Semua Bab Entangled To The CEO: Bab 11 - Bab 20

Jake’s [POV] The beach was quiet on this side. The sea stretched out for miles in curling waves of blue and green. I had already run three miles when Luis found me. “Sanchez,” I said as we clasped hands before bumping our shoulders together in what qualified as a hug. “It’s been a while.” Luis smiled. “You look good, Middleton,” he said, and he looked me over carefully. “It’s like you never left the army.” “I make sure to run at least three times a week,” I told him. “How do you even manage to find the time?” “I drop Noah off at kindergarten, do a seven-mile run, and head into the office a little late.” “Perks of being the CEO, huh?” he asked. “Definitely,” I nodded. I met Luis Sanchez when I was still a rookie in training. He was a marine and had a couple of years and a whole lot of experience with me. But it had taken one conversation to make us friends, and even though we were part of separate divisions, we had worked together in Afghanistan and had made the attempt to

Jake’s [POV] I had been a complete dick to Kristen, and I knew it. To make matters worse, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that cinnamon coffee she had brought me earlier. I knew I should have gone out there and said something to her. I should have apologized for the way I’d been treating her, but my pride prevented me from doing that. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, wondering if at the heart of it, I wasn’t the great guy I had always thought I was. Was that why things with Daphne derailed so fast toward the end? I wondered. Maybe it had nothing to do with Noah and his birth. Maybe it had everything to do with me. I had spent the weeks and months following Daphne’s funeral thinking about those last few weeks before she had been deployed. They had been the most stressful and disheartening weeks of my life. Daphne and I had spent those last two weeks tiptoeing around one another. We barely stayed in the same room together because we both knew that if we did, th

Jake’s [POV]After dropping Kristen off at her tiny little apartment block, I drove around the neighborhood a couple of times. I don’t know why I did; I suppose it was because I knew that Noah would be sleeping and I needed to calm down a little bit.I wasn’t wired or anything. I just had this little surge of adrenaline running through my system that was making me think of things I hadn’t thought about in years. I kept remembering the way Kristen’s white blouse had opened a little at the neckline every time she leaned in. It was a modest amount of cleavage that I’d glimpsed, but it had been enough to get me a little hot under the collar.I hadn’t been that affected by a woman’s cleavage since Daphne. And that was at the beginning of our marriage. I remembered the first time Daphne and I had had sex. She had entered my bunk one night while my bunkmate had been at dinner and climbed into bed with me. She had undressed me silently, and then we had fucked quickly before we could be interr

Jake’s [POV]“Daddy,” Noah asked, staring up at me as I applied some aftershave in the bathroom. “Where are you going?”I paused for a moment, wondering what I should tell him. I decided the safest bet would be to blame it on work. It was the reason he was most accustomed to hearing, and I wasn’t even sure if Noah would be aware of the practice of dating. I knew I certainly didn’t want to have to explain it to him.“I have a work dinner, buddy,” I replied, ruffling his hair with my hand.“You look different than when you’re going to work,” he said observantly.He was right about that. Usually, I wore suits, blazers, or collared, long-sleeved dress shirts with dark pants. Today, I was wearing dark jeans with a laid-back, dressed-down shirt that made me feel more like myself. Or more specifically, it made me feel like the man I had been in the early days of my military career, around the time I had met and fallen in love with Daphne.“You’re right,” I said. “I do look a little different

Jake’s [POV]It had been an exhausting day, and I was grateful that Kristen had offered to look after Noah. I couldn’t imagine sitting through all those meetings with a four-year-old in tow. I arrived at my apartment building and pulled into my usual spot. I had just unbuckled my seatbelt when a call came in. I looked down and saw that it was my aunt. It had been a while since I’d last spoken to her, and I didn’t want to miss her call.“Hey, Aunt Margo,” I said.“Jacob,” she said, using my full name as she always did. “You’ve forgotten me.”I smiled. “I’m sorry, Aunt Margo,” I said apologetically. “I should have called you.”“I haven’t seen you and your boy in over a year.”“That can’t be,” I said, frowning to remember when we’d last visited her.“One year and three months exactly,” she continued. “Noah wasn’t even three at the time.”“Wow,” I said, amazed by how much time had passed. “Has it been that long?”“When are you coming to visit me?”I sighed. “I don’t know, Aunt Margo… I ca