Jake had actually met Lisa Swan once or twice. She was one of those women who hung around pro athletes. He wasn’t into groupies, but she’d cornered him at a teammate’s anniversary party. He’d come away from the conversation having revised his opinion of her—she was good at giving the impression of being an airhead, but she was highly intelligent once you chipped away that surface.
Now he saw her gesticulating. Though he was too far away to catch her words, it was clear that she wasn’t telling the reporter to get lost. No, she seemed to be speaking into the camera.
A cold and angry feeling began to coalesce in the pit of his stomach.
Shifting so that he was behind the hedge, out of sight of the street, he pulled out his phone and looked up the news sites. The gossip sections had exploded. What had begun as a small and titillating piece about Reid and Juliet’s imaginary renewed romance had turned into a huge cheating scandal.
He knew without a single doubt that Reid’s girlfriend was doing the wronged-girlfriend bit right now.
Which cast Juliet as the evil mistress.
Muscles bunched and blood in his eye, Jake called Juliet. He knew both her closest friends were currently away from her. Charlotte was out of the country and yesterday, at the barbeque, Aroha had mentioned she’d be leaving the city today for a week in the Bay of Islands.
Juliet had been handling this on her own all day.
The phone rang and rang on the other end, and he was beginning to think she wasn’t going to pick up when she answered.
“What?” Her voice was curt, tight, sharp echoes of the angry girl he’d known in school.
Jake wanted to crush her to him, just hold her close so she’d know he had her back, that she didn’t have to do this alone. “I wanted to check in, see how you’re doing. I just caught up with the bullshit online.”
A long pause before she said, “Why are you so sure it’s bullshit?”
Because if there was one thing he knew in the deepest part of himself, it was that Juliet didn’t lie or cheat; her up-front honesty was a core part of her nature. “I’m a mastermind. Want to see my Mensa membership card?”
“Great, you think you’re a comedian these days,” she muttered, but he heard the faintest thawing in her voice. “One of my neighbors called to warn me that the reporters were camped out in front of my place. I’m still at the office. I figured I’d book myself into a hotel tonight.”
Now that pathetic excuse for a man was driving her away from her own home. “It’s about to get worse,” he warned. “Reid’s girlfriend is currently giving an on-camera interview. Full drama.”
The swear word that Juliet spit out was as blue as a summer sky. “I don’t want to be part of any of this! Why is Reid forcing me into it?”
“Because he’s a fame-hungry has-been about to get dropped from his team.” Jake glanced over to see that the reporter and cameraman were striding back down to the van. Another media van, however, was just pulling in. Jesus, it was going to end up a circus.
“I’ll survive.” Juliet sounded like she was gritting her teeth. “I did the last time. Back then I was the vicious gold digger who broke Reid’s heart—even though the only thing he has in the cavity where his heart should be is an alcohol-pickled prune.” She snorted. “Reid conveniently forgot to mention that I’d signed an ironclad prenup, he’d pissed away his money, and oh, that he was sleeping with Lisa well before we separated.”
Jake wanted—needed—to help her, offer refuge, while at the same time kicking in Reid’s face. But this localized scandal would become a massive international one the instant his name was thrown into the mix. Reid would use Jake’s far bigger profile to push his own in the media. Caught in the middle would be Juliet, who wanted to live her life free of media stalking, and Esme, innocent and sweet and sheltered from the kind of spotlight courted by those who sought to be celebrities.
But no fucking way was he just leaving Juliet to the sharks. They were far more to each other now than just old antagonists—and Jake looked after his people. “You don’t need to get a hotel room,” he said, thinking quickly. “My family keeps an apartment on the waterfront. It’s empty right now.”
It had been a gift to Alison and Joseph from their four boys.
Mostly his parents used it as their getaway place in the city. They’d go to a show, eat at one of the fancy restaurants, walk hand in hand down the waterfront. But Alison and Joseph had been adamant they’d only accept the gift if their sons promised to use it as well.
Gabe’s home was in the city anyway, but Sailor and Ísa had used it for date nights, and Danny and his friends crashed there the times they went clubbing. Once in a while, Jake took the girls there for a treat. He’d order their favorite takeout, take them up to see the sparkling view from the Sky Tower, or out to get ice cream in Mission Bay. The two would sit with their cones alongside the fountain by the beach, feeling very grown-up at being out at night.
“That’s very nice of you.” Juliet’s voice was stiff. “But I can take care of myself.”
“I know.” He was beginning to realize exactly how long she’d been doing that. “But let’s try being friends, Jules. After last night, we owe it to each other. And friends step in when the shit hits the fan.” It bugged him that she hadn’t messaged him when things began to blow up, really bugged him, even though rationally he knew they didn’t have that kind of relationship.
Not yet anyway.
A long silence before she said, “I appreciate the offer, but you’d have to come out of your way to give me the keys—”
“It’s all electronic locks with numeric codes,” he said. “I’ll text you the address and the codes.” He’d also tell his family the apartment was in use so no one would disturb her. “The place has excellent security. No reporter’s going to ambush you in the hallways, and you can drive directly into the secure underground garage.”
An aggravated sound on the other end. “When did you get so bossy, Jacob?”
He didn’t know why he always wanted to smile when she said Jacob in that tone. “Survival instinct,” he shot back. “You try having Gabe for a big brother. Steamroller has nothing on the Bishop.”
A startled kind of laugh. “You’re selling me on this apartment deal—especially with the drive-in garage.”
Jake’s shoulders began to unbunch. “So you’ll go?”
“Yes,” she said. “Just for tonight. Hopefully the circus will have calmed down by tomorrow.”
Jake hoped so for her sake, but he wasn’t positive, not with Reid and Lisa fanning the flames. After hanging up, he quickly sent Juliet the details of the apartment and received a reply saying she’d message him once she was successfully inside.
Gut still tense, he fought off the urge to go across to Reid’s and instead walked into the house. Everyone was back in the kitchen once again. Esme and Emmaline were whispering to each other in one corner, no doubt complaining about soon being woefully separated by their unfeeling parents, while the adults were gathered around, divvying up leftovers.
Food did not go to waste in Alison Esera’s house. She’d experienced extreme poverty after her first husband drained their bank accounts and abandoned his family. Of her two boys then, Gabe had been the worst affected, but Sailor hadn’t been far behind. It wasn’t until he was a young teen that Jake had truly understood how lucky he’d been to be born into the stable, supportive unit formed by Alison, Joseph, Gabe, and Sailor.