CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lacey
I didn’t have concrete getaway plans yet. Because where would I go? Back to the dorms? To my mom’s place? Hardly.
But leaving was paramount, and mentally, my escape was already taking shape. I’d pack up my stuff and grab a cab to somewhere, although the location wasn’t totally clear yet. But getting away was the plan. Because Jake didn’t love me. He’d saved me, storming like Superman into the mental hospital, calling off his own wedding. But even after all that, he didn’t love me.
So I couldn’t stay. It would be too painful, like a dagger to the heart that kept bleeding non-stop. Plus there’d be the rumors. Man calls off his wedding to take up with ex-stepdaughter. Society wedding stalled by hussy daughter of the bride. I could only imagine.
A choked sob rose in my throat. Maybe that was better, considering where I was going … a big fat nowhere.
And at that moment, Jake burst into the room.
“Lacey,” was his urgent growl.
I sat up, still weak from the drugs.
“Jake you don’t have to,” came my stilted voice. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m gonna be out of your hair soon. I can’t stay, you know that,” I added with a half-hearted smile.
But instead of trying to argue, the man dropped to my bedside on his knees. I stared, floored. Jake Mason doesn’t do stuff like that, he waits for you to come to him. Besides, he didn’t love me. I was more a convenience, a distraction from his marriage to my mother. And now that that was off, he didn’t need me anymore.
But those blue eyes were fierce this time, that piercing gaze intense.
“Lacey,” he began.
“No, stop,” I said slowly. “Please, you don’t have to make excuses. I get it. Because Jake, I can’t stay. It’s not right. We didn’t start out right, and it’ll never be right between us so ….”
But his voice cut me off.
“Lacey, I love you,” came a deep growl.
That was not what I expected to hear. My face flushed, chin trembling.
“I’m sorry, what?” came my hoarse whisper. “What did you say?”
And a flood of emotions rushed through those blue eyes, but the alpha took a deep breath and said it again.
“I love you Lacey Jones. I was a fucking dumbass who almost fucked things up. But I’m not going to, not with you. I love you, and I’ll say it again and again. I love you.”
My mouth dropped, stomach dropping to the floor. Because what was going on? Sure, I knew Jake cared about me. On some level of his soul, the alpha realized that I was more than another plaything, some slut who would entertain him for a couple months. But this? An all-out declaration?
“Jake,” came my trembling voice. “What’s going on? Did you just realize this in the last fifteen minutes? Why is this happening?”
And he grabbed my hand then, kissing it fervently.
“What’s happened is that I’ve come to my senses,” he groaned. “Shit baby, I’m such a fucking selfish ass. I took from you, making you do all those things, depraved and disgusting.”
I had to cut in then.
“But I wanted to do them too,” was my trembling voice. “I wanted it as well.”
He hung his head then, ashamed.
“Lacey, I have to tell you ….”
What? What was he gonna say? That this was all a figment of my imagination? That in a moment, I’d wake up with a bing! and be devastated all over again?
But instead, the big man took a deep breath and began.
“Honey, I’m a selfish ass. I’ve always dated older women because I like old. I like mature, over-the-hill, whatever you want to call it.”
I nodded. Clearly, that wasn’t me, and his words made me tense.
He looked up then, blue eyes desperate.
“Have you ever wondered why I never took your pussy? Why we always do the back end? Sure, I love your ass, but most guys do both. Have you ever wondered why?”
I paused, choosing my words carefully.
“Of course I’ve thought about it, but I just figured that was your thing. And I liked it too,” was my soft confession. “I didn’t mind.”
He let out a tortured groan.
“Honey you have the best ass, so nice and tight,” he growled, eyes hot suddenly. But it’s more than that. It’s because I don’t want kids. I’ve never wanted kids, and so older women are the answer for me. Their ovaries are dried up, they have no chance of getting pregnant. Hell, if they were in menopause, it’s even better. So honey, I stuck with the MILFs, women who had kids, shit, even some grandmas.”
My mouth dropped open then. Holy cow, grandmothers? That meant they had to be fifty or so! That was so old!
And Jake nodded, expression hard.
“Yeah, I’m so anti-child that if a woman was fertile, then she wasn’t getting fucked by me. And this attitude made me hard. I cut a swath through the over-forty female population, dicking anyone I wanted. And frankly, no one stopped me,” he added roughly. “Those ladies are usually so desperate for cock, that they don’t care if you’ve dicked all their friends already, so long as there’s some left for you.”
The words were shocking and insane. But at the same time, it made some sense.
“So why did you pick me?” were my slow words. “If you like your partners over a certain age, why did you pick me?”
He shook his head miserably.
“Good question,” came that growl. “At first, I told myself it was because Amanda was holding back. She wasn’t putting out, you know. But after a while, that wasn’t even the case. I kept coming back to you, again and again,” he said, blue eyes piercing my soul. “And after a while, I had to admit that something was up.”
A pregnant pause.
“And that something was …?” came my tentative question.
He looked me full in the eye then.
“That something was love,” Jake finished. “I fell in love with you, Lacey Jones, despite your age, despite the fact that you were a virgin with no knowledge of the world. You are the opposite of my “type,” but that’s what happens when you’re in love. Your type changes, and baby, you’re one hundred percent my woman now.”
I paused, heart beating furiously in my throat, so powerful I thought it might leap out.
“So what does that mean?” were my slow words. “What does that mean for us?”
Jake took a deep breath before cradling my face between two large palms.
“What it means,” he said swiftly, “is that I stop being an ass, and start being honest. I stop acting like a fucking drama queen, and recognize what I want in life. Because that’s you, Lacey Jones. I want to be with you, out in the open, for all to see. I’m gonna fuck this up in some ways for sure because this is all new to me. But I want you,” he stated again fiercely. “For better or worse, I want you.”
And my heart soared then. Because this was the answer to my dreams. I want to be with Jake Mason, out in the open, our love public. I want everyone to see that I love this man, and that he loves me too.
And yes, there were a myriad of issues, and there still are. Because he was engaged to my mom, not so long ago. Just earlier today, I was in a mental hospital, pumped full of drugs and halfway delirious. But together, we’ll overcome it.
Because the most important breakthrough has already happened. No more drama. No more bullshit. No more other women. We’re each other’s types, the answer to each other’s dreams. We’ll work it out together, our limbs tangled, minds wrapped in love. And that’s how we’re gonna come out of this intact, whole, healthy, and deliriously happy. Me and Jake will work it out, come hell or high water.
But there were still some doubts, so I took another deep breath.
“Are you sure?” I asked voice low. “Because I can’t go through that again. I’m serious, Jake. Never again,” I said, with a slow shake of my head.
And the billionaire caught my face in his hands, bringing me close for a kiss. It was deliciously sweet, gentle, and soft, a hint at the hot loving to come. He pulled away once more, eyes fierce.
“I promise, little girl,” came that rumble. “I promise I’ll never be someone else’s fiancé again. Only yours.”
And with that, my heart took off. Because yes, we started out in the most unlikely of circumstances. I hooked up with an older man at a club, only to find out he was my mom’s future husband. It was a shock, and yet we persevered, walking a wild path, twisted trees and brambles blocking the way, only snippets of sky visible.
But we made it out alive. Against all odds, Jake and I are united now, determined to do our best for the future. Things aren’t perfect, no, but we’ve established a new normal. Trust. Respect. And most of all, love. Because with this man by my side, I know it’ll will work out, for better or worse, for richer or poorer … even if once he was my mom’s fiancé.