Forgiving Patience (21 page)

“Sweetness, will you look at me,
please?”

Her hair hung around her face, making
it impossible for him to see what she was feeling. He wanted to be prepared in
case she decided to be a mean drunk and haul off and slap him in the face. He’d
let her do it, because he’d deserved it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to
know it was coming.

He gently moved the hair closest to
him away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. It looked like she’d been
crying for hours. Her mascara was running down her cheeks, and her face was
splotchy. She tilted her head toward him, letting him see her tear-filled eyes.
He could handle a spitting-mad Anna, but this Anna was a different story. Any
woman crying about did him in, especially when that woman was one he cared
deeply about.

Jake rubbed her back, making his body
respond immediately. What was wrong with him? This was not the time, but he
couldn’t seem to help it. Every time he touched her, he wanted to only touch
her more. He needed to get it together.

“Can I get you out of here?”

A loud booming voice entered the
room. “There any food in here? My party didn’t come with food.” Bradley either
didn’t know they were in there, or he cared less—probably both.

“What the fuck! Can’t you see we’re
in the middle of something here? Get out.”

“
Whoaaaa
,
what’s wrong, baby?” Bradley went
over to Anna, knocking Jake out of the way. He lifted her head off the counter
and started speaking softly. Jake could hardly make out the words being spoken,
but if he knew his brother, and he did, they were not just words of
encouragement, they were come-on lines he used on every woman around town. Any
other woman, he could care less—it was better that Bradley take care of them
than him—but not Anna. There was no way he was letting his drunken brother
anywhere near a drunk and vulnerable Anna.

“Bradley, if you don’t get out of
here right now, I’ll pick up from that fight earlier and knock your ass out,
got it?”

Bradley never turned his focus off of
Anna, and she wasn’t taking her eyes off him. This was going to turn into
bloodshed if his brother didn’t leave that instant.

“I’m just being the man you never
could be.” At that moment, Bradley knew he’d screwed up. It was evident in the
way he suddenly jumped away from Anna, throwing both hands in front of his
face. The guy never backed down from any fight, but he actually looked scared.
“Sorry, bro, that was out of line. I’m drunk…and well, you know how I get. I
didn’t mean it.”

“No, you’re
rrr
…right
,” Anna cried. “Bradley, he never was
a man. He knows it. That’s why he’s so threatened right now. He knows he’s a
jackass.”

Blood rushed to his face, and he
could actually feel the heat radiating from his body. So he was dealing with
two drunks—one who didn’t know when to shut up, and the other was turning out
to not be the nice drunk he was hoping for. Crap.

“Bradley, I’m going to let you slide
on that little remark, but you’d better get out of here. Have Jesse drive you
home.”

“No. I don’t want you to go, Bradley.
You’re the only one here besides Em who actually cares about my feelings and
what I want. Can you take me home? No, wait…do you have a bathtub?”

“Yeah, baby. Why?”

“’Cause I haven’t been able to take a
hot bath since I’ve gotten to Patience, and I really want to. My apartment
didn’t come with the privilege of having a tub. Why don’t I just sleep at your
house?”

No way was Jake letting this happen.
He figured she was trying to get a reaction out of him, and it was working.
“No. I can’t let you two do that. I’ll drive you home, Anna.”

Bradley was feeling brave again and
said, “You heard the woman. She wants me. I do have a tub and all. Didn’t you
rip hers out of the house?”

“You took out my tub?” Anna cried.

Jake ignored her altogether, because
he had other concerns—his asshole of a brother.

“I’ve let you stand upright long
enough, more time than you deserve, so I would advise you to catch a ride with
Jesse and get the hell outta here. Now.”

“Fine. Anna, I better go. I’ve had a
little too much to drink, and if something was to happen to your pretty little
face ‘cause of me, I would never forgive myself.” After tipping his straw hat,
he gave her that southern boy wink. But before leaving the room, he turned
around one last time, “Oh, and, Anna, you come by any night and use my tub…or
anything else you need.”

“Bradley. Out,” Jake bit out.
“Finally,” he muttered under his breath, relieved his brother had left before
punches were thrown. He didn’t want to fight him, but he would have if needed
be.

“You didn’t have to threaten him, you
know. He was just being nice, and I wanted him here.”

“He’s had too much to drink. I didn’t
want him taking advantage of you.”

“Why, because that’s your job, right?
Don’t think I don’t know about your track record. I hear things—all the women
are eager to share about their wild nights with ex-ballplayer Jake Lawrence.”

“I’ve never taken advantage of you,
Anna. You know that.”

“No, never sexually, but you have
taken advantage of me. The woman in the living room is evidence of that. You do
remember Cara, don’t you, or have you had so many redheads since then that she
doesn’t even rate a memory in your pea-sized brain?”

She stood from the barstool for the
first time since he’d arrived. He imagined she was gripping the counter to keep
herself from swaying. When he rushed to her side, she stopped him by putting up
a shaky hand.

“Don’t touch me.”

What patience he had was just about
gone. His head hurt and body ached. She might not have wanted his help, but he
had been called here, and she was by damn going to get it. “Anna, I’m going to
have to touch you, otherwise you won’t make it to the truck.”

“Truck? You think I’m going anywhere
with you?”

“You’ll either walk out this door
with me or I’ll carry you over my shoulder. Which way do you want it?”

“What’s up with everyone threatening
me tonight? First Alice, and now you. I’m tired of it. Nobody will be carrying
me anywhere. So you can just go home.”

Vaguely, he remembered seeing a
man-like woman drinking a beer when he came in the door. That had to be Alice. He
could see why Anna listened to the woman. If only he had the same effect on
her. If she wasn’t willing to leave with him of her own free will, then he had
no other choice but to carry her out.

He swept her up, threw her over his
shoulder in a fireman’s hold, and headed toward the front door.

“Hey,” she protested, putting up a
good fight, kicking and screaming.

“Stop it, Anna. You’re only making it
harder on yourself.”

Tommy ran in front of him, threw him
his truck keys, and quickly opened the front door.

“Thanks, man. I’ll bring it back to
you tomorrow.”

“Just don’t let her hurl in it.”

He tossed her in the front seat,
cursing Tommy for putting the lift kit on his truck. He shut her door, making
sure there weren’t any limbs hanging out, and ran to the other side before she
tried to bolt.

Anna was only staying a few minutes
away from Em and Tommy’s place, but he didn’t want to take her there. He wanted
her with him. And considering the state she was in right then, he knew she
would have only protested if he asked, so he turned in the opposite direction
from Garrett’s rental and headed out of town to Anna’s…his home at the moment.

“Jake, you take me home now.”

“That’s what I’m doing.”

“No, you take me to Garrett’s. I will
not be staying with you.”

“Well, you see, honey, I’m the one
driving, so I get to choose where you go now, don’t I?”

“
Uhhhh
,
you’re impossible,” she cried, throwing her hands in the air out of
frustration.

She stared out the passenger window
the rest of the drive. That was fine with him. It wasn’t like she would
remember their conversation anyway. He drove slower than usual, not ready to
face her just yet. She was pissed at him, and when she got pissed, there was no
telling what was going to come out. Add being drunk on top of that, and he was
in a hell of a lot of trouble.

When Jake put the truck in park, he
could tell out of the corner of his eye that she was about to run. “Stay right
where you are. I’ll come around.”

“I’m about to puke.” She took her arm
and covered her mouth.

Hurrying as fast as he could, he
jumped out of the truck, barely slamming the door shut behind him. Opening
hers, he could tell she was trying desperately not to hurl. She didn’t succeed.
As soon as Jake turned her toward him, she puked all over his button-down
shirt.

“Fuck.”

She looked at him with tear-filled
eyes.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry. It’s going be
all right.”

“No, it’s not. I’ve made a mess out
of everything tonight. I’ll be surprised if Em ever talks to me again.”

Jake took his shirt off, throwing it
on the ground, and picked her up in his arms. After wrapping both arms around
his neck, she started sobbing on his chest. Was it possible that she could hear
his heart beating wildly? He didn’t want her mad at him, but he could handle
that better than this. He didn’t trust himself with her when she was vulnerable
and touching him. His body was instantly reacting to the simple touch. He put
her halfway down long enough to open the door and turn the light switch on
before he brought her back up to his chest, holding her so close it hurt. After
laying her on the couch, he placed a pillow under her golden hair and covered
her with the blanket he kept on the back of the couch. A flashback entered his
mind—remembering the last time he had her laid back on that same couch. If he wasn’t
hard already, that simple thought would’ve made him.

“Stay right here. I’ll be right
back.”

“I’ve been told it isn’t good to
break the seal,” she informed him.

What in the hell was a seal and why
shouldn’t he break it? “A what?” he asked.

“To pee. At
Em’s
party, someone told me not to break the seal to go pee.”

“Uh…okay.” That still didn’t tell him
anything. Maybe it was a chick thing, and he was best off not knowing what in
the hell she was talking about. Hell, she probably didn’t know what she was talking
about.

When she fisted the blanket and
didn’t try to move, he figured it was safe to leave her for the few minutes it
would take to clean up and put on a pot of coffee. This was going to be another
long night, and he was going to need as much caffeine as his maker could pour
out. He only turned on the lights required for him to see, not wanting to
bother her in case she was falling asleep. After starting the coffee, he
stopped by the bathroom to wipe off his chest before going to the small bedroom
to pull on a fresh, clean T-shirt. The aroma from the coffee maker told him it
was about done, so he headed back up the hall to check on Anna. When he didn’t
see her on the couch, he stopped in his tracks. The blanket was tossed on the
floor. He ran to the window, looking out to the drive. Thank God the truck was
still there, so she hadn’t gone far.

“I’m in here.” He heard her fragile
voice say.

He turned to the kitchen, and there
she sat at the small table, bringing a cup to her pale lips. Another woman had
never looked so beautiful to him.

“I would’ve brought you a cup to the
couch.”

“It’s fine. Sorry I threw up on you.”

“No harm done. I probably deserved
it.”

“Yeah, probably,” she said honestly.
Her hurt was evident in her trembling voice, her slight movement, the dullness
in her usually sparkling, green eyes.

Jake took a cup from the cabinet
above the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. This was going to be the first
of many for the night. He took a seat across the table, forcing her to look him
in the eyes. Whatever she had been through that night—the good and bad, he
wanted to see it in her eyes. “What happened tonight, Anna?”

“I just wanted to be different for
once. I’m boring and could never throw a penis party. I wouldn’t expect you to
understand.”

“Do I even want to know what that
means?”

“Just an Em thing.”

“Then I don’t want to know.” He took
another sip of coffee before saying, “You’re way off, you know. Nobody expects
you to be different. They want the real Anna.”

“Did you see the party Em threw?”

“Penises. Hard to miss, but I said I
don’t want to know any more.”

“Well, she didn’t even trust me to
throw that kind of party. She was right, but still I want to be the kind of
woman who could.”

“First of all, there are few people
who have the balls to throw that kind of party. Em is in a league all her own.
Nobody needs two of her. You’re amazing, Anna. Don’t you realize that?”