THEY SAT OUTSIDE IN HIS SUV, Holly still on his lap, talking. She was exhausted from crying. When a tear escaped, Jake wiped it away, gently, with so much love behind the gesture, then kissed her lips softly.

“I love you so much, and it’s sad you don’t know that. I’m scared that you will never grasp how much. I don’t want to lose you ever again, Holly.”

“I promise. I’ll stay and fight. I won’t run.”

When he hugged her, she felt his lips on her ear. Then she heard his chuckle.

“What is it?” She looked at him again.

“Remember when you asked me what happened to the Beamer?”

“Yes, you said it didn’t make the cut.” She already knew what he was going to say, but she couldn’t tell him what Amelia told her.

“I smashed it up with a hammer.”

“You did what?” She pretended to be shocked.

“It was when I got back from looking for you. I would lie in my room for days. I was a mess.” He sighed, not looking at her. “One day, I just felt like smashing something and I knew how much you hated that car.”

“I didn’t hate it that much,” she countered.

“Well, I smashed it.”

“You see, you are still a hooligan,” she said, and he laughed again as their lips found each other’s one more time.

“Let’s just go somewhere tonight, please?” he begged in her ear. “Then I can show my little girl I’m a dad of his word.”

“Dad of his word?”

Jake whispered. “She had a lot of questions today.”

“She did? Like what?”

“Like… if the two of you were going to stay with me. I couldn’t answer her. I didn’t know if you’d ever want to see me again, even after Frank explained everything. But I want to try. So, when she wakes up and finds me there too, it would mean I’m trying. But I don’t think either of us are ready for a barrage of questions just yet, so I think we should go to a hotel. There’s a lot we still need to figure out.”

“Yes, there are. And I agree. We aren’t ready to answer all Jamie’s questions if she sees us together in the morning. So, is she the only reason you want to stay?”

“I’m not going to lie to you. She is cute as hell, but hell no.” He smiled. “She is not the only reason.”

Holly kissed his mouth hard. “My mom was so right,” she said against his lips.

“About what?”

“I’m a cheap slut when it comes to you.”

He laughed as he turned on the ignition. She moved over to her side again and he drove off. They stopped in front of one of the hotels nearby. It was a fancy hotel, the expensive kind. He booked them a room, which only took a swipe of his card. They took the elevator, which was thankfully empty. Jake kissed her again fiercely, pushing her up against the glass walls. He wanted her; she could feel his erection pressing against her and it was making her crazy.

When the elevator pinged, they pulled apart and got out, then walked hand-in-hand down the hallway to their room. Jake opened the door with a swipe of another card. It was stunning: a couch, a beautiful bed, and a bathroom which she felt the need to go immediately and take a shower in.

“I need to make a phone call. Don’t take too long,” he said, slapping her on the ass. Holly rubbed at the sting with her hand and scolded him playfully with her eyes as he held the phone up to his ear.

The bathroom was so modern and the nozzle of the shower had so many holes and gadgets that she had no idea what they were for. There were no taps, either. Instead it consisted of some sort of sensor that went off when someone stepped into the shower. 

She thought Jake would join her, but he didn’t. After pulling one of the bathrobes over her naked body, she left the bathroom to find him fast asleep on the bed. He was still wearing his jeans and long sleeve T-shirt. He was so damn beautiful. The only thing that was missing were his flip-flops. It didn’t matter one bit he’d passed out. He’d decided to stay with her and just sleeping next to him was enough for her.

Her mother was never going to believe that he’d gotten a room just for sleeping. She giggled to herself softly. Climbing into bed, she pulled the duvet over them both.

He looked so peaceful and all she could do was stare at him, like a creepy stalker.

Closing her eyes, she drifted off faster than she thought she would.

JAKE

He woke up the next morning and looked at the angel right beside him. He couldn’t believe his ears when she’d asked him not to marry Kate. He was speechless and knew it was probably tormenting her when he’d just kept quiet. But he couldn’t believe that she’d just forgiven him like that, for everything. She’d given him a choice again.

He would wake up for the rest of his life seeing her face every morning, just as his life should’ve been if it hadn’t been for his mother. But he had no idea how he was going to make her see how much he loved her.

As much as he was looking forward to a new beginning with Holly and their daughter, he still needed to tell Kate that the wedding was off, even after he’d assured her that he would go to Hawaii to marry her. He never thought, not in a million years, that Holly would forgive him for choosing Kate over her. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to choose Holly. His heart ached for her, everything ached for her, but he couldn’t put his family through all of that again. It was one of the reasons he’d kept quiet about her being a doctor at Downsend, constantly hoping that Amelia didn’t run into her somewhere. It was a miracle she hadn’t.

His lips caressed her cheek softly, lingering a beat as he breathed in her scent. She was finally his again. But first, he needed to sort out important things. He forced himself to get up. He’d switched on his phone for only a few minutes the day before to call Amelia to let her know that he wasn’t going home and that she should look after Jamie. He could hear the smile in her voice as she told him no problem and glad that he sorted shit out. Messages poured in, but he wasn’t ready to deal with any of them. Kate must have tried to get hold of him a million times. 

His phone continued to beep as messages rolled in. He eventually put it on silent. They were all from Kate, none from his mother. He knew she was behind this; Holly had all the proof, and she had absolutely none. 

He dialed his inbox and listened to message after message. Kate wanted to know why his phone was off, why she couldn’t get ahold of any of them. Later messages a freaked-out Kate wanted to know why he wasn’t at home, why nobody was answering their phones. She sounded angry, and he wouldn’t have expected anything less. She’d tried calling Amelia and Gus, but everyone seemed to be ignoring her calls? It didn’t sound like Amelia, she liked Kate, that much he knew. But she also knew what Holly meant to him.

Fifteen messages from Kate, all of them asking the same thing, then throwing a hissy fit. He understood her insecurity, though. From the corner of his eye he saw movement, and he looked toward the bed and at Holly. She’d just woken up. Putting the phone down on the dresser, he got back into bed and merely stared at her. Neither said a word. When their lips touched, it felt as if his insides were going to melt. How she didn’t know what she was doing to him, he couldn’t fathom. He just didn’t understand that.

His hand slipped beneath her robe to find only skin. He grunted as her perfect, naked body flashed behind his eyelids. “You know just what I like.” He pulled her harder against him before rolling on top of her. Their kisses grew blazing hot. He opened Holly’s robe fully, her breasts and stomach sung under his lips when he trailed them down her body. Goosebumps flashed all over her skin when he stroked the sides of her body softly, moving lower and lower, until he found the spot he knew drove her insane, and then buried his tongue inside of her, making her breathe faster. Soft groans left her mouth and when her legs started to tremble and her fingers drove into his hair, he knew she was close.

Holly orgasmed, but Jake didn’t stop. Only after he saw her biting her lower lip did he chuckle and moved back up. He removed his shirt and found her eyes on his arms. He’d forgotten about the tattoos. She touched the area below it softly.

“What is this?” she asked, staring, mesmerized, and then the realization of what they were flashed over her face.

“I felt the need to do this. It’s Jamie’s and Romalia’s dates.”

Tears glistened in her eyes. He hadn’t wanted to make her cry.

“You got tattoos with their names and dates?”

“I take every opportunity I can to show you how serious I am about all of this.”

She grabbed him and kissed him as if she was never going to get another chance. Loving it, Jake kissed her back. He removed his jeans and boxers as quickly as he could, then nestled himself between her legs.

Holly laughed softly, making him stop.

“What?”

“Not so fast, mister. I forgot about one small thing.”

Jake squinted.

“I need to show you that you are not the only one with a magical mouth.” She touched his lips and then pushed him back on the bed, disappearing beneath the covers. Her soft kisses on his chest made him feel like he was in heaven. He could do this every single day and never get tired of her. She went lower, kissed the his V-line, and then rubbed her hand gently over his cock.

He grunted softly. It felt so good.

Her hands took hold of his shaft, tightening their grip around him, and then her mouth covered the tip of his cock and she sucked. It was amazing how she pressed her tongue gently, scraping softly with her teeth. It drove him insane. More sucking and pulling with her hand in opposite directions was making him groan again. She knew just what he liked. Holly’s blowjobs were the fucking best.

He wanted her, he wanted to kiss her lips, wanted to be inside of her. He grabbed her head gently and pulled her up to him from under the covers. She was laughing before his lips claimed hers. The kiss was deep, and hungry.

Gently maneuvering her onto her back, he climbed on top of her, and finding her opening, thrust himself into her, again and again. It felt so fucking good. Sex had never felt this amazing with Kate or anyone else. He’d always had to use some sort of sex toy to get himself there, but not with her. Only she could do to him what no one else could. He gave her everything he had. If she didn’t believe how much she meant to him with words, he’d show her every single time he made love to her. He was being rough with her, but when images of what she must have gone through in hospital as she fought for her life flashed through his mind, so he slowed his pace. She was loving every second of it. The noises she was making confirmed it.

Her back arched beneath him, and he felt the beginnings of her orgasm against his dick. He sucked on her lips again and she mewled like a kitten. Rolling him over, she was on top again. She turned so her back faced him, not a position he liked much as he couldn’t see her face, but she found that spot faster each time and start riding his cock hard. 

Jake thought he was going to die and go straight to heaven. Grunts escaped his lips, and screams of pleasure entwined with hers. He loved her sexual noises. When she convulsed, he took over the pace and slammed into her harder, and faster. He was almost there. He gripped her hips and pulled her back forcefully, her body slamming onto his.

Suddenly, he threw her off and changed places once again. Shoving his arm beneath her torso all the way around to her hip, he grabbed on and pushed them slightly upward, while supporting himself on his elbow and knees.

Then he gave it to her again. Deep and hard thrusts; he was almost there. She was beyond herself, whimpering and screaming all at the same time. It fucking made him crazy. And on that thought, he finally came, rooted deep inside of her. “Fuck!” he yelled, thrusting harder until he was spent.

Jamie and Romalia weren’t going to be their only ones, he couldn’t help but think. He made a mental note that they still have to talk about that, all of it, what he did the last time too. But he wasn’t going to think about that right now. Now it was only them.

He fell collapsed on top of her, forcing a laugh from them both, tired yet satisfied. Holly turned her head to look at him, her beautiful curls covering her eyes. Jake pushed them away to simply stare at her. He slid his arm beneath her head and pulled her body halfway on top of his.

“That was amazing, like always,” he whispered against her ear, kissing her earlobe softly.

“Thank you. I’ll be here all week.” Her tone was joking, but he hated how true her words were and wished that he and Jamie could leave with her, but it was not enough time to get Jamie a passport and a visa, even with his contacts.

“I promise you. You will see her.”

“I know. It’s just so unfair. We just discovered the truth and now I have to leave. It’s as if fate doesn’t want us together.”

Jake laughed. “Bee Puke, I walked out of a flight because of a patient that was fed the wrong meds at P&E and I had to sort that out, which meant I had to reschedule my flight. If that hadn’t happened, I would have never seen our daughter, and I would have been lying in a bed far away from this one with the wrong person, imagining she was you. Fate is on our side, I can promise you that.”

Holly giggled, but then silence followed. “I saw you,” she finally said.

He had no idea what she meant, so he studied her face. He removed his arm from around her neck and rolled onto his stomach, resting his upper body on his elbows. She looked away as if a memory was haunting. 

“When?” he asked, gently lifting her chin to make eye contact with her again; tears glistened in her eyes.

“The day they were born.”

Jake merely stared at her. That was impossible. He hadn’t been there, he knew that, otherwise none of this would’ve happened. He’d searched for her and he would never have not seen her.  

“I didn’t really see you… think it was some sort of hallucination.” 

His heart wanted to break. She’d wanted him there so badly and he hadn’t been. He was never going to get over this.

“I flatlined on the table...”

His entire body froze as she said those words. She’d died? He closed his eyes for a second. He knew if that had happened, his mother’s lies would’ve died with her and he never would have been with her now. Would Jane have contacted him to tell him she’d died but their baby had survived?  He opened his eyes to look at her.

“…And that’s when I saw you running toward me. When I woke up, my mom was there. She was so relieved, and I was so happy that you’d finally changed your mind.” She smiled. “I knew that Amelia would be with them, taking care of them when I couldn’t, and when I didn’t see you, I knew you were with them, too. I asked my mom if she’d seen you, and she just stared at me, her eyes sad. She told me you weren’t there. I fought with her at first because I’d seen you, and then she told me that I must have had a hallucination.” A tear rolled over the bridge of her nose. He couldn’t hold his in anymore. Shifting, he half-lay over her. He knew he was kind of crushing her, but he didn’t want her to see his tears.

“Don’t cry. I’m not telling you this to make you feel crappy. I’m telling you this because deep down, I knew you wanted us, I was just so scared to find out if my gut was right or wrong. I’m so sorry I didn’t stay or call you.”

Jake sniffed, wiping away his tears. Reaching for her hand, he kissed her fingers softly. 

“I was a mess, too, Jake.”

“Yeah, I gathered that much yesterday.”

“So you did speak to my mother?”

“I did. She even got pissed off with me because I kept saying I wasn’t there.”

She smiled. “Well, it serves you right.”

He kissed her. “I will always want you, Holly, but you have to promise to talk things out, speak to me face-to-face before making any decisions. I would never say anything like that to you over the phone. I’m not a coward.”

“I promise,” she whispered.

“Will you please explain to me now why the hell you had crazy sex with me when you thought I’d left you?”

She smiled, the embarrassed kind, then closed her eyes. “I loved you. I still do. Believe me, I tried not to love you. I tried to get over you. I even went on a couple of horrible dates, and some not -o-horrible, but I just couldn’t. None of them were you.” She sighed. Those words made Jake feel as if he were melting. “You want to know the real reason I left?”

He nodded. There was more?

“I knew if I stayed, I would do anything to make you happy. But I also knew that I’d end up hating myself and hating you if I had an abortion. I couldn’t imagine a life where I would hate you that much, so I left.”

Jake just stared at her. She’d felt exactly as he had, exactly, and he hadn’t even known it. He kissed her without saying a word, knowing that it was going to be one of many to come, because Holly would never leave him, not ever again.