A Little Bit of Déjà Vu Read Online Free Page A

shrugged—“don’t you still love Daddy?”
    Margie slid her arm around her daughter as they crossed the parking lot. “I’ll always love your dad, Em. He gave me you.”
    Now was not the time to mention, as soon as Emma moved out to transfer to a four-year school, Margie had every intention of pursuing a social life that included men. She had no desire to spend the rest of her life alone or to share her sexual peak with some battery-operated lover.
    And, hoo-boy, had she been peaking since losing Dan. Every night her empty bed mocked her.
    She clenched her fists to stop the trembling in her hands. Why was she so nervous? Jake was just a man. What happened between them had been nearly two decades ago.
    Except nineteen years hadn’t seemed to diminish her visceral reaction to the big jerk. Every time she spoke to him on the phone, his deep velvety voice and sexy laugh never failed to make her stomach quiver, and she ended up blathering like an idiot.
    Maybe she was simply afraid that, when she faced him and gazed into those magnetic silver eyes, she would have trouble remembering the word no .
    ~~~
    Jake heaved a disgusted sigh as his son continued watching Brandy out of the corner of his eye, wearing a puzzling expression that leaned more toward loathing than lust. It seemed odd, seeing as the pretty cheerleader had been at the core of his tight circle of friends for the past three years. It was impossible to guess what his kid was thinking.
    Shaking his head, Jake muttered under his breath, “The idiot sold out his whole damn future for a quick tumble.”
    Alex’s gaze snapped to Jake’s, his face suffused with color. “It wasn’t like that, Dad. I love Em.”
    Damn. Had that actually come out of his mouth? “Alex.” Jake lifted his hands in apology. “I’m really sorry. I never should’ve said something like that.” At least not out loud . “It helps a lot if you love each other.”
    “Well, we do.” His son waved his hand over his head, and a moment later, the tiny girl he’d been dating appeared next to their table.
    Emma’s long, dark hair and gray eyes made her look very much like what he’d imagined Maggie’s and his daughter might have. Jake had never stopped wondering what sex their baby had been. In fact, he’d been so bitter and devastated over the loss of his child, he’d convinced Roxanne to skip the birth control on their honeymoon.
    Alex stood and bent to hug Emma, then stepped back to let her slide into the booth before he sank next to her and slung his arm around her.
    She glanced between them, wearing a tremulous smile. “Did you tell him?”
    Squeezing her to his side, Alex gently pressed his lips to her forehead and murmured, “I told you I would, didn’t I? Everything’s gonna be okay, Angel. Where’s your mom?”
    “She stopped off at the ladies’ room on the way in.” Emma turned to Jake. “I guess you’re really disappointed in us, huh, Mr. M?” she asked, uncertainty quivering in her voice.
    Reaching across the table, Jake patted her delicate hand and smiled. “Disappointed is a good word, Emma.”
    His nervous jack-in-the-box son sprang out of his seat with a constipated clown’s grin pasted on his face.
    Jake rose and turned to greet the petite blonde gliding toward their booth. She was even hotter than the picture her sultry voice had painted in his imagination. The woman couldn’t be much past her early thirties. Way too young to be Emma’s mom.
    As Mrs. Bradford approached the table, he stared down into a pair of familiar sky blue eyes. His smile dropped.
    This had to be just another one of his dreams.
    Nausea churned in his stomach like the ocean’s surf right before a storm as he breathed out almost soundlessly, “Maggie.”
    ~~~
    Margie gawked up at the doused-with-ice-water expression on Jake’s face and grabbed the back of the booth to stop the room from spinning. The grainy pictures in local newspapers hadn’t done him justice. The silver