Playing With Trouble (Desire Bay 1)

“But the business is solid?” Walt asked.

“Ah, yeah.”

“We’re in the black. Slow and steady and responsible? Isn’t that right, son?”

“Yes, sir.”

Walt nodded. “But Laura’s gone?”

Jake closed his eyes for a moment. “Yes.”

“Was it worth it?” Walt asked. And Jake had to frown, because he wasn’t sure he understood. So Walt clarified. “Was the responsible, risk-free choice worth Laura?”

That made Jake’s lungs stall. He’d never thought of it like that, but that’s what had happened. From the beginning he’d tried to be responsible, and that had kept Laura at a distance. Kept his true support from her. Then he’d tried to step in. All of this had been on his terms without him even realizing it. All for the sake of minimal risk.

“Oh God . . . ,” Jake said and ran a hand through his hair. He’d messed up. Bad. And it wasn’t just about the Cal deal. He should have tried harder to bend for Laura. Instead, he’d pushed her to break.

Walt just gave a short laugh and a loud sigh. “Oh, son, you have no idea . . .” He shook his head. “That girl is just like her mother. She’ll make you work for everything—her attention, her time—and it’ll drive you nuts. She’ll always test the boundaries and risk it all, and more often than not, you’ll lose your damn shorts in the process, but that’s what makes life worth living. The color in a woman like that is an endless gift.”

Jake glanced down and the sharp pain in his chest redoubled.

“I love her,” Jake said. “Sir, I love your daughter.”

“I know. I may be old, but I’m not stupid, son. And I can tell you right now that you are exactly what she needs and she is exactly what you need. But you hurt her again and I may have to rough you up a bit.” He smacked Jake on the back.

Jake smiled at the only man he knew as a father. “Thank you, sir. Now I just have to find her and convince her that this is where she should be, not the city.”

Walt laughed and walked off. “Good luck to you, son.”

Chapter Sixteen

It had been almost a week since Laura left, and Jacob didn’t know how to find her if he wanted to. He was seriously considering knocking down doors in California until he found her.

And no one was talking to him. An older woman named Cynthia was overseeing the flower shop in Laura’s absence, but of course, the woman refused to tell him where Laura was. Roberta just laughed whenever he asked, and Hannah kept flipping him off every time he went into Goonies.

He’d officially started working with Cal, and Mannie was doing his best stepping up in his absence, which meant eighteen-hour days for him at the moment, because he refused to let the shop suffer, either.

However, Jake had no idea what to do with himself without Laura. His life was . . . colorless. But he’d taken steps to fix that. He just needed his woman back. He tried her cell phone several times and she never answered. Go figure. But she had to eventually, especially since the shop was here and she did care about it. Laura Baughman was the face of Baughman Home Goods, and he wouldn’t do business without her.

She was a fighter and held on to little pieces of hope. She cared about the flowers because that’s all her mother left her with. These facts kept his hopes high that she would come back. She had to.

Yeah, he needed her. Needed to fix this.

The rain was coming down hard, and he pulled into Baughman, determined to track her down. He needed to let his crew know he’d be in Wherever the Hell, California, until he returned with Miss Baughman.

As he parked, he saw a shadowy figure hovering by the front of the shop. It was hard to tell who it was with the sheets of rain coming down.

“Hello? Do you need some help?” Jake called out, running toward the shop door.

“Yes!” a snappy voice came back. “You want to explain to me why a lucrative floral shop is closed on a weekday?” she yelled. And Jake would have recognized that voice anywhere.

His heart jumped in his chest, and when he got under the overhang, he saw it was Laura, drenched to the bone and, from the look of it, attempting to break in.

“I was waiting for you,” Jake said and went to wrap her in his arms.

“I’m not going anywhere, Jacob Lock!” she yelled over the rain and took a step back. “This is my shop, whether you or my father likes it or not. I’m building my life here, too. And this has nothing to do with loving you, because I also kind of hate you. So this floral shop is mine and you may have had a part in getting me that deal with Cal, but I’m keeping it on my own merit. And you can just deal with it.”

He smiled and pulled her into his arms despite her protests. “So you love me?”