Free Trusting Jake (Blueprint To Love Book 1) by Lauren Giordano Page A

not daring to look at the clock again. Closing her eyes didn't stop the memory from haunting her.      
    The night she was fired, Jen had mechanically emptied her desk. Within days, anger seeped through the cracks of her frozen facade. Her fighting spirit returned during the sleepless nights that followed. The allegations were false and defamatory. Whitney Group would pay for slandering her character. That evening, her voice was hopeful when she answered the phone.
    "Mrs. Cahill? Baltimore PD. There's been an accident involving your husband. You'd better come downtown."  

 
    Chapter 6
     
    The insistent buzz of Jen's alarm was a rude awakening, a mere three hours after finally falling asleep. Slamming her hand on the snooze button, she bolted up a minute later.
    Alex.
    She couldn't afford to fall back asleep. The room tilted when she sat up, a headache already forming behind her drooping eyes. Staggering to the bathroom, she groped for aspirin before jumping in the shower.
    An hour later she was humming after dropping Megan at school. It was amazing what strong coffee and the joyous thought of her son being released had done for her mood. As she found a parking space in the hospital lot, she wondered how Jake's night had gone. He'd made it clear she was to take the day off and get Alex settled at home. With the weekend to recover, she was certain he'd be ready for school Monday.
    Her step was light as she breezed through now-familiar corridors. Her fingers were on the door handle when it was wrenched from her grip by the person standing on the other side. "Jake– what are you still doing here?"
    He looked as though he wanted to snarl at her. Her gaze ran down the length of him– from the faded sweats to his scruffy morning shadow and the tousled hair on his head. She bit her lip to keep from smiling. Jake appeared as surly as she'd felt an hour earlier. Yet, he still managed to look sexy at the same time. Jen's pulse quickened in a way that had lain dormant for years. His shoulders looked broad and comforting in an old t shirt. "Did you get any sleep?"
    Running a hand through his hair, he frowned. "Maybe twenty minutes, although after spending the night on that lumpy, toddler-sized mattress, I think even that's a stretch." Wearily rubbing his chin, he grimaced at the stubble he felt there. "If you'll excuse me, I seriously need a shower." Trudging past her into the hallway, he carried a small duffel. "Alex is still sleeping." 
    Her hand was still on the door when he turned back. "You failed to mention your son is a real night-owl."
    She raised an eyebrow over his curious remark. "It must have been the company, because he's usually out cold by eight."
    Jake's grumpy expression shifted. "Yeah. Somewhere in the night we bonded. We're best buds now," he admitted, his grin sheepish when he turned again, heading for the bathroom down the hall.
    She awakened her sleepy son, dressing him before he was aware what she was doing. Judging by the churlish complaints, she determined Alex was recovering rapidly. The nurse arrived to take his vitals and soon after, his breakfast appeared. Being waited on was an entirely new experience.
    "Wow! Mom, is all that for me?"
    "Go ahead. Dig in." She was quietly amazed when he began wolfing down food. Stuff he would never touch at home.
    "Cool. Can you help me open this milk carton? And that stuff in the bowl. What's that?"
    She took a tentative sniff before answering. "Looks like oatmeal. You probably won't like it."
    "Yeah I will," he was quick to protest. "I just need to dump all this stuff on it and mix it up."
    "Honey. . . don't waste the food." She began the standard lecture while gathering his remaining articles of clothing. Risking a peek over her shoulder, she couldn't help smiling when he proceeded to open every sugar, every creamer and every foil-wrapped jelly packet, dumping them into the oatmeal, one by one.
    "Someone might have eaten that. What if Jake is starving for a bowl