WHAT!'

Jake jumped up from the chair and strode towards his Mother. 'What are you talking about?'

'Jake its quite simple. You marry her we get Charlie then you divorce her, we keep him.'

Jake looked at his Mother. He was incredulous 'this is a joke right?' She shook her head. 'It's a good solution to this problem. You said she was going to be easy to move out of the way. Well, its more complicated and I don't want that woman's family getting her hands on Will's money. Her sister killed my son. Do it.'

Jake stood looking down at his Mother. She was rarely wrong, always protective of her family but this was a crazy idea. 'Mum, no this is wrong on so many levels. I won't do it. I can't do it. I don't want to get married for a start. I have no problem in going to court and fighting for custody. Believe me I can win this.'

'And what if you don't. What if we walk out of there with nothing. No visitation rights. We could lose him. No, Jake I wont take the chance. You think about it.' Anna swept out of the office leaving a trail of Chanel No.5 in her wake.

Lauren stuck her head out of her office to look down the hallway at him. She raised an eyebrow 'Need to chat Jake?' He shook his head and closed the door of his office. He flung himself down on a sofa in the corner and laid his head back on the cool leather. His Mother was insane. She had officially lost the plot.

He had no idea how long he sat there trying to take in what she had said. Marry someone he didn't know, had nothing in common with. Do it to steal a child. No, there had to be something else.

Lauren knocked on the door and stuck her head in 'Boss, you okay?' She came in and placed a cup of coffee in front of him plus a plate with a danish on. 'Lauren what would I do without you?' She looked down at him and laughed. 'I have no bloody clue. You would probably have killed someone if I was not around to watch that temper.'

He motioned for her to sit down and took a bite of the pastry. He sank back into the sofa taking the coffee with him. 'My Mum is mad, can you find a doctor who can have her declared insane.'

'Hmmmm okay what has she done this time? Don't tell me she is decorating your apartment again? Set you up on a blind date with someone from her bridge club? Or is it worse?'

He looked at her and said 'oh this is a cracker, she has surpassed herself with this idea. She wants me to marry that woman who is Charlie's Aunt; Laura Jones. I mean seriously what the f'k.' He polished off the remaining bites of the danish and drank the rest of the coffee. Jumping up from the sofa he walked over to his desk. Lauren remained seated and looked at him. She was in shock Anna had done some pretty outrageous things in the past but this took the biscuit poor Jake. She stood up and walked towards his desk. 'Right I will google doctors for insane Mothers but, what are you going to do? I mean you cant marry her Jake. That is so stupid.'

He nodded as he went to sit down 'Yep it sure is. He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled up at Lauren. 'I will figure it out. Don't worry okay.'

She nodded and picked up the mug and plate. Walking out of his office she glanced over her shoulder at him. He had gone back into normal mode and was tapping on his keyboard.

Jake shut down his PC and looked at his watch it was just after 9 pm and he had been in the office since 7.30 am. He felt exhausted and it was only Tuesday. He picked up his jacket and walked out switching the lights off as he left. He drove home and once again ended up swimming to try and wear himself out.

Lying in bed he tried to clear his mind and sleep but his Mothers words kept coming back. He fell into a fitful sleep and woke at 5 am. He tossed and turned for a few minutes and once again was up at his desk working early. He emailed Brian Jones and let him know he would be there today and also for the next few days. Brian was to organise a room for him if there was one available, if not to suggest somewhere else to stay.

He needed to get away from his Mother there was no way she would not be dropping into the office today. Best to be away from there. He emailed Lauren advising he was going to be out of the office for the remainder of the week and to schedule a call later in the day.

He jumped in the shower and then dressed quickly. This was probably a bad idea he was heading towards trouble not away from it. Driving out of the city early he put some music on and within seconds Billy Joel was blasting out of the sound system. He had been ribbed mercilessly by his friends and Will for his music tastes. But he had thought the Joel was perfection. He smiled to himself if only people knew.

Two hours later he was pulling into the drive of the hotel. He went to enter the employee car park and then thought better of it. He didn't want Laura Jones to spot his car as she drove in this morning. He drove up to the overflow and saw half of it was cordoned off and there was equipment around for resurfacing. He was impressed at how quickly this problem had been dealt with as Laura had mentioned it on Monday in Brian's office. Maybe as Jules had said she was not so ditsy after all.

Laura was in early. Ellie her new au-pair was taking Charlie to school this morning and with three days left until the Carmichael wedding she needed to focus for the remainder of the week. Ellie was working out well having been with them a couple of weeks. Since moving into the house things had gone well and with the other mums who shared the school run, she could at last think that normality was returning. She walked towards the hotel and then realised nothing was normal not since Jake bloody Harrison had turned up all good looks, smiles, eyes and hair. Bloody man it made her blood boil thinking about how much he had embarrassed her in front of her team. Jules had found it absolutely hilarious and when she had met Kate one of the school run Mums she had regaled her with every detail. Normally she would have joined in and found it funny but this man had got under her skin and she could not shake it.

She walked towards her office and saw one of the night staff make a beeline for her. She was not in the mood for any chat this morning so waved and said she couldn't stop. Hurrying down the corridor towards her office she soon realised why he had been trying to get her attention. As she pushed open the door Jake Harrison was sat behind her desk looking through the files laid out.

He looked up as the door swung open and gave her a lazy smile 'Well Miss Jones good morning. How are you today?'

She walked in and took off her jacket hanging it on the door. She looked at her hands and saw them trembling. She wanted to run but she knew she had to face this and sort it out. The games had to stop. She turned around to face him. 'Mr Harrison.' He raised an eyebrow at her as she spoke. 'Jake, erm you need something? I didn't realise you were back today.'

'Do I need anything? He sat back in the chair and looked her up and down. Laura felt a blush rise up her cheeks and walked to the other desk placing her bag down. She began rooting around in it looking for nothing in particular but just trying to calm herself. She turned around and he was still staring at her. 'So? What do you need Jake or are you just going to sit at my desk all day?'

He stood up and moved out of the way his arm indicating she could take the seat he had vacated. She thought he might go but no such luck as he then plonked himself down at the empty desk. Oh bugger why had she not got rid of that when Jules moved out.

'Who uses this desk Laura?' She looked over. 'Er, well that is, I mean it was Jules desk. She moved out a couple of months ago.' He laid his hands on the desk 'well I think this will do me very well. Yes, very well indeed. Look like we will be sharing an office.' He gave her another of his killer smiles and she felt her heart sink oh no this was a disaster.

'Jake I, well wouldn't you prefer your own office. I mean Jules can move in here and you can take her office. Yes, lets do that. I mean surely you are used to your own office?' Enjoying her discomfort Jake sat back in the chair and looked across at her. 'No, Laura this is perfect I think I will enjoy sharing an office with you. Now tell me where do we get some coffee around here?'

Laura picked up the phone and pressed the button for the kitchen. 'Morning Phil any chance someone could bring a tray of coffee for Mr Harrison. Yes, that would be great. Hmm sure I will have a tea. Thanks very much.' She looked at him. 'Five minutes.'

He nodded and sat looking at her. She put her head down and began looking through the paperwork on her desk. She pulled out a file and opened it making notes as she flicked through the pages. After a few minutes a knock at the door signalled the coffee arriving and she motioned for them to put it on Jake's desk. He sat drinking the coffee watching her. She had not looked up yet. He could tell she was concentrating hard to pretend he was not there.

The door swung open and Jules bounded in 'So the hunk is back then, you seen him?' She looked at Laura who rolled her eyes at her friend and nodded her head in the direction of Jake. Jules turned around to see Jake smiling at her as he sat back with a cup of coffee in his hands. 'Morning Jules, I hope you're referring to me?' Jules immediately began laughing 'Ah Jake nice to have some eye candy back.' She backed out of the office laughing giving Laura a wink as she went.

Laura could not concentrate, just knowing he was in her office was off putting. Knowing he was staring at her was even worse. Anytime she happened to glance his way he was sat there smiling at her. She had come in early to get a head start on the day. Having him in such close proximity was having a reverse effect on her. She was not sure what she was writing on the pages and he must be able to see her hands shaking. She really needed to get a grip. She sat back in her chair and looked across at him. He was still smiling at her. 'Look we need to establish some ground rules if we are going to be sharing this office.'

'Lovely, I like rules Laura. What are they?' She fiddled with the pen in her hand and looked him straight in the eye. 'Well, first off you need to stop staring at me all the time, its, well it's very off putting and I don't like it.' Jake laughed she was quite amusing when she was flustered.

'Right, stop staring at Laura all the time. So when we are in a meeting in here for example I just look at the wall? Or should I wear an eye mask? He was laughing at her she could see his amusement. 'Yeah, yeah very funny. Why are you staring at me? You have been doing it for the last.' She looked at her watch. 'Forty five minutes.'

At such precision Jake could not contain his laughter. She noticed when he really laughed his eyes crinkled at the side. 'Laura you are very funny. I promise to do better honest.'

'Thats good because I have a lot of work to do this week and.'

'Laura, I get it. I think I can try to restrain myself from attempting to ravish you in the office.' Laura began blushing. 'No, I didn't mean that. I just meant. I mean I don't want you to ravish me. No, I mean I, well, just stop staring thats all.' She was breathless and had her head down her hair falling over her face. I am mortified she thought. Did I or did I not just tell him not to ravish me. What am I doing? What is wrong with me? What am I talking about? OMG where is Jules when I need her?

Jake spoke very quietly 'I know what you meant Laura.' She jerked her head up to look at him. She went to speak but nothing came out. He was looking at her but not like before. His eyes were as black as coal and his face had softened as he spoke. She felt goosebumps on her arms and a sudden shiver ran through her. She could not look away and he was not dropping his gaze.

Jake had started off laughing at Laura's obvious discomfort with him being in her office. His amusement at her trying to set some ground rules and making a hash of it had amused him no end. He had found the whole thing very funny. But then she had blushed and he had felt a jolt of some sort run through him. Not knowing what it was he had tried to carry on joking but the words hadn't come out and instead he had struggled to speak and when he did it was like someone else was speaking. His voice was low and husky as he responded. She had looked up at that and when she did he could not take his eyes off her. Her hair had fallen back into its bob as she had looked across at him. Her eyes which he had not noticed before were a smokey grey and held his gaze. He could see she was just as shocked as him as they sat looking at each other. Her bottom lip trembled and his eyes dropped down to look at her lips. They were perfect and right now he wanted nothing more but to kiss them. What was happening to him?

A knock at the door broke the moment and Jules bounded in 'Everyone decent in here?' She was laughing as she said it. But one look at Jake and then at Laura gave her an inkling that perhaps she had walked in on something. Jake jumped up as she went to speak again. 'Excuse me ladies I need to find Brian.' He was gone in seconds.

Laura sat back putting her hands up to her face. Her hands were trembling. Something that did not escape Jules notice 'What was going on in here then?' Laura shook her head 'Nothing, nothing was or is going on in here.'

Jules sat down opposite Laura. 'Right, yeah it looked like it. If I had not come in what would have happened. You two just need to get a room and do the dirty deed. You obviously fancy the pants off each other.'

'What are you crazy I hardly know him, I have a boyfriend. He probably has a girlfriend.'

'Oh Laura you have so much to learn. Its called lust, love and you two have it in abundance. Face it at some point he is going to have his wicked way with you. And I hazard a guess but, I think you might just enjoy it.'

'Stop, please. I am already flustered enough this morning. I need to focus on this wedding. It needs to be perfect and if it isn't we might as well forget about anyone else having any wedding's here this year.'

'Okay have it your way. I know what I would rather discuss. Right here is the rooming list for this weekend. Looks like we will be 85% capacity. Do you want me to hold a room for you on Friday and Saturday? Looks like there is going to availability.'

'Hmmm maybe let me talk to Ellie tonight.'

'And where is the saintly Chris this weekend? Away again?' Laura looked up from her notes. She loved Jules they were best friends. But she didn't like Chris for some reason and Laura so needed her to like him.'

'Yes, Jules he is away going on a bike tour with his mates.' Laura put her hand up. 'Stop. I know what you want to say. But, I am working all weekend and why should he not do something.'

'The thing is Laura he pretty much does something every weekend. He comes to your house for dinner during the week and then buggers off to do his own thing at the weekend. It's not really a romantic relationship is it? You don't think he is secretly married?' Jules sniggered as she said it and looked over at Laura.

'Please enough. I can't deal with you having a pop at him and Jake having a pop at me. And yes maybe he goes away a lot but I have a child to think of now so I just cant drop everything and go away.'

Jules looked down at her notebook. She found this whole Chris thing infuriating. He was a user she had seen his type before. Laura was just too nice and saw the good in everyone. Chris had never asked Laura to go away with him even though they had been dating a few months. He got free meals and a girlfriend who was happy for him to sit on her sofa every night. It was convenient for him. Jules had made no secret of her dislike for him. He was a complete tosser in her opinion. Laura needed to get some backbone and take off her rose tinted glasses. He was using her and she was letting him do it. She wished she knew someone who could find out what he was up to. She much preferred the dishy Jake. Now if only she could put the two of them together that would make her very happy. She smiled to herself and looked back at her room lists. A light bulb moment occurred. Now here is something she could do. Jake was going to be at the hotel for a few days. If she could keep a room near him vacant well then maybe she could do something.

Jules stood up 'Right Laura, great meeting must get on. Very busy and all that. Lets have lunch together okay.'

Laura stood up as Jule's left and decided to go to the ballroom. Some of the decorations for the weekend had arrived and she wanted to ensure there were no issues in hanging some of the artwork.

As she walked into the ballroom she was astonished to see Jake there. He had no jacket or tie on and his sleeves were rolled up as he helped Bill and his maintenance team unpack the containers. She stood to the side watching not sure what to do. He looked up and spotting her gave her a smile and a wink before he turned back to carry on with the unpacking.

Laura backed out of the ballroom. She headed out into the gardens and stood leaning against a wall. She looked down at her hands shaking and knew her cheeks were flushed. What was happening to her? Jake Harrison was a man who probably dated super models. What the hell was he winking at her for? And more importantly why she was so affected by it?

So I am going to move this story over to fiction press and I hope you come along.

As this is non OG related it should be on the fiction press site.

s/3236495/3/Jakes-Secret