CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

She didn't invite mein.

Jacob wasn't going to sugarcoat it even if her mom was on her deathbed. Leilani didn't want him at the hospital with her, supporting her.

As family would.

As the man in her life would.

As the man she had spent days sleeping beside should and fucking wanted to.

He sat at the head of the board table three days later, his ankle resting on his knee, chewing the end of a pen as his management team went through their updates.

He wasn't listening.

"Jacob?" Tosca, his head of legal, asked.

His brows lifted, as if in response, but he had no idea what they were referring to. "Ah, let me sit with that for the rest of the day."

And try to work out what the fuck it is they're talking about. Hopefully, someone would cover it in the minutes.

"Well, we need to file the trademark this week," she said.

"Then go ahead."

Jesus. Obviously.

He didn't give a fuck. He wanted to know if Leilani was okay. If her mom had died. Or had come through okay.

And he needed to work out what he was going to say to Ward tonight when they met for dinner.

In truth, he was far more concerned with his girl.

Because Leilani was his, he was absolutely sure of it. In the past three days, he'd barely slept and had paced his home and office, nearly wearing a hole in the damn floors.

Three fucking days.

He'd gone over every single conversation examining what she'd said, her expression, his interpretation, and now he was convinced there was a chance.

If he could push back his fear and tell her how he felt about her. There was just one damn thing. Jacob didn't know if he could be the man Leilani deserved.

She might still reject him.

Just as Jenny had done.

Hell, she might not have the same feelings as he did. Yet. Or ever.

Also, his timing was terrible.

Good one, Jake, fall in love with a girl when her mom is dying.

What if she needed him?

After what he'd said to her, Jacob deserved to be told to fuck off.

We fucked. You fulfilled your part of the deal and now I'm ready to go home.

Jesus, what an asshole.

He'd been hurt by her reaction and lashed out. That wasn't mature, and it wasn't the way to tell a girl you loved her. He needed to man up and be the son that someone like Ward could be proud of.

Jacob stared out the window as his mind whirled.

Suddenly, he climbed to his feet.

"I forgot I double-booked myself," Jacob said. "Continue without me."

Then he slid his chair back and pushed through the solid wooden doors, heading for his office.

He made two phone calls and then left the office.

––––––––

"JACOB," WARD SAID,shaking his hand and then sitting opposite him in the restaurant.

"Hey, thanks for meeting me," Jacob said, sitting back down in his chair.

"You don't need to thank me, so—" Ward shook his head. "Fuck, sorry. Bad start."

Jacob smiled and took a sip of his whisky. "You can call me son if you want. I mean, it's weird, but I am."

Ward held his eyes. "It is weird." He nodded. "Yet from the moment I found out, fuck, I don't know. You just became my son, and that was goddamn it."

Jacob shrugged. "Same. I just tried to ignore it." When Ward kept watching him, he added, "Father, not son. Jesus, this is awkward."

Ward laughed. "We're as bad as one another."

"Yeah." He smiled.

Then decided to say what he had to say. The truth.

"Ward, I don't know how to be a son to a man. God, I know that sounds stupid, but I don't. I never even had a male role model in my life and honestly, I wasn't sure if I wanted a father."

"Well, you have one," Ward said firmly, and there was something heartwarming about it. "I'm not a man who'd desert my kids. So whether you like it or not, I'm your dad and I want you in my life."

Jacob swallowed. "I guess you could've been some loser my mom hooked up with."

Ward shook his head and laughed. "Let's skip that part of the conversation shall we?"

With the tension broken, they ordered and talked over their meals. Mostly about business and where Jacob had gone to university, piecing together the pieces of their lives they'd missed out on.

"Knox said he was at the Hamptons with you all over Easter." Ward said, dabbing his mouth with a napkin.

Jacob nodded. "Yeah, we had a chat. He's a good guy."

"They all are. I hope you get to know them better when you're ready."

"I will. I thought they'd react and fuck, I don't know, reject me," Jacob confessed.

Ward rested back in his chair. "All three of them are growing up to be strong, confident men. If anything like that happens, I want you to tell me."

Jacob shook his head. "I don't expect it will. Knox extended an open invitation to whatever relationship we end up having. I am sure Atlas and Levi will do the same in their own way."

"Speaking of, Knox said you had a girlfriend." Ward smirked. "Fathers can ask these things."

He blew out his breath.

"Yeah, well, I might be good with business and money, but not so much with women, I'm afraid."

"None of us are." Ward laughed. "No one admits it, but we're all winging it."

Except Jacob had shut down after the first rejection he'd got as a kid and never let a girl into his heart again.

Damn you, Jenny.

Now, he was going to risk it all, knowing the odds were slim as hell. One he wouldn't take in business, but maybe it was the lack of sleep because he'd made some big life decisions today that could change the course of his life.

"Leilani isn't my girl yet, but I'm going to do my very best to make it happen," Jacob said.

"See, you are my son." Ward smirked.