When You Were Mine [Second Chances 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (16 page)

“I get that,” Jamie said as he set his drink down with a thump on the side table. “Honestly, I don’t entirely blame you even though it pisses me off.”

“She’s my baby,” Theo said again, this time looking slightly more regretful. He took a sip of his drink and sighed.

“You could have just asked,” Jamie repeated. “And, how you could think I’d want to be with her for any other reason than the fact that she’s amazing is beyond me.”

“I’m sorry,” Theo said. “I only want to protect what’s mine.”

Jamie heard a light tap on the door, followed by Cora’s voice softly asking, “Is it safe to come in now? Did you finish your man talk?”

Theo said, sighing, “Yeah, I think we’re about done with that.”

Taking pity on the man, Jamie said, “I was just telling your father about the Shinobi Games campaign. I was going to save this for later, but—”

Cora perked up and asked, “Did Tim like the concept art you sent over?”

“Loved it. We’re not contracted yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s heading that way. He’s going to show the board and get their buy in,” he said, his mood significantly better.

Cora gave an excited bounce and said, “That’s so incredible!”

“That’s a big win, son,” Theo said. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you, Sir,” Jamie said. “I’m really excited about what this will do for my business.”

Theo waved a hand at him and said, “Every time you call me ‘Sir,’ I picture Grandpa Blanchard on the porch with that wooden switch in his hand. Call me Theo. Please.”

Jamie gave him a nod, then picked up his glass. As annoyed as he was, he had no intention of telling Cora about the background check. It would only upset her.

Theo rose out of his seat and said, “Let’s go fire up the grill. We can sit out on the deck. It’s nice and cool.”

Together, they walked out of the study and back down the long hallway. He was silent, listening to Cora and her father continue to chat. Despite his disagreement with Theo’s methods, the love that he had for his daughter shone through in the way that they interacted. It made him miss his own father.

When Theo stopped in the kitchen to get the steaks out of the fridge and waved them back toward the outdoor seating area, Cora looked at him and said, “Well. You’re still alive so I suppose it went well?”

His lips twitching, he said, “Just man talk, dear.”

As her eyes narrowed, he held up a hand and said, “Sorry. Couldn’t help it. I’m gonna have to remember that one.”

She continued to stare at him until finally he said, “It was the kind of ‘don’t hurt my baby girl’ warning that we both knew was coming. Nothing too surprising.”

“Mmkay,” she said, as she slid her arms around his waist. “When were you going to tell me about Tim? That’s huge news!”

“I meant to tell you in the car,” Jamie said, running a hand through his hair. “I just got distracted.”

“See?” she said as she brushed her lips lightly against his. “You were worried for nothing.”

Wrapping his arms around her, he nodded in agreement. “You were right, baby.”

Cora’s father rang out drily from across the pool deck as he stepped out of the French doors. He said, “Don’t make me break out the hose, you two.”

Cora rolled her eyes and said, “Daddy. I’m a grown adult.”

“Still my baby,” he said, as he twisted the knobs on his grill.

As he approached, Jamie eyed the plate he held and asked, “How many people were you planning on feeding with those steaks?”

There were three large bone-in rib eye steaks with a thick coat of seasoning. They were huge and probably weighed at least a pound each.

“One for each of us,” Theo said, laughing. “My meat guy dry aged these for 60 days. Says the meat will melt in your mouth.”

Jamie’s mouth watered, but he doubted he’d be able to finish the steak. Either way, he needed to hit the gym hard tomorrow. He had a feeling that the peach pie on the counter was for dessert.

Breaking into his thoughts, Cora raised an eyebrow and said, “So much for cutting back on the red meat, Dad.”

“Sugarplum. This’ll be the first steak I’ve had in months. Nothing but brown rice and chicken breast for ages. One steak won’t kill me,” Theo groused.

* * * *

The next afternoon, Jamie hung up the phone, still in shock. Tim presented the concept art he provided along with the marketing plan he’d devised earlier this morning. The board had apparently loved it and wanted to move forward as quickly as possible.

He had included some storyboarding for a thirty-second television spot, a minute long spot, and then made some suggestions for integrating some real, live gameplay into a longer trailer made especially for web. In addition, he had worked out a list of his relevant contacts for press and reviews.

Having played the game himself, Jamie knew that it wouldn’t be difficult to get people talking about the game. That added bonus of the web trailer with the in-game play would make his job even easier. He’d found the controls to be fun, and the overall concept to be really intuitive. It allowed the user to play in groups or against the server. He had been doing mostly that, since the server wasn’t live. Some of the designers and bug testers had engaged him from time to time over the past two weeks, so he could see the appeal of practice.

Jamie had provided a standard contract along with the proposal, pricing, and other information. He needed to have his lawyer review some requested changes as soon as possible. Tim had requested an in-person meeting along with a few small changes.

Over the next few hours, he spoke with his lawyer who promised an updated contract tonight, booked a plane ticket, and made hotel reservations for himself. He planned to stay Thursday, and then leave late in the evening on Friday. He’d fly out at the crack of dawn tomorrow. There were still a million things that he needed to do between now and then.

Cora had a few late patients on the docket tonight, so she had planned on stopping over for a late dinner afterward. He texted her and let her know that he was planning to stay late at the office and that she could meet him there instead. He really couldn’t wait to share the news with her.

In fact, there was no one else that he’d rather celebrate with. Who, he wondered, would he have called to share this with if not her?

Cora waited impatiently in her living room for Jamie. She hadn’t seen him since Wednesday evening when they’d had a late dinner at his place. He had called her on Thursday night to let her know that they had signed contracts. Even though they were headed to his mother’s house for the picnic, she couldn’t wait to celebrate with him. This was huge!

When she heard the knock on the door, she bounced up off the couch and opened the door. He stepped forward, a huge grin on his face and said, “Missed you.”

“Missed you too,” she agreed, as she tugged him further inside and shut the door. Pressing Jamie back against the door, Cora pulled his mouth down to hers, and nipped at his lips until his mouth opened over hers. When his tongue brushed across hers, she let out a pleasured sigh.

Jamie eventually broke off the kiss and said, “You have no idea how much it pains me to stop you but, you should know that Maureen’s waiting in the car.”

“No,” Cora moaned as she let her forehead fall to rest against his chest. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“I wish,” he said mournfully. “This morning her car wouldn’t start, so I went and picked her up. Ruined my plans, too.”

Intrigued, Cora asked, “You had plans?”

“I had plans to take you against the first flat surface I could find,” he said. Leaning back against the door, he said, “This would have done nicely.”

Cora sighed deeply and said, “I’ll get my bag.”

Jamie held her against him for a moment longer and then released her and said, “To be continued. As soon as humanly possible.”

Cora moved from his arms to grab her backpack from the couch. Jamie immediately took it from her and asked, “Ready?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, unable to keep the slight sadness from her voice.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth when he said, “Me too, baby. Me too.”

Slowly, they made their way out to the car, stopping to lock Cora’s front door. Maureen had moved into the backseat, so Cora slid into the passenger’s side and said, “Hey!”

Maureen greeted her and then apologized, “Sorry. I hope you don’t mind me intruding. My car died this morning.”

“Oh, that sucks. I hope it’s nothing serious,” Cora said, waving off her apology.

“Yeah,” Maureen said. “Me too. I feel like a dumbass for not taking the extended warranty. I’m about ready to trade in this piece of crap.”

As they made their way up the coast, the conversation flowed easily. Maureen regaled them with tales of the extensive repair history of her car. Both Jamie and Cora winced as she detailed the transmission replacement. It had apparently died in the middle of the freeway. She was able to pull over onto a very small shoulder while her car had leaked red goop all over the place.

“You need to get rid of that junker, Mo,” Jamie said as he pulled into a gas station. “Do you guys want some water or anything?”

When they both nodded, he slid out of the vehicle and walked toward the entrance. Cora watched, once and again appreciating how nicely he filled out the plain black T-shirt he wore. Maureen eventually spoke, breaking into her wayward thoughts.

“I’m glad you guys got back together. I’ve never seen him happier,” she said.

Cora drily said, “I’m sure the huge contract he booked the other day has something to do with the happiness as well.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t hurt, but, he’s a different person when you’re around, Cora. You didn’t see it, but I did. When he came home he seemed a little bit lost. He doesn’t anymore and I think it’s because of you.”

Cora studied her for a minute and then asked, “Is this the part where you warn me not to hurt your brother?”

“Not at all. I love you both and I just want you guys to be happy.”

“It’s good, Maureen. It’s early but...things are really good. We’re just taking it slowly.”

She nodded and said, “Seems wise.”

* * * *

Two hours later, Cora ran through the backyard, narrowly avoiding the cool streams of water coming from the family’s various water guns. She managed to avoid most of the major fire, and had soaked the majority of Jamie’s family. She considered it excellent retaliation for the bet.

Her hair was wet from where Will had gotten her in the back, but Cora was damned fast. Four years of high school track and years on an intramural track team in college had definitely paid off. It was time to rest, now, though.

Out of breath, gun pointed to the ground in the universal “I’m no longer playing this game” signal, she grabbed a diet coke from cooler on the back deck. Popping it open, she took a sip and then stepped quickly out of the way when Patty ran past her, screeching.

Seconds later, Jamie rounded the corner and opened fire, drenching her with the Water Blaster 5000 he held aloft.

“Oh shit,” Jamie said. It was clear that he was trying not to laugh when he added, “I’m so sorry, baby. I thought Patty ran this way.”

Cora set her drink down and made a show of blinking her eyes and reaching for a towel. She wandered closer to the edge of the pool and grabbed one off of the lounge chair and waited for Jamie to approach.

She continued to wipe at her face and said, “You got water in my nose.”

More contrite now, he said, “Cora. I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to do that.”

Setting the towel down, she complained. “I just need a minute to dry out. I’ll be fine.”

Luckily she had the foresight to put a bikini under her clothes. She wrung the water out of her shirt and set it on the chair behind her, then dried off with the towel some more. A minute later, she stood up and wrapped the towel around her shoulders.

Jamie hovered next to her nervously and asked, “Feel any better now?”

She gave him a mighty shove and then watched as he fell backward into the deep end of the pool. When he sputtered to the surface, she said, “Much better now.”

Several of his family members hooted and hollered as he began to slowly tread water. He laughed, blinked water from his eyes, and said, “I guess I earned that, huh?”

“Just a little bit,” she said, stripping off the cut-off shorts she wore. She was hopelessly soaked now, so she may as well join him.

Seconds later she cannonballed into the open space next to him and shot back to the surface. She let out a small squeak of surprise when his arms slipped around her waist and pulled her flush against him. Before she could do anything more than wrap her arms around his neck, he brought his lips down on hers and kissed her to within an inch of her life, audience be damned.

Cora was capable of nothing beyond relaxing into him and kissing him back until she heard Jane’s voice at the edge of the pool deck.

“Jamison Anthony. You let that poor girl breathe. There are children present!”

Immediately he pulled back and said, “I really didn’t mean to spray you, baby. Now I’m glad I did, though.”