“I doubt that I’ll ever need that information. Maybe I will, someday, but I…” He shook his head. “With the hours I put in with this job I wouldn’t even be in a position to blow it by saying that because I’d probably not be there the majority of the time.”
“It would depend on how badly you wanted a wife and family, I guess,” Jennifer said, hardly above a whisper. “Whether or not you loved someone enough to make changes, learn to delegate some of the workload and… If the president of the United States can find time for his wife and children, then…I’m sorry. I’m overstepping. This is none of my business.”
“Isn’t it?” Evan said, still pinning her in place with his intense gaze. “Aren’t you as focused on your career as I am on mine?”
“Yes, at the moment I am.”
But things were going to be different once their baby was born, she thought. She had no intention of traveling all the time, or dragging in so exhausted late at night that she fell across her bed fully clothed and went to sleep. She’d find the proper balance between her role of mother and career woman. And wife? No, she wouldn’t be a wife. Without even realizing he was doing it, Evan was making that fact crystal clear.
“What do you mean ‘at the moment’?” Evan said, pulling Jennifer from her thoughts.
“Nothing,” she said, averting her eyes from his. “Could we leave? I don’t like being in this place.”
Evan glanced around. “Yes, I’m finished here without having accomplished a damn thing to help my case.”
“You mustn’t give up, Evan.”
“I don’t intend to. When I want something, sweet Jenny, I fight for it until the last bell rings. I don’t admit defeat until it’s popping me in the chops. When I really want something I hang in very tough to get it.”
Well said, Jennifer thought, as they started across the room. If only Evan wanted to discover with that intensity what they might have together. If only he would be thrilled beyond measure when told she was carrying his baby. Pipe dreams, Jennifer. That’s all that those are.
Chapter 3
L ate that afternoon Evan sat in the leather chair behind the desk in his office and stared into space. For the umpteenth time since being in Franklin ’s penthouse the question he had asked Jennifer and the answer she had given echoed in his mind.
If a woman who appeared to be totally dedicated to her career implied that that was the status of her life now, at the moment, didn’t that mean she might very well have a different focus planned for the future somewhere in her “it’s a woman thing” mind?
Like…perhaps…maybe…Jennifer might, just might, wish to fall in love, marry, have a family? It made sense to him that that was what she had meant. And every time he centered on that thought, he was suffused with a strange and foreign warmth that started somewhere in the vicinity of his heart then traveled throughout him.
Evan shook his head in self-disgust.
He was really going off the deep end. He was rewriting the future script of Jennifer’s life based on a statement she had made, then refused to elaborate on. For all he knew, she was saying she was tired of working so hard, planned to have more leisure time for herself between assignments to relax, party, date a multitude of men.
A cold knot tightened in Evan’s stomach at the mental image he was painting of Jennifer dancing at a nightclub with a faceless man who was the recipient of Jennifer’s sunshine smile. A man who would take her home, be invited in for coffee, then…
“If he touches her I’ll…” Evan said, lunging to his feet, then glanced quickly at the door to be certain it was tightly closed.
He sank back onto his chair and sighed. It was a sigh that came from the very depths of his soul and took his heart along for the ride. It was a sigh of defeat, of having nowhere to hide from the truth.
He was slowly but surely falling in love with Jennifer Anderson.
And it was, without a doubt, the dumbest thing he had ever done in his entire life.
He didn’t have time to be in love, to be half of a whole, to do his part to nurture a relationship that would hopefully lead to marriage and babies. And there was no hint from her that she was in love with him, would consider making room in her life for a husband and children.
Yeah, sure, she cared for him, was attracted to him, responded to his kisses with no hesitation, and when they made love? Oh, man, when they made love…
“Don’t go there, Stone,” he said, as heat rocketed through his body.
He leaned his head on the top of the chair and closed his eyes.
What a mess, he thought. He was falling in love for the first time in his life and was losing his heart to a woman who was as dedicated to her career as he was to his. A woman who might very well take off for parts unknown to film her next documentary when she was finished with this one without a backward glance. A woman who cared for him, but wasn’t in love with him, and who would have no problem walking out of his life and dismissing him from her mind.
While she was dismissing him, he would be missing her. Aching for her. Scrambling around to find the pieces of his shattered heart so he could hopefully glue it back together.
Damn it, why couldn’t she be falling in love with him, just as he was with her?
“Oh, that’s good,” he muttered, not opening his eyes. “So mature. Make it all her fault that you’re a miserable wreck, Stone.”
Now that he thought about it, why would Jennifer fall in love with him? He’d made it clear to her that he had no room in his existence for a serious relationship. Someday, maybe, sure he might want a wife and kids, but now? Hey, he was the district attorney, worked twenty-four seven, which was exactly the way he liked it. He hadn’t exactly presented himself as the catch of the year.
But he didn’t have to put in the long, long hours he did to excel at this job. He had a top-notch staff of assistant district attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, research people, investigators. He could delegate so much of what he did on his own and not diminish one iota his dedication and purpose.
He could do that, would do that, if Jennifer actually loved him.
And that, he thought gloomily, was a pipe dream.
A knock at the door caused Evan to jerk upward in his chair.
“What!” he yelled.
The door was opened and Jennifer poked her head around the edge.
“Is it safe to come in? Or should I just throw you some raw meat? Belinda isn’t at her desk, but she told Sticks earlier that you wanted to see me.”
“Sorry I barked at you,” Evan said, getting to his feet. “Yes, I do want to see you.”
And hold you, Evan thought, and kiss you senseless, and make love to you for hours. There, walking toward him right now, was the only woman he had ever inched toward falling in love with. She was coming closer and closer, but she might as well be on the opposite side of the world for all the good her close proximity would do him. Ah, Jenny.
Jennifer sat down in one of the chairs opposite Evan’s desk. He remained standing, looking at her intently.
“Do I have a ladybug on my nose?” she said. “Why are you staring and glaring at me?”
Evan sank onto his chair. “Sorry. My mind was off and running somewhere.”
“You wanted to see me?” Jennifer prompted.
“I did?” Evan said, frowning. “Oh. Yes. I did. I do. And here you are. Good.”
“Evan, for Pete’s sake, what’s wrong?” she said, matching his frown. “You’re acting very strangely.”
“Tired. I’m very, very tired, that’s all.” Evan cleared his throat. “Okay, here’s the deal. We’re running out of time as far as lightning striking, or some such thing, and producing some solid evidence against Lyle.
“To be more precise, we need the damnable ring he claims he lost and a way to prove he was wearing it when Franklin was murdered. That ring isn’t suddenly going to drop into our laps so I’m going to have to go to trial next week with what I have.”