Please Remember Me (15 page)

Sabrina cackled. “See? You didn’t need to talk to her anyway. She’s a waste of your time. She causes things to break.”

Marlon had hit his limit. “Sabrina, there is nothing between us. There used to be and it died when you fucked Tex Anderson and God knows who else.” Fury coursed through his body. He’d pent up the feelings for almost a year. ”I’m tired of your shit. You wanted just sex and then cried because I never took you home to meet my folks. I can’t because they’re both dead! But you won’t believe me.” He grabbed her shoulders and directed her out of his apartment. “I don’t know what you want, but I’m sure it’s not me.”

When she turned, he shivered. Her eyes narrowed to angry slits. “Did she tell you about the drugs? The dealers? She won’t because she’s good at hiding things.”

Without thinking, he gave a snappy retort. “I doubt it.”

Her voice dropped to a dull roar. “Do you realise who she’s seeing when you aren’t there? Bobby Hutchins isn’t just a sweet old friend of ours. He banged her on the set of Broken Wheels just like he had that affair with Addy. Jade’s got a history with the asshole.”

A peal of unease rang through his system. He’d finally worked out a life he liked with a woman he cared for, but the lethal combination of mistrust and reality showed up to screw it all to hell.

Well, fuck. Marlon stewed a moment and regained his bearings. “You had no problem strolling off with him the other night.”

“It’s called making an exit.” She rested her hands on her hips. “So what are you going to do? I know Jaden. I was in her shoes for a while.”

What? His hearing was off. Had to be. Damn. “Make an exit now.” He’d have to hit the sparring bag to calm down.

“I will.” She winked. “I’ll watch you like a hawk. You’ve always been one of my favourite, if rather blunt, men.” Sabrina sashayed off the stoop and crossed the parking lot.

Behind the wheel of his Jeep, Marlon forked both his hands into his hair. Where was his loudest heavy metal CD when he needed it? Son of a bitch. First the mention of drugs, then the mention of Bobby. With Jaden he’d be playing with fire. Was he up to the potential burn?

Chapter Fourteen

Jaden stared at her phone. What the hell? His girlfriend Sabrina? She snapped the phone closed and shook her head to clear out the ugly thoughts. She needed a moment to gather her wits. I trust him. I don’t know about her, but he’s got the benefit of the doubt.

Tantrum and Unruly sat on the bed staring at her. When Unruly swished her tail and bopped Tantrum, he pounced on her. The ball of grey tabby fur rolled on the comforter until Tantrum gave up and stopped to clean his paws. Sparky, though not totally sure of the cats, lolled on the floor. Riley sat next to his new canine pal, nosing Sparky’s ear. Jaden puffed a long breath. Why did life have to throw curve balls? She hadn’t planned on falling head-over-heels for Marlon. Maybe a weekend fling or friends with benefits, but not love.

A soft knock at the door created a clamour in the room. Riley and Sparky barked while the cats surged under the bed to hide. Judi peeked around the door. “Goodness. Now I see why my friend Rosemary never wanted a security system. These guys are loud enough to wake folks down in China.” She leant against the doorframe. “You look lovely. Marlon must be stopping by. Well, good. I need him to check the belts on my Buick. It’s squeaking and I don’t want to get stranded at church with a bum car.”

Jaden shrugged and smoothed out the wrinkles in her cotton prairie skirt. “I can’t get him—it keeps going to voicemail.” Because a certain busybody ex-actress butted in. “I don’t know what’s going on, so I’ll give him an hour. If I don’t hear from him, I’ll call Logan or Ray. They can fix the car, too.” Not Corbin, though. Grief, she wasn’t totally sure where she stood with him after that date. And not Bobby. He might be great extra set of eyes, but anything more wasn’t going to happen.

“Well, all right.” Judi nodded. “I want to have it fixed before the snow comes because I have the feeling this winter will be rough.”

“You okay? You look a little pale.”

“I haven’t put on my foundation today. I didn’t feel like getting gussied up. Just one of those days.” Her shoulder moving a fraction of an inch, Judi shrugged. “Speaking of fun things, Halloween’s the day after tomorrow. Have you given any thought to your costume? I love to dress up in my witch costume and pass out candy during trick or treat.”

Despite the amount of money she’d dropped to buy the cats’ supplies, Jaden had made a special trip to the mall for a suitable get-up. The silky crimson gown, paired with sheer black stockings and sky-high heels, would be perfect for her plan to portray a she-devil. She grinned. “I have a great idea for the party tomorrow night and a tamer version for trick or treat tomorrow afternoon. I found a sweet little set of devil’s horns for Riley and a child’s track jacket for Sparks. He’ll look like a professional runner!”

Judi clapped her hands and shrieked, the rosy colour returning to her cheeks. “I love it! Sparks, you’ve never dressed up before. I can’t wait!”

“You do realise I’ve never actually passed out candy? Daddy usually made the help do it…” She giggled and scratched Riley’s ears. “But since I’m the help, I guess it fits.”

“You’re the best help.”

The doorbell rang, echoing up the stairway. Judi pointed to her head and then to the door. “My ESP says a handsome deputy stands outside my door. I’ll go let him in.”

Once Judi had disappeared down the steps, Jaden slid off the bed and knelt on the floor. When she moved the comforter, two sets of green eyes peered at her. “Come on out, kids. It’s safe. If it’s Marlon, he’s a good guy. He’s got some issues, but I still like him—a lot. I’m not sure how to tell him because I’ve never been in this deep.” She stroked Tantrum’s head.

“I’m scared that when I tell him I’m in love, he’ll leave. Everyone else I’ve loved finds a reason to run away. Sure, Cass and Logan still care, but…” She sighed. “It’s not the same. I think they have to love me because they feel sorry for me. Not Marlon. He’s the first guy who seems to like me for me and I’m falling head-over-heels for him.”

Marlon stood just outside her bedroom, transfixed. There sat the woman who made his heart beat, talking to a room full of animals—quite the motley crew—and telling them the contents of her heart.

She loved him!

He considered throwing the door wide open to proclaim his love. No, the over-the-top approach wouldn’t work, especially not when he had so many questions. He wanted a relationship built on mutual devotion and trust. But damn, she looked hot as hell in a skirt and fitted tunic. If he lifted the hem of the skirt… His mouth watered and his cock sprang to life.

Sparky, no longer interested in what Jaden had to say, barked. She jerked around. “Hi.” Her gaze darted to her shaky hands. Her face paled as her voice wavered. “Um…how long have you been out there?”

He eased the door open and strode into the room. “Long enough to know a few secrets, but nothing I’ll press you for right now.”

Jaden turned away from him and ran her fingers through her hair. She snorted. Her voice came out curt. “Don’t quit your day job so you can write greeting cards. That was pretty corny.”

He nodded. “It did sound mushy, but I also eavesdropped on a private conversation. Not cool.” A grin tugged the very corner of her mouth. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Why don’t we go watch that marathon of scary Halloween movies? I want to hear all about your costume since you refuse to model it for me, but first, why don’t you introduce me to our kids?”

Jaden turned around and tipped her head. “Our?”

“If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a million times—you’re not in this alone, babe.”

One of the cats slipped out from under the bed and sat like a statue next to Jaden. She smothered her smile behind her hand before regaining her poise. “Despite his calm attitude, this is Tantrum. When I got him out of the cage, he wriggled and squirmed. Once we let him loose here in the house, he ran around like a kid on a sugar high. Judi wanted to name him Havoc, but I liked Tantrum better, so we compromised. Havoc is his middle name. He pouts when he thinks he isn’t going to be fed.” She raised the comforter. The other cat, more black around the eyes, peered at him. “This is Unruly. She’s not fond of the crate I used to bring her home. She cried and protested the entire way home. She hasn’t gone ballistic, but she’s still wound up—on the bed, off the bed, in the window, kneading her claws on the bedspread. She ran laps around this room for a solid five minutes. You already met Riley. Kids, this is Marlon.”

Marlon knelt next to Jaden. Every day and in every way she amazed him. “So you went to get Riley and you came home with them, too?” Without thinking, he rubbed his hand over her spine. The scent of her shampoo floated around him, reminding him of making love to her in his shower. His erection pressed against his pants. He tugged her into his lap and kissed her shoulder.

“They looked so sad in the cages.” Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. “But I also found out that their previous owner went into a nursing home. Summer didn’t want to split them, so I took them. Judi loves it. She wants a whole house full, but I hear we can only have four animals.”

Bobbing his head, he nodded. “Yes and no. Yes only four, but it’s really a four-dog limit. She’s got a big enough back yard that there should be enough room for them to run, but I wouldn’t suggest adopting everyone from the shelter either.”

“I won’t, but I felt so sorry for them. It was like each animal begged with its eyes, saying “Please remember me—come back and take me home”. And let me tell you, I wanted to. It took a lot of guts to walk out of there without crying my eyes out.”

His heart melted. “I have no doubt it did.” She cared so much for others, yet didn’t see it. He liked the way she became the real woman within—the woman he loved. Still, he wanted to beat the shit out of the person who had stripped her pride to nothing.

Her laughter broke his thoughts. “What are you staring at?”

Marlon grasped her tighter. “You.” He glanced out of the window for a split second. A flash near the street caught his attention. He stood and edged to the window. “So, you met Summer. What did you think? Or should I be afraid?” Scoping the street, he saw nothing, but filed the information back for later. Was the jerk from the main drag back on her tail? He hoped not, for her sake. He shifted his interest back to her.

“Well…um, yeah.” Jaden stood, patted the cats, and whistled for the dogs. “Come on, boys. Let’s go downstairs. Marlon and I have to talk.”

Why did her words make his skin crawl more than the issue in the street? Because he’d committed his heart into her hands—without words, yes, but she flowed through his veins. If things hit the fan with Jaden, she’d push him far, far away. Living without her would suck.

Letting the dogs through the doorway first, Marlon followed Jaden down the stairs. “You didn’t answer my question. What did you want to talk about?” Besides the fiasco with his cell phone…

“You’ll see.”

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, she stopped. First sneaking a peek into the living room, Jaden yanked him into her arms and planted a wet kiss on his lips. Not content to keep the kiss platonic, he tickled the satiny flesh with his tongue. On a sigh, she opened for him. She tasted of mint toothpaste and sensual woman. His hips seemed to move of their own accord, pressing in to her to relieve the ache in his groin. Judi could walk in at any time, but he didn’t care. The thrill of potentially being caught spurred him on.

After what seemed like forever but was only a few moments, Jaden eased away from him. “You’re addicting. I wanted to do that all day.” Her breath came in short puffs. Crimson streaked across her cheeks. Her green eyes darkened to dark pools with thin hazel rims. At that moment, she looked primed, ready, and gorgeous.

With one arm around her waist, he threaded the fingers of his other hand through her hair. He pressed his forehead to hers. Her scent, a mix of flowers and vanilla, twirled around him. His brain went fuzzy on the Jaden contact high. “Good. I’d hate to suffer alone.”

Behind them, the sound of claws on upholstery filled the room as Sparky and Riley jumped onto the couch. Jaden giggled. “As per normal, the most important members of the family have chosen their seats. Do you mind sitting on the floor? I vacuumed this morning.”

He glanced at her feet then into her eyes. “In heels and diamond earrings?”

She shrugged. “The great diva, Carley Moreno, taught me well. She said, ‘a girl has to look good at all times’. She wasn’t kidding. What if you came over and I looked like a frump? You’d turn tail and run to the hills.”

“You don’t need to follow the mandates of some has-been actress. You’re always beautiful to me, babe. In full makeup, in sweats, it doesn’t matter. I look at you and turned-on doesn’t begin to describe how I feel.”

“I think you’re hot, too, even when you get all bad-ass cop on me.”

“Smart ass.”

Stepping from his embrace, Jaden bent to retrieve the remote for the television. Her ass could stop traffic. No wonder she’d posed in that nudie magazine. She could model for him any day. Swimsuits, lingerie, hell, even turtleneck sweaters—he didn’t care as long as she gave him attention between wardrobe changes.

When she turned, she flashed him a disarming smile. “Speaking of looking hot, will you go with me to the Hallowe’en mixer tomorrow? Cass said it’s a great time and since the band’s playing, I thought maybe we could have real date.”

“You beat me to the punch.” When she looked away, he cupped her chin. Something else brewed on her mind. “What are you thinking about?”

“Something from earlier, not that I can hide much from you.” She let out a long sigh. “You wanted to know about Summer. I’ll say this. Summer Tyler is quite the talker.”

Biting back the groan, he sat down on the edge of the couch. “She is. And?”

“This probably isn’t the time, but were you going to tell me you have a wife?”

He winced. “Had.” Minor technicality that had the potential to cause major damage. He sucked in a ragged breath. Trust Summer to blab things he wasn’t ready to deal with, even four years later. “There’s a big difference.”