Jake Undone (41 page)

release.

Yeah. He was definitely worth the wait.

CHAPTER 34

The next morning, I woke up to two boys with messy dark bed head lying next to me. A.J. was on his

Daddy’s chest, sucking on Jake’s pinky finger.

Jake handed him over to me. “He was hungry, so I gave him some oatmeal. It’s not quite cutting it, but I

wanted to let you sleep a little more.”

A.J immediately latched on. “Ow…easy, buddy.”

Jake laughed. “Daddy was a little rough on those last night.”

“Mommy likes it rough.”

Jake lifted his brow. “Does she, now?”

We smiled at each other, both still sleepy but sated after last night.

Jake kissed my forehead. “What are our plans for today?”

“I told Daria and Tarah I’d meet up with them for coffee before we head back tonight.”

“Okay. Why don’t you pump me a bottle for him, and I’ll take A.J this afternoon, so you can have some

alone time with your friends.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yeah…but just a couple of hours. There’s somewhere I want to take you before we leave the city.”

***

After my alone time, Jake asked me to meet him on 32nd Street because we planned to have dinner at

one of the Korean restaurants there.

He hadn’t noticed me yet as I was approaching them. He looked so handsome leaning against a brick

wall, his disheveled hair under a Red Sox cap. He had A.J. in the carrier on his chest and my heart melted

when he kissed our son on the head, not realizing I was watching them.

“Hey, guys.”

A.J. started flailing his little arms and feet excitedly at the sight of me.

“Hey, Momma. We missed you,” Jake said before kissing me passionately in the middle of the busy

sidewalk.

“I missed you guys, too.”

After a stop in a department store so that I could nurse A.J. in a dressing room, we enjoyed a delicious

dinner of Kimchi Fried Rice and Noodle Soup.

As we exited the restaurant, I turned to Jake. “Where are we going now?”

“You’ll see.” He flashed me a devious smile, and the way he said it reminded me of our old fear

expeditions.

We kept walking until he stopped…right in front of the Empire State Building.

“Jake…what are we doing?” I asked nervously. “I don’t want to go up there right now.”

“Come on, Nina. I thought you were over that.”

“I thought I was too…but…I am just not in the mood.”

“Can you do this for me? I want to enjoy the view of the city with my family. It’s something I’ve always

wanted to do with you.”

I looked into his hopeful eyes and just couldn’t say no.

I took a deep breath in. “Alright…okay, let’s do it.”

He was beaming and led the way through the front doors. We paid for tickets so that we didn’t have to

wait in the long lines.

I closed my eyes the entire elevator ride up and breathed through it. Even though I was able to get

inside one now, it still made me uncomfortable. With everything I had been through in the past year, my old

phobias had pretty much dissipated, having taken a back seat to everything else. That didn’t mean I was

ever going to love elevators or heights or planes. The important thing was that I could now face those

things if I needed to.

When we finally got onto the main observation deck, the view was spectacular since it was a clear day.

Of course, being up so high still made me uneasy, but when I looked at Jake’s expression as he stared out

over the city, it was all worth it.

We were on the east side facing Brooklyn. Jake spoke softly to A.J. “See over there…that’s where

Mommy and Daddy lived when we met. I thank God everyday that He brought her to me.”

Then, it hit me: why he had brought me up here. He was going to propose to me.

This was it.

My pulse was going ballistic as I looked over at Jake who was looking straight ahead taking in the view.

He would point things out to me, and I would nod along, wondering when he was going to do it and how

he was going to transition all of this into a proposal. After about fifteen minutes, he put his arm around me

and said, “You ready to head back to the hotel, babe? It’s almost time to check out.”

I bit my lip and nodded silently, suddenly feeling stupid and realizing that I should have known better. It

would take a lot more than one night of normalcy to get him to trust me enough to propose again. Or

maybe, he would stick to his word and never ask me for as long as he lived.

Either way, this wasn’t going to change the surprise I had in store for him tonight.

***

We had about an hour before we had to check out of the hotel, and that would give me just enough time

to feed the baby and pack up our stuff before we left to go home.

Jake still had A.J. strapped to his chest as he held the hotel elevator open for me.

I closed my eyes and yawned as the elevator began rising, and then it came.

A jolt.

I grabbed onto his shirt. “Jake…what just happened?”

A wide smile spread across his face, and I soon realized his finger was on the stop button. This was an

apparent reenactment of our “first time.”

“Where’s the champagne?” I joked.

“No champagne today, baby.”

“What are you doing, Jake?”

“Remember that day? You know, I was starting to fall in love with you, even then. That mellow song I

played…I was trying to tell you my feelings, even though I thought I could never have you.”

“I loved that song,” I whispered, tears starting to form in my eyes.

“You and A.J. are my entire world. The past year and a half with you has given me back every last piece

of innocence I lost in the years before and then some. At this point in my life, I would do anything for you.

If you told me today, that you couldn’t accept my continuing to be there for Ivy, then I would have no

choice but to let that part of my life go, no matter how guilty I felt. You love me enough to make sure that I

don’t ever have to choose, that I don’t ever have live with guilt or regret. I know it’s not easy for you when

I leave you sitting on the couch breastfeeding him to go see my ex-wife. I’ve always seen the sadness in

your eyes. You’ve dealt with it…for me. There is not one time I walk out the door on those days where my

heart doesn’t ache with love for you. You are strong enough to know deep down that my looking out for

her doesn’t change how much I love you. You have given me a life that I could have never imagined…a

dream I gave up on years ago, because I never thought it would ever be possible to meet someone who

loved me enough to accept everything that came along with me. I wouldn’t change one painful thing about

my life, if it meant not ending up right here in this stuck elevator with my family.”

I closed my eyes for a brief moment, overcome with emotion. When I opened them, I noticed that Jake

had slipped something into our son’s hand. It was a paper bird. He hadn’t made one of those for me since

before A.J. was born. This one wasn’t black…it was white: a dove.

“I told you I wasn’t going to propose to you again. I meant it,” he said.

He must have sensed the disappointed look on my face, because he rubbed my cheek and smiled.

“But I didn’t say
he
wouldn’t do it.”

My eyes were welling up.

Oh my God.

“You have something for me, little man?” My heart was pounding as I took the dove that was now

crinkled, from A.J.’s tiny fingers and opened it.

See this guy...Jake?

I want you to cut him a break.

Not just cuz he’s my dad…

But because he loves you like mad.

He said he was done asking you to be his bride.

Well, Mommy…he lied.

After everything we’ve been through…

He still really wants to marry you.

Look at him…he’s a mess.

Please tell him you’ll say yes.

He
was
a mess, a beautiful one, with tears in his eyes, as I pulled him into me, careful not to crush A.J.

“Yes…yes…a million times…yes,” I said through my own tears.

He pressed his forehead to mine. “I know you said we should wait. Seeing Skylar and Mitch yesterday

reminded me that life is short, and I don’t want to wait one second longer to marry the love of my life.”

I wiped his eyes. “I wouldn’t change anything either, Jake…the good or the bad. What would moments

as perfect as this mean with nothing to compare them to? Every bit of pain it took to get here was worth it.”

“I didn’t have time to get a ring. I actually went looking while you were out with your friends but

couldn’t find the right one in time. I’ll take you shopping in Boston.”

Perfect timing.

“No need,” I said unable to contain my joy.

“What do you mean…no need?”

I had been hiding my left hand in my sleeve for the past couple of hours. I lifted it to show his name

tattooed on my ring finger in the same font as the ink of my name on his own.

His eyes lit up in pure shock. “What the…when did you do that?”

“I cancelled the coffee today. This was something I needed to do, and you gave me the perfect

opportunity.” I smiled. “It’s permanent, you know.”

“Yeah.” He lifted my hand to his mouth. “So are we, baby. So are we.”

“I love you so much,” I said.

“And I love you.” He kissed me then turned to A.J. who was cooing. “And you, my little wingman…I

love you to the moon.”

ALSO BY PENELOPE WARD:

GEMINI
(Allison and Cedric’s story) available now!

and

Coming in 2014

MY SKYLAR

(Mitch and Skylar’s Story)

Skylar was my best friend, but I secretly pined for her.

One thing after another kept us apart, and I’ve spent the last decade in fear of losing her forever. First, it

was the cancer. But she survived only to face the ultimate betrayal at my hands.

I don’t deserve her after everything I’ve put her through, but I can’t live without her anymore.

This is my last chance because she’s about to make the biggest mistake of her life.

She doesn’t love him. She loves me.

She’s my Skylar.

Which is why I have to stop her, before it’s too late.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, thank you to all of my loyal readers whose support and feedback encouraged me to

continue writing beyond my first novel,
Gemini.

To my parents for your life-long support and for letting me ramble on about my books in our daily

phone calls when no one else cares to listen.

To my son and daughter whose time is compromised when Mommy is writing. I’ll make it up to you.

To my husband who has had to accept a house in shambles as I blissfully click away on my laptop lost

in a fantasy world.

To Allison, my soul sister, whose encouragement gave me the motivation to start on this journey.

To Angela, loyal friend and ellipsis slasher…thank you for your editing skills. (Haha, got one in.)

To Sonia, best bud and smut book sister (Hi, Paul!), for all the fun we have and for being there to share

in the autism journey with me.

To Tarah, love you. This one was for you.

To Kim, for your continued promotional support and for leading the “Gemini discussion group.”

Last but not least, an author can spend months out of their lives writing a book, only to have it lost in

cyberspace. Book bloggers spread the word about indie authors so that readers actually find out about them

and read their books. Special thanks to all of the bloggers who took time to read and review
Gemini
:

Maryse’s Book Blog, Scandalicious Book Reviews, Book Reader Chronicles, Three Chicks and Their

Books, Aestas Book Blog, BestSellers and BestStellars of Romance, Louisa’s Reviews, Moonrise Book

Blog, The Book Pimp. Awesome Indie Authors and Stick Girl Book Reviews.

Thanks to Letitia at RBA Designs for transforming an ordinary man into the hot, tatted Jake featured on

my cover.

And thanks to Debra at Book Enthusiast Promotions for organizing the
Jake Undone
blog tour and to

the participating blogs: Books Unhinged Book Blog, Chapter Break, Book Reader Chronicles, Give Me

Books, Book Freak, Scandalicious Book Reviews, Crash the Party, The Rookie Romance Blog, Keeping It

Real Book Blog, Mia’s Point of View, Cafebiblioart, The Quiet Girl Talks, 2 Chicks and a Blog, Read and

Share Book Reviews, BestSellers and BestStellars of Romance, Rumbled Sheets Blog, Literary Nook, Mean

Girls Luv Books, Three Girls and a Book Obsession, Christine’s Blog, Sarah’s Bookshelf, My Daily

Romance, Whirlwindbooks, The Book Bellas and Rose & Beps Blog.

There are countless other blogs that have mentioned my books in sales and release news. Thank you so

much from the bottom of my heart for all that you do for new authors!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Penelope Ward grew up in Boston with five older brothers. She spent most of her twenties as a

television news anchor, before switching to a more family friendly-career.

Penelope lives for reading books in the new adult genre, coffee and hanging out with her

friends and family on weekends.

She is the proud mother of a beautiful 9-year-old girl with autism (the inspiration for the

character Callie in Gemini) and a 7-year-old boy, both of whom are the lights of her life.

Penelope, her husband and kids reside in Rhode Island.

She is currently working on her third novel,
My Skylar
, due out in the summer of 2014.