Wethering the Storm

FIVE MONTHS LATER…


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Come back to bed.”
“I can’t,” I call to Jake in the bedroom. “I’m picking Simone up in half an hour.”
“You mean Dave’s picking her up and you’re just sitting in the car looking gorgeous.”
“Yes, boss,” I mutter, giving my eyelashes one last coat of mascara. I put the wand back in, screw on the cap, and drop it in my makeup bag.
I don’t know why I’m bothering putting makeup on. It’s only going to come off at the spa.
I leave the bathroom in just my underwear, fastening in my earrings. “My shadow will indeed be picking Simone up, while my fat ass sits in the car.”
“You’re not fat, you’re pregnant. Hot, sexy pregnant. Come here.” He beckons to me with his finger.
I approach Jake, who’s sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxer shorts. I stand between his legs.
He places his hands on either side of my swollen tummy and kisses it.
Tilting his face, he looks up at me. I rest my hands against his cheeks.
“Stay home with me today,” he murmurs.
“I can’t. Simone and I have had this spa day booked for ages, and she goes back to London in a few days. Anyway, you’re going into the studio today.”
He turns his face away. Pressing his cheek against my pregnant belly, he lets out a sigh.
I run my fingers through his bed hair. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Jake…” I urge him to look at me.
“I dunno,” he says with a shrug. “I just have a weird feeling.”
“What kind of feeling?” I sit beside him on the bed.
I don’t like the look in his eyes.
My heart jumps in my chest, making my pulse thrum.
Then, lightning-quick, Jake pulls me down on the bed, trapping my legs with his. He pins my arms above my head and kisses me, his whole demeanour instantly changing to relaxed.
“I just have a feeling you should stay in bed with me.” He runs his tongue lightly over my lower lip. “You taste minty,” he murmurs.
“The power of toothpaste.” I nip his lip with my teeth. I hate when he hides things from me.
“Someone’s snarky this morning.”
“Someone’s evading.”
He looks directly into my eyes. Vivid blues burn into my brown.
“I’m not evading.” His voice is controlled, measured, but harsh. “I just wanted to spend the day in bed with you. But maybe, snarky, you should go out before we have a fight neither of us wants.”
“I’m sorry,” I sigh. “I don’t mean to be. I’m just tired. The baby is so wriggly. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in so long.”
Releasing my pinned arms, Jake moves down to my tummy. “Let your mama sleep,” he says. “If she’s moody and tired, Daddy doesn’t get any.”
“Jake! Don’t say sex things to the baby!”
“Don’t interrupt, beautiful. This is a father-and-son talk,” he teases.
He glances up at me through his long black lashes. Just like that, the almost-fight is gone.
“You’re so sure we’re having a boy.” I run my fingertips down his cheek.
We didn’t find out the sex of the baby at the five-month scan. We both agreed we wanted to wait until the birth.
“Sweetheart, the baby keeps you up all night, it’s definitely a boy.” He winks.
“You’re incorrigible!” I giggle.
“Just how you like me,” he whispers over my skin. Moving up my body, he runs his tongue lightly around the edge of my bra and presses a kiss there.
The sensation tickles down my body. Then the baby kicks me, hard.
I wince.
Seriously, it hurts so much sometimes that I expect bruises. I think I’m carrying a minihulk in there.
“You okay?” Jake asks, concerned.
“Yeah fine, the baby’s just kicking.” I take his hand and place it on the spot where our little ninja is going for it.
Smoothing his hand over my stomach, he rests his cheek against my breasts and starts to softly sing Guns N’ Roses’ “Don’t Cry.”
Our baby has a penchant for old rock songs. It’s the only thing that settles him.
Him. Jake’s even got me saying it.
I’ve tried playing Jake’s music when he isn’t around, but it doesn’t stop the baby’s marathon kicking sessions. Apparently, the baby will only settle for the live, acoustic renditions of Jake singing old rock songs.
Which has made for some interesting evenings.
Jake goes all out, wearing leather pants and playing his old Strat—when Jake does something, he does it to the max. And it always ends in us having seriously hot sex.
We lie together until Jake finishes the song. With the baby now settled, I get up from the bed and go to get dressed.
I’m in the dressing area, tying my black maternity wrap dress, when Jake comes in.
He pulls on his black pyjama pants, then comes up behind me, sliding his arms around my bump. He nuzzles my neck. “You want some breakfast?”
“Cereal.”
“Okay.” He places a kiss on my neck and gives my bum a gentle slap before wandering off.
I slip my feet into silver ballet pumps, then grab my black Céline Nano tote that Jake bought me for Christmas and hang it on my shoulder.
I grab my lip gloss from the bathroom and put it in my bag. I get my phone off the nightstand and head for the kitchen.
When I get there, I find Jake, Stuart, and Dave around the breakfast bar.
Ah, my men.
My heart. My best friend. My bodyguard. Just missing my dad, and I’d have the complete set of important men in my life.
Stuart’s eating toast, Dave’s sipping on coffee, and Jake’s eating Cocoa Krispies. There’s another bowl with cereal and milk in it, waiting for me.
Cocoa Krispies, the American equivalent of Coco Pops. To me, they will always be Coco Pops. The only. The best.
I put my bag down and sit on the stool beside Jake. I lean in, giving him a quick kiss on the lips, but he pulls me in and kisses me harder. Parting my lips with his, he slips his tongue into my mouth.
He tastes of Coco Pops. So f*cking delicious.
Even with our audience, a heat still spreads between my legs.
“Please,” Stuart groans. “No tongues over breakfast.”
Breaking from Jake, my face flushed, I dig into my Coco Pops.
“When’s Josh back?” I spoon some cereal into my mouth.
The chocolate hits my tongue and I moan a little sound in my mouth.
Jake’s hand slides down my thigh, pushing between my legs, parting them. I meet his eyes, then watch as he readjusts himself in his pants. I bite on my lip as he flashes me a sexy grin.
“This afternoon,” Stuart says, cutting in on our moment. “He’s got to go to the hospital first, so I’m not seeing him until tonight.”
Josh has been away for the last five days at a doctors’ conference. It’s the first time Stuart and him have spent any real time apart, and Stuart has missed him tons. I know because he’s told me so every single day while Josh has been gone.
“So this means you’ll finally cheer the f*ck up,” Jake imparts.
“I haven’t been that miserable,” Stuart protests.
“You have.” I smile, gathering more cereal onto my spoon.
“I need you to come into the label with me today,” Jake says to Stuart. “There’s some work I need you to do.”
“Sure, no probs,” Stuart mumbles, biting down on his toast. “It’ll keep me busy until tonight.”
I glance at the wall clock and see I have ten minutes left before I’m due to pick up Simone.
I shovel the remainder of my cereal in my mouth and put my bowl in the dishwasher.
“You ready to go?” I ask Dave.
“Yep.” He takes one last sip of his coffee and goes over to the sink and washes it out.
Grabbing my bag, I lean over and give Jake a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be home at about four thirty, all pampered and smelling pretty.”
“You always smell pretty.” He stares into my eyes for a long moment.
“What?” I smile.
“Nothing,” he shakes his head, breaking his stare. “Have a good day.” He kisses me on the lips. “I’ll see you at four thirty. We’re staying in tonight. Takeout and a movie, okay?”
“Sounds perfect.” I peck him once more on the lips.
“I love you,” he says as I start to move away.
Turning as I walk, I smile. “Love you more.”
“Not possible.” He grins, his eyes lingering on me. But there’s something off in his eyes, and it makes me feel uneasy, just like before in the bedroom.
His eyes move from me to Dave. “Take good care of my girl.”
Dave gives him a strange look. “Always do, Jake.”
Letting me through the door first, Dave and I head outside to my black BMW X5. Another Christmas present from Jake.
Except I never get to drive it because Dave drives me everywhere. I’ve driven it twice in five months. But I swear, once the baby is here, I’m driving this car everywhere. Dave can just sit in the backseat like I currently do.
I climb in my usual place behind the passenger seat and buckle in, setting the seat belt around my bump.
Dave fires the engine up and starts toward Denny’s house to pick up Simone.
“Can you put some music on, please?” I ask Dave.
“Anything in particular?”
“No.” I shake my head.
Dave starts searching though the radio stations and hits on one belting out Meatloaf’s “You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth.”
Clapping my hands together, I say, “This! Keep this on!” I start singing along loudly.
Chuckling, Dave turns it up, but I’m sure he’s just trying to drown me out.
We reach Denny’s house a few minutes later, and Simone is already waiting out front.
Dave gets out and opens the door for her.
Thanking him, she climbs in and pulls off her sunglasses.
“You look tired,” she observes.
“Is that code for, ‘Tru, you look like shit’?”
“No.” She swats my thigh. “It’s code for ‘You look tired.’ Being pregnant is really wearing you out, huh?”
“Yep,” I sigh. “I had such an easy pregnancy in the beginning, but now the baby is getting bigger, and I feel uncomfortable all the time. Plus the baby gets so active at night that I’m hardly getting any sleep, and I just feel cranky all the time.” Unexpected tears prick my eyes.
I take a deep breath, holding them back.
“Then this spa day is exactly what you need. Some pampering will make you feel tons better.”
“I hope so,” I utter as Dave heads for the Four Seasons Spa.


Dave pulls the car up front the Four Seasons. Sitting forward in my seat, I say to him, “You can leave us here, and I’ll call you when we’re ready to be picked up.”
He turns in his seat, not looking so hot about this idea. “I should escort you in.”
“Dave, it’s a spa that deals with celebrities all the time, and I’m hardly a celebrity—”
“Just carrying the baby of one,” Simone inputs.
I give her a “not helping” look.
With a laugh, Simone opens the car door and hops out.
“Just go do something fun, and I’ll call you when we need you.”
“I’ll wait out here in the car.”
“I’m here until four.” I screw up my face. “I’m not having you sit out here in the car for six hours waiting for me, because…well, it’s just plain weird.”
“Tru, my job is to take care of you. And believe me, sitting outside a spa for six hours is nothing compared to other things I’ve done.”
A thought flashes through my mind. I wonder if he’s referring to what he’s done for Jake in the past. Or what he’s waited for Jake to do. Things I most definitely do not want to know.
“Leaving you alone is more than my job’s worth—so it’s either I wait out here, or I come inside with you and wait in the waiting area or, worse, the treatment room.”
I frown at him. “Fine,” I huff, sliding along the leather seat, “sit out here if you must.” Pausing, with my legs dangling out of the car, I ask, “Do you want me to send some food out for you?”
“No, I’m set.” He indicates a thermos on the passenger seat. “If you need me at all, you make sure to call me straightaway,” he says just before I shut the door.
“Yes, boss,” I mutter.
I swear I hear him laughing just as the door closes.
I watch him pull the car into a spot facing the entrance. I link arms with Simone, and we walk toward the doors.
“You weren’t kidding when you said he literally goes everywhere with you.”
“Nope,” I sigh.
“Jake’s doing?”
“Oh, absolutely,” I mutter as the doorman lets us in.


I’m in heaven.
Spa heaven.
I’m having a facial, and it may be the best facial I have ever had.
We’re into the afternoon. So far I’ve had a massage, a pedicure, and lunch. After my facial is done, I’m having a manicure.
Simone is on the bed beside me, having a facial too.
“So the book launch is next week?” Simone asks.
“Yep.”
“Wish I could be there.”
“I wish you could be too.”
I finished up Jake’s biography two months ago, and it’s been with the editor. Then back to me. Then back to the editor.
This went on for a while, until we both settled on the final draft.
The excerpts have already started publishing in Etiquette. Vicky said they have seen a 10 percent increase in sales already, which is amazing.
“Is Vicky coming over for the launch?”
“She is.” I smile.
The launch is in New York as that’s where the publishing house is, so Jake and I are flying over for it. Vicky is meeting us there, and afterward she’s coming back to LA to spend a few days with me.
I can’t wait.
I haven’t seen her since I left London. Of course I’ve seen her via Skype, but it’s not the same.
We have lots of shopping planned for when she’s here.
“You really need to get your butt over to London,” Simone says. “It’s been way too long since you’ve been home.”
“I know.” I let out a sigh. “I miss it.”
“And London misses you. Maybe you and Jake could come over for a holiday after the baby is born.”
“You know what,” I say, feeling uplifted at the thought. “We totally should. I could have my hen night in London. Most of my friends I want at my hen are there, and I’m sure Carly and Stuart would come over for it.”
Jake and I have set the wedding for December. It won’t be the summer wedding we were originally wanting, but neither of us wants to wait until next summer. More than anything I want to be Jake’s wife. December gives me just enough time to lose my baby weight.
“Speaking of London,” Simone says, her voice sounding tighter, “I saw Will last week.”
My heart pauses.
I turn my face to her and out of the therapist’s hands. “You did?” My voice wobbles, giving me away.
I haven’t thought of Will in a long time. I don’t let myself.
Because if I do, I remember how much I hurt him and how things were left the last time I saw him.
“Hmm.” She nods, eyeing me carefully.
I compose my features to neutral. “Why are you just telling me now?”
“Because this is the first chance I’ve had. There’s always someone around.”
Jake.
“How’s he doing? Did he, um, ask about me?” I might have my face under control, but my mouth is set to give me away.
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
I pause.
Do I?
“Yes.”
“No. He never mentioned you. But then, he wouldn’t have, because, he, um…well, he wasn’t alone when I saw him, Tru.”
“Oh.” Pause. “He’s seeing someone?” Of course he is. Will is a really attractive guy. He’s smart and caring. A real catch.
“Yes.”
Is it wrong that I feel a spike of jealousy?
I look up at the ceiling. Gritting my back teeth, I force a smile. “Well, that’s great news. I’m really pleased for him.”
“No you’re not. But I know what you mean. Happy he’s happy. But it still stings, even though you feel you have no right for it to.”
I love how Simone just gets me. God, I miss not seeing her every day. I’m going to hate it when she’s gone in a few days.
I turn back to her. “I’d say that just about covers it.” Biting my lip, I ask my next question. “Is she anyone we know?”
“No.” She smiles gently.
That clarification makes me feel better. If it were someone I knew, I would have felt weird. Okay, weirder.
“She seemed real nice, Tru,” Simone adds. “He looked happy.”
This is exactly what I wanted for Will. I wanted him to be happy with someone who deserves him.
“I’m real glad he’s happy.” I smile. “And I actually mean that.”
“I know you do.” Simone turns her face back to the waiting therapist.
“What does she look like?” I have to ask. Curiosity gets the better of me every time.
“The complete opposite of you. Blonde, small-chested, tall.”
“Peroxide, flat-chested, and lanky. I take it back. She’s not good enough for him.”
“Bitch.” Simone flicks her gleaming eyes to me.
“You expect any less?” I grin.
“No.” She smirks, and we both start laughing.


Dave is standing by the car as we exit the Four Seasons.
“You had a good day?” he asks, opening the car door for us. I let Simone climb in first.
“We had a fabulous day.” I beam. “How was yours?”
“Well, the selection of cakes and fresh coffee that was brought out to me certainly brightened it up. Thank you, Tru. You’re a special kinda lady, you know that?”
“You’re a special kind of guy, Dave. Not many men would sit in a parking lot and wait six hours for me.” I smile, giving his arm a pat.
“Jake would.” He grins.
“Yeah, but he’s just as crazy as you are!”
Laughing, he helps me step up into the car and closes the door behind me with a firm clunk.
I click my seat belt in just as Dave gets in the driver’s side.
He glances over his shoulder. “Denny’s to drop off Simone, then straight home?” he checks.
“Yep.”
I kick my shoes off, still feeling all kinds of relaxed from my pampering, and settle back in my seat.
I tune in to the music Dave is listening to—Pearl Jam.
“Ooh, is this the Backspacer album?” I ask him.
“How do you guess the album from just one song?” He gives me a quick look back. “You’re a little scary, Tru. You do realise that, don’t you?” he chuckles.
“It’s a gift.” I nod, grinning. “And Dave, a Pearl Jam fan. How did I not know this? Seven months of riding practically every day with you, and you only now reveal your excellent music tastes to me.”
“I always wait at least seven months before revealing my excellent music tastes to anyone.” He chuckles.
I loosen my seat belt, leaning forward to talk to him.
“Can you skip it forward to ‘Just Breathe’? It’s my favourite of theirs by far. Oh, and crank it up loud.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked you.” He winks.
He pulls up at a red light and takes the opportunity to jump the tracks ahead. Hitting “Just Breathe,” he turns the volume up loud. For a moment, I stay still, arms resting on the passenger seat, listening as the beautiful guitar melody fills the car completely.
The baby gives me a gentle kick. I rub my hand over my tummy.
A gentle kick, now there’s a first.
“You like this song, huh?” I murmur. “I’ll get daddy to sing it to you when we get home.”
The lights change to green, and Dave shifts the car into drive.
I sit back, setting the seat belt back around my bump, and start singing along. Simone joins in. I reach over and squeeze her hand. She smiles. Then we hear Dave in the front singing.
Simone giggles, and I sing through a smile at his baritone voice.
Life’s good.
Life is real good.
I don’t think it gets any better than this, does it?
Something from the right catches my eye. Still singing, still smiling, I turn my face to the window.
And that’s when I see it.
The smile drops from my face.
They say your life flashes before your eyes in the moment you know you’re about to die.
Well, I do see my life. But not the one I’ve lived: the one I expected to live.
Having my baby. Watching him grow. Marrying Jake. Growing old with him. Living with him, loving him. Loving them both until I was old and ready to die.
That’s what I see in those milliseconds as that car hurtles toward us.
It’s not my time. Save my baby, please.
My eyes lock with the driver’s. He looks almost…apologetic. I cover my baby with my arms, and then ________