Bad Boy's Lust (Firemen in Love Book 1) (28 page)

“While he was with Debbie? That's horrible.”

“Perhaps, but he never acted upon it. Not until she passed on, at least. He said he had always loved me and wanted to marry me. I thought it was ridiculous – but then I realized if I played along, I would be able to get your father the money he needed. We could be a family again.”

“Do you realize what you're doing is absolutely disgusting? What kind of human being would act this way? You're
using
a man who claims to love you. You're cheating on him at the same time. As soon as you can, you'll divorce David and run back to dad with all his money.”

She scoffed and dabbed at her face with a wet towel. “How dare you. You make me sound like a horrible person. I'm just like you, sweetheart. We all make mistakes.”

“These aren't mistakes. You're deliberately screwing David over.”

“And doesn't he deserve it? I know for a fact he messed around on Debbie. While she was in the hospital getting chemo treatments, he was off flirting with strippers and taking girls back to his hotel room on business trips.” Her eyes narrowed. “And if you ask me, the apple don't fall far from the tree. His son has always been the same way.”

“Jayce might have slept around, but he never cheated. And... He's not like that anymore.”

She snorted. “Keep telling yourself that, dear.”

“Tell me the truth. Were you also marrying David because you thought it'd keep me and Jayce apart? You figured if we were legally step-siblings, it would scare me away from him.”

“That was mostly David's idea. Originally, he was worried you kids would pull this kind of stunt. He knew Jayce wouldn't ever fall in love for real. As for you, you'd have incentive to marry the boy so you could keep the property. He certainly is smart, right?” She blew on her freshly-painted fingernails. “He thought perhaps our marriage could have an added benefit: stopping you from going through with such a ridiculous scheme.”

So that bastard thought we were up to no good the whole time. All along, he knew exactly what we were planning.

“When David found out that he was right; that Jayce really did plan to marry you, he was simply furious.”

“And you weren't? You threw a tantrum at the courthouse – and I know why. If we got married, David risked losing Shady Acres. This building and the surrounding land is worth a lot of money. Money that the both of you wanted desperately.”

“O-of course not!” She sniffled and blew her nose into the towel. “I just want the best for you, Elle. Jayce is a degenerate, lazy delinquent who can't care about anyone but himself.”

“You're wrong.”

“Oh, do you think so? Trust me, dear. If you marry that loser you'll be divorced in less than six months. I'd bet money on it.”

I put my hand on my stomach. “I'm carrying his child, mom.”

She gasped so loudly I thought she was going to choke, then flailed for her martini and chugged it all, spilling half the vodka on herself in the process.

“Lord have mercy! What has that boy
done
to you? Impregnated you with his bastard child out of wedlock!” She waggled her finger in my face. “I warned you. What did I say would happen? He's a no-good piece of trash.”

I showed her the ring. “If he were a piece of trash, he would have ran away. He's marrying me.”

Or so I hoped. The sick feeling in my gut made me think that once I told him the truth, he'd be doing otherwise.

“He only gave you that ring while he figures out an escape plan. If you really think he'll make an honest woman out of you, then you're hopelessly naive.”

I'd had enough of her talking to me like a child. I shot her an angry glare before stepping into the hall.

“Don't you worry about me and Jayce. You need to tell David the truth.”

“I'm afraid I won't be doing that. Your father is in trouble, and I'm doing what I must to help him.”

“You're going to let this man marry you? You'll let the wedding go on as planned?”

“This isn't your problem, Elle. I demand you stay out of it. Don't you want to see your mother happy?”

I slammed the door in her face. Jayce said that I could legally evict her, right? That option was looking pretty good right about now.

Feeling frustrated, alone, and betrayed, I pulled out my phone to call him. He knew how to make me feel better.

Just as I tapped his name in the contacts, though, the phone began to ring. I picked it up, eager to hear his voice.

“Hey, Jayce. I just talked to my mom and –”

“No time to talk, Elle. I'm in 430.” His voice was panicked, his breathing raspy. “I need help
now!
”

Chapter 21 - Elle

I slammed the elevator button for floor three. Nothing happened. Broken again.

I was too worried to be annoyed. Raced up the stairs instead.

Oh, God, what was wrong with Jayce? The call disconnected before he could tell me. Was he hurt? Needed an ambulance? Had somebody died?

Or maybe he was in trouble with the cops again. Damn it, I swore if he added yet another charge to that record of his...

I sprinted to 430. Inside, a couple of children screamed loudly. Heart pounding, I knocked.

Jayce whipped open the door and relief washed over his face.

“Thank God you're here. I couldn't take much more of this on my own.”

His hair was frazzled, his shirt stained with some red liquid. There was a strong smell of burnt popcorn and smoke drifting through the apartment. In the background, two little boys tore down the hall pretending to be dinosaurs.

“What the heck is going on?”

He sighed and pulled me in. The kids barely glanced at me before deciding to use the couch as a trampoline.

“Their parents went out for the evening. About a half hour ago, I got a noise complaint and came up to investigate. That's when I found this.”

“They were left unattended?”

“Not at first. They had a babysitter, some girl named Kelly, I think.”

The shorter of the boys stopped bouncing and nodded. “She's so stupid. She wouldn't play with us. And she wouldn't let us have any ice cream.”

I knelt down and tried to talk slowly and calmly. Obviously, Jayce's panic was only egging them on.

“Where did she go?”

He rolled his eyes. “Her dumb boyfriend showed up and they started yelling about money. She called him an asshole and a prick.”

Jayce blanched and cleared his throat as he backed slowly away.

The other boy tugged on my sleeve. “Lady, what's a prick?”

Jayce snickered. Glad he thought this was so funny! After that fight with mom just now, I seriously didn't have the mental energy to handle this.

“It's nothing you need to worry about. So where is Kelly?”

“The guy said he was gonna pawn her TV if she didn't pay up. He left. She ran after him and never came back.”

“She just
left
you kids here alone? When are your parents coming home?”

He shrugged. “Probably real late.”

“I tried to call them,” Jayce added. “Got their number from our tenant directory. But they're not answering.”

“Well, we can't just leave these children here by themselves.”

“You want me to babysit?” He laughed nervously. “That's what I called you up here for, Pink. I thought you'd be better at this stuff than me.”

“Oh, you're not leaving me to handle this alone.”

The shrill cry of a baby pierced the air. It came from somewhere down the hall and was so loud, it almost gave me a heart attack.

“Ugh. Our annoying little sister woke up.”

“There's a baby here with you?”

“Her name is Rose and she sucks.” The taller boy turned up the volume on the cartoon on TV. “She's always crying and stuff.”

I glanced at Jayce, who had sheer terror written all over his face. Suddenly, I got a very interesting idea.

What better way to find out how he handled babies? With our own on the way, that was definitely something I needed to know – and something he'd need a lot of practice for, too.

If he didn't abandon me to take care of the child on my own, of course.

“I'm hungry, Sam! Make me pizza rolls.”

“Shut up. Mom said I'm not allowed to use the oven, idiot.”

Jayce backed toward the door like a wounded animal desperate to escape. I grabbed his hand before he could flee.

“How about you fix the kids something to eat while I check on the baby?”

He nodded. “Uh... Okay, I guess. You know I'm not real good with this stuff.”

“You can handle making some pizza rolls. You're a fast learner.” I kissed his cheek, ignoring the giggling of the boys. “Besides, it doesn't hurt to get some experience under your belt. Never know when you might need it.”

He shot me a confused look. He really had no idea, did he? He'd noticed me throwing up randomly for weeks. Made comments about my odd food cravings. Yet it never occurred to him that I might be carrying his baby.

When I told him the truth, it was going to be like dropping a bomb on his head. I was
not
looking forward to it.

The smaller boy, Andy, jumped up and down with excitement as Jayce dug into their freezer.

“Pepperoni pizza rolls! Ooh, can I have a Hot Pocket too?”

Their parents had stacked food in that freezer so haphazardly that when he pulled out one package, ten more things tumbled down. A whole frozen chicken landed on his foot.

“Shit!” He winced. “Thank God for steel-toed boots.”

“Watch your language around them, okay?”

“Don't worry,” Sam said. “We hear that stuff all the time at school.”

“Yeah,” Andy added. “Dad says that word a lot when his team screws up, too.”

Figuring that Jayce couldn't possibly mess up making pizza pockets in the oven, I followed the crying down the hall into a nursery.

Little Rose lay on her back in the crib, wailing as she swatted at her mobile. She was pretty cute, even with the tears rolling down her chubby red cheeks.

“What's wrong, Rose?” I carefully picked her up. “You miss your mommy, huh? Don't worry. She'll be home for you soon.”

Despite having a newborn on the way, I had little idea how to care for one. I didn't know what her cries meant. Was she hungry? Tired? Lonely?

In the other room, the kids were shouting at each other. I cradled Rose in my arms and went out to help Jayce.

“Gimme the remote. I want to watch now.”

“Get out of here, jerk. I was here first.”

“Mom said you have to share!”

Jayce was fiddling with the knobs on the oven. “Piece of crap,” he muttered. “I set it to 400, but it's barely warm.”

The baby stopped crying, looked up at him, and cooed. He glanced at her, then me. The frustration on his face softened.

“I think she likes you. You're a hit with
all
the ladies, aren't you?”

He laughed and ran a hand through his messy hair. “Well, she's cute, at least.”

“Want to hold her?”

The panic returned to his eyes. “That's not a good idea. I mean, look how little she is. I'll break her.”

“She's not made of glass.”

The odor of pizza rolls baking did
not
agree with me one bit. I gagged and hurried to put Rose in Jayce's arms.

“Take her, please. I have to...”

I ran to the bathroom, let it all out, then cleaned myself up. When I came back, Rose was already starting to cry again.

“Take it easy, kiddo. It's all right.” He rocked her gently. “Oh man, where's your mom? I totally suck at this.”

There was something undeniably sexy about the scene: a big, strong fireman, brave enough to walk into burning buildings, holding a helpless baby in his powerful arms.

I knew then he
could
do this. He had it in him to be a good father if he wanted to. But taking care of a baby was hard, grueling work. Would he be willing to take on that challenge with me?

Having great sex was awesome, but not enough to sustain a relationship and especially not a marriage. And now, with a child being thrown in the mix... Could he handle it? Could I?

“I'm watching Cartoon Network and you can't do anything to stop me!” Andy wrenched the remote from his brother's hand.

“Give that back, stupid!”

He grabbed it and tried to pull it away. The remote slipped, went flying into the wall, and out fell the batteries. The loud noise startled Rose and made her cry.

“Hey, kids.” Jayce glared at them. “You scared the baby. Knock it off.”

His gruffness worked wonders at making them fall in line. Sam quietly retrieved the remote while Andy sat down and said not a word.

Jayce shushed Rose and bounced her up and down. When he finally saw me there watching him, he sighed.

“Thank goodness. I think the baby's easier to take care of than those boys. At least she doesn't know how to talk back yet.”