The Billionaire Playboy (23 page)

Jake waited
until Charlie left and then went back inside to re-board the plane.

Chapter
12

Charlie's cell
rang for the third time in the past twenty minutes. A quick glance at the
number told her what she'd already suspected. She didn't know the person
calling and most likely didn't want to talk to them. Picking up the phone she
set it to vibrate. Something she should have done yesterday when the calls
first started. But honestly she hadn't thought the calls would still be coming
in.

The first few
had surprised her, although she supposed they shouldn't have. Jake tried to
warn her about what would happen when the media learned about her. She'd
thought he was exaggerating. Man, had she been wrong. Not only had reporters
called her phone as well as the Victorian Rose's business line, but they'd
descended on the bed and breakfast.

With the first
few who showed up, she tried to be polite, but her patience wore out fast. By
the early evening she'd stopped answering the door altogether. Instead Sean
took over that duty. Sean could be intimidating thanks to his size alone, but
Sean angry was something else entirely. And she knew for a fact that he'd
threatened a few of the more insistent reporters.

Thankfully she
hadn't heard the doorbell ring since that morning. As much as she hoped that
meant things were settling down, she doubted it. Rather she guessed the
reporters were regrouping, just waiting for a better time to strike.

How long could
their interest last anyway? Once they learned what little there was to know
about her, they'd stop bothering her, right? The questions danced around in her
head as she paced from one side of her bedroom to the other. Besides once she
returned to Norfolk, it'd be more difficult for them to get to her. While her
house wasn't on base, the hospital where she worked was. These reporters
wouldn't venture onto a Naval base just to snap a few photos, would they?

When she'd put
the question to Jake the night before, he'd told her that nothing was off
limits when it came to the media. Then he'd offered to hire a private security
guard for her.
 
She'd immediately
dismissed his offer, insisting that she could take care of herself.

Charlie crossed
her room one more time and grabbed the book off her desk. For a moment she
stared at the manila envelope containing her re-enlistment documents. She'd
finished filling them out weeks ago, but was now having second thoughts. Maybe
tomorrow she'd sit down and really think about what she wanted.

After dismissing
her professional future from her thoughts, she settled into the chair near the
window. The night before, after talking to Jake, she started a classic Steven
King novel and she hoped his master storytelling would distract her at least
until Jake called. Their conversations always managed to keep her mind off
whatever bothered her.

***

“Do you want to
talk about it?” Maureen O'Brien asked when Charlie walked into the back flower
garden Friday afternoon.

Charlie shoved
her cell phone into her back pocket and shrugged. “Talk about what?” Without
waiting for her mom to ask, she knelt down and yanked out a weed. Maybe if she
played dumb her mom would leave her alone.

“Something is
wrong. I can tell by your expression.” Maureen stopped working and turned to
look at Charlie. “And you've been edgy all day.”

It was on the
tip of her tongue to say everything was fine, but Charlie knew it wasn't. Ever
since Jake failed to call her two nights in a row, she'd been on edge.
 
Since he left North Salem, no more than a day
had gone between his phone calls. The first day when his call hadn't come she'd
chalked it up to his busy schedule. Then on the second day she received a short
text that just said
can't talk tonight
.
At the time she didn't question the message. Instead she assumed he would call
her today.

For most of the
day she fought the urge to call him herself. She didn't want to appear needy. But
when four o'clock came and went, Charlie caved and tried his cell. It
immediately sent her to voice mail.

“I expected a
call and it never came.” Charlie tore out another weed and tossed it on the
wagon her mom used for gardening. “It's no big deal.”

She spoke the
truth. It just wasn't the whole truth. Right now though it was all she would
admit aloud. If she acknowledged the sense of betrayal she felt lurking in the
shadows, she would have to admit she had strong feelings for Jake.
 
Something she wasn't sure she'd ever be ready
to do.

Her mom didn't
say anything, but Charlie could feel her mom's eyes on her. When she was a
child her mom had always been able to see exactly what Charlie felt. After the
divorce her mom became too focused on other things to really notice her anymore.
Yet as Charlie sat there concentrating on yanking out weeds so that her mom
could plant new flowers, she sensed for the first time in years her mom could
see what was bothering her.

“Have you tried
calling Jake?” Maureen asked as she moved closer to Charlie.

“Who said I was
talking about him?” Charlie asked as she pulled out another weed with more
force than needed.

Maureen wrapped
an arm around Charlie's shoulders. “You didn't have to. I saw the way you
looked at him when he was here.”

She wanted to
challenge her mom's statement, but it seemed pointless. Her mom could be almost
as stubborn as her so changing her mind would be almost impossible.

“He didn't
answer his phone.” Charlie reached for another weed only to realize all the
ones in that part of the garden were gone. “Just got a short text last night
and nothing since.”

Anxious to keep
busy, Charlie moved away from her mom farther down the flower bed to a section
her mother hadn't touched.

“What about his
office? Did you try there?” Maureen asked as she gathered up her gardening
tools and followed Charlie.

Charlie shook
her head. “I'm not sure I should.” The thought had entered her mind, but she
quickly dismissed it. A call to his office might give the wrong impression. She
wanted to keep this relationship or whatever it was between them light and
casual. After all, serious entanglements were not her style; or his for that
matter. A phone call to his office seemed like something a girlfriend would do.

“Bah.” Maureen
waved her hand in the air for extra emphasis. “Unless he said not to call, I
don't see any harm in it.

Not once had he
told her not to call the office. In fact the first time he returned to Virginia
he gave her not only his cell number but also his work number. Still something
held her back from using it.

“Why don't you
go in and try him now. I can handle the weeding myself.” Her mom gave her a
gentle pat on the leg and proceeded to attack the weeds threatening what was
left of her favorite rose bush. “You'll feel better if you do.”

A nagging voice
in her head kept telling Charlie that her mom was wrong. “It's late. The office
is probably closed.”

In the end
Charlie waited another two hours before trying Jake again. Once again her call
went straight to his voice mail.

Should she try
his office? She tapped his business card against the desk in her room,
uncertainty clawing at her. What was the worst that could happen? If he
couldn't talk now, he'd tell her.

With her mind
made up she punched in the number. After several rings someone answered. “Falmouth
Foundation,” a crisp female voice said.

Surprised that
someone had answered, Charlie paused for a half-heartbeat before speaking. “I'm
calling for Jake Sherbrooke,” she said, her voice just as crisp and
businesslike as the woman on the other end of the line.

“He isn't in the
office.”

Did that mean he
wasn't in now or hadn't been in all day? “Do you know when he'll be back?”

“No. He flew out
last night.”

The simple reply
made the already growing knot in Charlie's stomach double in size. “Is he away
on business?” She didn't think the woman would answer but she asked anyway.

“I'm not at
liberty to say. But if you want to leave a message you may. I expect he will be
calling in at some point.” The secretary remained businesslike, but Charlie
thought she sounded a little less stuffy.

Leave a message?
Saying what? “No that's okay. Thanks.” Charlie didn't wait for a reply instead
she hit the end button on her phone.

Unable to sit
still, she walked to her window. The sky outside glittered with stars and a
full moon dominated her view, however her mind was too preoccupied to really
appreciate the view tonight.
 
Where had
he gone and why couldn't the secretary say. If he'd gone away on official
business there wouldn't be any reason to keep his whereabouts a secret. She
assumed that meant he'd left for a personal reason. And if that was the case
why hadn't he told her? Why keep it a secret from her? Why sneak away?

Was that what
he'd done? Sneaked away to be with someone else without the courtesy of telling
her things between them were over first. Just like her father had done to her
mother?

For the first
time in years memories from the day she realized her father wasn't coming home
flooded her mind. It'd been a complete shock to her when he left one morning
and never came back. When he'd finally sent word a week later that he'd moved
to Florida and wanted a divorce, the entire family had been devastated. Nothing
was ever the same again.

A few tear drops
trailed down Charlie's face as she fought to suppress the memories. Even if
Jake had decided to call it quits without a single word she wasn't going to
shed any tears over it. It wasn't as if she loved him or anything, she told
herself. He'd just been another person passing through her life.

***

Charlie checked
her emails then switched over to her normal web browser for any interesting
world news. She brought up a story about a new space program initiative when
her phone rang. When she checked the caller ID she expected to see Jake's
number. Instead she saw her friend and temporary roommate Beth's number.

Beth was perhaps
her oldest friend in Norfolk. They'd been transferred to the base a week apart
and had both worked at the hospital on base. Beth lost everything when the
apartment building she lived in burned down so she moved in with Charlie.

“Did you end
things with Jake already? Are you crazy?” Beth asked after saying hello. “Do
you know how many women would kill to be in your place?”

For a moment
Charlie wondered why she told Beth about Jake in the first place. “If I'm crazy
I'm not the only one. What are you talking about?”

For a full
minute silence stretched out over the phone. “So you two are still a couple?”
Beth asked slowly.

“You make it
sound as if we're in high school,” Charlie said exasperated. “We spend time
together.”

Dead silence
again greeted Charlie's ear.

“If you're near
a computer look at Today Magazine's site.”

At the tone of
Beth's voice ice began to form around her heart. Without asking anymore
questions, Charlie typed in the internet address. Immediately a photo of some
popular singer she'd never heard of popped up.

“When you have
the site up, scroll down to the second article.”

Charlie moved
down to the second article and stared. The man in the photo looked remarkably
like Jake and he had his arm around the shoulders of a petite blonde. Charlie
forced her eyes away from the picture on the screen and read the headline above
it. “Playboy Jake Sherbrooke arrives in London with yet another woman.”

When Jake's
secretary said he'd flown out, Charlie assumed she meant that he flew to
somewhere in the United States not to another country. And although she didn't
have any proof, she'd hoped that he'd only left Virginia for business, but the
picture on the screen suggested otherwise. Did she want to read anymore,
Charlie wondered as she moved the cursor toward the X in the right hand corner
of the web browser? Part of her wanted to shut down the computer and ignore the
picture on the screen. Unfortunately her jealous half refused to let her. She'd
never been one to shy away from things no matter how difficult.

So instead of
closing the link, Charlie read the short paragraph under the picture.

International playboy Jake Sherbrooke arrived today
at Heathrow International Airport. He was met by an unknown blond who greeted
him with an affectionate hug. The couple then got into a black BMW and drove
away. This rendezvous follows his most recent outing to Martha's Vineyard with
a redhead who he reportedly took to his sister's wedding last month. And while
Prince Charming dates beautiful woman on both sides of the pond, model Blair
Peters is expecting his first child.