This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4) (12 page)

Chapter 18

Jake was glad that
MacKenzie hadn’t objected to his insistence that she and Noelle stay at the
house. That his victory had been so easy was proof of the toll the day’s events
had on her.

When Jake knocked
on her bedroom door, it was with the hope that enough time had passed for
MacKenzie and the baby to have settled in.

With her soft call
of entry, Jake pushed open the door, his eyes seeking her whereabouts.
MacKenzie was lying on the bed, with a cooing Noelle beside her. The picture
they presented touched Jake in a way he hadn’t imagined. That the baby was back
with her mother, was as it should be, and the beautiful smile on MacKenzie’s
face told its own story. Observing the picture, Jake wanted nothing more than
to be a part of the tableau before him.

To his amazement,
MacKenzie beckoned him forward. Without conscious thought, Jake moved towards
them. When he reached the bed, his attention was snagged by a sound that he
would not soon forget. Noelle was looking directly at him, and was emitting a
belly laugh that wouldn’t have been out of place on a woman twenty times her
age. Looking back at MacKenzie as if for confirmation of what he was hearing,
Jake was met by her laughter added to Noelle’s and a shrug.

“I don’t know why
you’re looking at me; she’s never done that before.” MacKenzie managed to get
out around her fit of giggles.

The sound of their
merriment was infectious and his deep laughter soon mingled with theirs. Giving
no thought to his actions, Jake kicked off his shoes and joined them on the
bed. Resting on his side, a hand supporting his head, Jake stared down at the
laughing child.

Noelle’s response
to his presence was irresistible to Jake. Before he knew it, he was cooing and
making silly noises, all because the baby seemed to enjoy it. Then he was
touching her, rubbing a finger against her cheek, over her hair that he could
tell was going to be as red as her mother’s. Unconsciously, he also searched
for any sign of freckles that were so much a part of MacKenzie’s face.

When MacKenzie’s
laughter ceased, Jake didn’t know. At some point during his absorption with
Noelle, he had become the center of MacKenzie’s attention. Somewhere in the
back of his mind, Jake knew he should probably be feeling self-conscious, but
nothing could have been further from the truth. He felt wonderful. His girls
were safe and where they should be. When he had begun to think of them as
his
girls
, he didn’t know, nor did he question the term. They were his, Noelle
already knew it, and now all he had to do was convince her mother.

When MacKenzie’s
words drifted towards him, he met them with a dimpled smile. “I think she likes
you.”

“Of course she
does. I told you before; I’m pretty much irresistible, and Noelle knows it.
Once I get her mother to admit it, my work will be done.” Jake’s look was one
of fake expectation as though he were waiting for MacKenzie to confirm his
words.

The response he
received was nothing more than he had expected.

“Get over
yourself, Jacob!”

That MacKenzie
rolled her eyes didn’t bother him in the slightest. He knew what he wanted, and
they were right here beside him on the bed. He also knew that nothing would
stop him from having them in his life, for the rest of their lives. All
MacKenzie needed was time, and he was prepared to give her as much of it as she
felt she needed; she just didn’t need to know that.

All signs of
playfulness left Jake’s face as he held MacKenzie’s gaze. He wanted her to know
that his next words carried with them a wealth of seriousness. “You’re worth it
MacKenzie, so I’ll wait. Just remember that I won’t wait forever.”

Unable to maintain
eye contact at the solemnity of his words, MacKenzie seemed to take the easy
way out and transferred her attention back to her daughter. That she hadn’t
come back at him with a snappy response spoke volumes. To him, her silence
suggested that she had heard and understood him. For now, that was enough.

Looking at her
bent head for a while longer, Jake also transferred his attention back to the
now quiet Noelle. When his gaze alighted on the baby, he found that she was
still looking directly at him. If it were possible, Jake’s heart swelled even
more in reaction to the look of complete innocent acceptance that was reflected
back at him. One last sleepy smile, and Noelle’s eyes began to close as she
drifted off to sleep.

Unable to take his
eyes from the child, Jake watched her until the flutter of her eyes became
still. Only then did he look at MacKenzie. To his surprise she too was fast
asleep. It had been an eventful day that seemed to have taken its toll on her.
That she was comfortable to relinquish her control to find rest with him lying
beside her and her child resonated with him.

Reaching for the
comforter that rested at the foot of the bed, Jake pulled it up and covered
their bodies. Stretching out his long powerful, yet gentle arm, he first ran
his palm over the tuft of hair on Noelle’s head before moving on. Next, his
hand rested, on MacKenzie’s cheek with a delicate touch so as not to awaken her;
he moved on to her waist where his hand came to rest.

Pulling in a deep
breath, Jake slowly inhaled. To his astonishment, as he exhaled with
contentment, MacKenzie’s breath exactly matched his own.

**********

MacKenzie wanted
to return to her home now that her daughter was once again with her. Jake had
tried to talk her out of it. As he was dealing with a strong willed woman, he
had allowed her to attempt to leave the Kingdom mansion. Once near the gate and
faced with a throng of paparazzi, MacKenzie had retreated back to the house.

In the meantime, he
hadn’t been idle, he had been using his time to find out as much as he could
about what was currently going on with Carlos. Completely caught up with his
investigations, he didn’t give much thought as to why Jason also seemed
immersed in his own research.

Frustrated, Jake
decided to take the step of contacting Carlos directly in an attempt to set up
a meeting. The initial part of the conversation hadn’t gone as he would have
wanted, but in the end he elicited an agreement to a meeting between the three
of them.

His hope was that
once they were face to face, and if he asked the right questions, he would be
in a better position to decipher the meaning behind Carlos’s actions.

Carlos had stalled
for a number of days before Jake could finally tie him down to a meeting date
and time. Having neglected his business commitments for much too long, Jake was
in his office when the call came in that MacKenzie was on her way up.

The days she had
spent in the Kingdom home had rapidly taken on a pattern that Jake was becoming
familiar with; if MacKenzie saw him coming, she would quickly disappear in the
opposite direction. While he didn’t like the tactic, he was a master at picking
his wars, so he allowed her to escape whenever she had a mind to avoid him.

**********

MacKenzie had
never been to the Kingdom Hotel because it was way out of her price range.
Stepping into the lobby she took a few minutes to look around and was
immediately stunned. She had an almost overwhelming feeling of having stepped
back in time. She had arrived with expectations of grandeur, but the display
before her wasn’t what she had been expecting.

Her eyes didn’t
know what to look at first, the marble columns, the vintage art deco elevator
facades or the sweeping staircases, on either side of the building that
majestically wound their way upward. In a word, the hotel was stunning. From
what she could see, everything about the hotel was simply stunning.

Making her way
across the black and white marbled mosaic floor, MacKenzie approached the front
desk with a feeling of apprehension. She was a little taken aback to see that
the desk wasn’t staffed solely by young beautiful people. Rather there was a
mixture of men and women both young and older. Their common denominator was
they were impeccably dressed in black suits reminiscent of the art deco era.

MacKenzie
introduced herself.

“Ahh, Ms.
Braithwaite, we have been expecting you.”

Before she could
respond, someone was standing at her side ushering her across the vast lobby
towards an elevator. When the doors opened, MacKenzie came face to face with
Jake.

A little surprised
that he had bothered to come down to meet her; she said the first thing that
came into her mind. “This place is off the chain!”

With a nod, Jake
dismissed her escort, stood to the side, and with an arm extended, indicated
that she should join him in the elevator.

“Hello, MacKenzie.
Welcome to the Homestead.”

“Homestead?”

“That’s what we
call this place,” Jake said with a grin. “It’s a long story better suited for
another time.”

“Okay.”

“You look
beautiful! Your suit matches your eyes.”

Unable to return
to her home because of the paparazzi, Aviva and Jake had urged her to order
whatever she and the baby needed online. Reluctant at first, when it looked as
though Aviva intended to order a whole store, MacKenzie had capitulated. The
suit she had on was one of her purchases. In one of her rare moments of vanity,
she had recognized that the suit did indeed match her eyes, and knew she had to
have it. It was also why she had chosen this meeting to wear it. McKenzie knew
she needed to pull on every bit of confidence possible in order to remain calm.
Otherwise, she would probably end up diving across a table and punching Carlos
in the face.

Deciding to play
it cool, MacKenzie went for sophisticated nonchalance, and replied with a
simple, “thank you.” Adding a shrug to her reply as if his compliment was of no
importance; she turned away. That Jake had noticed her appearance was oddly
pleasing, and MacKenzie hoped her blush didn’t show.

“Yes, you look
lovely.” As he spoke, Jake ran his hand down MacKenzie’s arm. His touch sent
shivers along her spine. She didn’t know what it was about this man, but
whenever she was near him, he turned her insides to mush. Even with a layer of
clothing separating the touch of his hand against her skin, MacKenzie just
managed to conceal the shiver that ran through her body. Before she could stop
herself, her mind wondered. With only a touch; images of them alone together in
her home rushed into her mind, and her recollections almost overwhelmed her.

As his warm
fingers made contact with the skin of her throat, MacKenzie’s awareness of him
rose. Unable to resist, she leaned closer to his warmth. She had deliberately
been avoiding him, but right now she wanted nothing more than to experience the
feel of his big muscular body surrounding her. She wanted to know the touch of
his expert hands as they moved against her skin making her forget about what
she was about to face.

The popping sound
came as a complete distraction to the thoughts that occupied her mind. She knew
the sound. Her eyes darted to his hand; Jake held up the price tag that blew
her pretense of sophistication out of the water.

“Give me that
Jacob Kingdom!” MacKenzie didn’t know if she should laugh or be embarrassed.
Here she was fantasizing about him, and he was pulling a price tag off her
clothing

With a laugh, Jake
held the tag above his head just out of reach. The ping that came moments
before the doors opened had MacKenzie turning forwards in case someone spotted
her jumping up and down like a fool.

As they stepped
out of the elevator, MacKenzie gave Jake a death glare. Gone was the man who
had just been teasing her, in his place was the man she had first met. The Jake
she didn’t much like. The transformation was so sudden that MacKenzie blinked
at him in wide-eyed disbelief.

“This way,
please.” Without waiting for a reply, Jake began walking. He didn’t break stride
as he nodded to a man and woman who sat behind identical desks facing the
elevator. Reaching a set of double doors, he turned the handle and held it open
for her to pass through.

Obviously his
office, MacKenzie took in the decor. Indicating which seat she should take,
Jake carried on walking around the desk and settled into his chair.

Looking around
MacKenzie was curious and hoped the way his office was decorated would give her
further insight into his character. She had seen his home office which had been
something of a surprise. This space couldn’t have been more different. At a
glance, she could tell the room she was looking at was just a facade put
together for his business persona. The room looked nothing like what she would
have imagined it to. It was chrome and glass, and nothing was out of place. The
only item in the room that matched Jake’s personality was a canvas that hung on
the wall.

Leaving her seat,
she walked closer to the painting. It depicted a beautiful sunset as seen from
the middle of the ocean, the stern of the vessel also being a part of the
painting. Although the image itself was stunning, it was a feeling of being
pulled into the tranquility of the vast openness of the sea that held her
attention.

“Do you like it?”