Chapter One

Three Years Later

Get Baked has been my guilty pleasure for the past couple of months. I"ve stopped in here more times than I care to admit for a little snack after I"ve had a rough day, or even when I"ve had a good day. The ten pounds I"ve gained are witness to that.

Gabby smiles as I come in, welcoming me. She"s become a friend since she opened the shop. "Hey, I was wondering if I"d see you today, I was going to text you if I hadn"t in the next hour. I hoped you would see the stories I posted on social media."

"Did I see them?" I roll my eyes. "They"re everything I"ve been thinking about for the last two hours since I saw them. Did you make them for me?" I question, mentioning the cupcakes with the chocolate and strawberries on them.

"I did. I got a good deal on strawberries from my distributor, and they were the first thing I could think to make when I saw them. I"ve saved you probably the best one I"ve ever made." She reaches into the case, taking out something that"s already boxed up. "Look at it and let me know what you think."

I"m almost giddy as I open the box, my mouth watering when I see the luscious strawberry covered in chocolate. "Oh my God, Gabby. This looks amazing. How can you make things like this and not be five-hundred pounds?" I ask all in one breath as I"m thinking about how this thing will go directly to my hips.

"I work out a lot. I give a lot of them away, like the ones I save for you." She sighs. "And at some point it kind of loses its novelty."

"Never." I shake my head, mouth watering as I think about taking a bite of the sweet treat. "It could never lose its novelty. I"ll take this one. Do you have any more sandwiches? I would do a lot of dirty things to someone in order not to have to cook tonight." I laugh, but the truth is, I"m so damn tired. This job at the pre-school is wearing me out.

"Yeah, I"ve got one more sandwich left. I"ll give it to you half off since it"s so late. It"s probably not going to be the best one you"ve ever had. If it"s too bad, let me know and I"ll give you a free one next time you come in."

I wave my hand. "Gabby, all your stuff is always good. No reason for you to think it might not be, okay?"

The smile she gives is soft. "I know, but I want everyone to always get the best of me and Get Baked, ya know?"

"I understand. Thanks for saving one for me."

I pay quickly and grab the bag she"s packed up for me. I"m excited to get home and eat this. It"s been a day, and I didn"t get a chance to eat my lunch. I wave at her as I leave, and right as I exit and step onto the sidewalk, I run smack into a wall of muscle. Lifting my eyes up, up, and up, they lock with Jasper Hamilton"s.

My heart slams against my chest, shock racing through my body, and even a little bit of happiness at seeing him again. Time has dulled the ache of his betrayal. He doesn"t say anything as we stand there, looking at one another.

It"s been years since I"ve been this close to him. Not since we had a knock-down, drag out in our college commons area, and I said a few things I probably shouldn"t have. The only thing I can think to do is clear my throat and try to be nice. "Jasper, it"s good to see you."

His brooding face doesn"t smile, it barely moves, other than a smirk barely tilting the side of his mouth. "That"s a damn lie, and you know it." Smooth southern accent makes the words sound as if they"re coated in comfort food and a warm hug.

There"s something about him that wasn"t there before. A sadness that seems to be emanating from him like a bad cologne. "Are you okay?" I ask out of the blue. It"s not something I would"ve asked before this moment, but there"s something about him that"s making my stomach churn with anxiousness.

He chuckles. "Can"t believe you"re the one asking me that. Not after what went down with us."

"Just because I told you I hoped you stepped on a Lego, along with a few other things, doesn"t mean I don"t care about you, Jasper."

He rubs at the stubble on his face. "You know. Maybe there is something you could do for me."

"What"s that? Do you not remember what happened the last time we had a conversation? You broke my heart." I put my hand on my hip, eyeing him warily. It"s been years since the two of us talked. Granted, we"ve said a few words here and there, but nothing beyond the superficial. Maybe a hi, how are you, when we were with friends. Just because the two of us couldn"t stand to look at one another, didn"t mean our friend group fractured in half. Although, there were definite lines drawn.

"What if I told you I could give you everything you wanted back in college, except for my heart. I can give you my last name, move you in, share my life with you, and all those things you asked for."

My heart, the one that had ached for him back then squeezes tightly at his words, but I know a few things about this man. He doesn"t ask for favors easily, and he wouldn"t be here if he didn"t have to be. "What kind of trouble are you in, Jasper?"

He takes my bag out of my hand, and motions. "Can we talk? Really talk. I need someone I can trust, and even if you hate me, you were the one person I could trust way back when."

His words get to me in a way they shouldn"t. I swore when I walked out of that quad that I wouldn"t be affected by him any longer. I promised myself I wouldn"t let him weasel his way back into my life, yet here I am, talking to him on the streets of Broken Falls when the smart thing would be for me to go home and forget this ever happened. But I"m a glutton for punishment and I"ve never wanted Jasper to hurt, even if he hurt me. "Yeah, we can talk, but let"s go up to my apartment, that way no one can interrupt us." Not to mention I want to be able to feel like a position of power when we have this conversation.

Once we get upstairs, I unlock the door, ushering him in. Once there, I grab the food from him, put it down on the table, and turn to face him. Crossing my arms as if I"m going to shield myself from his charm, I question. "What"s going on?"

His fingers drag through his hair, agitation showing on his face. "So much. More than I ever thought I"d have to deal with. I don"t even know where to start." He growls in frustration.

My words are soft. "Why don"t you just start at the beginning? That"s what I find is most helpful."

The boy I used to love is in there when he shakes his head like he always used to do. "I don"t even really know where the beginning is, but I can tell you what started what I"m going to talk to you about today. As a teenager, I requested The Hamilton Foundation be created in my parents' honor. I think you know that part, at one point, I think you and the guys all volunteered for a week or so. It was the one thing I could do to keep their names alive. It's their legacy, and something that's helped me deal with the fact they aren't here any longer."

"Why don't you tell me a little bit about it? I've seen a few of the flyers for it around Broken Falls, but it never applied to me, so I didn't pay much attention to it," I explain, needing to understand why it means so much to him.

"There's no love lost between my grandfather and me. He didn't want to take care of me when I was a kid, and I didn't want to live with him. When I came into some of my inheritance as a teenager, I wanted something he'd have to look at all the time. Something to remind him of the fact I might be under his thumb, but he wouldn't be able to direct which way to go." He sighs heavily. "Only I didn't think he'd care about it, ya know? Which was stupid on my part. If I care about anything, he makes it his position to hate it. Now? He's threatening to cut off the money that makes it run."

"Which would kill you, right?" I shrug, pulling my bottom lip in between my teeth, trying not to care.

"It will, not just because I want to see my parents name whenever I drive by that building, but because so many children count on it, Daisy. It gives a place for less fortunate and low-income kids to go after school. So that they don't have to count on themselves. I needed a program like this when I was a kid. There was nothing to help me, and…" He stops talking, holding his hands up. "It means a lot to me. It"s been my life"s work, helping with it. It"s what I was always doing when you"d ask me how I was spending the weekends and nights I wasn"t with you. It"s been the biggest joy I"ve been able to hang on to. My grandfather..." He beats his hand against the nearest wall. "My grandfather has decided that in order to keep it running, I need to marry, and I need to provide an heir within the next twenty-four months after the wedding. If those stipulations aren"t met? I can kiss the foundation goodbye, which is the one thing keeping the memory of my parents alive. He will re-direct the money by way of some little-known clause in my parents' will. I had it checked over by another attorney. He can and will do this."

My heart breaks for the child who lost his parents, who has counted on this tangible piece of his life to connect his past to his present. "What can I do to help you, Jasper?"

He turns to me, a slight smile tilting his lips. "I need you to marry me. I need you to have a baby with me. I can"t promise you the love you deserve, but I can promise I"ll be faithful to you. I was faithful to you back then."

"The fuck you were, Jasper. I know what I saw. Pictures and videos don't lie."

"Yes, they do," he roars. "They lie when I need for them to. I asked those girls to kiss and rub up on me. The pictures and videos were real, but not the feelings behind them. I asked them to post and tag me in them, wanted to break your heart because you were falling for me. I did it so you"d fall out of love with me. I knew, even back then, I wouldn"t be able to open my heart to anyone else, and I didn"t want you to waste the rest of your life on me. It wasn"t fair to you."

What a fucking martyr. He's still not taking my feelings into account. He might believe he is, but the way bile rises up in my throat and the wave of doom that washes over me says more than anything. Anger wells and I let him have it. "But now it"s okay?" I fire back at him, my stomach hurting as I realize he"s just using me again. "When you need something, it"s okay to ask me?"

"You"re right." He holds his hands up in surrender, face dropping from the look of hope he"d had previously. "I shouldn"t have asked you. I"m sorry."

My mind is going a thousand miles a minute, trying to figure out what the hell he"s actually saying to me. When he turns around to leave, it hits me. My chest splinters apart as I think about all the conversations we"d had on those long weekends together. "No. I always told you, you could trust me. If you were in trouble, you could come to me. You"ve done that, and I"m not going to let you down, not like everyone else in your life, Jasper. Are we allowed to divorce? When do we have to get married?"

He clears his throat, voice hoarse as he begins to speak. "As soon as possible and after fifteen years. There"s a stipulation that says we can divorce after fifteen years, but you walk away with absolutely nothing."

"I don"t want anything of yours, Jasper. All I ever wanted was your heart, and if you can"t give that to me? I don"t want anything else. But the fact of the matter is, I do love you. I have loved you, and I know I"m always going to. So if this is what you need, I"m going to do it for you." I blink quickly, trying to remove the tears from my eyes before he sees them. Deep in my soul, I know if I can make him see how deserving he is, I can convince him of what we could have together.

"Why would you do that for me when I"ve been so shitty to you?" His voice is soft and rough as he asks the question.

"Because sometimes loving someone means loving them more than they deserve, and even more than loving yourself," I whisper, knowing exactly what I"m getting myself into, but scared to death I"m not going to be able to survive it.