The Billionaire Playboy (24 page)

Below the
paragraph there were two pictures. The first was a shot of Blair and Jake at
some charity event back in January. The other photo was one of her and Jake at
the airport in Boston when they'd returned from Martha's Vineyard.

She read the short
caption a second time but the words didn't change. Without bothering to shut
down the computer, Charlie slammed the laptop closed, then she pushed her chair
back and came to her feet with so much force the wooden desk chair toppled to
the floor.

“Are you okay?”
Beth said, reminding Charlie that she was still on the line.

“Fine. Why
wouldn't I be?” Charlie answered through clenched teeth. “We weren't in a
committed relationship.” As she spoke Charlie tried to keep her emotions from
entering her voice.

“If you say so.”
Beth didn't sound convinced. “Charlie if you want to talk later or anything
call, okay?”

With anger
surging through every nerve in her body, Charlie paced between her bed and the
window. “Don't worry. I'm fine. Thanks for calling. I'll talk to you soon.”

After ending the
call, she tossed the phone on her nightstand.

The two-timing
jerk was off in England spending time with another woman. Did he expect her to
sit around waiting for him to come back? Or did he think so little of her that
he didn't feel it was necessary to tell her things were over? Either way she
should've known better.

What else should
she have expected from someone referred to as an 'international playboy’? And
to think she'd believed his little story about how the media had it all wrong!

Grabbing a
pillow off the bed, she punched it imagining it was Jake's face. He was
probably lying about Blair and the baby too. More than likely the baby was his
and he just wasn't man enough to own up to it. Evidently even billionaires could
be deadbeat dads just like hers.

Damn!
He really was no better than her father.
How had she missed it? Had she been so overwhelmed by his good looks and
average-Joe act that she hadn't seen the real him? She'd always considered
herself a better judge of character than that. Obviously she wasn't. She was no
better with men than her mother.

“That's not true.
At least I didn't fall in love with him,” Charlie said to herself. Yet somehow
the words sounded untrue. If she didn't care about him, then his betrayal
wouldn't hurt so much. True, she'd still be pissed but not hurt. “You're not
hurt. These are tears of anger.” Charlie wiped the few tears sliding down her
face and struggled to keep any more from falling. “That snake isn't worth it.” And
if he ever called again she'd tell him what she really thought of him.

***

Charlie got the
chance later that night when her cell phone rang. Without even looking she knew
it was Jake. Did she want to answer and tell him to go to hell or just let it
go to voice mail and not bother calling him back? Both options were appealing.

“Are you going
to answer that?” her mother asked from across the kitchen.

Charlie pulled
the phone out of her back jeans pocket and looked at the caller ID. Sure enough
Jake's number filled the screen. “Be right back,” she said as she marched out
of the kitchen.

She waited till
she was outside to answer. “Hello.”

“Hey, how's my
favorite doctor.”

How could he
tease her so affectionately when he'd flown across the Atlantic to be with
someone else? “Not interested in talking to you.”

Silence filled
the other end of the line and for a second she wondered if he was still there.

“You've got a
strange sense of humor.” Jake's voice took on a hesitant tone. “If you're mad
because I didn't call sooner, I'm sorry. I've been busy and then there's the
time difference.”

“I know how busy
you've been. I saw a picture of you and the pretty blond you're so busy with.” A
warm breeze blew around her and she could hear the crickets chirping in the
grass creating a relaxing environment that was completely at odds with the
anger raging inside of her.

“Blond?” Jake
asked sounding truly confused. “Charlie I don't know what you're talking about.
I'm in England. My cousin …”

“Don't bother
feeding me any lines.
 
I should've expected
as much from someone like you.” Maybe his lines worked with the other women he
knew, but not her.

Once again there
was silence. Part of her wanted him to deny her allegations, but she knew even
if he did it wouldn't change anything. Pictures didn't lie and hadn't he
already admitted he was in England just like the caption claimed.

Before he could
say anything in his defense she added, “It's fine Jake. Really, I don't care.
Enjoy your time in London.” With her final sentence Charlie hit end on her phone
and shoved it back into her pocket.

She should feel
relieved. She told him what she thought without letting him know how much it
bothered her. Yet all she felt as she walked back into the kitchen was shame
and emptiness. Shame at herself for believing that Jake was different. For
thinking that maybe he could truly care for her. And emptiness because she'd
just lost a tiny part of her heart to him.

After the line
went dead, Jake pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. What the
hell just happened? Yeah, he expected Charlie to be a little upset that he
hadn't called sooner, but the conversation they'd just had made no sense at all.

Shaking his head
he tried to replay the conversation over in his head. Despite his efforts it
still didn't make any sense to him. Obviously she was upset about something. Should
he call her back and try to straighten things out? Or would it be better to
wait a little while, maybe give her a chance to cool down?

For some reason
he doubted waiting would help the situation much so he hit redial. The phone
range several times before going to voice mail. Even though he assumed she
wouldn't call him back in her current mood, he left a message asking her to do
just that.

Okay, you can figure this out.
Jake paced in
front of the empty fireplace. She'd referred to a picture of him and some
blonde. He hadn't been out with anyone since meeting Charlie so what picture
had she seen? Could it be an old one some magazine just released. Was some
media outlet trying to play up the scandal already brewing with Blair? And why
had she said he was in London? Had she guessed when he said he was in England? If
she'd spoken to Cindy, she'd know he was in Bristol not London. He'd left a
detailed message for Cindy to pass along if and when Charlie called. Was it
possible she never got the message?
 
But
if she had spoken to Cindy she would know he wasn't here on some kind of
vacation.

“AJ is out of
the ICU and asking for you,” Sophia, AJ's girlfriend, said walking into the
room.

Lost in thought
Jake hadn't heard her come in, but at the sound of her voice he stopped and
turned. Petite and blonde, the two words echoed in his head. Sophia was both. Could
Charlie have seen a picture of them together somehow? Sophia was the only woman
he’d been around lately. Had a photographer taken a picture of them together
and published it?

“Why are you
looking at me like that?”

“Sorry. I have a
lot on my mind. Listen I want to know how AJ is doing, but I need to check
something out.” Jake moved toward the guest room where he'd left his laptop. He
didn't bother to wait for a reply. Instead he brought up his favorite search
engine and typed in his own name. Several links came up, but he chose the one
with the most recent date. After opening the link a color photo popped up and
sure enough it featured him and Sophia at the airport together with a short
article beneath.

“What are you
looking at?” Sophia asked entering the room. “Is that us?” She peered over his
shoulder.

“Bloody hell,”
he swore using one of Dylan's favorite expressions. “She must have seen this
picture,” he groaned running his hands through his hair. While he agreed the
picture looked bad, he'd hoped that she had a little more faith in him. Didn't
Charlie trust him at all?

“Who are you
talking about?”

Jake turned away
from the screen. He didn't need to see the picture or headline to figure out
exactly what had happened. “Charlie. Someone I've been seeing. Just talked to
her and she accused me of seeing someone else. That picture is why,” he said
gesturing toward the computer.

Damn it.
Once again the media was butting into
his life.

Sophia sat down
on the edge of the bed. “If you explain, I'm sure she'll understand.”

Without
intending to Jake laughed sarcastically. “Would you? With my reputation to back
up that photo?” Jake tried to ignore the dull pain settling in his chest. He'd
really thought that Charlie had come to know the real him, rather than the Jake
Sherbrooke the media liked to portray. Evidently, he'd been dead wrong. If she
could jump to conclusions about him so quickly she didn't know him at all.

“Maybe. I'm not
sure.” Sophia shrugged.

 
Jake heard the uncertainty in her voice.

“You could at
least try, Jake. It's her loss if she doesn't believe you.”

Sophia only had
that half correct. If she didn't believe him, he'd be losing a lot too. During
their time together he'd come to care about her in a way he'd never felt before.
And he knew he would hurt like hell if she walked out of his life forever.

“How's AJ doing?”
Jake didn't want to continue discussing Charlie. Later he'd try her again. He
knew in her current mood, she wouldn't listen to him. Maybe if he gave her a
chance to calm down she'd hear him out.

Chapter
13

A week later
Charlie sat on her bed packing. The following morning she was returning to
Virginia. She had another week of leave left but she intended to spend it at
her own place. She also had an interview at the hospital in Williamsburg. Although
she'd hoped to make up her mind concerning her career in the Navy by now, she
was still on the fence. Hopefully after this interview she would be able to
make up her mind.

A mere week
earlier, before she'd seen that picture of Jake on the internet, she'd been
certain she wanted to retire from the Navy and start the next phase of her life.
Now that he'd shown his true colors and she was back to thinking rationally,
staying in the Navy seemed like an excellent idea.

But regardless
of her ultimate decision, her stay in Massachusetts needed to end. Staying at
the bed and breakfast surrounded by thoughts of Jake only clouded her mind. She
needed to get back to a place where there were no memories of him.

Charlie grabbed
the turquoise sarong from her pile of clothes and memories of her weekend on
Martha's Vineyard came rushing back. She'd bought it while on the island, and
it'd been sitting in the bottom of her drawer since coming back.

Rolling it into
a ball, she stuffed the piece of fabric into her bag and wished she could roll
up and discard her feelings for Jake just as easily. She'd been trying for the
past seven days but so far she hadn't been successful. It was just a fun summer
fling, she reminded herself. Something she could tell her friends about when
she got back to Norfolk.

Charlie grabbed
a t-shirt next and folded it before adding it to her bag. Why couldn't she
forget about the jerk? Why the hell did he have to invade her thoughts all day?
Hopefully getting home would help with that. At least he'd stopped calling her.
His last call had been two days ago. She was surprised he'd called her back at
all. Though she hadn't seen any more pictures of him and his unidentified
blonde that didn't mean he wasn't still in England with her.

Man she'd been a
complete idiot. She'd really believed everything he told her. Charlie couldn't
remember ever being quite that gullible before.

She'd never let
a man dupe her like that again.

Charlie pulled
her second duffel bag onto the bed ready to fill it, when there was a knock at
the door. “Come on in,” she called as she unzipped the bag.

“You're almost
all packed,” Maureen walked in carrying a tray with two steaming mugs. “Thought
you might like some company and some tea.”
 
Maureen set the tray down on the nightstand.

Charlie wasn't
in the mood for company. She preferred to be left alone, but since it was her
last day home she didn't say anything to her mom. “Thanks.”

For a few
seconds neither woman spoke as Charlie continued to pack.

“You look tired.
Are you feeling okay?” her mom asked sounding worried. “You haven't been
yourself lately.”

“Fine. Just a little
uptight about the interview in Virginia. It'd be a big change.” Charlie didn't
look at her mom as she spoke. The truth was she hadn't slept well since her
last conversation with Jake. Every time she lay down her brain would replay
their time together, trying to figure out how she'd been so wrong. There must
have been hints, but somehow she’d missed them all.