Jake held out his hand to deter him.

Aaron shook his hand with enthusiasm. He turned to Lil. “Thank you, Lil! Thank you!” and hugged her.

Jake wanted to rip the little, tail wagging puppy off of Lil, but he didn’t. Lil hugged him much longer than he would have liked, but eventually, thankfully stepped back and said, “I didn’t do anything, Aaron. You did.”

Jake looked down at his watch and pocketed the paper. “We have to go now if we plan to get to the station early.”

Lil’s eyebrows furrowed, she seemed to want to say something regarding the paper, but instead she said, “I’ll get Colby.”

She stepped out of the room and Jake had every intention of following her when Aaron stopped him with a hand on his sleeve. “Mr. Walton?”

Jake looked down at the hand, which he expected the boy to hastily remove, but he didn’t. Instead Aaron met his eyes with surprising directness.

He said, “A lot of people judge Lil before they know her. She says what she thinks and sometimes she’s more impulsive than she should be, but when she loves someone–there is nothing she won’t do for them, even if it hurts her own chance at happiness.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I saw the way she looked at you. If she falls in love with you, make sure you are worthy of that kind of love. Colby’s father took advantage of her. She doesn’t need to go another round with disappointment.”

The puppy had teeth.

“Is that a warning?” Jake asked in a tone that backed most men down.

Aaron removed his hand from Jake’s sleeve, but did not step back. “I guess you could say that it is.”

“Bold move to take with your potential new employer.”

The young man adjusted his wrinkled t-shirt and said, “Some things are worth the risk.”

Jake nodded. Loyalty was something he respected. “Send that resume. I think you’ll do fine in the Boston office.”

Aaron let out a long sigh. Not smiling. Just waiting. Even more impressive.

Jake said, “I’m only here to make sure Lil is safe. There is nothing more than that between us.”

After a moment, Aaron stepped away and seemed to relax. He said, “Whatever you do, don’t send her flowers. She hates watching them die. She says it’s as sexy as receiving a bouquet of hamsters stapled to rulers.”

Jake grimaced a bit at the image, “That’s quite a visual.”

Aaron said, “That’s Lil. She likes images that evoke emotion. Ask her to sketch something for you sometime. She doesn’t belong in an office, she belongs in a studio bringing those images to life. She’ll never be happy on the path she’s recently chosen for herself. If you care about her, you might want to help her see that.”

A fist of fire curled deep in Jake’s abdomen, but he held back further discourse. He didn’t like Aaron giving him advice on how to deal with Lil. He didn’t like that his displeasure was most likely obvious to the young man before him.

The entire trip was a waste of time and emotion. After today, Jake would have no reason to ever see Lil again–except perhaps across the room at a social event.

Whatever mess she got tangled up in next time would be none of his concern.

Oddly, that thought made him scowl again.

Chapter Four

Lil pulled up to the front of the news station. She unbuckled her seat and turned toward Jake. “Give me the paper.” She held out her hand.

Jake took the paper out of his pocket and turned it in his hand thoughtfully. “It’d be better if you waited out here with Colby while I go in.”

“Just give me that damn paper,” Lil said and made a grab for it, but Jake moved it back out of her reach.

“I don’t understand you, Lil. Why is it so important for you to do this? Dominic or I could have easily handled it with a phone call from New York, but you didn’t take anyone’s calls. I could resolve this for you right now–be back in the car in ten minutes and you wouldn’t even have disturb Colby.”

“I want to fix this myself.”

“That much is obvious, but I keep asking myself the same question. Why?”

Lil gestured at her baby in the backseat. “She’s why. If you genuinely want to know why I’m doing what I’m doing, the answer is almost always the same. Her. She deserves the kind of stability and love that I had growing up.”

“Then why won’t you let Dominic help you?”

Lil threw a hand up in the air for emphasis. “You don’t get it, do you? Dominic is a fantasy. Not even my fantasy–Abby’s. Which is fine. She can walk away from her life and tie her happiness to the whim of some man who may or may not be there for her in a month, but I can’t.” Lil laid a hand on the back of her baby’s car seat. “I have to think of Colby now and what’s best for her.”

He wasn’t going to debate Dominic’s loyalty–honestly, Dominic was dangerously unpredictable lately. He really couldn’t say what he would be like a month from now. Was his transformation permanent or just an extreme and temporary reaction to his father’s death? There was no way to know, but none of that was going to get him an insight he could use. “And dragging your daughter in there to witness something she won’t remember is going to help her how?”

“It proves to me that I can do this on my own. I didn’t need the support of her biological father, I don’t need Abby, and I certainly don’t need some New York billionaire who came here only because his boss asked him to. You want to help me? Don’t stand in my way. Let me do this.”

When Jake didn’t immediately hand her the paper she added, “Please.”

And his breath caught in his throat. The raw emotion in her explanation far outweighed any he’d expressed in perhaps his entire life. It made him want to protect her even though she was asking for him to do the exact opposite.

He handed her the paper. “I’m still coming with you, but I won’t interfere.”

She studied him quietly before removing her baby from the seat behind them. “I can handle this.”

He watched her stride toward the NBN Communications building, shoulders set back with determination, baby balanced on one hip and he thought he’d never seen anything more beautiful. She was a tigress going to battle for the little one in her arms.

The sight was oddly humbling–as if he were witnessing an event he’d carry with him the rest of his life.

His short reflection allowed her to reach the building before him. One step quickly became a short sprint. She wasn’t going in there alone if he could help it.

Lil charged through the front door of the news station and went directly to the receptionist’s desk. “I want to see the station manager.”

“Do you have an appointment?” The blond receptionist who appeared to have dressed for a dance club rather than her day job dismissed Lil with little more than a glance.

Lil wasn’t sure if she should address her next request to the woman directly or to the abundance of cleavage threatening to burst out of her tiny top. “I–” Lil started to say, but the woman stood and flashed a huge smile at someone behind Lil.

“Mr. Walton, I’ll tell Mr. Cooper that you’re here,” the receptionist said in a suddenly sultry voice.

Oh, please. Could she be more obvious? It wasn’t amazing that she’d recognized him, anyone with a tv would have. Lil kicked herself for not thinking of that. But, seriously, did this bimbo have to throw herself at him? I am not going to be happy if I have to stand here and watch these two hook up just so I can meet the manager. “You should have stayed in the car,” Lil hissed at Jake.

“You’d prefer to have to wait?” Jake asked.

At least he didn’t appear to have any interest in the woman who was practically drooling over him. Did he meet with that kind of fawning from women wherever he went? No wonder he looked bored all the time.

I’m not here to analyze Jake’s dating habits.

And he’d made a valid point. What did doing this the hard way really prove? She was being ridiculous. Still, she had come this far, she might was well follow her plan through. “Please, just let me do this my way.”

“I won’t say a word.”

He wouldn’t have to. His mere presence had already changed the rules of engagement.

The manager rushed out of his office, looking a bit ruffled. He walked right past Lil and offered his hand to Jake. “Mr. Walton, what brings you to NBN today?”

Jake ignored his outstretched hand. “I believe your business is with Miss Dartley.”

The man wasn’t smart enough to hide his sneer. “If you wanted to be compensated for your interview, Miss Dartley, you should have negotiated a price before giving it.”

Jake took an aggressive step toward him, but Lil wasn’t going to be dismissed that easily. She handed Jake both Colby and the diaper bag. She took the folded gag order out of her purse and handed it to the manager. “I didn’t give an interview. The phone conversation you have was taped without my knowledge and under the guise of something else. If you or any other news station airs it, I will sue you and them to within a penny of bankruptcy.”

The manager almost said something, but changed his mind. He looked back and forth between Lil and Jake, putting more meaning on their relationship than the paper in his hand.

When he spoke again, his intention was to appease her. “I had no idea, Ms. Dartley. Of course the interview will be pulled.”

It was disappointingly easy.

Which shouldn’t be a problem, but it was.

Today had proven nothing.

Lil turned and took Colby back from Jake. Storming out, but leaving Jake standing there with the diaper bag hanging from one of his perfectly manicured hands.

It must have provided the station manager with a sight that amused him, because the man appeared to have something he wanted to say.

Jake leaned in. “Say it. Give me one reason to remember your name when I walk out of here, and you’ll spend the rest of your life wishing you hadn’t.”

The smile wiped clean off the older man’s face, a fact that gave Jake a moment of satisfaction as he turned on his heel to do what he’d never done in his entire life–chase after a woman.

Chapter Five

By the time Jake got back to the car, Lil had already started the vehicle and Colby was safely strapped in the back.“I did it. He’s not going to air it.”

“You did it.”

She smiled. “I really did it. I’m sure it helped that you were here, but I think it would have worked regardless.”

“I bet you’re right.”

“You must be glad it’s over. Now you can go back to New York and tell Dominic there is nothing to worry about.” Lil let out a tremulous breath. “I know it’s silly, but I was actually nervous in there. My legs still feel a little shaky. Adrenaline, I guess.”

Jake put a hand on his seatbelt and asked, “Why don’t I drive?”

Lil hesitated for a moment then unbuckled hers. “Only because I’m still a little wound up.”