He walked to the door and shook his head. “I don’t make mistakes like this.”
“Well, welcome to the human race,” Lil said and slammed the door.
Chapter Six
Jake rode down in the elevator, chastising himself as he went. He was not an impulsive man. Life was a game best played like chess-each move only undertaken after all the possible outcomes had been considered.
Something inexplicable happened to that belief when he came within a certain proximity to one outspoken, fiery brunette . Half the time he wasn’t sure if he was insulted, irritated, turned-on or some bizarre combination of all three.
Now he was in the unique position of being thoroughly confused.
It wasn’t until he stepped onto the curb that he remembered he had driven Lil’s car. Instinctively, he dialed the number of someone who was technically Dominic’s personal assistant, but had become so much more than that to both of them over the years. He had yet to find a crisis Mrs. Duhamel didn’t take in stride.
“Marie, I’m at Lil Dartley’s place. I need a…”
The older woman interrupted his request. “She moved in?”
“Yes, she and Colby are settling in, but since we drove her car here this morning…”
“How did she take it? Was she upset?”
“She was…” Fantastic! That’s the problem.
Oh, hell, what was he supposed to say to the woman who was closer to being a mother figure to him than his own mother ever had been? “She was angry at first. Then…” He didn’t mean for it to happen, but his frustration spilled forth. “It’s ridiculous for me to even be here. This isn’t my problem; it’s Dominic’s. His family, his issue. Have my helicopter readied and at my Cambridge office building. I’ll be flying back in about an hour. I’ll also need a car to pick me up. I left mine at Lil’s house.”
“You didn’t line up transportation back? That’s not like you,” Marie asked with surprise.
Jake turned his back so his comment wouldn’t be heard by the valet who was hovering and snapped, “I can’t make a mistake? Will the world end if I slip up even once?”
“What’s really bothering you, Jake?”
With a sigh, Jake said tiredly, “Nothing. Just send a car.”
“Is it Lil? Did you two have a fight? Maybe you should stay and try to work it out instead of coming back to New York.”
Calling Marie had been a mistake. He wasn’t ready to discuss the jumble of emotions coursing through him. “I didn’t call you for a lecture.”
Her tone softened and had she been there she probably would have offered him something to eat. When either he or Dominic got particularly abrupt with her, she often tried to soothe their mood with food. Sometimes it worked. Lacking that option, she was employing the supportive, maternal voice – her other secret weapon. “You didn’t call me for a car, either. You have the Boston car service on speed dial. You and Dominic are so much alike…”
Jake made a sound in his throat, “I cannot imagine two people more different than Dom and I.”
Marie laughed softly and said, “Really? Do you know that he called me the night he met Abby?”
“This is an entirely different situation.”
“Jake, it’s me, Marie. I know you well enough to know when you have something you want to tell me.”
Jake loosened his tie and took off his jacket. The mid-day sun was baking him in his dark suit and was the reason for his foul mood – the only reason he was willing to acknowledge. “Coming here was a bad idea, Marie. Just a bad idea.”
“Oh, my God. You slept with her.”
He didn’t say a word.
“Jake! Well, there is no way you are coming home tonight. What were you thinking?” she asked. He imagined the disappointment in her eyes and scowled.
I wasn’t.
Jake didn’t have to answer. Marie continued on. “You turn yourself around, Jake, and you go back in there and make sure that girl is okay.”
He felt about five years old when she used that tone with him. “I can’t do that.”
“You can and you will.” Steel entered the older woman’s voice. “I don’t care what happened between the two of you today; she’s a single mother. You were supposed to make sure she was settled in. Did you check to see if the groceries had arrived? Do you know if she needs anything?”
“No,” he admitted and felt more like a heel with each word Marie threw at him. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Why did I call you again?”
Her tone softened. “Because you knew you were wrong, but you needed someone to say it.”
He half laughed in self-depreciation. “She’s going to think I’m crazy when I knock on the door now.”
“Do you remember that time Dominic sent you into the Republic of Dabron to talk them into honoring their contract even as their government was under attack by rebel leaders? I asked you if you were afraid-”
This was not the time to reminisce. “I don’t see what that has to do with this situation.”
Marie corrected him gently. “You said, ‘Fear is the first guest you should un-invite to any party.’”
“I’m not-” he stopped mid-denial.
Damn.
He could handle rebel leaders. He could talk his way around irate dictators. For the right incentive, he could even negotiate a lucrative truce between two governments that were out to destroy each other. There was something invigorating about bringing order and calm to where there had been none.
Lil was different.
She scared him because around her he was the chaos.
“Dominic sent me to make sure she was safe, Marie.”
Fine job I did of that.
With a wry tone of humor, Marie responded, “Painful as the revelation is, Jake, you’re not perfect. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t fix this situation, though. Lil just had a new life dumped on her. Imagine how lost she must feel.”
“I already feel badly about how I behaved.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
What can I do?
Before the question was even completed in his mind, an idea came to him.
He hung up, turned around and headed back into the building.
He knew exactly how to make this right.
Chapter Seven
Lil heard the knock on the door and wondered if such a place had room service. Maybe some of her things had arrived? She secured her jacket over her now button-free shirt. A quick look in the hallway mirror confirmed her fear that her hair was tumbling down out of its bun and her face was still flushed from sex.
Well, not too much I can do about either.
She opened the door and almost slammed it shut. It was Jake, jacket flung over one shoulder, looking a bit more disheveled than she remembered from just a short while ago.
“May I come in?” he asked politely as if they hadn’t recently engaged in wild, animalistic table sex.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she said, holding the door firmly in one hand to block his entry.
“We need to talk,” he said bluntly.
Au contraire.
“I think we said everything that needed to be said.” She went to close the door, but he moved one foot forward and blocked it from fully closing.
“I didn’t.”
“Don’t make this ugly, Jake.”
He gave her that bland look that she was learning meant that regardless of what she said he was going to wait out the situation and then do as he pleased.
With a sigh of resignation, she swung the door open. How much worse could today get? “Oh, come on in.”
Barefoot, she led the way to the living room and sat on one of the oversized chairs; he sat on the couch across from her. The silence was heavy and prolonged.