Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series) (13 page)

“What!” Laura shrieked. “That’s not
possible. What the heck is he providing for that cost?”

“It’s a good spread, I have to say. I
was surprised he was offering such a cheap deal. He usually aims to make as
much as he can from an event.” He shook his head regretfully. “As it is, I’m
going to have to ask you to lower your costs.”

Laura sat fuming. She snatched back
her proposal. “This isn’t right. It’s obvious to me that he is footing some of
the bill himself just so Martha can’t match him. He knows she’ll end up with an
inferior spread and he’ll come out on top. It’s not fair Jake! What are you
going to do about it?”

“What can I do? I can hardly tell the
man to up his budget can I! I’m sorry Laura, but you’ll have to match his
costs. I’ve always done it that way when Blankton opened his diner, to be fair
to both places.”

“But it’s not fair!” Laura snapped at
him. “This allows someone who has more money to take advantage and get the
chance to ruin Martha. Can’t you pay Martha’s costs, just this once?” She’d get
down on her knees and beg if she had to.

“No can do. I can’t be seen as being
unfair and changing rules I made before. Nobody in town would speak to me if I
did that. I’m sorry Laura, but….”

“Yes, I know!” she interrupted. “I’ll
have to change the budget. I get it!” She sat chewing on her lower lip in
thought. Jake followed the movement, trying to ignore the tightening in his
groin. She looked so adorable, all fired up with indignation. Her cheeks had
gone a lovely shade of pink in her rage, her green eyes sparking fire at him.
She was an amazing sight to behold when angered. And he found he really enjoyed
riling her up!

He’d never realised before yesterday
that under all that sweet exterior was a little spitfire when roused. He should
have, considering the passion she displayed when they kissed. He tried not to
think too hard on that. He was already fighting the urge to kiss her again. It
was dangerous being around her. She was fast becoming like a drug he couldn’t
live without.

“What if I pay the difference? Would
that be acceptable?” she suddenly threw at him. He blinked in surprise.

“You could, in theory, but why would
you want to?” he asked. “You’ll be out of pocket.”

“Because I won’t let that horrid
little man ruin Martha. She and Alfie deserve better. He’s done this on
purpose. He came into the diner today, throwing his weight around like he owned
the place. He was rude and insufferable. I hate men like him that think they
can tread all over people and get away with it. Well, not this time.” She
sprung to her feet. “I’ll pay the difference. Don’t tell Martha, just pay her
bill. She’d feel awful if she knew.”

She began to march towards the door.
“Laura, wait.” Jake sprang up to follow her. She stopped, turning to face him.
“Why would you do this for people you barely know?”

“I really like Martha and Alfie.
They’ve become good friends in this short space of time. And besides, I’m tired
of good people getting a rough deal in this world. If I can make a difference
with this, I will. Don’t bother trying to talk me out of it!”

He looked at her face. She was hiding
something. Something flitted behind her eyes, but he wasn’t sure what it was.
There was more to this, he would bet on it. “Why are you really doing this?” he
asked quietly.

She paused a moment in stunned
surprise. Swallowing hard, she contemplated him for several long seconds before
she stepped closer to him, leaning in towards his ear. “That Jake, is none of
your business. You keep your secrets close to your chest, so why the hell
should I tell you mine?” she hissed in his ear.

Proud of herself, Laura walked
rapidly to the closed barn door for a dramatic exit. Funny how she didn’t
remember closing it! She took hold of the latch and pushed. The door didn’t
budge. She pushed again, using more of her body weight against it. Still it
didn’t budge. What was wrong with this stupid door?

“You having trouble?” Jake asked
quietly from behind her, his voice sounding suspiciously amused. She spun
round, fixing him with her best icy glare.

“It’s stuck!” she announced kicking
the door in her frustration.

“Don’t be ridiculous. That door never
gets stuck.” He moved her out the way and tried to open the door. To his
complete shock, it didn’t move. Not an inch. “This is impossible! What did you
do?”

“Oh, sure. Blame me!” Laura huffed
crossly. “I didn’t do anything. I don’t even recall closing the damn thing. It
must have blown closed in the wind.”

“That doesn’t explain how it got
stuck!” Jake shook on the door, pushing against it with his shoulder. When that
didn’t work, he backed up and charged it. The door shuddered, but held firm.
Growling low in his throat he tried kicking it down. Still the door wouldn’t
move. He stood yelling at the top of his voice for someone for several minutes,
but nobody came.

“I don’t suppose you have a phone on
you?” he asked at last.

Laura riffled through her bag.
“That’s odd. It’s not in here. I could have sworn I had it with me. It must
have fallen out in the car when I took my bag out and I didn’t notice.”

“Great! Were stuck until someone
misses us and comes looking.” Jake gave her a disgruntled glare.

“Well don’t get cross at me. I didn’t
do this. Can’t you try ramming it with the wagon?” she suggested pointing to
the flat bottomed wagon he’d been using to load up the rubbish.

“That wagon is too old. It would
shatter for sure. Nope, we’re stuck until someone lets us out. I can’t imagine
what is stopping up that door. The outside bolt must have fallen in place,
though I can’t imagine how.” He shook his head in bewilderment, striding over
to the crate he’d been sitting on earlier, he resumed his seat, running his
hands through his thick dark hair. He looked up at her still standing by the
door. “You may as well sit down. We could be here a while.”

She reluctantly moved over to sit on
the crate near his. She kept her gaze on her hands. This was the last thing she
needed. His nearness crept into her awareness like a drug. She found his pull
stronger than any magnet. The urge to touch him, kiss him and be with him was
almost overwhelming.

“Can’t you put your shirt back on?”
she finally snapped.

“Why? Is my chest bothering you?” he asked
innocently. She glared at him. He laughed at her expression, but slid his arms
into his shirt. He didn’t button it up though. Laura refused to request he do
so. At least he was slightly covered.

“Laura,” his soft voice washed over
her like the warmest of breezes, making her shiver. She looked up at him. “Why
are you going to pay the extra for Martha?”

“You’re not going to let that go are
you?” she sighed, wondering if she really wanted to tell him. She debated it
within herself for a few moments. “I’ll answer your question, if you’ll answer
one for me. How’s that?”

It was his turn to hesitate. “Come on
Jake,” she insisted. “You can’t expect me to tell you things about myself, if
you aren’t prepared to do the same.”

Grudgingly he admitted she had a point.
“Very well. You answer me first, then you can ask me what you want.”

“You will answer me, won’t you?” she
asked suspiciously, not trusting him one bit.

“You have my word,” he promised, hand
on his heart.

“Okay,” she agreed. She took a deep
breath. “When I was in catering college, I met a guy. He was very handsome and
charming, every girl in the place was desperate to date him. I was really
surprised when he asked me out.”

“Why?” Jake asked puzzled.

She looked at him as if he was poking
fun at her. “You know damn well why!” she snapped, her eyes shooting flames at
him all over again. “You said it yourself when we first met. I’m plain!”

Jake winced. He’d forgotten all about
saying that to her. It was so far from the truth it was ridiculous. He’d really
thought she’d have laughed it off, but apparently she thought he’d been telling
the truth. He felt bad that he’d ripped into her obviously fragile confidence.

“I’m sorry I said that,” he told her
sincerely. “I was mad at Kerry and I lashed out at you. It wasn’t true, what I
said. You are anything but plain.”

She didn’t look convinced, but nodded
her head to accept his apology. “Well, anyway. As I was saying, I was surprised
when he asked me out, rather than any of the other girls that were so much more
than me. We went out together for over a year before I found out that he wasn’t
really interested in me. Only the ideas I had for food. He was very ambitious
and wanted to be able to open his own restaurants one day, write his own
cookbooks that sort of thing. He used my talent with food to improve his own
ideas and completely stole other ideas from me. I didn’t even realise, fool
that I was, until I had to leave the college to take care of my mother when she
fell ill.”

Her eyes took on a faraway look as
she remembered the day she’d told Brad she had to leave. He’d been so angry.
She’d been stupid to think he would miss her and didn’t want to lose her. She’d
soon been dispelled of that notion.

She looked at Jake. “He made it very
clear how unhappy he was with my decision. I thought he wanted me to stay
because he’d miss me. He was so angry, he actually let it slip he’d only wanted
me for my cooking ability. I found out later he’d also been dating another
girl, much prettier than I, for the entire year we’d been together. Most
everybody knew. They must have all been laughing at me behind my back the
entire time. It was humiliating!”

“He was a fool,” Jake told her
vehemently, anger welling up at the faceless man. Her vulnerability ate at his
heart. She looked so small and dejected on her crate. Like a puppy that had
been kicked. He wanted to get his hands on the man that had so dented her
confidence. He’d soon show that bastard not to treat a gentle soul like Laura
so callously.

“No, I was the fool to believe he was
interested in me in the first place.” She looked away from him, taking a deep
breath. “Anyway, he made me feel so low. He’d stolen a number of my recipes and
passed them off as his own. He got the credit for my work. I was well and truly
used. I guess that’s one of the reasons why I don’t want to let that man ruin
Martha. I don’t want someone else’s hard work to come to nothing because of
some greedy self-serving person. Does that answer your question?”

Jake nodded his head, his thoughts
reeling at what she’d revealed. Laura was very soft hearted; indeed in many
ways she was too good for this world. She was as far from Victoria as a dove
was from a snake. He’d never known anyone quite like her. It didn’t sit too
well with him that he’d said some very unfair and hurtful things to her. She
hadn’t held it against him, much to his surprise. His Laura was indeed
something special.

His heart gave a funny little jolt as
he realised he did think of her as his. He’d tried so hard to keep his defences
up, but it was futile when she could penetrate them with no effort at all. He
looked at her as she struggled to compose herself. She’d trusted him enough to
open up a very painful wound for her. He realised he could do no less.

“So, what’s your question?” he asked
her. He already could guess what she wanted to know about.

She looked up at him, unsure he’d be
willing to answer her. “What happened between you and Dan?” she finally said.

Jake closed his eyes, pain etched
into every inch of his face. His scar seemed to stand out more as he gathered
his thoughts. “It’s hard to speak of,” he told her. “You see, Dan was like a
brother to me. We grew up together, played together, did pretty much everything
together. I knew one day that I would take this place over, Dan wanted to become
a vet so we’d still be working in a way together as well. We dreamed of having
families that would continue the bond we had.”

He paused, looking anywhere but at
her. “Then I met Victoria. She was everything I thought I wanted in a woman.
Smart, beautiful, sophisticated. She took my breath away from the very first
moment I set eyes on her.” He stopped again, lost in the past. Laura felt ill
as she watched him gazing into space, his mind’s eye no doubt seeing the
beautiful Victoria. Laura already hated the woman. What had made her so special
that two men Laura knew of, had the exact same expression on their face when
they thought of her.

Disgruntled, she cleared her throat
to get his attention. “What happened then?” she asked pointedly.

Jake gathered himself together,
finally seeming to remember that she existed. “We fell in love or at least I
thought so. I asked her to marry me. I thought I was getting everything I’d
ever dreamed of. Dan was meant to be standing up for me as my best man.
Instead, the night before my wedding, I found them both together. I don’t have
to tell you what they were doing.”

He stopped again, his voice cracking
with the strain. Laura forgot her annoyance and reached out to take his hand in
hers, trying to offer him some comfort. He gripped her fingers, squeezing them
in gratitude for her support.

“I went wild,” he admitted. “I
actually pulled them apart with my bare hands. I wanted to rip them both to
pieces for what they’d done. I thought Dan would be ashamed, horrified or
upset. Instead he was just as angry at me for interrupting them. We got into a
fight. We’d never fought like that before. I got in some good punches and so
did he. Then a bottle that had been on the table fell and broke. He picked it
up and slashed with it at my face.”