Kaleidoscope (Colorado Mountain #6)(89)

I knew Jacob and Dad were conspiring.

I said nothing.

This was because, two weeks ago, I thought this was sweet. Sweet and protective and maybe even a little funny.

Now I absolutely did not.

I parked opposite the front door to Jacob’s truck and swung out of my Bronco. As I rounded the hood, I noticed Jacob had moved. He was now standing at the foot of my front steps.

I looked right in his eyes.

He didn’t look away and he didn’t hesitate.

“Donna called. Said not to worry. She’d look after Buford.”

“Good she handled that,” I replied, walking right by him to my front door.

I inserted the key then exerted some effort to push it open and I walked in.

Unsurprisingly, Jacob followed me.

I heard the door close then I heard, “What the f**k, Emme?”

I turned, and standing on the magnificent starburst in what, by God even if it killed me, would one day be a magnificent, opulent front entry, I locked eyes with Jacob Decker and I didn’t hesitate either

“On a wild hair, Sunday, I went to Denver to do some shopping.”

This was a lie, of course, but I didn’t give a f**k. What I did with my time was no longer his business.

“You were in Denver and you didn’t call me?” he asked.

I found this a strange question for two reasons. One, I hadn’t even thought of calling him, even to ask if he had enough time to grab some lunch together. Two, that he’d suggest he wanted to see me when he was seeing Elsbeth.

I decided it was best to ignore this and carry on as if he hadn’t said a word.

“And I popped by Fortnum’s to get a cup of coffee,” I shared, and watched with grim fascination as his entire body jerked and his face flinched. “Yeah, honey,” I whispered. “You and Elsbeth looked good together. Then again, you always did.”

“Emme—”

Oh no. I was not going to listen to his shit.

“Save it,” I snapped. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t f**king care.”

“There’s an explanation.”

I threw out a hand and replied, “I bet.” Then I pulled my purse from my arm, walked to the table I had in the entry and dumped it while finishing, “I just don’t give a shit what it is.”

“It isn’t what you think,” he told me.

I turned to him. “What I think is you told me you hated her. You told me you never wanted to see her again. And yet, there you were, giving her a grin and a hug.”

“She ran into Erika,” he stated.

“Whoop-di-do,” I shot back. “That shit happens. Denver is a big city but it’s still a small town. That happens all the time. Hell, when I lived there, I couldn’t go anywhere without seeing someone I knew. Though, I must admit, I do find it odd that Elsbeth had the itch to share with you over coffee that she ran into Erika. What’s odder is that you’d meet her so she could share that with you.”

He ignored that and informed me, “Erika told her about you and me.”

“This isn’t a surprise,” I returned instantly. “I haven’t had a long girlie chat with Erika recently, what with spending the last couple of months getting f**ked over by you. Oh! And the months before that getting f**ked over by Dane,” I added, and his face got hard but I did not f**king care. “But she has called, and silly me, I was happy so I shared we’d hooked up. She was happy for me. She never really got on with Elsbeth so I bet she was double happy sharing it with her.”

Jacob again ignored all I said and kept on with his story.

“When I got to town, babe, Elsbeth gave me a call outta the blue and asked to meet. Just a coincidence I was in Denver.”

“Clearly, you jumped right on that.”

His voice suddenly went low. “Baby, please, hear me out.”

“Why?” I hissed.

“Because this is not what you f**kin’ think and I need to straighten it out.”

“You know,” I started chattily, “part of me wants to hear you out just to see what bullshit you’ve got to say. The other part of me does not give one shit and would rather not waste another second on you.”

“Fuck, Emme,” he growled.

Something snapped, I lost it, leaned into him and yelled, “You met with Elsbeth! You smiled at her! You held her! Both of those aren’t hers, Jacob. Both of those are mine!”

“I didn’t hold her,” he returned.

“I saw her hug you,” I retorted.

“Yeah, she hugged me, babe, but I didn’t hug her back.”

My head jerked because that might be true. I saw Elsbeth go in for the hug but I never saw Jacob put his arms around her. I’d looked away the minute she touched him.

“She’s happy we’re together,” he declared.

I snapped my mouth shut and my torso swung back.

“Yeah. Shocked the shit outta me too,” he continued. “She said it on the phone when she called me. I reckoned she said it so I wouldn’t hang up on her ass. She kept talkin’, I was sure she was playin’ me. But I couldn’t shake that she sounded like she used to sound. Like she used to be.”

“So you thought, Elsbeth swinging back, now you’re rich and successful and she’d probably not blink at the opportunity to push out an entire Decker football team for you, you’d check out the lay of the land,” I guessed acidly.