When You Were Mine [Second Chances 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (15 page)

She attempted to move but he held her tight against him and said, “Uh-uh. My research is over for tonight. Let’s go lie down.”

It was kind of strange. For someone who spent her life talking about other people’s feelings, she wasn’t the best at talking about her own. Right now, her thoughts were a jumble, though. She needed to sort through them.

It seemed that he hadn’t forgotten the tried-and-true method to get her talking. Whenever she’d had a problem, they always ended up cuddled up with the lights low. There was something about the combination that relaxed her enough to talk about whatever was bothering her.

Together, they walked hand in hand toward the bedroom. Jamie dimmed the lights, turned on some soft music, and then curled up with her on top of the covers. Once she had settled against him, he rubbed a hand lazily down her back and said, “Talk to me.”

She smiled as the tension slowly left her body and asked, “You sure? This was literally the best part of my day right here.”

“Stop stalling,” he responded, brushing a kiss against her forehead.

Like a torrent, the words just flowed out her until she had nothing left to say. She talked about Rhiane in vague terms. She couldn’t really be specific without sharing way more than she should about her sister’s past.

One night about a year ago, Taryn had unleashed the whole story of her childhood after extracting the promise that it would never be discussed again.

When their parents died, Cora was adopted out and Taryn, the older of the two, ended up in foster care. Cora was incredibly lucky.

Taryn had been abused in every way imaginable. She hadn’t been able to shake the horrible images from her mind ever since. Normally, she talked to her sister when patients got to her, but this was something that she couldn’t share.

She hadn’t asked her for the story. She had been incredibly careful not to force any of the boundaries her sister set in that regard. She had suspected, but hearing the confirmation had been horrifying. She couldn’t be entirely sure why Taryn had decided to tell her. Cora suspected that she still struggled with it some, though. Especially in light of the fact that she had a daughter.

Moving back into the present, she moved on to Ian, the little boy from the afternoon with the anxiety and the angry mother. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. What was the point of taking your child to therapy if you were going to obstruct the process?

Finally, Warren Aimes. Cora knew that bringing back that particular memory had really been the straw that broke the camel’s back. She could still see the boy, shrunken down, terrified of his father. That case had been particularly nasty. And the look on the father’s face had been vacant. It was almost as if he didn’t have any feelings one way or another about the proceedings.

Eventually, when Cora had finally exhausted herself, Jamie spoke. “You chose a tough line of work. I’m so proud of what you’ve accomplished. You take on the burdens of everyone that you talk to. It’s gotta be difficult to let some of that stuff go. If you need to talk, tell me. I hate that you feel like you have to bottle it up.”

“Usually I’m okay at processing it all, but today was especially bad because everything kind of hit at once,” Cora admitted.

“If you need to talk,” he repeated. “Just let me know. I don’t like it when you’re unhappy.”

“I’m not unhappy. I was just a little bit stressed, but I feel much better now. Thank you,” Cora said, pressing her lips to his cheek.

“You’re welcome, baby,” he said as he continued to stroke a hand down her back. “Did you want to go back to your case files or just stay here?”

She snorted indelicately and then said, “No more case files tonight. I got the majority of it done anyway.”

“Good,” he agreed, his voice drowsy. “Let’s just stay like this.”

“Mm, this is perfect,” she agreed.

Now that her thoughts weren’t racing, Cora just lay there and let herself drift. She was constantly going, going, going. She nestled further into Jamie’s side.

It was nice, for once, to just enjoy the moment. Particularly this one.

Jamie tugged at the collar of his shirt for the fourth time in the last two minutes, as Cora drove them both toward her father’s house for dinner. He’d met him before. Theo had always been a really nice guy, but he was a completely uncertain about what sort of reception he’d receive tonight.

A few nights ago, they’d been in the grocery store shopping for dinner supplies when her father had called. She’d spoken to him but tried to cut the call short. Uttering the words, “Daddy. We’re at the grocery store. Let me call you back a little bit later,” had been the start of a long, awkward conversation. Her father had immediately picked up on the
we
and it had all gone downhill from there.

Jamie had listened to the one-sided conversation, wincing every so often before he tuned it out and went in search of vegetables. By the time he had gotten back to the cart, and he had taken the long way just in case, Cora was sighing and passing the phone over to him.

One very short and incredibly awkward conversation later, he had been thoroughly boxed into dinner with Cora and her father the next night. There had been no elegant way to bow out of it. Theo had made sure of that.

CFO of a multinational biotech firm, her father was a sharp man. He was relatively quiet, but Jamie suspected that little escaped his notice. This dinner, however innocuous, had been pushed for a specific reason. Theo clearly had something to say to him.

Jamie pulled himself back into the present when Cora said, “Jamie? We’re here.”

After unbuttoning the offending button of his shirt, he said, “Oh jeez. I must be out of it. I’m sorry.”

Cora sighed, placed a hand over his knee, and said, “My Dad is...a little pushy. Thank you for agreeing to come with me.”

“Like I wanna miss the totally awkward conversation that’s coming my way,” Jamie said, grinning good naturedly.

Considering how things had ended so abruptly between them all those years ago, Theo probably had some things to say. As much as he’d like to avoid it, Jamie figured he probably needed to hear them.

Cora rolled her eyes and said, “I’m sure it won’t be that bad. At worst he’s going to ask what your intentions are toward his daughter.”

“Well, gee, Sir. I was hoping to spend as much time as possible with her both in and out of bed.”

“Wow,” Cora snorted. “My dad would love that response.”

Jamie grinned at her unrepentantly, and then finally said, “C’mon, baby. Let’s do this. Before I lose my nerve.”

Cora cleared her throat and said, “By the way. Please don’t mention the Warren Aimes thing. It’ll only worry him unnecessarily.”

Jamie said, “I don’t know, Cora. That’s kind of big. Don’t you think you should at least mention it?”

“He’s got enough on his plate. The district attorney is trying to move my court appointment up since they weren’t able to issue the temporary order. I don’t want to worry him.”

The fact that the D.A. wouldn’t issue the temporary restraining order for someone who was acting under instruction from the court confused Jamie. He had assumed it was a no-brainer, but he had been wrong.

“Thank you,” Cora said, a look of relief on her face.

“I still don’t get why they won’t issue the order,” Jamie complained.

Cora shook her head and said, “They deemed him as not an eminent threat. I’ve got no idea what criteria they use, though.”

“Pisses me off, still,” Jamie said.

“Simmer down, hotshot. I didn’t mean to get you all riled up again.”

He sighed and said, “I worry.”

“Thank you,” Cora said. “Now stop stalling and let’s go inside.”

Jamie gave a resolute nod and made his way out of the car.

Hand in hand, they walked toward the front door. To call the house an estate would not be an exaggeration. There had to be at least ten bedrooms and six bathrooms that he could recall.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the house had grown since the last time he’d seen it. Curious, he asked, “Is this bigger than I remember?”

As they walked through the front door, she said, “Yeah. Mom added on a large aviary off to the side, a cheese cave, and a greenhouse.”

“A cheese cave?” he asked.

Cora nodded and reminded him, “You know how she was. Always with some sort of project.”

He smiled at the memory and squeezed her hand with his. “She was one of the most competent people I’ve ever met.”

In the time that he’d been dating Cora, her mother had learned how to cook Indian cuisine, taught herself how to play the harp, and started to write a book on home management. She had been an amazing woman.

“Daddy,” Cora called as they stepped into the foyer.

Seconds later, still larger than life, Theo rounded the corner and said, “There’s my sugarplum,” as he swept her into a bear hug. After he released her, he stuck out a hand to Jamie in greeting and said, “Jamie. Good to see you again!”

As they walked back to the massive kitchen, Theo said, “I figured we could throw some steaks on the grill in a little bit. Lilly took mercy on me and she roasted some potatoes and put together a Caesar salad to go with it.”

Jamie watched as Cora’s eyes lit up.

“Lilly’s still here,” she asked with a hopeful smile.

“Yep. When she knew you were coming, she stayed a bit late. Go on and say hello. Jamie and I will just have a drink in my study,” Theo said.

Cora realized what was going on and valiantly tried to run interference. “Just give me a second to say hello and I’ll come with you guys.”

Theo waved her off and said, “It’s just a little man talk, sugarplum. I’ll bring him back in one piece.”

When Cora’s eyes narrowed, Theo looked over and Jamie and said, “That’s how you know she was her mama’s daughter, through and through. Any time I ever said anything like that, Millie gave me the same look.”

Cora smiled at the memory and said, “Please be gentle, Daddy,” and then headed toward the kitchen.

Sending Cora one last look of distress, he followed Theo down the hallway that eventually led to his study. Along the way he noticed that the house had been redecorated.

“You redecorated,” he said, trying to fill the awkward silence. “I like the colors.”

Theo’s deep voice rumbled, “Millie loved to fiddle. She redecorated once every year or two.”

Jamie could feel the aching sadness behind his words and said the only thing he really could. “I was sorry to hear about her passing. She was a special woman.”

“She sure was. Starting dating me right out of college, when I didn’t have a pot to piss in. She loved me when I was nothing. Probably made me what I am today. Hell of a woman,” he agreed, gruffly.

When they entered the study, he watched Theo walk over to a dark, cherrywood cabinet and pull out two glasses.

“Scotch okay?” he asked.

Jamie hadn’t really developed much of a taste for it. He was more of a craft beer kind of guy, but now probably wasn’t the time to mention it.

“Sure,” he agreed.

Once Theo had poured two glasses, and passed one off to him, he said, “Take a seat, Jamie.”

Jamie settled into one of the large leather wingback chairs and gave the whiskey a cautious sniff, then took a small sip. Surprisingly, it was incredibly smooth. He could taste the undertones of chocolate.

Theo watched him and then said, “Nice, huh?”

“Do I taste chocolate?” Jamie asked, confused.

“Yeah, raisins and chocolate. I’m impressed, boy.”

Jamie took another small sip and said, “I’m more of a beer guy, myself. You can pick up the same kind of flavor notes in some of the craft beers. It’s interesting. I never really thought of applying it to scotch, but I guess that’s where it started out.”

Theo nodded appreciatively and then said, “So you’re dating my girl again.”

“She’s difficult to resist,” Jamie admitted. “When I saw her again, it was as if nothing had changed.”

Ignoring his statement, Theo asked, “You’re going to stick around this time?”

Jamie nodded and said, “Yes, Sir. I am. I’ve started an ad agency.”

“You’ve done very well for yourself. I’m surprised you turned down the VP job, though,” Theo remarked.

Jamie studied him for a moment, confused. Cora had just made her father aware the other night that they were dating again. How could he possibly know how Jamie was doing unless...Had Theo run a background check on him?

His eyes narrowing, Jamie asked, “Did you—”

“I meant no disrespect, Jamie,” Theo said, holding up a hand. “You showed up in her life out of the blue seven years later. After all she’s been through this past year, I had to know. She’s all I’ve got left.”

Angry, he stared at Theo. Jamie understood the point behind the actions, but that didn’t mean he was any less pissed off about it. “You could have asked, ya know? I don’t have anything to hide. It’s not about the money. It was never about the money.”

“I didn’t think so, but people change,” Theo said, unapologetically. “The last thing I wanted for her was more unhappiness.”