Free Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 by Claudia Hall Christian

I’ve run the company by
myself before,” Jacob said. “Hell, I ran it for six months while
Dad was wacko and Blane was crying in the basement. Aden was still
a site manager. I’ll get rid of the secretary if she concerns
you.”
    “ So I should
worry?”
    “ You should not worry,”
Jacob said. “I’m not a cheater. I don’t cheat on my taxes or my
friends and I’ve never cheated at hockey. I don’t handle my
commitments that way. I never have, never will.”
    Jacob sat down on a chair at the dining room
table. Leaning his head on his hands, he closed his eyes.
    “ I’m very tired,” he said.
“I need to get my heart checked. I don’t know if I’m worn out or
something’s wrong.”
    “ I don’t think anything’s
wrong,” she said. “Let me…”
    She went over to where he sat and he pulled
her onto his lap.
    “ Nice ploy,” she
said.
    “ This is very nice!” His
hands stroked her behind. “Did I miss Katy?”
    “ She waited up for you,”
Jill said. “She can’t make it past eight.”
    “ At some point in the
relatively near future, Aden, Blane and Dad will get back to work,”
Jacob said. “How you would you like to take a trip to Santa
Monica?”
    “ Should I stop taking the
pill next month?”
    “ I’d like that,” Jacob
said. “You?”
    “ Can I get some help so I
can finish school?” Jill asked.
    “ You’d have to kill Delphie
to keep her from helping,” Jacob said. “I mean, if she wasn’t
already dead.”
    Jill smiled
    “ In fact, that’s a great
idea,” Jacob said.
    “ To kill
Delphie?”
    “ She’s already dead,” Jacob
laughed. “No, she loves infants. We should get the gorgeous Mack
here. I bet that would wake Delphie up.”
    “ He was here last night for
Delphie’s coming home party,” Jill said. “She didn’t even look at
him.”
    “ The woman has completely
lost it,” Jacob shrugged. His fingers moved to unbutton her jeans.
“You are…”
    He kissed her lips.
    “ Do you want some
dinner?”
    “ No, my new gorgeous
secretary made something for me,” Jacob said.
    Jill punched him. She hopped off his
lap.
    “ Don’t make fun of me. I’m
serious! Trevor cheated all the time and…”
    Jacob jumped to his feet.
    “ I’m not Trevor,” he
said.
    Jill stood with her hands on her hips. She
stared at him. Shaking his head, he tried to pull her back into his
arms.
    “ What’s wrong?” he
asked.
    “ Oh, I don’t know.
Everything is so new and really great. School. Even this house. I
don’t want to lose it.”
    He smiled.
    “ Valerie’s friend was so
heart-broken. I remember what that’s like. I felt really bad for
her,” Jill said. “I never think of famous people as being fragile
like… me, I guess. And everybody just laughs at them. It’s like the
whole world is set up to steal happiness from people.”
    “ Some people don’t build
lives. Instead, they spend their time being jealous of the lives
other people have built. Their only focus is to destroy what other
people have built and seize their happiness.”
    “ Makes me sad and scared.
Will someone try to steal all of this from me?”
    “ Will you let
them?”
    She shook her head.
    “ You and I, we are building
a life. Our friends are our friends because they’re building
lives.”
    “ I’ve given my whole self,
my whole life to you. I’ve never done that. Ever.”
    “ And I’ve given my whole
self and life to you,” he said. “If something happened, I’d lose
you and nothing’s worth that.”
    “ It’s scary to love you… so
much.”
    “ Scary for me
too.”
    “ Let’s take a bath,” he
said. “I need to unwind.”
    “ What about
dinner?”
    “ I’m hungry for other
sustenance.”
    She furrowed her brow at his lecherous
grin.
    “ Fine,” he said. “What are
you offering for dinner?”
    “ We have left-overs or I
can make you a sandwich or…”
    “ Sandwich would be
wonderful,” he said.
    He stood at the kitchen bar while Jill made
him a turkey sandwich.