Playing For Keeps (25 page)

She headed for the only door in the
hallway and almost ran into Jason as he was coming out.

"Sorry," he said, stepping to the side
so she could walk into the room. "I was just bringing in the
bags."

"Thank you," she mumbled, feeling more
exhausted than she could ever remember. She hadn't slept at all
last night and the night before they'd stayed up late watching
movies and cuddling.

"You look tired, baby," he said,
reaching up to touch her face only to drop his hand away at the
last second. "Look," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "why
don't you go relax. We can talk everything over later."

It was on the tip of her tongue to
tell him there was nothing to talk about, but that would only start
an argument so she simply nodded, closing the door behind
her.

She looked over the small Cape Cod
style bedroom and nearly groaned. This place would have been
perfect for a romantic getaway if Jason hadn't gone and ruined
everything. She threw a look of longing towards the bed before
heading for the bathroom. Although she'd like nothing better than
to curl up on the double bed, she desperately needed to soak in a
hot bath. It didn't matter that it had to be ninety degrees in the
small cottage. She was still sore between her legs from last night
and knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she took some aspirin
and soaked in a hot bath for a while.

It was just another reminder of what
he did last night. She still couldn't believe he'd hurt her like
this. Despite Jason's flawed dating past she'd trusted him, more
than anyone. He was the only person that never took advantage of
her "doorstep" tendencies.

He'd been kind, sweet and considerate
with her and never tried to manipulate her into doing something she
didn't want to do. When they were intimate he'd never once pushed
for more than she was willing to give him. That alone had made her
love him even more. Too many times in her past men had gone out
their way to coerce her into taking a step she wasn't ready to
take.

When she'd refused they tried to sweet
talk her, manipulate her, guilt her, until they finally got pissed.
More than one man had ended things with her when she wouldn't sleep
with him. She'd been called a bitch and a tease more times than she
cared to remember. The fact that she'd been upfront about her
sexual comfort level hadn't mattered.

There had been several men that ended
things as soon as she told them she wouldn't have sex with them,
but others thought she was lying, teasing them, or setting up a
challenge. When they eventually realized she hadn't lied things
would end, they'd turn cold and mean. Some had hung around a little
longer hoping to change her mind, but she never did.

That is until Jason.

His reaction had been anything but
typical or expected. Instead of arguing or questioning her, he'd
readily accepted what she told him with a smile and a little
teasing. Every time they became intimate she'd prepared herself for
Jason to push her into having sex, but he never did. Not once. Even
those times when she knew he was dying to take her he hadn't. He'd
grit his teeth and accept whatever she offered him, which was why
she felt comfortable and ready to make love to him last
night.

Taking the next step with Jason had
felt so natural last night. It wasn't until after his little
announcement that she regretted what they'd done. He'd done it
because he thought she was playing him only to end up playing her.
Last night he'd manipulated her into sleep with him to prove
something and then actually had the balls to announce it like it
was no big deal.

She wiped away a tear. It was a very
big deal to her. She'd waited all her life for the right man and
the right time only to be used by the man she thought cared for
her. He said he loved her last night, but he really didn't. There
was no question that he cared for her a little, but love? No. Last
night proved beyond a doubt that Jason wasn't capable of loving
her. If he loved her he wouldn't have treated her so
callously.

The simple truth was, Jason was
stubborn. It was the reason why he slept with her to prove
something and the same reason he hid in her car and was being
bullheaded about this breakup. She doubted he'd ever been dumped
before and he probably wasn't handling it well. Jason liked to call
the shots when it came to women and having his shy little neighbor
dump him probably grated on his ego.

There was absolutely no doubt in her
mind that if she took him back he'd dump her ass in a matter of
weeks just so that he could be the one to make that decision. It
was better for everyone that they ended things now. This way she
was only disappointed in Jason and didn't hate him, although maybe
that would be for the best as well.

She paused in the bathroom doorway and
sighed heavily as she took in the steaming bubble bath Jason had
drawn for her in the deep claw footed bathtub. He even set out a
towel and her favorite tee shirt to change into
afterwards.

"Stupid jerk," she mumbled, once again
stopping herself from melting. She just had to remember that this
was all a game to him and she'd be fine.

Chapter 22

"You fucking moron."

Jason couldn't argue with that. He'd
seriously screwed everything up and desperately needed to find a
way to fix it, which is why he called in the big guns.

His father.

"Tell me this is some sick joke," his
father said warily.

"I wish I could, Dad," Jason said,
looking over his shoulder at the small cottage as he walked along
the edge of the water.

For the past three hours he'd been out
here pacing, trying to figure out what the hell he should do.
Finally he came to the conclusion that he was in way over his head
here and needed someone with a history of charming his way out of
fuckups with women and only one person came to mind.

His father fucked up more times with
his mother than should be humanly possible. Not that his father
screwed around on his mother. She'd simply kill the man if he ever
even thought of it. No, his father could be an arrogant, hardheaded
bastard that drove his mother to the brink of insanity countless
times over the years.

"Let me get this straight, you let
some dumb bar bimbo convince you that my poor sweet little Haley,"
his father said, making him shake his head ruefully. Haley managed
to wrap his father around her little finger with those cupcakes and
bought his undying love with fried chicken, potato salad and M
& M cookies. The man's obsession with food was really
pathetic.

Thank god he didn't have that
problem.

"-could ever do something
so heartless? Then you go ahead and screw it up instead of talking
to her?
What in the hell is wrong with
you?"
his father practically yelled, making
Jason hold Haley's cell phone a good foot from his ear.

"I know I messed up, Dad," Jason said
once his father stopped yelling. "Look, I need help figuring out
how to fix this."

"You don't deserve my Haley," his
father simply said.

Jason barely stopped himself from
rolling his eyes. His father was such a food slut.

"Has it occurred to you that if I
don't fix things with Haley that she'll never make you that Boston
cream pie she promised you?" he said, knowing the way to get his
father to focus was to threaten his food.

His comment was met with a short
pause.

"Okay, this is what you need to do,"
his father said, all business now. "You need to back off and stop
apologizing."

Jason frowned. "Stop apologizing?"
That didn't sound right.

"Mmmhmm, no need to keep reminding her
how big of an idiot you are. She already knows, trust me. Right now
you need to work on being there for her. Don't pressure her. In
fact I would suggest you work on reminding her how much you care
about her and how good you are for her."

He nodded slowly. "I could do
that."

His father snorted his
disbelief.

"I can," Jason stressed, promising
himself that after Haley took him back that he'd get her to make
him a Boston cream pie just so he could rub it in the old man's
face.

"Just try not to fuck this up, because
if you cost me Haley I'm disowning you," his father said before he
hung up.

Jason placed the phone in his pocket
and headed back to the cottage, deciding there was no time like the
present to get started. He'd remind her how good they were together
and why she adored him. It shouldn't be too hard. In fact, he was
certain that one little problem was going to guarantee that she
couldn't live without him.

He stepped into the kitchen just as
Haley stomped angrily into the room wearing nothing but her "Geek"
tee shirt. She threw him a glare and muttered something about his
balls that he decided to ignore as she headed for the refrigerator.
She grabbed an ice cold soda and sipped it as she glared at
him.

She looked exhausted, he noted as he
leaned against the counter. He had to stop himself from grinning.
This was going to be so easy.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked casually,
already knowing the answer. She needed him and she damn well knew
it. This was going to be the way he stayed close to her while he
did his best to convince her to forgive him.

Haley pushed her glasses up her nose,
took a sip of Coke and simply flipped him off as she walked out of
the room.

Great. He was already fucking this up,
he thought, walking after her. She slammed the bedroom door shut in
his face. After counting to ten, twice, he knocked on the
door.

"Go. Away."

Sighing heavily, he opened the door
just in time to see the bathroom door slammed shut. He walked over
to the bed and sat down.

"Haley, I-"

"Look, Jason, I really can't do this
with you right now," Haley said, not bothering to open the door to
face him, making Jason wonder if her pushover tendencies were once
again showing up. That wouldn't be good for either one of them. He
needed her to deal with him, not simply avoid him. "Let me finish
getting dressed them I'll give you a ride to a hotel."

"No," he said firmly. There was no way
in hell he was leaving. They were going to work this out whether
she liked it or not and he had a feeling she didn't.

"Fine," she grated out. "Then I'm
leaving."

Oh hell no.

If she left now there'd be no stopping
her from leaving his ass for good. There was no doubt in his mind
that she didn't intend on giving him a ride home now, which would
mean that he probably wouldn't get home until tomorrow afternoon.
By then she could be anywhere doing her best to convince herself
that she could do better, she could, but that wasn't the point. He
couldn't let her walk away from him, not now, not ever.

He threw a quick look at the door
before rushing over to Haley's little backpack that she liked to
call a purse. He tore through it until he found what he needed. No
doubt this was only going to piss her off more, but desperate times
called for desperate measures. He pocketed her wallet and quickly
checked her discarded pants, stealing the money she had in the
front pocket, and her car keys before rushing out of the
room.

It only took him a minute to find the
perfect hiding spot, one of the dozens of decorative baskets lining
the ceiling. There was no way in hell Haley was going to reach it
never mind find it. After a minute he decided to add her cell phone
as well. He shut it off and added it to the pile and covered his
tracks.

Knowing there was no way Haley could
leave him until they worked things out, Jason relaxed for the first
time since this whole thing started. He walked to the kitchen
feeling confident that his little plan was going to
work.

He grabbed a cold soda from the
fridge, wishing it was a beer, and headed for the beach. As long as
his little grasshopper wasn't allowed to drink then he wouldn't
drink. Not that he really expected her to be pregnant from one
time, but he wasn't taking any chances.

Until he knew for sure that she wasn't
pregnant with their baby she wasn't so much as looking at a drop of
alcohol, which was probably going to make it more difficult to deal
with him. Granted it might help his case if he got her drunk, but
he wasn't willing take the risk of harming any possible baby or
having her throw it in his face later that she hadn't known what
she was doing when she forgave him. He wanted her stone cold sober
for this, especially since she was most likely going to be the one
to figure out how to fix this since he was pretty sure he'd only
manage to fuck this up more.

"You bastard!" he heard Haley yell
from somewhere behind him.

He looked back at her and smiled,
watching as she stormed over to him with her little fists swinging
by her side. She shoved her glasses back up her nose, glaring at
him against the bright sunlight.

"What did you do with it, you
bastard?" she demanded, coming to a halt two feet from
him.

"What?" he asked innocently, taking a
sip of soda.