Page 35 of The Sweet Life

Jake looked relieved that she’d leveled the threat against her mother and not him. He headed out the door, with Eva following close behind.

“Don’t be mad at Nonna. She was using the situation with my, uh, Aaron, to convince me to stay at the apartment in your time of need.”

“She’s too much. I’m fine, honey. Am I thrilled that your aunt wrote a book airing our family’s dirty laundry, a lot of it sadly mine? No, I’m not. To be honest, I’m mad as hell about it, but there’s nothing I can do. What’s done is done. And as both your aunts pointed out to me, it’s not like he’s going to show up in Sunshine Bay.” She caught Sage’s wince before she could hide it and took her hand. “I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me. We’ve never really talked about your father. Would you like to see him?”

“No, of course not. It’s just…” She shook her head. “No. I’m good, and I know you’re probably hurt about me staying with Jake at the farm, but we’ve got a lot to do to settle Alice’s estate.”

“And that’s what worries me. You won’t take the time you need to heal your body and your mind.”

“Pot, kettle.”

“What do you mean?”

“How’s your body and mind, Mom?”

“They’re fine, thank you very much.” Heat climbed from her chest to her cheeks at the thought Sage had somehow found out about her and Flynn.

“Uh, Mom. You’re looking flushed, and I know for a fact that you’ve gone through menopause, so would you like to share what’s got you all worked up?”

Her daughter was an exceptional lawyer, and Gia didn’t feel like being on this side of the witness stand. She leaned over, stroking Sage’s hair from her forehead. “I love you, and I want you to get better.” She stood up and turned off the overhead light. “Get some sleep.”

Chapter Twelve

Sage woke up soaking wet in the middle of the night. It took a moment for her to get her bearings. Despite her family’s concerted efforts to get her to change her mind, they’d dropped her at the farm yesterday afternoon and hadn’t left until they’d tucked her into the waterbed last night with a glass of warm milk.

She was about to raise her hand to her forehead and check if she had a temperature but the fact that her hand was floating in a puddle of water ruled out a fever.

She rolled over and nearly drowned herself. “Jake, the waterbed sprang a leak!” She tried to lever herself up to pound on the wall to wake him up but couldn’t reach around the headboard. “Help!”

The bedroom light came on. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brightness. Once they did, her gaze found Jake, who was standing in the doorway. He had on a pair of black boxers, but he might as well have been naked for how she responded to him. She tried dragging her gaze from all that muscular, bronzed beauty, but her eyes ignored her.

“Sorry. I’m not objectifying you. My eyes are ignoring my brain. It’s possibly a side effect of burnout.” She raised her hand. “I need help.” She frowned. “Jake?”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean,huh? Is this payback for my family hanging out here half the day and night?” Her eyes widened. “Wait! Did my grandmother pay you to sabotage the waterbed so I’d leave?”

He scrubbed his hands over his face, then turned and walked away.

“Jake! This is not funny. I seriously cannot get out of the bed. You can’t just leave me—” She broke off when he walked into the room with her robe, which she’d left in the bathroom last night. “Why would you—” She glanced down at herself and knew exactly why he’d brought her robe.

It had been hot last night, and she’d worn a white V-neck camisole and ruffle shorts to bed. The sleep set was soaked and see-through, as inshemight as well be naked.

He threw the robe at her. It landed on her head but also covered everything down to her knees. Jake didn’t wait for her to put it on. He simply scooped her up and out of the bed with the robe still on her head. He didn’t set her on her feet as she expected but carried her down the hall, depositing her in the bathroom.

“Take a hot shower,” he said, then walked out, closing the bathroom door behind him.

“It wasn’t my fault!”

Seconds later, he opened the door and tossed her flannel sleep pants and a sweatshirt onto the counter. “I didn’t say it was.”

“Then why are you acting like you’re mad at me? I mean,besides me waking you up in the middle of the night and flooding the bedroom.”

“I’m not mad at you,” he said, holding her gaze.

Noting his slightly flushed cheeks, she said, “Oh.” Then she caught a glimpse of his tented boxers. “Oh.”

“Yeah,oh.” He shook his head and walked out of the bathroom.

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