nodded as she pulled the door to and moved away from him. The concern in his voice touched her and that was something she didn’t like one bit. It was much safer for her to think of him as the shallow, uncaring man who refused to take her phone calls, than a daddy worried about the welfare of his baby girl.
“I think it would be a good idea if you leave now, Jake.” She walked over to open the front door. “I have to be up by five in the morning and I really need to get some sleep.”
Glancing at the gold watch on his left wrist, he nodded. “I have a lot to do tomorrow and need to be up early myself.”
He walked over to her, then cupping her cheeks with both hands lightly pressed a kiss to her lips. As he raised his head, the determination she saw in his incredible blue eyes sent a shock wave all the way to her soul.
“If you and the baby need me before morning, don’t hesitate to give me a call. You have my word that from this day forward, no matter what I’m doing or where I am, I’ll always be available for you and our daughter.”
Once the front door closed behind him, Heather squeezed her eyes shut against the tears of frustration threatening to spill down her cheeks. She’d known the former owner was looking to sell, but why did Jake Garnier have to be the new owner of Hickory Hills? What cruel quirk of fate had caused their paths to cross again? And why, after all that had happened, did she still find him to be the most handsome, irresistible man she’d ever met?
When he’d introduced himself at the annual thoroughbred auction in Los Angeles, he’d not only charmed his way past her defenses and swept her off her feet, he’d stolen her heart, as well. She’d always heard about love at first sight, but she’d never given it a lot of thought, never believed it would happen to her. Not until last year. Not until Jake.
Swallowing hard, she reminded herself of the disillusionment and emotional pain she’d suffered when he refused to return her calls and she’d realized she meant absolutely nothing to him. It had taken her a long time to move past that and no matter how drugging his kisses were or how wonderful it had felt to be in his arms, she wasn’t about to put herself in that position again.
Besides, it wasn’t just her emotions at stake anymore. She had Mandy’s well-being to take into consideration, as well. And Heather wasn’t going to stand back and watch her daughter bond with Jake, then be devastated when he moved on like the playboy he was.
* * *
As he walked down the long driveway toward the big wrought-iron entrance gates, Jake still couldn’t quite wrap his mind around everything that had happened. In the span of a few hours, his life had changed in ways he could have never imagined. He had reconnected with the only woman he’d ever regretted not keeping in touch with, learned that by taking over Hickory Hills she’d become his employee and discovered that a little over six months ago she’d given birth to his baby.
Unbelievable.
But as he thought about Heather making several attempts to get in touch with him, his gut burned with anger. He deeply regretted that she’d been forced to go through the pregnancy alone. If his secretary hadn’t become overly zealous about screening his calls, she wouldn’t have. He’d have not only been there for Heather throughout the pregnancy and birth, he wouldn’t have been cheated out of the first six months of his daughter’s life.
His daughter.
Jake’s heart slammed against his rib cage and he took several deep breaths. He had a tiny baby girl who looked just like him.
It blew his mind that he had a child. Fatherhood had been something he’d never expected to experience. And it wasn’t because he didn’t like little kids. He did. He’d just made a conscious decision years ago never to marry and have one of his own.
His own father had twice walked away after impregnating his mother, and even though Jake didn’t think he was capable of doing something like that, he hadn’t wanted to take the chance. What if he carried the same narcissistic gene that had caused his father to shirk his responsibilities to his children in favor of pursuing his next good time?
Jake shook his head. It was all a moot point now. He had a daughter. And even though it scared the living hell out of him to think that he might somehow let her down the way his father had his children, Jake was going to do everything he possibly could to be a good father.
Lost in his disturbing introspection, it took a moment for Jake to notice the shadowy figure climbing over the gates at the end of the drive. “Daily?”
The boy froze halfway over the gate. “Mr. Garnier, I…oh, dude, this probably doesn’t look real good, does it?”
“No. It looks like I just busted you for sneaking out of the house.” Stopping a few feet from where the boy was perched, Jake planted his feet and folded his arms across his chest. “You want to come down from there and tell me why you’re out this late, as well as why you don’t want to alert anyone up at the house that you’re leaving by activating the gates?”
When Daily dropped to his feet in front of Jake, he seemed to take a great interest in the tops of his untied high-top tennis shoes. “It’s kind of personal, Mr. Garnier.”
Jake hid a smile. “Want to tell me what her name is?”
The boy’s head snapped up so fast, Jake wouldn’t have been surprised if Daily had suffered whiplash. “How did you know I was going to meet a girl?”
Jake did his best not to laugh out loud at the astonished look on the kid’s face. “I know it’s probably hard to believe, but I was fourteen once, Daily.”
“I’ll be fifteen in a couple of weeks,” the boy said, straightening his skinny shoulders.
“That’s still too young to be out this late. Not to mention the fact that you don’t have your grandmother’s permission.”
The boy’s shoulders slumped. “Yes, sir.”
“I think you’d better give your girlfriend a call and tell her that you won’t be able to make it this evening,” Jake suggested.
As he watched Daily whip out a cell phone and rapidly punch in a text message, a knot began to form in the pit of Jake’s stomach. In about thirteen years some pubescent boy with more hormones than good sense could very easily try to set up a midnight meeting with his daughter.
He barely managed to suppress a groan. He’d already raised one girl through the teen years when he and his twin brother finished raising their younger sister, Arielle. And just thinking that he was going to have to do it all over again with his own daughter was enough to give him an ulcer. His only consolation was that this time he’d be sharing that responsibility with Heather, instead of his brother who had turned out to be as clueless as he’d been.
When the boy slipped his cell phone back into his jeans pocket, Jake motioned toward the tree-lined drive leading up to the mansion. “Come on, Daily. I think it’s time we both called it a night.”
They remained silent for some time before Daily asked, “Are you going to tell my grandma about me trying to sneak out tonight?”
Jake shook his head. “No, I’m not. But you are.”
“Me?”
“Part of growing up is learning to accept responsibility for your actions,” Jake said, reminding himself as much as Daily.
“I’m gonna be grounded for the rest of my life,” the boy complained when they entered the mansion through the kitchen door.
“I doubt it will be that long,” Jake said, chuckling. “But as long as you’re going to be sticking close to home for the next week or so, there are a few things around here I’m going to need help with. Do you think you’d be interested in the job?”
“A real job? Really? Oh man, that would be awesome,” Daily said, his voice suddenly filled with enthusiasm.
“You’ll have to keep