Chapter Fifteen
Jason
I walked back to the ranch, feeling like I was walking on air.
Things between Rachel and me were going great, wonderful even. The only real problem was that she still hadn't told me the news that I was a father yet. I knew, but I wanted to hear it from her!
If she takes much longer though, I’m just going to tell her that I know tonight, I decided. Because I felt like I’d been waiting long enough. She was taking her sweet time coming out with it.
I whistled as I came up to the house. There was a car in the driveway beside mine, and I frowned at it. When did that appear? And why did it seem so familiar…? But, I put that out of my mind as I jogged up the stairs. My girl and my toddler were waiting for me, hopefully with a hot meal. What could be more important than that?
The moment I got inside the house, though, I regretted not giving it any thought. Because someone jumped me, a soft body molding its soft front to mine as arms went around me. I knew it wasn’t Rachel by hair color alone; Rachel’s hair was a rich brown. She also didn’t use fragrant shampoo or any strong perfumes like the woman currently clutching herself to me.
“Jason!” she squealed.
Immediately, I knew who she was.
“Louisa?” I exclaimed, catching her by the tops of her arms and pushing her back and away from me, so I could look just to be sure I didn't hear things. But there she was, all dolled up like she was going to some cocktail party on a Friday night; not visiting a ranch. My ranch, of all places. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
She pulled away from me, pouting her red-lipsticked lips.
“Oh, Jason,” she whined. “Is that all you have to say to me after I came all the way here just to see you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Do I have to remind you that I didn’t call you to come here? The deal between us has always been I call, you come.”
“But you haven’t called me in days!”
I nearly rolled my eyes again, but I was already tired of her shit. Louisa and I had a strict agreement, one we’d held for months. She was the reason I didn’t randomly go out to clubs to get laid. Every time I’d done that, it had been to forget Rachel, and I’d only felt worse afterward. Things had been different with Louisa, though. In a lot of ways, I was even grateful to her.
But my ranch was the last place I wanted her to be.
“Look, Louisa. As…nice as it is to see you here—” though nice was hardly the word I would use— “I’m afraid I’m a little too busy to entertain you. I don’t get days off when working on this ranch.”
She huffed, dropping the cute girl act. She put her hands around her waist and cocked her hips slightly to the side.
“Why don’t you come with me?” she offered. “I mean, you don’t belong here, right? What are you doing here, anyway? You’d always said it, and I agree with you that you belong to the city.” She paused to leer at me. “I do have to say, though, that the sun and the workout have done wonders for your body.”
She slinked over to me, molding her front body to mine again. Before she could, though, I held her back by the arms and gave her a flat look.
“Not interested,” I said bluntly.
Her jaw dropped, and her eyes widened slightly. “What do you mean not interested! Jason!”
I rolled my eyes again. “Don’t be so fucking dramatic. Just think of this as our agreement being terminated. You can go back and look for someone else now.”
My attention was already turning away from her and back to Rachel. Who I hadn't heard anywhere in the house since I was surprised by Louisa. I had to get to her and explain Louisa’s presence before she got the wrong idea. But, Louisa caught my arms as I was about to walk right past her.
“That isn’t going to work for me,” she said with a sly twist of her lips.
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
She’d never had problems following orders disguised as requests from me.
“What I mean, my dear Jason. I didn’t just come all the way here to have some fun. I came…because I’m knocked up.”
“What?” I blurted out. But I shook off the shock in the next minute. “There’s no reason that toddler has to be mine though, right? You were with a lot of other guys, Louisa. What we had was an agreement, and we used a condom every time.” I narrowed my eyes at her.
She shook her head. “No, Jason. See, since I started seeing you, you’re the only guy I’ve been with. And on top of that, you know that condoms aren’t full proof, right? Don’t worry, I got tested, and I’m clean. But, I am pregnant. And there is only one possible father.” She smiled devilishly at me. “Care to take a guess?”
“Fuck,” I cursed at myself, my eyes sliding closed as I dropped my face into my palms.
Louisa just giggled, and I wanted to throw her out anyway.
I can't, though. Not while she's pregnant, possibly with my toddler.
I’d already done it to Rachel once, even though I hadn't known then. Louisa wouldn’t expect too much from me, just what I wasn’t willing to give her, but still, I had to make sure. I already knew I was a royal fuck up, though. Because if Louisa being around hadn't scared Rachel off, she might have just heard that conversation and would go running anyway.
Can't anything go my way just once?