This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4)

He took me to the clinic. Like the fool I was back then, I went through with it. I aborted my baby.

I told myself that we loved each other, that there would be time enough in the future for us to have our family. I convinced myself that he was still the loving man I remembered. Two weeks later he told me he had moved on, and I no longer featured in his plans.”

When she abruptly stopped speaking, Jake waited for a moment to see if she would continue. When she didn’t, he placed a finger beneath her chin and turned her face towards him. “Tell me the rest.”

MacKenzie tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t allow it. They had come this far, and he wanted to know everything. This man from her past was without a doubt a bastard. However, he was exactly that, her past.

When she finally looked at him, her beautiful eyes shone with disappointment and hurt. Jake wanted to be the one who would lessen her pain. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but he resisted the impulse. “Tell me,” he repeated.

“After what happened, I don’t do relationships in the real sense of the word. If I felt an affair was becoming too intense, I’d get out of it.” Looking Jake straight in the eyes, MacKenzie made sure she had his full attention before she continued. “Some people are not cut out for relationships, Jake, and I’m one of them.”

He could see she was completely serious. Although he disagreed with her, Jake said nothing, unwilling to interrupt. With a noncommittal nod, he signaled that she continue.

Turning away, MacKenzie looked out across the pool and resumed her story. “When I met Carlos I hadn’t dated for around two years. I was working long hours, and I told myself that my career was all I needed.

I knew who he was when I met him. Even if I hadn’t, he made sure that I did with his countless references to his career and his European fan base. He made me laugh, and we enjoyed each other’s company. Although we used protection, something went wrong. When I told him about the pregnancy, he accused me of trying to trap him. He told me to get rid of the baby.

There was no way I was going to terminate another child, and somewhere along the way, he obviously had a change of heart. I’m sure you don’t want details, so I’ll just say that he convinced me to try to build a relationship with him for the child’s sake. Against my better judgment I agreed. You witnessed the culmination of our attempts in LA. By then I already knew I was going to be a single parent, and I didn’t care if I had to do it alone.”

“Thank you for sharing that with me, I know it wasn’t easy,” he murmured when she drew to a stop. Jake felt compassion for the way she had been treated, but he was still furious that she had withheld vital information. “However, if I’m going to put my reputation on the line, this has to be the last time you keep anything from me. Do you understand me, MacKenzie?” Jake asked in the hope that she recognized his seriousness.

“I understand.”

He didn’t question her sincerity. It was there reflected in the look she gave him. Feeling fatigued as well as frustrated with everything that was going on in their lives, Jake eased his large body down onto the grass. With his hands behind his head, he stared up at the blueness of the sky. After a few minutes of complete stillness, his eyes began to close.

Through closed eyes, he was aware when the slight filter of light that shone through his lids was blocked. The first touch of MacKenzie’s lips against his sent soft tingles of pleasure through him. His heart rate escalated, but he remained perfectly still. He wanted to see how far she was prepared to go without a response from him.

He could sense her every movement. When she withdrew, he didn’t react. Again the sun was blocked out. This time, when she kissed him something was different. What that something was he wasn’t exactly sure. The firmness and persistence of her touch as she took small sips against his lips was pleasurable, but in his current state of mind it wasn’t irresistible.

Then everything changed. Her little nips were substituted, with the swipe of her tongue; Jake revised his thinking. Moving fast, he reversed their positions, her gasp of astonishment giving him a mild feeling of satisfaction.

Unsure of where the thought came from, Jake realized he had been playing the wooing of MacKenzie all wrong. By the way, she acted and reacted to those around her showed him she liked control. The only times he could recall that she had deviated from that position was when her child hadn’t been returned, and when she was in his arms.

She was in his arms now, or more accurately she was beneath him. “Why did you kiss me?” Jake asked, his face showing only mild curiosity.

“Didn’t you like it?”

Theresa L. Henry's books