“Where the hell have you been?” Jack asked. “And what the hell is going on between you and my sister?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely nothing,” Jonas said and Jack almost laughed at the look on his best friend’s face. If he didn’t know better, he’d think his friend was wishing differently.
* * * * *
Jacey pulled her phone out as soon as she reached her car. She sent Dee the first text.
Hey Dee! Have fun in Chicago with the G-man! Call me when you get a chance.
The second was to Mischa.
Something’s up. Lunch?
What had happened between Dee and Jack? What had she been thinking to set her friend up that way? What kind of friend was she? She leaned her head forward to rest on the steering wheel, wanting to beat against it instead. If Dee was hurt then Jacey was ultimately the one to blame. Jonas had told her to stop messing with other people’s lives and start fixing her own fucked-up life. She’d glared at him and told him to kiss her ass. What was wrong with him lately?
Her phone buzzed.
Café at 1?
C u there
, Jacey texted back.
Maybe she’d hear from Dee before then. Hopefully she would. It was going to be a long morning. With a sigh she started her car and pulled out, deciding to head to the gym where she worked even though it was her day off. She often told her clients that hard exercise was a great way to clear your mind. Maybe she should take her own advice for a change.
Chapter Five
Dee spent a crazy week in Chicago. Grun had met a new woman in Europe—a younger one—and he wanted her help with a younger wardrobe and all that. Of course, he did what he wanted anyways, buying whatever tripped his fancy. Which was exactly what she encouraged anyways. If the woman was interested in him, then she was interested in him, not some younger version of him. He’d sneaked in a couple of things here and there for Dee as well, claiming he’d forgotten her birthday.
They’d gone over his upcoming schedule, the where and when of events. He had several new requests for speaking engagements and she needed to update his press packet to include the newest book that would release in another month. She’d meant to call Jacey but by the time she was done in the evenings, she was exhausted. Grun had the energy of a roomful of preschoolers. She, on the other hand, didn’t.
Then, there was the fact that he’d fired two of his house staff for taking advantage of his mother’s kindness. And rightly so, as they’d tried to steal several items. They’d been caught red-handed by the “old, crazy bitch” of the house though. Grun was more furious at the vulgarity his mother had endured than the attempted theft. Honestly, Dee was as well. Needless to say, part of the week was spent with her interviewing possible new hires, though Grun would have the final word.
So when she got up Friday morning and started packing for her flight back home she finally remembered to give Jacey a call.
“Finally, I hear from you. I was worried that Grun had finally talked you into running away with him forever.”
Dee laughed. “Never. He’d kill me, or I’d kill him. Whichever. One of us wouldn’t survive a long-term arrangement.”
“So you back in town?”
“Nope, just packing to head home. Sorry I didn’t call sooner. It’s been a crazy week.”
“G-man kept you busy, huh?” Jacey’s laugh trickled over the line.
“Exhaustingly busy,” Dee agreed. “I should be home from the airport around four, four thirty.”
“Good then you can meet Mischa and me for a late dinner and drinks tonight and tell us about your glamorous week. Say around seven?”
Dee snorted. “If I can still move when I get home, I will. As long as I don’t fall down somewhere and go to sleep.” She laughed.
“We could do lunch tomorrow if you want instead,” Jacey suggested.
“Is everything okay?” Dee asked. “Nothing happened while I was gone, did it?”
“No.” Jacey laughed it off but Dee didn’t think it rang quite true. “You know how much we look forward to hearing about your week with him. And seeing what cool gifts he bought you this time.”
“A new pair of fabulous heels,” Dee said, looking down at her feet and admiring her newest pair. Everyone knew that heels were her weakness. Her alarm beeped on her phone, reminding her that she had two hours before her flight.
“I hear your alarm,” Jacey said with a laugh.
“I have to head to the airport now,” Dee said, putting her on speakerphone while she turned the alarm off. She left Jacey on speaker, tossing her phone on the bed while she finished stowing her stuff in her bag.
“Dee, darling, can you bring me a towel?” Grun’s called from the bathroom. Her shower had been leaking this morning and of course Grun was sure he could fix it. She’d already called a repair guy and he was set to arrive in another thirty minutes, by which time she would be safely at the airport and out of Grun’s yelling range.
“Just a sec, Jacey,” Dee said. “Grun’s in the shower.” She raced to grab a handful of towels to take to him.
Grun was soaked. His shirt plastered to his chest and water dripping down his face and off his hair. Dee couldn’t contain her giggles. He looked like a drowned bear.
“If you weren’t already so deliciously dressed, I’d pull you in hear and give you a good soaking as well,” Grun told her with a shake of his head.
She tossed the towels to him. “Maybe next time,” she said and ran back into the bedroom to pick her phone up. Hitting the button to take Jacey off speakerphone, she grabbed her luggage and headed out of the room. She was down to the wire if she was going to be gone before the repair guy showed up.
“Ummm, Dee, everything okay?” Jacey asked.
“Yep, just Grun trying to persuade me to stay,” Dee said with a laugh. “I’m heading out the door now.”
“Call or text when you get in,” Jacey said.
“Will do,” Dee promised and hung up. Grun’s driver was already at the door waiting for her.
“Repairman just got here, Ms. Dee,” he told her with a wicked grin.
“Crap! He’s early. We better hurry then,” she said and gladly gave her bag over to him. Both of them practically ran out the door to the car but she swore she heard Grun’s furious bellow when they hit the end of the driveway.
* * * * *
Jacey hung the phone up with a haunted look. She would not jump to conclusions but, oh my god! Grun had been in Dee’s shower? She’d told Dee that she needed to sleep around, have sex, but not with her boss! And certainly not after watching her brother mope around for a week, looking more miserable by the day. Was it possible that Jack had feelings for Dee? Like romantic feelings?
She glanced at the clock. She had an hour before she had to be at work. She really wanted to talk to Jonas but that was complicated lately with her brother staying with him. Plus Jonas was being really weird. Something was up with him and she’d have to pry it out of him soon. But she had to think about Dee first. Besides she already knew what Jonas would tell her, to keep her nosy nose out of things. But this was different. She couldn’t help but feel as if the current situation was her fault.
She’d set them up, Jack and Dee. She’d meant for them to laugh, joke and, yeah, maybe have a little medicinal sex to get Mike off Dee’s mind. Plus, she’d thought maybe a night with Jack would wash Dee’s crush away. Jacey knew her brother was a love-‘em-and-leave-‘em type of guy. But he was always kind. She hadn’t doubted that he’d make Dee feel special before he moved on. So what had changed that? Jack hadn’t gone out once during the week Dee was gone. Maybe she shouldn’t have lied and told him that she’d given Dee his number. But, hell, he wouldn’t back off. So she’d lied.
Shit, maybe Jonas was right. She
should
just keep her nosy nose out of things. Of course, she probably should have done that from the beginning. Her mind churning, her stomach doing the same, Jacey headed out of her apartment. She’d go for a ride before work, put the windows down and let the fresh air clear her head. And pray. She definitely needed to say a prayer.
* * * * *
Dee pulled into her driveway and heaved a sigh of relief. She loved the occasional trip but she always missed her house, her bed. She wanted a shower, and if she timed it right, a little nap before she needed to meet Jacey and Mischa for dinner. She had six missed calls from Grun and that many voice messages as well. She knew what they were about. First he would have fired her for calling the repairman. Then he would have told her never mind, her punishment was that she would have to keep working for him. Then he would tell her to call him back. By the sixth he’d be groveling and apologetic, wanting to make sure she’d gotten home safe and that everything was fine.
She’d just let him stew for a bit longer before calling him back. Or maybe she’d just text him. She really was tired. Sitting in her car, she stared at her front door, remembering standing there with Jack. It brought her last night home back to the forefront of her mind. She wondered what he was doing? How many women he’d gone out with during the week she’d been gone?
She’d done a good job of putting him out of her mind for long periods of time while she’d been in Chicago but her heart had jumped every time her phone rang or beeped with a text. Part of her had secretly hoped he’d wanted to get her number from Jacey and would call or text her. But apparently their night together hadn’t meant all that much to him.
She wiped a tear away with her knuckle and opened her door. No tears. She was a big girl. She’d had an amazing night with Jack and that was that. She’d have to learn to make that enough. No moping, no poor me-ing.
Popping the trunk, she grabbed her bags and then, slamming it shut, headed to her front door. She was thinking how she needed to mow, trim the hedges and cut back some of the branches on her big tree when someone stepped out from behind said tree. She screamed and dropped her bags.
It was Jack.
Clutching her chest, she glared at him. “Jesus, Jack! Give a girl a heart attack, why don’t you.”
“Sorry.”
“What the hell are you doing here? And how did you get here?” She sure as hell didn’t see his truck anywhere.
“Jonas let me use his bike,” Jack said and nodded to the Harley parked across the street. She hadn’t even noticed it.
He moved toward her and picked her bags up before she could.
“So how was Chicago?”
A week with no word? She would not lose her temper on her front lawn. She would be calm and cool and collected and not lose her temper with him at all. She continued to her front door and used her key to unlock and open it, holding it wide for him to enter behind her and place her bags down.
She turned, one hand still holding the door open, smiled and opened her mouth to tell him that it had been lovely, thank you. Then she got her first really good look at him.
“Are you okay, Jack?” He looked like hell. His eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles underneath as if he hadn’t been sleeping well. His hair was a little wild, but then he had ridden a motorcycle over.
Jack paced away from her, heading toward her front room. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see him by her couch again. Too many fresh memories there. But she shut the door, flipped the lock out of habit and followed him. He was staring at her couch when she entered and when he looked over at her, she blushed. Damn it. He didn’t deserve her blush.
“What do you want, Jack?” she blurted, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Why didn’t you call me, Dee? I was sure after the night we spent that you’d call me.”
She started to ask him how the hell she was going to call him when he hadn’t bothered to give her his number but her temper snapped. He hadn’t given her anything but great sex. “I assumed when I woke up alone that was your way of saying goodbye. I didn’t see a note anywhere. Did I miss it?”
He shook his head and she swore he looked guilty. But that couldn’t be right. Not Jack. She spread her hands wide. “Then there you go. No harm, no foul. Just a night of great sex and we both move on.”
“Stop.” His voice was gruff. “Don’t pretend that I didn’t hurt you. Is that why you didn’t call me? To get back at me?”
“Yeah, Jack, I’m just a spiteful bitch that way,” Dee snorted. “I was busy working. You know, doing my job. Besides what was I supposed to do? Call information and see if I could get your number? Beg your sister to give it to me? I have a little pride, Jack.”
“Cut the crap, Dee,” he snapped. “When I asked Jacey for your number she wouldn’t give it to me. Said she had to talk to you first. When you wouldn’t let her give it to me, I made her send you mine.”
“What are you talking about? Jacey never asked me if she could give you my number. I didn’t even talk to her until this morning, Jack. I’ve been busy.”
“What?”
“Jacey told you she gave me your number?”
“Yeah,” he said and looked incredibly pissed.
She tossed her phone to him. “Check the contacts. You’re not there. I got one text from Jacey. It’s still on there. I honestly was busy and didn’t get a chance to talk to her until this morning. What are you doing?” she asked as his fingers moved over the keyboard on her phone.
“Putting my number in your contacts,” he said and tossed it back to her.
“You put yourself down as my ICE contact,” she said, glancing up from reading what he’d put in her phone.
“Boyfriends, spouses, significant others are usually the emergency contact,” he said, staring at her.
“None of which you are,” she said softly. “We had sex. You left. Then I left. End of story.” And shit, it just dawned on her that she hadn’t changed her sheets before leaving. Her bed was going to smell like sex and Jack. Neither of which would allow her to take a nap.
“You don’t just have sex, Dee,” he stated.
“I did with—”
“Don’t bring the gay guy into this,” he snapped at her. “You didn’t just have sex with me. Not with me. Your heart is in your eyes, Dee. I know that I mean more than just sex to you. That night was about more than scratching an itch you’ve had for a long time.”
She looked down at her feet, over to the window, anywhere but at him. “Why are you doing this, Jack? What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
“Fine,” she snapped. He wanted the truth then he could have it. “Yeah, I’ve loved you in one way or another almost my entire life. As a brother, a friend, a hero, a guy I fantasized about. And the night we spent together, on that couch, on my bed was the most amazing night of my life. I’ve kicked myself a million times for falling asleep and not having you again. But I did and you left. You left with no goodbyes, no note, no message of any kind. End of story.”