“I guess I should be relieved. Now what should I get for her?”
Meghan considered. “I have no idea. I got her a gift card for Barnes and Noble. She was fascinated by the concept. I sometimes forget she lived on a desert island.”
“It wasn’t exactly a desert.” We walked into a jewelry store.
“Um, she’s an October baby, so you should get her opals if you’re going to get her jewelry. She’ll be impressed you knew that.”
“Or suspect I had help.” I raised an eyebrow at my sister. “So does this mean that you like her?”
“I love your little pregnant princess,” she conceded, frowning as she considered the items on the counter. “She’s something else. I find myself wanting to hang out with her just to hear the absurdities that pop out of her mouth. I was telling Crystal about it the other day, and she can’t wait to meet her.”
“Is Crys coming home sometime soon? I haven’t talked to her in over a month.”
Meghan shook her head. “I think she’s having some torrid affair with her dissertation advisor over there. I’m the only one of us who doesn’t feel the need to be constantly embroiled in a scandal.”
“You need to be more adventurous.”
She grimaced. “Not like that. Sometimes I feel like I’m not even related to you two.”
“If it wasn’t for the fact that you and Crystal are mirror images, I’d agree with you,” I told her.
She ignored me. “About Anabel, though . . . well. Just don’t break her heart again, Jared. I’m pretty sure this was strike two.” Then she opened her mouth as if to say something, and then closed it again.
“What? Meg-a-han, tell me what you’re thinking.” I poked at her arm.
“Don’t call me Meg-a-han, I hate that.” She turned away. “It just keeps coming back to this for me: how has she forgiven you? If I were her, I would’ve slapped you with a restraining order so fast your head would’ve spun. But from what I understand, she tried to protect you from Sam? And now she has all these convictions about having this baby and having you in its life? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
I shrugged and shook my head. This was something that bothered me too. “Maybe it’s because she’s a better person than the both of us?”
“I’ll say,” she grunted, pausing to look at some bracelets. “That one. You should get that one for her.”
I glanced at the price tag. “You have expensive taste, sis.”
“Is she not worth it?” Meghan challenged.
“She’s worth it,” I responded. “I just doubt she thinks that I am.”
When Meghan didn’t say anything, I tried to cover. “Thanks for your unwavering support.”
“Jared, it doesn’t really matter what I think, it just matters what she thinks. And right now she thinks that you don’t have your priorities in line when it comes to her. Especially after you went out with Carly Waterstreet last night. And let me just say that when I found that out, I wanted to beat you. She’s disgusting.”
“She’s a very well-respected businesswoman,” I snapped back.
“Why are you even bothering with her? That woman only wants you for one thing, as much as that grosses me out to say.” My sister shuddered. “Now that you don’t have the political connections anymore, how often has she called you? Except when she wanted—well. You know.”
Meghan had a point. I looked away from her.
“Now don’t get me wrong,” she said, “I love you, and I know Anabel loves you, because she’s said as much.”
“Has she come out and said it?” I asked.
“Well, no,” she admitted, looking uncomfortable. “But if she didn’t want to at least give you a chance, she would have told you so, right?”
“Well, I would hardly expect her to spare my feelings.” I nodded at the guy behind the counter. “I’ll take that one.”
“Good call,” Meghan approved. “Next time we can look at rings.”
“I’ve asked her twice, she’s avoided it each time.”
“Yeah, about that. Jared, let me ask you a question. Have you asked her in person, or just over the phone?”
I frowned at her. “On the phone, and I’m guessing she told you.”
“Okay. You need to consider who you’re dealing with. This is a girl who has read all of those romantic sappy claptrap books. Do you honestly think going, ‘hey, we should get married’ will work with that one?”
She did have a point. “Well, what do you think I should do?”
“Give her some time to get her head together, she’s a cosmic mess. And then ask her the right way. Barring her falling in love with someone else, I think you’ll be fine.” Meghan smiled.
“What about Matt?”
“I think he’s too professional to go after her. Besides, she is having your baby. After what happened to Natasha, he probably doesn’t want anything connected to you.”
“How do you think she feels about him?” I didn’t want to hear the answer, but I knew I needed to.
Meghan pursed her lips. “It’s hard to say. Anabel seems to love everyone she comes in contact with. I think she definitely respects Matt. But she hasn’t confided any romantic attachments to me.”
“What did she say when he told her?”
“What do you mean?”
“Meghan, I’m sure he’s told her by now.”
Meghan looked guarded. “Here’s the thing. He may have told her, but I don’t think Anabel’s connected the dots yet. I don’t think she’s figured out that Matt’s sister and Natasha from the night you . . . well anyway, I don’t think she’s associated the two yet.”
“Wonderful. So there’s still a chance that when she figures it out, she’ll never talk to me again.”
The look on Meghan’s face wasn’t comforting.
Chapter 32—Anabel
“I don’t like this at all,” came Matt’s voice from my doorway.
“I know you don’t,” I muttered, pulling on my boots. They were a gift from Alexis and Sam, and had come at a very opportune moment. It was sixty degrees outside, and to me, that was really stinking cold. “I told him I’d give him a shot, that’s what I’m going to do.”
“He forgot your birthday,” Matt stressed.
“Look, we’re going out to dinner, it’s not like I’m going to sleep with him.” I zipped up my boot and smiled at him from my bed.
Something flashed across Matt’s face then, something that looked an awful lot like relief. He nodded. “I still wish you would let me come with you.”
“It’s not much of a date if I bring another guy along with me.”
“I’m not just some guy. I’m your bodyguard.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Sam,” I grinned at him.
“That’s not why, Anabel.”
I turned to him then, and it dawned on me that Matt was worried about me. “Oh, Matt,” I said, walking over to him and putting my arms around him, “it’s okay. If he tries anything with me, I’ll just call you and have you come beat the tar out of him. I know that’s what you really want to do,” I said in his ear.
“You have no idea what I really want to do,” he muttered.
I pulled back, grinning. “I won’t be gone too long. I’m sure we’ll run out of things to talk about at a point, and then I’ll come home to you.”
He cocked his head, and I turned away again, confused. I hadn’t forgotten about wanting to kiss him the other night, and the thought flitted through my head again. Bad Anabel, I scolded myself. Keep it together. You’re about to go on a date with another man—you know, the one whose baby you’re having? Still, the knowledge that I was coming home to Matt was calming.
There was a moment of supreme awkwardness. We stood there, and it seemed that neither of us knew what to do or say. But Matt seemed to get it together when the doorbell rang. “Alright,” he said. “I’m going to have a word with him.”
I started to laugh. “Oh good, and then challenge him to a duel to defend my h
onor? You’re being silly.”
He ignored me and walked out of the room. Sighing, I took a deep breath.
So this was it. Jared and Anabel: Part II.
Or Part III, if you counted the whole hearings fiasco.
Would it work this time?
I gave myself one final look in the mirror, and then I walked downstairs in time to hear Matt say, “If she’s not home by eleven, I’m coming after you.”
“That’s cute, Matt, but if she wants to stay over, it’ll be her doing, not mine.”
I cleared my throat. “Jared, knock it off. I’ll be home before eleven, Matt.” I smiled at him and breezed through the front door.
Somehow, I wasn’t surprised to see that Jared drove a Corvette. He opened the door for me, and I gingerly lowered myself in. As he got into the car, I shot him a sideways glance. As annoyed at him as I had been, I had to admit, he looked good. Really good.
“Before you say anything,” he began, “Meghan pointed out that I am going to need a new car.”
“Why?”
He gestured. “No room for the baby.”
“Good call. Seeing as how you’re the only one of us who can drive at the moment, it would probably be a good idea to get something that at least has a backseat.”
He grinned at the road. “Yeah. Wait, you can’t drive?”
I shook my head.
“We’ll have to fix that. And then get you a Mom car,” he suggested.
“Not funny. I’m not driving a minivan.” I leaned against the cool window.
“Minivans are hot,” he teased.
I bit back a laugh.
We drove in silence, me staring at the floor, him looking at me out of the corner of his eye until he finally spoke.
“Do you remember that dress?”
I feigned innocence. “What dress?”
“You know what dress. The white one.”
“Oh yes, the one that began my debauchery with you.”
He ignored that. “You looked great in that dress.”
“Yeah?” I smiled a little.
“Oh yeah.” Then he chuckled. “I was so mad at you that day.”
“Well I can’t really say I blame you,” I replied, embarrassed. “I’m ashamed of my behavior.”
He shot me a glance. “You certainly made an impression.”
“Yes, I’ve gotten very good at doing that.” I looked out the window. “Are we there yet? I’m starving.”
“Yeah, we’re almost there.”
“Where are we, anyway? I thought we were going into the District.” I leaned forward and looked at the unfamiliar terrain.
“No, this is Arlington. Bailey’s Crossroads, actually. I figured you might want to go somewhere quiet.”
I sent him an appraising glance. “That’s very thoughtful of you, Jared.”
He didn’t say anything, and we turned into a parking lot. It looked a bit seedy. I bit my lower lip. “Um, you didn’t bring me here to murder me, did you?”
He laughed. “I know how it looks, but this place has the best Middle Eastern food in town.”
I looked at him dubiously. “Okay, whatever you say.” We got out of the car and walked toward the Jerusalem Café with trepidation. Or at least I did. Jared was as composed as ever.
It turned out he was right, the food was excellent, but it wasn’t long before we ran out of conversation topics. It was just so different than it had been when we were on Caereon together. I had been fascinated by Jared, but now that I knew who he was—and what he was—I was a bit turned off. Plus, his daughter, who was getting bigger and bigger by the day, was starting to feel like the only thing that was connecting us. What if I did decide to try and make it work with Jared? Was this how it was going to be? Were we going to have awkward nights like this all the time?
Plus, there was the unspoken matter at hand. Part of me didn’t want to bring it up. A larger part of me did. While I wrestled with how to ask it, my temper started to flare a bit. And then something very bad took hold of my brain, and possessed me to go down that road. “So,” I asked him, “do you want to tell me who that girl was?”
Jared looked startled. “What girl?”
“You know what girl.” I attempted to stifle my anger by taking another bite of my chicken schwarma.
“Oh, that girl,” he smiled at me, trying to be charming. “She was just a girl.”
“Jared, I wasn’t born yesterday.”
He looked at me, and there was sincerity in his eyes. “Anabel, your brother is no longer my best friend. While I understand that, it makes it hard because I used to talk to him about everything, personal and professional. So now, I’ve had to turn to my friend Carly for confidences.”
“Did you turn to her for anything else?” The tone of my voice was harsh, and I could see Jared’s temper rise.
“No, your phone call interrupted that.”
That stung. “I’m ever so sorry I ruined your sexual conquest.”
“That’s right, baby, a few more minutes and I would’ve sealed that deal.” He was mad, probably as much as I was, but I swallowed hard and continued to provoke him.
“But you didn’t answer when I called. You only did when Meghan called.” That recollection only caused me to get angrier. “So what you’re telling me is that if we hadn’t gotten ahold of you, you would have . . . I mean, you and this Carly . . .”
“Be fair, we go back a ways,” he admonished me.
“Have you slept with her before?”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a simple question,” I stated, low and dangerous. “Have you slept with her before?”
He stared down at his food, and I started to cry.
Jared looked alarmed. “Anabel, it’s not like that. I just needed some company, and she was there for me.”
“I bet she was,” I sniffled.
He groaned. “Don’t ruin this. Why are you acting like this, baby? We were having a great time.”
“So let’s say,” I managed through my tears, “that you get mad at me one night, and you go to this . . . woman . . . for comfort, and get it in both senses of the word?”
“Don’t be crass, Anabel.”
“You can’t deny it’s a possibility.” I looked down. This was hurting. It was hurting a lot.
“Look, if I’m with you, I’m with you. Nobody else. Okay?”
“Would you stop being friends with her?”
“Now you’re being unreasonable.”
“No,” I defended myself. “I don’t think I am. If I asked you to stop being friends with her, for the sake of our tenuous relationship, would you do that for me, Jared?”
“Only if you got rid of Matt.” It was like he had thrown down the gauntlet, and I lost it.
“He’s my bodyguard! He’s protecting me! That’s completely different from what you were doing.”
“Look, I know this is all probably because of Natasha, but you need to get over it. Matt knows that wasn’t my fault.”
“What?” I stared at him, uncertain. “I don’t understand.”
Jared scoffed at me. “Don’t play dumb with me. I know Matt’s told you about his sister by now.”
“Natasha?” I asked, frowning. Then my eyes widened. “He called her Nat, I never made the connection.”
We sat for a moment, him staring at his plate, me lost in thought. He broke the silence with, “I never meant to hurt her, Anabel.”
A life lesson from one of my favorite childhood books flitted through my head, so I looked at him sadly and said, “Yes Jared, but people like you never mean, it’s what you do.”
“You’re unfair.”
“Why did you call me her name after you did what you did?” I asked, point blank.
“Don’t dance around it, babe. Say what you want to say,” he taunted me.
But I held it together. “Answer the question, Jared.”
“Look, I barely remember that night. Maybe I thought you were her, I don’t know.”
&n
bsp; “Maybe you thought I was her?” I gasped. “So what, you would’ve done that to her, too?”
“I need you to stop this,” he warned me. “I can’t handle much more of it.”
“Fine, let’s get back to you kicking your lover to the curb.”
“Do that with Matt, and we’ll call it even.” He crossed his arms.
But I was now done with him. “I don’t have a choice where Matt is concerned, you know that.”
“Well, you seem to feel threatened by Carly, so I think it’s fair that you give up something similar.”
“Oh, no,” I retorted. “Matt’s there for my safety, Jared. I’m so sorry if this offends your sensitive ego, but he’s there for a reason. Carly is only there for you to get some. So no. This conversation is done.”
And it was. I didn’t say a word to him while he paid the bill. When we got into the car I stared stonily ahead as he drove me back to my place. A couple times I turned my head and let the tears fall. When we arrived at my house, he tried to say something, but I jumped out of the car and ran to my front door and let myself in.
When I walked in, Matt was sitting on the couch, waiting for me. He took in my teary eyes and red face and immediately started for the door, but I stepped in front of him. “Move,” he barked.
“No,” I refused. “Let it alone. Everything’s fine, I’m just a bit emotional.”
He looked frustrated. “Anabel, I’m supposed to protect you.”
On impulse, I stood on my toes and kissed him on the cheek. “Matt,” I told him, “you are everything I need you to be.” Then I started up the stairs.
“Wait,” he called. I turned and gave him a tired smile. He started to follow me. “Do you mean that?”
“With all my heart,” I assured him, continuing up to my room. “Goodnight.”
But he caught my arm and I turned back toward him. “Anabel,” he said.
“Yes?”
He gave me a swift, searching look, and then came, “I need to double check your room.”
I smiled at him. “Alright.”
I grabbed my pajamas and went to my bathroom to change, and then when I came out Matt was standing next to my bed. “I figured you would have left,” I commented, sliding under my covers.
Anabel Unraveled Page 23
