Page 116 of Waiting to Lose
“Ang brought my clothes and Murphy for me,” he said, inching closer to her as she stood frozen. “And I don’t just need them for three days. I need them for the next month, at least.”
“The next month?” she asked, her brows furrowing as she tried to understand.
“I didn’t rent this, I bought it. This is ours. Yours and mine. I don’t like being away from you, so I bought this so we could be together.”
Jake stared into her immobile face as she attempted to process his words. He turned his head as he waited for a response. Any response. He got nothing.
“You bought this?” she gasped.
He nodded.
“You’re staying here?” she asked. “For a month?”
Again, he nodded, wondering what she was thinking.
She turned in a quick circle and her eyes met his, her mouth hanging open.
“What do you think?” he asked.
A slow smile curled at her lips before spreading across her face in the most beautiful display he’d ever seen. She flew into him, wrapping her arms around him and laughing as she jumped up and down.
He expelled a deep breath from his lungs as he closed his eyes and held her. Her body shook with laughter and trembled with shock. He pulled her back to see her face.
“Do you approve?”
“You really bought this? How? Why? For how long? What were you thinking?”
One question immediately followed the next, not giving him a single chance to respond. “I bought it before you agreed to move to L.A. I’d hoped that you’d see how serious I was about you. I hoped I could convince you to move to L.A. with me. I wanted you—and us—to always have a place to stay when we returned to Chicago to visit your family. There’s plenty of room for them to stay here, and Kendra too, for that matter—if you’d like.”
Madi stared at him as he spoke.
“I can’t live in Chicago permanently. I hope you understand. I need to be in L.A. most of the year.”
Madi nodded as she seemed to process his words.
He reached for her hand and opened it, placing a key into her palm. “This is for you. I want this to be your home. I know you live at school, but I want you to come here every chance you get, or whenever you want. There are sixteen restaurants downstairs and twenty-four-hour room service. There are multiple stores downstairs, each with my room on file. Charge whatever you like. Everything you need is within walking distance. The security is top notch. There’s a code when you enter, as well as a private elevator that separates residents from guests.”
Madi stared at him.
“Say something. You’re too quiet. I need to know what you’re thinking.”
“You’re staying in Chicago until Christmas? Until we go to L.A.?”
“We still need to talk about Christmas and whether or not it’s safe for you to come to L.A. like we’d planned. I have a couple of meetings and things I need to take care of in late December. I rescheduled my concert in Boston for early January, but I plan on coming back here after and as often as possible when I’m not recording, doing performances, or attending fundraisers. That is, if you want me to.” He eyed her inquisitively. He desperately needed to know what was going on in her head.
She turned and wrapped her arms around herself, hugging herself as she glanced out the window. Jake suddenly worried she hated the whole idea of it all.
She quickly pivoted and rushed to him. Her lips pressed into his with fierce urgency. He cupped her hands in his face as he kissed her and held her to him.
“I can’t believe you. You did this for me? For us? I have you for a month?” she asked as she stomped her foot. “For an entire freaking month?” she shouted as she held his arms and jumped up and down.
He laughed. “If you want.”
She shouted, “Do I want you? Do I want this?” she said, twirling around in a circle. “This is too much! This had to cost you a fortune!”
“I have more money than I know what to do with.”
“I feel like a princess! This can’t be real.”
