JakesWildBride (2 page)

“See you tomorrow.” Marion’s eyes darted to Tom then back to Lilah, and she rushed out of the church.

“I’d better be off too.” Lilah picked up her handbag quickly. She pecked Tom’s cheek lightly and wiggled her fingers at the two men without actually looking at Jake again. “See you later.”

She needed to leave before another picture of Jake, naked, flashed through her mind.

***

Several hours later, Jake sat at the scarred old table in the dim light of the local dive bar, and watched in disbelief as his friend downed another glass of scotch. It was his fifth. Although Jake had been surprised when Tom ordered the first, he’d kept his mouth shut. None of his business. If Tom wanted to talk about it, and Jake sincerely hoped that he didn’t, then Jake would listen. Otherwise, he didn’t want to know.He sipped at his lukewarm beer. He was still on his first.

“So how’s it feel to come home?” Tom asked in a slurred voice.

“Weird.” If Jake didn’t want to talk about Tom’s troubles, he really didn’t want to talk about coming home for the first time in fourteen years. “As a,” he waved his arm, “man of the cloth are you supposed to indulge quite so heartily?”

“Man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” Tom lifted his arm to signal the waitress for another glass.

Jake slapped his arm back down and sighed. He was going to have to ask. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m marrying the wrong woman,” Tom answered glumly.

What?!” No way in hell was Lilah Mason wrong.

“I’m in love with Marion.”Jake didn’t want to hear this. He really didn’t. But, he was the product of two very unhappy people, his parents, in a very unhappy marriage. “You didn’t....”

“No! I would never do that to Lilah.” Tom frowned at him. “What’s the matter with you?”

“Are you sure it isn’t just pre-wedding jitters?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can’t get married.”

“How can I do that to Lilah?”

“It would be worse if you married her and you didn’t--”

Tom sighed heavily. “I guess you would know, huh?”

Jake forced the ugly memories from his childhood away. “Yeah. So are you going to call it off?”

“Yes. I am.” Tom lunged out of his seat, weaving toward the doorway. “I need to go see Marion, talk to her, tell her….”

“Lilah first,” Jake said firmly, as he followed Tom.

“Lilah.” Tom stopped in his tracks and his knees bent slowly. “How am I going to tell her?”

Jake eased his arm under Tom’s armpits to hold him up. His thoughts on what this would do to Lilah. He said absently, “You’ll figure something out. You always helped me out of things.”

“I did.” Tom peered at him bleary-eyed, and then a smile wreathed his calm, gentle face. “You owe me, don’t you?”

Jake figured most of tonight would be a blur for Tom anyway, so he went for embarrassing honesty. “More than you will ever understand.”

“Good. Then you tell Lilah.”

Shit.

Jake didn’t want to be here.

He'd taken Tom home, plied him with coffee, and argued with him to reconsider. In the end, Tommy had won.

Jake slumped down in the driver’s seat of his rental Porsche outside Lilah’s house and stared morosely at the warm light pouring from a lace-trimmed window.

How did I get talked into this?
The reason was obvious. Jake owed Tommy, owed him more than he could ever repay. Besides, Tommy always could be persuasive. He had used that persuasiveness more times than Jake could count to get Jake out of jams as a teenager. Wasn’t that why Jake was sitting here getting ready to tell Lilah that Tom had changed his mind?

He breathed in deeply, the scent of warm leather upholstery in the car making him a little nauseous.

Lilah would be better off not getting married to Tom. Yeah, focus on that. She might not realize it, but Jake had come to do her a favor. She wouldn’t end up married, with kids, realizing her life wasn’t at all what she wanted. And then she wouldn’t take her disappointment out on some poor unsuspecting kid. He blew out the air trapped in his chest. Yeah, this was a good thing.

Jake shoved open the car door and strode up the walk purposefully, until he neared the door. The window sashes were raised, and the soft sounds of feminine laughter drifted through the screens into the muggy, humid night. Cicadas chirped in time with the muffled giggles and sighs of women fussing over a soon-to-be bride.

A soon-to-be-
deserted
bride. It was her bachelorette party. Her wild party. And Jake had come bearing bad news. Ah hell. When his fiancée had dumped him. He’d only wanted to be alone.

There was no help for it. He had to do it tonight. Better now than tomorrow, in the church, with all the guests watching.

Jake stabbed the doorbell quickly before he could change his mind.

The door flung wide and there she was. Lilah was laughing before the door was fully open. “You’re late.”

Christ, she was beautiful. Wisps of white blonde hair had fallen from their knot to frame her face, and she was bright with laughter and excitement. Her veil, or some shortened version of it, swirled around her shoulders, and wreathed her face in a cloud of white.

She was an angel.

If she was an angel, then he was the devil for bringing such bad news.

“Oh, uh, hi.” Her smile faltered. “Is everything okay?”

Jake couldn’t speak. She still wore the same awful rayon dress with its little cap sleeves. For some insane reason he had the urge to reach out and cup her shoulders and pull her to him. So he clenched his hands into fists and stepped back into the shadows of the porch.

“Is...is Tom okay?”

He cleared his throat. Way to put her at ease, pal. “Uh, I need to talk to you. Is there somewhere private?”

A hugely pregnant woman came up behind Lilah. When she caught sight of Jake, she asked, “What’s up?”

“I need to talk to Lilah for a moment,” he said as politely as possible.

“I thought you said no to a stripper?” The pregnant woman grinned widely, dimples creasing her cheeks, and Jake realized who she was. Ah, hell.

“Oh. It’s not that.” Lilah looked horrified. But she flushed wildly.

Now that was interesting. Jake looked at the shimmer of guilt in her eyes and wondered.

“Who is this?” The pregnant woman rubbed her belly and assessed him. Suddenly, her eyes flashed with recognition. “Jake?”

“Peggy.” Jake stepped back into the light from the porch and remembered the last time he had seen her. They had been making out in the backseat of his parent’s car. That in itself wasn’t such a bad thing. But, she had been going out with Tom at the time. It was after that night that Jake knew he had to leave town. “Ah...how are you?”

“What are you doing here?” She narrowed her gaze and pulled Lilah away from him.

“What are you doing?” Lilah pried Peggy’s fingers from her arm and turned a pleading look on Jake. “Is Tom okay?”

“He’s fine. But, I really need to speak with you in private.”

“She’s not going anywhere with you.” Peggy wrapped an arm around Lilah as if protecting her from Jake’s evil clutches.

“Christ. I’m not a villain here.” He shoved his fingers through his hair and forced himself not to grab and pull in frustration. He stared directly at Lilah. “You don’t want an audience for this. Trust me.”

Peggy snorted. “Oh, we’ve heard that one before.”

“Lilah?”

Lilah stared at the misery in Jake Forrest’s eyes. He really didn’t want to be here. Except for that one moment of incredible heat, which she of course imagined because her imagination was runnin’ wild these days, everything about him from his somber face to his stiff posture indicated he’d rather be just about anywhere else in the world. He was Tom’s best friend. It must be important.

She patted Peggy's hand. “I’ll be right back.”

“But....”

“Peggy, it’s fine. Go on back inside and I’ll be right back.”

Lilah turned back to Jake and smiled her best gentling smile at him, the one she used on her teens who looked like they were going to bolt at any moment. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to relieve him. If anything, he looked more unhappy.

Jake shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. She tried, she really did, to ignore the way the movement pulled taut the already worn material. Oh my. Lilah fluttered her hand in front of her face.

“Let’s take a walk,” she said breathlessly. Lilah stepped over the cracked cement porch, and started down the stairs, careful not to touch him.

Jake followed. “I don’t know any way to make this easier.”

“Well, then spit it out and we’ll deal with it. I don’t care about the details, marrying Tom is all that matters.”

When they reached the sidewalk, Lilah felt confident enough that she could turn to talk to him without getting all breathless again.

Jake spit out the words quickly. “Tom doesn’t want to get married.”

He was kidding. He had to be. Lilah forced out a merry laugh. He wouldn’t understand how much those words would scare her. Upset her. “Now, Jake. Quit that,” she searched for the right word, then settled on, “teasing and tell me what’s really wrong.”

“Tom...changed his mind.”

Lilah faltered, her arms trembled and she ruthlessly controlled it. “Even if he had, he wouldn’t send you to tell me that. This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not joking,” Jake said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

Tom didn’t want to get married? The trembling started again, but this time it was all over. Her arms, her legs, her shoulders, her feet, her head, her entire body felt like one big tree shaking in the Fall wind. She tried to speak but her teeth chattered so hard, she couldn’t seem to push the words out.

Resolutely, she clenched her jaw and spoke. “T-tom w-wouldn’t do that.” Her teeth clicked together.

He couldn’t. He was going to help her. She loved him. They were getting married. Despite the warm, humid night, Lilah couldn’t seem to dispel the icy coldness enveloping her. She rubbed her frozen hands up and down her still trembling arms. And her teeth chattered again.

Lilah looked at the driveway of her aunt’s house. Her car was blocked in.

“Look maybe you should sit down for a minute.” Jake looked helpless and miserable. “Do you want to go back inside?”

Lilah shook her head violently. The shock was wearing off. She didn’t believe him. Tom wouldn’t do that to her. Rage bubbled in her veins making her white hot. She couldn’t go back inside with this wildness burning to get free.
A lady never caused a scene
. Hadn’t her aunt always told her so?

“I don’t want my friends to see me this way.”

Him
, she stabbed Jake with a glance, she didn’t care about. He’d be gone soon and good riddance. But in the meantime, he was going to help her.

“Take me to Tom’s,” she demanded.

“Not a good idea. In the morn--"

Lilah spun, grabbed him by the t-shirt, pulled great bunches of the material in her fists, and yanked. “My car is blocked in. You are taking me to Tom’s. Right. Now.” Her voice never rose above a fierce whisper.

“Okay. Okay.” Jake held his arms up, palms out by his head. “Do you, ah, want Peggy to come with you?”

“You saw the way she reacted to you. I don’t think so.” Lilah narrowed her eyes. “Exactly why was she being so protective?”

“I have no idea,” Jake answered a little too quickly.

There was more there than he wanted to tell. Humph. She’d find out later. After she straightened out this mess with Tom.

Lilah realized with shock that she was still clutching Jake’s t-shirt in her cold hands. Upon the heels of that realization came the notion that she was kissing close. Heat radiated off his body and the muscles beneath her clenched fists were well-developed and firm. His lips were mere inches from hers.

She popped open her fists and jumped back, teetering precariously before righting herself. “Sorry.”

Jake made no move to help her regain her balance. He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and aimed them at a sporty little car. Then, he tugged open his car door and gestured to the other side with his keys. “Get in.”

Lilah slid down into the passenger seat, her rage still simmering. How dare this Jake presume to come here and upset her life this way?

She grabbed his cell phone and punched in the numbers to her aunt’s house. When Peggy answered, Lilah said brusquely, “I have to run over to Tom’s. I’ll be back in a little bit. Bye.” She pressed the end button effectively silencing Peggy’s squawking on the other end.

The engine rumbled to life, noisy in the tense silence.

“What happened?” she burst out.

“What?”

“What happened between when I left the church and now? What did you do?”

Jake snorted with disgust. “Why are you assuming I did something?”

“Because everything was fine until you showed up.”

He muttered something under his breath.

“What?”