“Jenny”—Jake leaned across the table, his handsome face serious—“what time would you like to meet tomorrow?”
Startled, she blinked and said the first thing that came to mind. “Tomorrow is Friday. I have payroll to deliver.”
Howard laughed, the sound falsely hearty. “That won’t take you all day, now will it?”
What was this? Had she missed something in the conversation?
“Jake”—she met his gaze straight on, her expression showing nothing but carefully schooled polite interest—“what are you talking about? Did Monica make an appointment for you for tomorrow and forget to tell me?”
He didn’t smile, didn’t move. Just stared back at her with an intensity that made her grow warm. “No, I don’t have an appointment, Jenny. Howard and I were talking and we both agree that it’s time for you to take a tour of my place. The restaurant is coming along on schedule and should be ready to open exactly as projected.”
Malvoran House? He wanted to show her Malvoran House? Horrified, Jenny felt the color drain from her face. Howard nodded, beaming. She’d get no support there.
“I have no need to see Malvoran House,” she said stiffly. “I’ve seen it before.” Blindly reaching for her beer, she drank deeply. Swallowing, she took a shallow breath, keeping her spine straight.
“Ah, but Jennifer.” Howard tapped her on the shoulder. “This is something you must see, especially since your bookkeeping is going to be such an integral part of the operation.” He patted her shoulder in the manner of a man comforting a petulant child.
“I’ve been there twice myself and the work is going fabulously. I told Jake that I would consider it a personal favor if he would show you around the place. I know you will love it”
“Howard, are you crazy?” The words slipped out before she could think about what she was saying, but Jenny had no desire to call them back. She was furious. Howard knew the history behind her and that house. He had no right to ask such a thing of her.
The waitress took that moment to deliver the oysters. Simmering, Jenny drained her beer, ordering another. For a panicky second she actually considered getting up and walking out, leaving the two men to pay and find their own way home.
If it weren’t for the fact everyone in the place seemed to be watching her, she would.
Since she had no choice but to stay, Jake needed to be set straight.
“Jake.” Clasping her hands tightly in her lap, she tried not to watch as he stabbed an oyster, dipped it in the sauce, and popped it in his mouth. “I think we need to clarify something. It’s—”
“Here.” While her mouth was partially open, Jake raised the tiny fork, and stuck a plump oyster in her mouth.
Reflexively, she swallowed, tom between wanting to berate Jake and wanting to savor the unfamiliar delicacy. It had been over a year since she’d tasted oysters, even though they had always been one of her favorite treats.
Howard coughed, concern warring with outrage on his face. “Are you all right?”
Jenny let her relief show. Finally, Howard would wake up and put an end to this nonsense.
Jake, laughing outright, popped another oyster in his mouth. “Oysters aren’t poison, you know. You ought to try them, Howard. They’re great.”
“I’m fine.” Knowing Jake only wanted to make her react, Jenny tried to sound unperturbed. “Thank you, Jake.” She looked at Howard, trying to gauge his reaction. “That was delicious.”
Howard opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He took another sip of his wine and glanced away.
Any hope Jenny might have had of Howard intervening died a quick death. She glanced at Jake, immediately regretting it.
“Do you want another?” Blue eyes sparkling, Jake grinned at her, looking so heart-stoppingly sexy that Jenny curled her toes and clenched her hands into fists.
“Aw, come on.” He coaxed her, leaning closer and holding out a plump oyster on the end of his fork.
For a moment she felt herself softening. Then remembering, she tore her gaze away. “No, thank you.”
Howard’s pager went off. He checked it, then excused himself to make a call.
Great. Conscious of the many assessing glances coming their way from the other restaurant patrons, Jenny lifted her chin. Jake might be a drop-dead, blue-eyed, gorgeous specimen of masculinity, but he meant nothing to her now.
She considered herself fairly intelligent; she’d always been proud of graduating from East Texas State University in the top ten percent of her class. She’d passed the CPA licensing exam on her first try, with a minimum of studying. She’d started her own CPA firm by herself, with no help from anyone. And she’d turned it into a successful business that made enough money for her to live comfortably.
In short, she was a successful, professional woman. And not too bad-looking, she thought modestly. Certainly capable enough to make it on her own.
Therefore, it followed that she couldn’t possibly have any feelings left for Jake. After the way he’d treated her, only a fool would. And Jenny knew she wasn’t a fool.
“So when are you and Howard going to do it?” One brow lifted, Jake popped an oyster in his own mouth.
About to take a sip of beer, Jenny nearly choked. “Do what?” She could feel her face flaming again.
Across the room she could see Howard making his way back to their table. She prayed he would hurry.
“You know, get married?”
Good Lord, she’d forgotten she’d told him that she and Howard were engaged. She certainly couldn’t tell him now that she’d never actually accepted Howard’s proposal. “Um, we haven’t set a date.”
Howard reached them and pulled out his chair. “That was Justin,” he announced. “He’s glad we decided to have this little business meeting.” The hard stare he shot Jenny left no doubt he now considered this dinner to be of utmost importance and wanted her to behave.
His next words, however, had her wanting to hide under the table. “He’s called The Sentinel and they’re sending over a photographer. He wants the picture in tomorrow’s paper.”
Horrified, Jenny started to shake her head. “I don’t think—”
“Publicity will be good for business,” Jake interrupted smoothly. “Great idea.”
Their meals arrived. Grateful, Jenny busied herself with her crisp salad, though everything seemed to taste like ashes now. Things couldn’t get much worse, she reflected glumly. At least the two men seemed to have dropped the subject of her touring Malvoran house.
Still, she wished they would hurry up and finish so she could take them home.
Jake watched as Jenny picked at her salad and sipped water, the second beer she’d ordered all but forgotten. His Jenny was his no more. And she certainly wasn’t his pumpkin. He couldn’t allow himself to think of her with that old endearment any longer. Beautiful, warmhearted Jenny, who now hid her true nature behind a facade as brittle as ice.
The photographer arrived and they all posed, Howard draping his arm possessively over Jenny’s rigid shoulders. Jake smiled and nodded, but he really wanted to knock the other man’s arm off and hustle Jenny out of there.
Stupid, he knew. He kept telling himself he wanted her to think of him as her friend, but his heart said otherwise. Watching her fall all over this guy was a sort of torture. Not only was Howard all wrong for her, but Jake sensed Jenny knew it as well as he did.
It’s none of your business, Durham, he told himself. He and Jenny hadn’t married; she was free to live her life however and with whoever she chose.
Howard, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to any problems. He seemed to regard Jake as a business client, nothing more. Certainly not a threat to the woman he loved.
There was the crux of it They didn’t act like a couple in love.
Ah, if he let himself, he could remember. How he and Jenny couldn’t stand to be apart, how they couldn’t get enough of each other. But then, of course, he’d have to remember the agonizing pain when they’d been separated. Duty,
Jake had found, was a poor substitute for Jenny’s arms. He’d had no time to tell her, no way to tell her without putting her life in danger.
Duty called, and he went where he was needed. Knowing that she would hate him for it had made things even worse.
“Jennifer.” Howard led the way to the car, walking on Jake’s right side and letting Jenny walk by herself on Jake’s left. “I am on the way back. I think you should drop me off first, then run Jake home.”
Howard, for some mysterious reason, seemed determined to push them together.
Jake glanced at her to see how she was taking it Jenny, her expression grim, said nothing. He’d be willing to bet she hated being called Jennifer. He wondered why she didn’t say anything.
They piled into the car, Howard still taking the front passenger seat. As soon as Jenny pulled out from Applebriar’s parking lot, he leaned the seat back and closed his eyes. The only sound was that of the car’s motor and the soft croon of some country singer on the radio.
Since Jenny didn’t seem inclined to talk, Jake said nothing. He wondered if she would do as die other man had asked and take Howard home first.
That would leave Jenny alone with Jake. Something she had made quite clear she had no desire to be.
They turned off Avenue L on to Howard’s street. Jenny pulled up in front of a well-lit large brick house. The manicured lawn and circular drive spoke of wealth.
“You’re home, Howard,” Jenny said softly.
Howard sat up, groggily peering around him. “Thank you, Jennifer.” He waved at Jake, wearing a somewhat befuddled expression.
Jenny, who hadn’t spoken one word to Jake since they left the restaurant turned in her seat “It’s a short walk home for you from here.”
Amused, he hid it “You wouldn’t make your newest client walk home, now would you? What would Howard think?”
She had the grace to look abashed at that making him almost ashamed for teasing her. Then, blowing out her breath in a huff, she put the Honda in gear.
Five minutes. He had five minutes, max, before she would pull up in front of Malvoran House and drop him off. Though he’d been telling himself that he enjoyed the solitude, that it was welcome after so much time spent with the four other members of his DEA team, he realized that he’d been missing something. Suddenly, the night seemed to loom before him, empty and lonely. He didn’t want Jenny to go, yet how to keep her with him? She’d made it plain that she wanted only a business relationship, after all.
More than anything, he wanted to show her the fine old Victorian house they’d wanted to buy together and which he now owned alone. Though it could never again be the way they’d once planned it, he was proud of the work he’d done on the place, knowing the loving care he’d lavished showed in the detailed woodwork. He wanted Jenny to be the first to see it when it was finished. He wanted Jenny to have input on the restoration process, to help choose the colors, the wallpaper, the furniture. He wanted Jenny to help him hammer, to help him paint, to laugh and splatter paint on his shirt and. ...
He wanted Jenny.
Stunned, Jake faced the truth. In two years he hadn’t been able to bury his feelings. Two years of living with filth and scum and pretending to be one of them in order to make the arrest had changed him, true. The illness had changed him even more.
But during those two years he’d never been able to forget about her, not entirely. That had been why he’d come back to Ater, after all. Knowing that he couldn’t have her, had no right to have her, didn’t make it any easier.
If in two years he hadn’t been able to change his feelings, why had he thought they would change now, with her so close?
Still, he would have to settle for being friends. He had no right to want anything more.
The car coasted to a stop. Jenny put it in park and turned to look at him, leaving the engine running.
Jake blinked. Malvoran House. Throat tight, he thought desperately of a way to get her to stay.
“Good-bye, Jake,” she said.
Her low-pitched voice sounded incredibly sensual, something that he’d always told her drove him wild. No doubt she tried to stifle even that now, in her new lifestyle.
Jake didn’t budge. “You hate me, don’t you?” He hadn’t meant to say that, but it had been what came out when he opened his mouth. Now, having said it, he felt glad. They needed to clear the air between them, and getting her to admit her hostility would be a giant first step towards them becoming Mends.
Her gaze faltered. “Hate is a pretty strong word,” she said quietly.
When he didn’t respond, she swallowed. She seemed to be searching for a better response, any response other than the truth.
“Come on, Jen. Admit it You hate me.”
With an odd little grimace, she winced. Her lovely eyes smoldered, reminding him of the way they had looked when he kissed her, when they made love. He waited for her to erupt in anger, waited with an anticipation that was nearly sexual in its intensity.
Instead, she shook her head and fiddled with the radio station. “I don’t hate you, Jake.”
“Then what—”
Her chin came up, caramel eyes flashing.
For an instant he thought he’d succeeded in doing it, in bringing back the vibrant, passionate Jenny that he’d loved.
“I don’t feel anything for you.” Her tone was dry. “We are business associates, nothing more.”
For some perverse reason he felt compelled to argue. “You can say that after all we had between us?”
Again he believed she’d flare up in anger. The old Jenny certainly would have. Instead, she shot him a disdainful look, worthy of a queen.
“What happened between us was in the past and I would prefer to keep it there.”
His heart ached. He knew how she felt, however. Up until a half hour ago, he had been lying to himself too.
He had to remind himself, forcibly, that he had nothing to give her, no reason for this blatant attempt to win her back.
Still, even knowing this, accepting this, his blood thrummed with anticipation. His body throbbed, wanting her, and he did his best to ignore it.
She must have taken his silence for derision. Her lush mouth pursed, she looked from him to Malvoran House, then back again. “You don’t believe me, do you?” Defiance flashed across her mobile features.
Jake couldn’t answer. How could he, when his throat was choked with emotion and desire?
“Fine.” With a quick, jerky movement, Jenny turned her key and yanked it from the ignition. “I’ll prove it to you. Show me your precious Malvoran House. Come on, I want to go inside.”
Though he could scarcely believe his luck, Jake was taking no chances. He got out of the car in a flash, careful not to touch her or even look at her.
The old iron gate creaked as he opened it, reminding him he needed to oil and repaint it She slipped past him, a slender angel in high heels and navy silk. Her fragrance—something temptingly sexy—teased him as she went past.
Following the gentle sway of her hips, he wondered if she knew how alluring she looked. Unable to compliment her, he doubted it Jenny had never been vain and, unless he or someone else pointed it out to her, never thought of herself as beautiful. Howard certainly hadn’t said anything; Jake doubted Howard had even noticed.
She stood aside, waiting for him to unlock the front door. A huge oak door with an oval, leaded glass insert, the previous owners had installed it during their brief tenure. It was one of the few things they’d done of which Jake approved.
Most of the downstairs, which would be the public area, had been completed. All that it needed was some final detail work and furnishing. He planned to spend a week or two browsing the local flea markets and antique stores for the period furnishings he needed.
The old house was looking good and Jake knew it He was proud of the parquet floor he’d installed in the foyer and he stood back to let her see it
She stopped, stood still and stared. With a muffle
d cry, she knelt to touch the highly polished wood. “It’s beautiful, Jake.” Her voice was soft “Exactly what I would have done here.”
He knew. That was why he had done it. He wondered if she remembered that they’d walked through this house, discussing it room by room, deciding what they would do here, and there, and in that room. Of course a lot of their ideas had been intended for a family home and wouldn’t work in a restaurant, but Jake hadn’t forgotten. Not for a moment. He’d incorporated as many of their ideas as he could.
Taking her hand, he led her through the downstairs. Unresisting, she let him, not even bothering to try and hide her avid interest. She’d always loved this house, he knew. Loved it enough to want to buy it to raise their family in. A family which they’d never have, not now.
To make the large dining area, it had been necessary to knock out some walls and set up support beams. The damask draperies were on order, as were the tables and chairs, but the room had been painted in a soft rose color with the molding done in a muted cream.
Jenny said nothing as she toured the large room. Jake felt as nervous as a schoolboy, waiting for her approval. Finally she nodded, gently pulling her hand from his and taking several steps away.
“I like it.”
He tried to tamp down his elation, knowing if he kept busy, kept moving, it would be easier to hide. Pushing apart the swinging doors, he went into the kitchen.
Because it was necessary, the kitchen had been totally modernized. This was the one room that had been completely finished. There were gleaming stainless steel ovens, four in all, and stainless steel counters and sinks. A huge industrial dishwasher took up half of one wall.
It was a functional space, made for a busy restaurant.
Jenny walked around, saying nothing, and then trailing her fingers across the surface of a shiny piece of equipment.
Outside he could hear the crickets, even the occasional buzz of locusts. He knew the moon was full tonight and that the stars would be winking from the cloudless night sky. Maybe it wasn’t wise, maybe he would regret it later, but it was time to show her the patio.
Again Jake took her hand. She tensed then, after a startled look at him, relaxed. He didn’t speak— there were no words that seemed right.
Want You Back Page 5
