Chapter 5

Aurora's POV

Jake was working on a Sunday morning from the guest room of my house. I never would have believed that would ever happen, but it was.

"Jake." I say trying to get his attention.

He signals for me to keep quiet.

I watch him as he rounds up his meeting, and it takes me a while before I snap out of it.

What are you doing here, Aurora? Get a grip.

I decide that I have over indulged in Jake's presence and I need to get far away from him as soon as possible.

"I'd assume that will be all for now, any other thing that needs my attention send it to me as an email."

Before I can leave, he shuts down his laptop and turns to me, his eyes traveling the length of my skin. I have no idea what to do under his scrutiny.

"Noah is up, he's asking for you." My words jumble over each other and I dash back to Noah's room with Jake behind me.

"Dad!" Noah exclaims as he runs towards him wrapping his arms around his legs. "I thought you weren't real."

"Why would you think that?"

"I dreamed about you. I thought maybe you were only a part of that dream."

Jake crouches in front of Noah, "You remember I told you I was never going to leave?"

Noah nods his head slightly, "I meant it, son. Even in your dreams, I'd never leave."

They hug again for a long time and I am not even offended by the thought that I might be third wheeling for a while.

Jake's eyes raise to meet mine. "Your mum and I need to talk."

Noah's eyes drift between both of us like he's trying to figure out what to do.

Then the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it." Noah says as he runs for the door.

"Don't let strangers into the house, Noah." I say as I run after him.

Well, I try to.

Jake stops me before I leave the room. His arms grab my wrists and he spins me back around to face him.

God, I was trying to avoid everything about this scenario.

Any form of skin contact, having my face close to his and being alone in a room with him were at the top of my to not do list. Because those things lead to other things I shouldn't be contemplating.

"Why did you just decide to tell me about Noah?" Jake asks.

My eyes widen from the quest and I try to wriggle my hands out of his hold. It doesn't budge.

I gulp nervously, "I wanted my son to have his father." I say, anything to avoid the real reason.

"I get that, but why now? You could have told me years ago, but you didn't." He searches my eyes for answers I know he wouldn't find.

"I have always been able to tell when you are hiding something from me, Aurora. And you are hiding something from me."

And I was going to keep hiding it.

"Mum! There's a strange woman here." Noah screams providing the escape I craved.

I wring my hand out of Jake's grasp and head downstairs knowing that the only reason I escaped his hold was because he let me go.

"Noah, I told you not to open the door for strangers."

"I am normally very persuasive." The strange woman says.

But there's nothing strange about her to me.

Shanon, the one person I did not like, was standing in my house dressed in designer clothes from top to bottom. She was always trying to tear Jake and I apart even if we have never actually been together.

I open my arms for Noah to head towards me. Right now he was the only person that mattered to me.

"What are you doing here, Shanon? We are not friends."

She walks towards me, her heels clanking against the floor as she tries to intimidate me with a condescending stare. But I return her look, years in the courtroom had taught me a lot of things.

Jake appears from behind me and he pauses in his tracks seeing Shanon in my living room.

"What are you doing here?" He asks her, but his tone with her is familiar.

"Well, I noticed that you spent the night in a strange place, it was only right that I came to find you." She walks towards Jake and places her hands on his arm.

I am tempted to yank her hand away and throw her out of my house.

"Are you tracking me again?" Jake asks.

Why the fuck was she tracking him in the first place?

"Of course, darling. You should know by now that I'd never let you go." Her eyes are on me as she speaks.

Darling? This conversation was getting more confusing with every passing second.

"Dad, who is she?" Noah asks.

She eyes Noah like she is just seeing him for the first time.

"You have a bastard Jake?"

Jake tears her hand off him, his grip on her tightens. I am half worried he would snap her hand into two. Not that I'd mind at this point.

"Watch your tone around my son."

"Let go of me, it hurts." He throws her off, she stumbles but quickly regains her balance.

I turn Noah's face towards my skin trying to shield him from whatever it was that was happening.

"All I am saying is you could settle this with a lawyer and child support. Surely, you don't think I am not going to let him live with us."

I want to slap her more every single time she opens her mouth. But I don't attempt to stop them. I am curious too. Who was Shanon now that she thought she had a right to the things going on here?

"Who are you to decide who lives with me and who doesn't?" Jake asks, his shoulders drop as he lowers his head immediately.

Shanon, with a proud smile on her face, declares. "I am your fiance Jake. I'd rather not have to remind you again."

And I feel my heart drop to the bottom of my feet.