Wild side? Was she really as passionate as her mom? Did she have a wild side? Or had it all been about her trying to please Jared?
No, that wasn’t right. He hadn’t coerced her. She’d been a more than willing participant. “I don’t think it matters much anymore. I think…I think I probably won’t be seeing Jared again. At least not in a personal way. I don’t think he’ll back out of our business arrangement. He’s not like that. And it’s an amazing opportunity for me to work on the spa. But I’m afraid if we continue to have a sexual relationship while we work together, it’s going to be messy when it ends. At least for me.”
And despite all her protestations that she wasn’t looking for a relationship, that she didn’t want a guy in her life, that what she and Jared had shared was lust and a business relationship, she finally realized she’d been lying to herself.
“Jared, honey, why don’t you go home and get some rest? I’m pretty sure you didn’t sleep at all last night and I’m in no danger of expiring at this moment.”
Standing by the window in his mother’s bedroom, Jared turned to find her staring at him with a faint smile on her pale face.
He reached for a smile and found one hard to dredge up. He’d been running on adrenaline since last night and was starting to crash.
“I’ll go in a little while. You’ll start to complain of the stench soon anyway.”
His mom actually laughed at that. “You would never stink, dear. Besides, I lived with you as a teenager, remember?” Then she sighed. “I really did a number on you, didn’t I?”
He frowned as he walked back to the bed, checking her eyes to make sure they were clear and not glassy. He knew the doctor had said she hadn’t had a manic episode last night. That she’d had a reaction to the new drugs she’d just started taking. A new regimen Jared had known nothing about. That had been something of a shock.
Even more of a shock was that his father had known. He’d been going to the doctor with her, had known what symptoms to look for to know if she was having an episode or a reaction to the meds.
Still, for so many years Jared had been assessing her condition and her mood, it was now second nature.
“What are you talking about?”
She shook her head, her lips twisted in a slight grimace. “You lived your childhood wondering what mommy was going to show up that day. The manic or the depressive. Not a good way to raise a child, is it?”
“Hey, Mom—”
“We never talked about it back then, your father and I. My parents never suspected anything was wrong. I was merely high strung. And the worst of the episodes only started after we married.”
Yeah, because his father was a lying sack of—
“And you can stop with that line of thinking right now, Jared.” Her voice held a note of command he didn’t hear from her often. “No, your father is not perfect but what you never knew was that I told him flat out to take a mistress. That I no longer wanted a sexual relationship with him.”
Whoa. His head snapped back in shock. “Mom—”
“No, let me finish, Jared.” She took a deep breath, then continued. “We had two sons who meant more to me than anything in the world. And everyone knows your father and I didn’t marry for love. We united two fortunes. But your father got more than he bargained for with me. Honey, you and your brother were the lights of my life but your dad…Your dad took the brunt of my depression. And it wasn’t pretty.”
She stopped to shake her head, her smile becoming bittersweet. “I don’t blame him for seeking comfort elsewhere. But you do your dad a disservice by treating him like the bad guy. He could’ve divorced me years ago. Hell, he should have. But—”
“When you love someone, it’s not that easy to let go.”
Jared turned at the sound of his father’s voice. Glen leaned against the doorjamb, dressed in faded jeans and an old Temple sweatshirt. The man looked damn good for fifty-eight. Jared knew he still worked out and swam to keep in shape.
When Glen started toward the bed, Jared noticed the smile he wore for his wife. Jared barely recognized it because he hadn’t seen it for years.
Or maybe he just hadn’t been looking.
“You really should get some rest.” Glen bent down to kiss Helena on the lips, a rare display of open affection. Another shocker. He could probably count on his fingers the number of times he’d seen his parents kiss like that. “The doctor said you’d have no lasting effects but you need to rest. Jared can visit tomorrow.”
“Only if Jared wants to visit.” Helena’s gaze came back to him. “I’m fine, honey, really. You don’t need to hover. No one,” she said, looking at Glen, “needs to hover.”
His father just patted her hand and smiled.
And Jared realized maybe she was right. “Actually, I need to be out of town tomorrow. There’s someone I need to see.”
“A female someone?” Helena lifted of her eyebrows. “Maybe a certain pretty redhead?”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, though I’m not sure she’s going to want to see me. I may have been a little…brusque with her.”
More like rude, cold. An idiot.
“Oh, you might be surprised at what a woman will do for a man she wants,” Helena said. “Just be prepared to grovel a little.”
“Yes, groveling goes a long way,” Glen agreed, his gaze steady on Jared’s. “So does just being there.”
The conversation had turned surreal. His father was giving him relationship advice…that sounded almost reasonable.
Yeah, he was so not ready to deal with his dad and their issues. Not yet. Maybe soon…
But first, he needed to brush up on his groveling.
Seventeen
The doorbell was a torture device from hell, Annabelle decided around ten Monday morning.
Its only purpose in life was to make her head feel like she’d pounded it against the wall for a few hours last night. Of course, the only thing she’d been pounding had been whiskey sours.
Luckily for whoever was laying on her bell, she’d just taken a shower and was feeling slightly more human than when she’d rolled out of bed an hour ago. And the three acetaminophen she’d taken had brought her hangover down from traumatic to merely mind-splitting.
As she stumbled to the door, she really, really, really hoped it wasn’t someone she had to be pleasant to. In fact, she almost wished it was Gary. She would love to be able to just slam the door in his face.
She didn’t think she could manage pleasant. Upright was about as good as it got.
What she definitely couldn’t handle was the man standing on her doorstep, holding two cups of fragrant, steaming coffee.
Jared Golden looked good enough to eat. She swore she could actually taste him on her tongue.
Damn, who would have thought her libido would still work this morning?
She couldn’t stop her eyes from eating him up, from the top of his golden-brown head to his luscious lips to the broad shoulders she’d clung to not so very long ago in the throes of passion.
Her mouth dried and her lungs caught on a hitch. Okay, that was not a good thing to think about now.
She had to stop herself from grabbing for the coffee. She knew a bribe when she smelled one. She should just say “Thank you very much” and close the door in his face. Gently. Definitely no slamming.
Instead, here she stood, staring at him like a fool, wondering if he’d drop the coffee if she threw herself at him. Probably not. He was that good.
And even though she was still smarting from Saturday night’s treatment, she wanted to throw herself at him.