Fallen Woman(63)

He smacked my butt and turned off the water. When we stepped out, he handed me a towel, warm from the rack. It was nice to be this casual with another human being—it was incredible that it was Jase Lane. It seemed surreal. This was a fairytale I never wanted to escape—things like this didn’t happen for girls like me.

It amazed me how easily Jase had fallen into parenthood. While he didn’t technically have permanent custody of Derrick, his lawyer did secure temporary while they looked for his parents. Unfortunately, state law required sixty days before he could proceed with the adoption. Of course, Jase had put on a full-court press to find Derrick’s mother. He wanted her consent and her silence, even if he had to buy it. He didn’t think it would be difficult to find her knowing her name, but I knew the truth of the streets. My mother hadn’t wanted to be found, and I was pretty sure Trina wouldn’t either. If she hadn’t shown up for her mother’s funeral, she sure wasn’t going to show up to claim the son she’d abandoned.

After dropping the kids off at school and Emmy at daycare, Jase and I rode into the office together. “I’m going to let you out at the front of the building. I have some stuff I need to take care of today. I’ll be back to pick you up, and I’ll get the kids after school.”

“What about work, Jase? We have to find a more permanent solution. You can’t just check out at three o’clock every day.”

“Technically, I can—realistically, I shouldn’t. Don’t worry. One of my stops is to Emmy’s daycare to see if they do after-school pickup.”

“Jase, I can’t pay for after school care for the kids.” He just didn’t get it.

“Let’s cross one bridge at a time, Gia.” He lifted my hand, the one he held on his thigh, and kissed my knuckles. “We’ll figure this out. Together.” He’d pulled up to the building, and I couldn’t help but take a moment to capture the essence of emotion in the windows he’d opened to his soul. It was as if he’d lifted a veil, opened a curtain—when he let me in, suddenly the light was brighter, and the connection was unbreakable. I was tethered to him, but I wasn’t sure what secured me.

“Are you off on business today?” I shouldn’t be asking. The traffic was backing up behind us, but it didn’t matter. I was only delaying his departure for selfish reasons.

“Something like that.” He leaned over to kiss my cheek. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

I hopped out, instantly feeling vulnerable without him.

He didn’t come back for lunch, and I hadn’t brought anything, so I opted for a magazine in the lobby. I secluded myself in the sun by the windows to pass the time and buried my nose in the pages of a tabloid for entertainment. Around two in the afternoon, there was a light knock on my cubicle wall. Startled, I spun around in my chair to find those steely gray eyes honed in on me—alight with desire or some other unkempt emotion threatening to boil over.

“Grab your stuff. Let’s go.” There was a hint of a grin, but it was more mischievous than any I’d seen from him prior.

“Jase, I don’t get off for three hours. You know I can’t just leave.”

He stepped in and pushed me in my chair to the side to open my desk drawer and remove my pocketbook. Then, reaching over me, he used the mouse to put my computer to sleep, all while I watched him with focused intensity. “I talked to your boss. He said it’s cool.”

“You know—” He interrupted me by yanking me up from the seat, then quickly wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me tightly to his chest. Apparently, our relationship had gone to another level, and we weren’t hiding that from anyone.

“We’re going home. Now.” The words were whispered in my ear, but he screamed his intention as if I couldn’t feel it pressed firmly against my stomach.

Hand in hand, my purse in the other, he escorted me out of the building with eyes all over us. He may not have cared, but I hated people thinking I got special treatment because of who they all believed I was having sex with but had never done more than kiss. Jase owned our relationship with pride—I, on the other hand, downplayed it…always had.

Reaching the privacy of his car, the windows tinted darkly, the parking garage void of passersby, he secured my neck with his hand, bringing my mouth to his. The intrusion was welcomed, although unexpected—a hot, panty-wetting kiss. The way his tongue collided with mine, the warmth of his flesh, his fingers searing my skin, I wanted him closer; I was desperate to feel every inch of him. We were the best of friends, but I needed an intimate knowledge. He, too, seemed to want to learn that lesson.

He sped off from the parking garage toward his house with little care in mind. In an almost reckless fashion, we reached his home faster than the law safely allowed. I couldn’t help but giggle at his anxiousness.

“What are you laughing about?” he asked with a smirk on his face as the garage door went down.

“You. You must have something pretty important on your agenda to have raced home.”

To my dismay, he did, and it wasn’t what I’d hoped for.

He grabbed a large envelope from the back seat and opened his door. “Come on. Let’s go in.”





Chapter Thirteen





Jase lured me into his domicile with the anticipation of something more than he gave. I was expecting something fun, but he’d just buttered me up to have a discussion I wasn’t interested in. We spent the next two hours arguing about my living location and schools.