CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

VEGAS:

Present day…

Anxiety pushed my knees to the floor.

Kale barreled into me. On unsteady legs, I teetered backward.

Sturdy hands kept us from falling.

Hands... then a broad chest at my back. Strong arms circled around us. A small, tousled head nestled on my left shoulder while a larger one rested on the right.

And both shook with uncontrollable sobs.

I had a hard time dragging Jae out of Kale's room. He would have slept there by her crib if I would have let him. Since she ran into my arms in the hallway, he only had eyes for her.

It was time to find out what he was thinking. That if the revelation he experienced drew us closer or further apart. If it were the latter. I'd move on, but I had to know. I'd waited long enough.

I took his hand in mine. He didn't pull away, so I saw it as a good sign. I led him to the library—neutral ground and far from the temptation of my bedroom.

He let go as if he just noticed I was touching him. He walked over to the couch, shifting from foot to foot as if he were deciding to sit or not. After a moment, the weight of meeting his daughter carried him downward. Jae put his elbows on his knees and hung his forearms between his legs. His hair fell into his eyes as he dipped his head, and there it remained when he looked up at me.

"Why didn't you tell me, Vee?"

I took in the sadness of his dark eyes that seemed to sink under his black hair. "I was all set to do so, Jae... until I found out you were still married."

"I'm not married. We just pretend we are because that's what Shelia wants. She doesn't like failure, and she sees our divorce as such. It also gives her an easy out for all her affairs." At my shocked look, he gives me a wry grin. "Yeah, I know all about them and to quote Axel, I don't give a fuck. Not since I met you."

"Jae..." What do I say? How can we be together? Where do we begin?

His eyes go round as he looks at me. "Did I say something wrong? Do you not want us to be together? Do you not want me?" He doesn't wait for my answer, but rises from the couch. In two strides he stands in my space, towering over me as I meet his gaze. "Tell me, Vee."

"I-I thought you were angry at me. I thought—"

I could no longer doubt his intentions or his sincerity as he lifted me from the floor and covered his mouth with mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing into him. Jae chuckled against my throat as he carried me to the couch.

I reveled at being in his embrace—it was all I ever dreamed of and all I ever wanted.

And now that the truth is out, and he accepts us, Shelia Caldwell can go—

"Oh! I didn't know you have company, Ms. Shipley. I'm so sorry."

Jae smiled into my neck as I addressed the embarrassed nanny. "Don't worry about it, Indrawn. Kale is asleep so you can go to bed now."

Poor Indrawn.

She had apologized profusely when I brought her a half-asleep Kale. I forwent Kale's bath and put her to bed. Since I laid her down, she didn't make a fuss. The little booger.

When I came back downstairs, I thought Jae had left. My heart spun out of control until I heard him in the kitchen. There, I found him drinking glass after glass of water. His throat worked furiously as he chugged down the liquid as if he were forcing the news of being a father down his throat.

"Well goodnight, Ms. Shipley. Sir." Indrawn quickly turned and escaped upstairs.

As soon as she left the room, Jae started on my neck, nipping and nuzzling, biting and sucking...

I found it hard to concentrate, let alone speak, but I had to. "Jae," I said, scrambling out of his embrace. "We need to talk." There was Terrence to consider and Shelia, of course. I didn't give a hang about her, but Terrence didn't deserve my betrayal, even though he'd given me permission...his blessing to sleep with Jae. 

We sat on the couch. At my insistence, we put a respectable distance between us. 

"Jae?" I asked, pulling a cushion onto my lap, "What are we going to do?" That was the question that would unlock all the answers and with them, the consequences.

Jae's smiling face grew somber, as if the sun hid behind a dark cloud. He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. With a grimace, he showed me what he'd pulled up.

I stared up at him in confusion. Unease filtered through my bowels and held my stomach in a vice like grip. "Why are you showing me this kind of website, Jae?"

He took a deep breath and said, "This is what I do, Vee."

It took me an hour to go through each page. The images I saw burned my retinas more than once. There were thousands upon thousands of pictures.

"How long have you been doing this for?" I handed him his phone. Our fingers touched and quickly withdrew mine. His eyes flashed hurt. I hastened to reassure him. "Jae, I'm no prude. But I did not know you, um, you did this?" I posed it as a question because I was still trying to wrap my head around what I just saw.

 Jae designed sex toys.

Hundreds of sex toys and many pieces of clothing too. Mainly with the female form in mind.

Shelia and Jae were "still married" because that witch had threatened to expose him. She promised to out him in front of his peers, his parents, and the media if he so much as breathed a word about their divorce.

"Yes, Vegas," he said shortly, his tone terse. "I did. I do." Jae put his phone back in his pocket, making a show of concentrating on that instead of looking at me. "Is what I do a problem for you?"

His startled eyes met my mischievous ones as I sat in his lap and circled my arms around his neck.

"It's only a problem, Jae, if you don't show me how to use some of those things."