyone else but you should at least be honest with
yourself.”

She hated to
admit it, but her friend was right. Despite her words to the contrary she did
miss him. But, she didn't know if she was ready to allow someone into her life
permanently. That, of course, was assuming he was still interested and felt the
same way.

Before she did
anything she needed to think. “I'm going for a run. I'll see you later.”
Charlie dropped the rest of her cinnamon bun onto her plate and stood.

“I'll be here if
you want to talk later.”

***

Charlie pulled
her Jeep into a spot alongside an electric blue Lamborghini that she somehow
knew was Jake's and turned off the engine. The coffee she drank on the way over
threatened to make a repeat appearance as she sat looking at the building in
front of her. It'd been three days since she'd learned the truth about Jake's
paternity suit. During those three days her conversation with her mother kept replaying
in her head as did memories of Jake's and her time together.

Then the night
before, after many internal conversations she'd admitted two things to herself.
One that she was afraid to leave the Navy. Sure she loved what she did, but
that wasn't the real reason she had been thinking of staying. She was scared to
move forward. Afraid of what change might come from leaving her comfort zone,
even though in her heart she was ready to start the next phase of her life. Secondly
she'd finally admitted to herself that she wanted Jake in her life enough to
risk a broken heart. If she didn't at least try she would forever wonder what
if.

There was only
one huge obstacle in the way now; what if he was no longer interested in her. He
hadn't tried to contact her in weeks. Was that a bad sign?

Only one way to find out.
Releasing the
death grip she had on the steering wheel, Charlie opened the car door. A wave
of hot humid air hit her, making her already queasy stomach flip in protest.

Before she could
stop and reconsider, she slammed the car door closed and started across the
parking lot to the building's entrance. A blast of cool air washed over her
when she entered the lobby and, as she crossed the marble tiled floor, she
thanked God for air-conditioning.

 
The doors to the elevator on the other side of
the lobby were about to close as Charlie approached but the man inside saw her
and held the door open for her.

“What floor?” he
asked, his fingers hovering over the buttons.

“Six,” Charlie
answered as she moved toward the left-hand side.

“That's where
I'm heading too,” the tall well-dressed man replied as the elevator door
closed.

She didn't
comment. Even on her best day she wasn't into idle chitchat with strangers. Instead
she nodded and hoped he took the hint. As the elevator moved up, she tapped her
hand against her thigh. Nervous energy coursed through her making it difficult
to stand still. To make her unease even worse she could feel the other rider
looking at her. He hadn't stopped eying her since she entered.

When the sixth
floor lit up and the doors opened she all but bolted out. The Falmouth
Foundation occupied the entire sixth floor of the building. With her shoulders
back and standing as rigid as she would if she was about to meet a senior
officer she walked up to whom she assumed was the receptionist behind a sleek
black desk.

“I'm here to see
Mr. Sherbrooke,” Charlie said in the same no-nonsense voice she used when
giving orders at the hospital.

The woman behind
the desk pushed the oval glasses up farther on her face. “What time is your
appointment?” she asked her fingers poised over the keyboard.

Why hadn't she
thought of that before? “I don't have one. But he knows me.”

The receptionist
moved her hands away from her keyboard. “I'm sorry. He's scheduled for meetings
all day. If you want to make an appointment maybe he can see you later this
week.”

Later in the
week? She didn't think she could wait that long. Now that her mind was made up,
she needed to execute her plan.

Charlie clenched
her fists by her sides. “I only need a few minutes. He must have a little time
free today.”

“His next
appointment is standing behind you.”

She'd forgotten
that the man from the elevator was behind her.

“I can wait
Kimberly. If this is who I think it is, Jake will want to see her. Let Cindy
know Dr. O'Brien is here for him.”

Charlie whipped
her head around toward the man who'd moved to stand next to her. How had he
known who she was? Evidently whoever he was, he was more than just a business
associate.

The receptionist
picked up the phone. “Okay, Mr. Hall.”

“Thank you.” Charlie
bit her tongue to keep herself from asking how he knew who she was.

In response the
man extended his hand. “Christopher Hall. Jake told me a lot about you.”

She didn't know
if that was a good thing or not, but since he was helping her to get what she
wanted she decided not to think about it. “I won't be long,” she said.

“Take your time.”

Just then a slim
gray-haired woman came around the corner. “Dr. O'Brien. I'm Cindy Thomas, Mr.
Sherbrooke's assistant. Please follow me.”

Not a single
person glanced her way as Charlie followed the older woman toward the line of
office doors on the right-hand side. The assistant stopped at the last closed
door in the corner and raised her hand to knock but stopped just before her
knuckles made contact.

“You called to
speak with Mr. Sherbrooke while he was in England didn't you?”

Charlie nodded
curious as to why the woman asked but didn't question her. Any questions would
only delay her.

“I wish you had
given me your nayouryoume. name. Mr. Sherbrooke left instructions to tell you
where he'd gone if you called.”

Charlie's
stomach flipped as guilt mixed with the anxiety already racing through her body.

Before she could
think of a response the assistant knocked and entered the office.

“Christopher
says to take your time. He went downstairs for coffee,” Cindy said. Then she
gestured for Charlie to enter and closed the door behind her.

As the door
clicked behind her, Jake rose from his spot behind a large meeting table and took
a few steps toward her. He was wearing black dress pants and a crisp white
shirt. The knot of his red necktie had been loosened and the sleeves of his
shirt were rolled up exposing his tanned muscular forearms. For a moment she
couldn't do anything but stare at his arms and remember how right it had felt
to be held in them. How special and cared for she had felt.

Man, she hoped
she hadn't blown things with him. Closing her eyes, Charlie took in a deep
breath and then exhaled. It's now or never, she thought as tiny beads of
perspiration trickled down her back.

“I know you're
busy, but I need to talk to you.” Charlie locked her eyes on his face. The
barest hint of a beard covered his face reminding her of how he looked first
thing in the morning. “And I didn't want to do it over the phone.”

So far Jake
hadn't said a word but his face did all the talking. Usually his mouth was set
in a relaxed friendly smile that made others feel at ease, yet right then it
was drawn tight and apprehension lurked in his eyes.

“I'll leave
right after I say what I came here to tell you, if you want.” Charlie forced
her feet to remain still. Fidgeting would only give away how nervous she was,
besides only children fidgeted.

Still in shock
at having Charlie show up at his office, Jake nodded toward the chairs around
the meeting table. “Do you want to sit?”

Sitting was the
last thing he wanted. More than anything he wanted to embrace her and then
demand that she explain her behavior. But he didn't do either.

“Not now thanks.”
Charlie gripped her hands together. “I came to apologize. When I heard you left
Virginia and then saw that picture of you with another woman I jumped to
conclusions. I shouldn't have done that. I was wrong.”

It was on the
tip of his tongue to say yeah you were, but he held the words back. Sarcasm
wouldn't accomplish anything. “Sophia, AJ's girlfriend, called just after
midnight. AJ had just been rushed to the hospital. I didn't have time to call
before I flew out. I assumed you would call here when you couldn't get me so I
asked Cindy to explain the situation to you when you did. But that didn't
happen.”

“She told me
before I came in.”

“When I did call
you didn't give me a chance to explain.” Jake raked a hand through his hair as
the need to know why she'd doubted him increased. Granted he didn't have the
greatest reputation, thanks to the media, but he thought she knew him better
than that. Until a few weeks ago he'd thought she trusted and cared for him as
much as he did her.

Charlie blinked
and looked away. “When I heard you were gone and saw the picture it reminded me
of
 
…” Charlie's voice trailed off.

He might not be
a psychiatrist but he knew whatever was eating at her ran deep. Without hesitation
he took a step closer. With a finger he nudged her face up. The sight of her
hazel eyes filled with tears tugged at his heart.

“It reminded me
of my father. I was twelve when he just walked out. After I saw the picture I
started to think about Blair's baby and it all snowballed.”

He knew her
parents were divorced but he didn't know the particulars behind it. Though it
stung he could understand how she might relate the two.

“You should have
trusted me.” Resentment leaked into his words and he clenched his teeth from
saying anything else he might regret.

A single tear
rolled down Charlie's face. Jake couldn't stop himself from wiping it away.