The Jilted Bride (2 page)

God, he was delicious.

Stop! Stop! Stop! Focus, Jody. Focus. You’re on a diet from men now, remember?

He handed her the envelopes in his hand in which the  mail deliverer delivered to the wrong mailbox. The mail had gotten mixed up… again. But for Jody, the mail wasn’t the only thing in her life that was getting mixed up! She mouthed “thank you” to Jake as she clenched her phone to her shoulder and proceeded to close the door with the letters in her hand.

He gave her a salacious grin and walked away.

       “Your dad thought we should just surprise you and show up at your door, dear, but I said let’s call when we’re close by,” her grandmother continued the conversation at the other end of the phone.

Thank God for that!

For a quick second, she’d almost forgotten they were still on the other end of the phone line until Jake left her presence.

        “We’d be there in less than thirty minutes.”

       “Good, wonderful!”
Good grief!

       “Was that him?”

       “Who?”

       “Greg. I heard a man’s voice.”

       “Uh. Yeah.”
Liar!
God she hated lying on impulse to save face.
Damn that super ego! What is your problem, Jody? Stop it now! You’ve gotta end this stupid charade now. Lying is so not good for your health—or your integrity.
      
 

For some reason she couldn’t bring herself to tell them
now
of all times,  that she’d been jilted at the altar and Greg was no longer a part of her life. In fact, he was now a part of the justice system at the moment. On the inside. But her grandparents were only going to be visiting Toronto for the day.

One day!

Nothing more!

Perhaps she could get Jake to change his name to Gregory for a few hours and….and pretend they were….

Stupid idea, Jody! Crazy idea!

       She would just tell them the truth when they get to her apartment.

The truth. And nothing
but
the whole truth, so help her, God!

2  

Jake walked back into his apartment with a grin on his face. He could not believe his neighbour, Jody. There was something….different about her. She had this sort of innocence about her. Still, she looked gorgeous in her t-shirt with nothing else on but fuzzy slippers. He was a man who often took notice of everything.

And he liked Jody. He liked her a lot and the fact that she didn’t have guys over her apartment all the time, except last year, that….dude she’d been seeing. He could tell the guy was a creep from the get go. Jake had a nose for those types. She really deserved better. Still, he’d overheard her cursing him one night and telling him she didn’t want to see him again and how could he do that to her. Jake really wanted to know what he did to her. Because he thought of what he would do to that guy if he really hurt her badly. He had to be careful when it came to intervening in somebody else’s business. After all, outside of casual small talk they really weren’t that close. They were just neighbours. Though things could just change in the future.

Still, her intoxicating fragrance turned him on as he caught a whiff of it when she opened her door. God, she was sexy in just a simple t-shirt. She didn’t even have to try to be attractive. Yet, he could sense she didn’t know that what she had was priceless. Men go crazy for a body like that.

She had natural beauty with no makeup on and seemed to be comfortable in her skin. Her delicious curves and voluptuous hips captured his eyes and his imagination.

In the past, he’d taken note of how kind she really was…how she would strike up a pleasant conversation with the man sweeping in the lobby or any of the cleaners. She was no snob—
that
he admired about her. She didn’t seem to be materialistic either. She wore department store clothes and simple jewellery. She carried herself like a lady and didn’t seem to flirt as far as he could tell when they met up in the gym on the first floor of the condo. It was as if she hadn’t noticed the other guys looking at her when she read her book while working out on the treadmill. Jake realized he paid far too close attention to Jody but they were always, for some reason, getting each other’s mail. So it was either fate or something. Besides, most women flung themselves at Jake’s feet whether they knew his background or not—even for a one night stand, they were ready and waiting…but she…she was different. He could see her blush whenever he approached her. Her cheeks would instantly redden and she would often appear sheepish.

       Jake dropped his keys on the counter and walked over to the kitchen with the tall floor to ceiling window. The entire building was a glass-walled condominium and sort of curved into an S shape. In fact, from his living room he could glimpse Jody’s balcony and if her lights were on at night and he happened to be sitting on his balcony…well, he was a gentleman enough not to gaze.

He slid the glass door of the balcony opened and walked out onto it, enjoying the panoramic view of the downtown Toronto area with the CN Tower skyline. It was breathtaking. They were minutes from Lake Ontario. His dad sure knew how to pick ‘em. Condominium Investments.

His BlackBerry buzzed and he answered it as he sat down on his chair and twisted the lid off his power drink and took a quick gulp.

“Yep.”

“Now is that anyway to answer the phone to your own brother, Jake!”

“John, you and I both know we’re half brothers because…what was it? Dad had an affair with his secretary, my mother!”

John gave a nervous chuckle over the phone. “Come on now, it’s not like that. We’re family.”

“Well, somehow, you wouldn’t know by the way John Anderson, Sr. treats his kids. One like the heir to his empire and the other…the black sheep. Could you guess which one is which?”

“Come on, Jake, what’s this about now?”

“I happened to receive a call from his lawyer yesterday.”

“What? What did he say?”

Jake paused before answering not because he didn’t know what he would tell his brother but because he could see inside Jody’s apartment. She looked worried pacing about, holding her head and looking around her apartment as if she’d lost something critically important. He should keep his mind on his business. His father was locking him out because he wasn’t living up to the family honour. His brother John was engaged to be married so all was well. He on the other hand had given up his partying ways but after meeting a girl introduced by his father’s friend and getting engaged…he discovered she only wanted him for his name and his money and his body was the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, he’d overheard her conversation. And because he quickly called off the engagement, his father was furious because the old man had a hidden agenda to this matchmaking. The girl, Sandra Wexworth, happened to be the daughter of one of his business allies. If they were to get married it would have been an Anderson Condominium Corporation match made in heaven. The plan  would be to merge with Wexworth Properties Inc. and become this mega corporation that would rock the condo world. His dad  was all about business! And Toronto was a booming city for condo construction, especially luxury condos built for the rich and famous, from tycoons to celebrities and royalty from all over the world.

For a good while he was turned off women and decided he would only date but never commit again. Still, his mind ran on Jody. She was somehow a breath of fresh air from the other women. One day, he would approach her once he got his business sorted out.

But right now, he was not on the market for commitment. And that’s probably what a girl like Jody deserves. He had other business to deal with right now. More serious business.

Good thing she didn’t know who he really was. Right now he was going to keep it that way.

“Well?” His brother sounded impatient.

“Well, what?” he replied half-focusing. Jody was not sitting on her couch with her head in her hands. Was she alright? He wanted to go next door and find out if there was anything he could do. But then again, that would look just too reminiscent of stalking. Way to creepy. And creepy he was not.

“What did Dad’s lawyer say? It must have pissed you off because you usually keep your cool. Did he give you some sort of ultimatum on getting hitched or something?”

“Listen, something just came up. I’ll call you back.”

“Which means, I may not hear from you for another few weeks, right?"

“Something like that,” Jake teased in a serious tone. His gaze still burned into the image of Jody in distress. Suddenly she got up and picked up the phone and hesitated as she was about to dial. She hung up quickly and looked at her beautiful bare legs. Jake’s crotch jumped. Why was he now imagining those legs wrapped around his waist?  He took another swig of his power drink. He really did a massive workout today. Mostly to relieve stress and burn off his anger at his father and his dad’s lawyer who tried to gyp him out of his share in the company.

He observed her disappearing probably to her room then reappearing dressed in a casual summer dress.

Ooh, she looked hot! She grabbed her keys that hung by her front door and left.

But without her purse? Was she going to meet someone in the building?

A knock on his door disturbed his thoughts.

He walked back into the apartment. And when he looked out the peephole, he was stunned.

It was Jody!

She looked nervous and bit down on her lip her arms folded across her chest. He pulled the door open and put his arm up on his coat rack by the door.

“Don’t tell me, you’ve got mail for me, too?”

“Um. No,” she said biting down on her lower lip. “Sorry to barge in on you like this…but…I…actually, I’ve got a favour to ask of you. Can I come in?”

“Sure.” He opened the door wider.

“I…I need you. Right now.”

Jake froze.

3

Great going, Jody! You really scared him off now. He thinks you’re propositioning him or something. Idiot! Explain yourself. Explain why you just happened to show up at his apartment seconds after he came to give you your mail. Tell him you’ve got some news for him, too! He’s going to be a new man…literally…in a few minutes. If he agrees to what you have to say.