A Deal With the Devil (21 page)

Sam’s jaw went slack and he regarded Jake with disbelief, as though he had just proposed a pissing contest right then and there. “Well, if you play your cards right, maybe you can manage to go your whole life without ever
really
caring for anyone but yourself.”

Jake tapped his thumb on the arm of his chair and told himself to cool off. He hadn’t come here to get into it with Sam. When he felt more in control, he said, “I know Rob’s not all bad, but he needs a firm hand.”

“Which you could’ve been,” Sam said—clearly not ready to concede his point. “You
still
could, regardless of what happens with you and Amanda. He’d listen to you.”

Jake shook his head. “I don’t want to get in the middle of it. Between my father’s death and the stuff with Rob, everything became too difficult between Amanda and me. We have differing views on family and her brother and a slew of other things. Eventually, those differences would have torn us apart anyway. Plus, I was about to ship out for a year, so I decided to cut my losses.”

Sam leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “But see, you haven’t cut your losses. You’re right in the thick of it, bro. And you put yourself there. For the past week, I’ve begged you to forget this phony engagement idea and to not run, but
sprint
, in the other direction. But you refuse to listen.” Sam jabbed a finger at the folder and his voice cracked as he said, “And now, you’re going to go through with an actual marriage. You call that staying out of it?”

Jake thumb tapped the chair harder and he wished he’d asked Sam to email the contract. The last thing he needed was a lecture. But since Sam’s diatribe showed no signs of stopping, Jake had little choice but to sit there and listen.

“If you didn’t want to be with Amanda, you would’ve found some other girl for this deal—like Bethany. Your relationship with her ended long before you got involved with Amanda and you didn’t care for her in the same way. So it would’ve been far less complicated to do this deal with her. With Amanda . . .” Sam shook his head as if to say Jake had been crazy to think the idea could work.

“Bethany? No way. That girl is all
kinds
of crazy. She’d be the last one I’d ask. I still have nightmares just thinking about all the crazy shit she did.” Jake grimaced.

“Well, you could’ve asked someone else. But you didn’t. You asked Amanda. You were only back for what—a day?—when you proposed.” He leaned back in his chair again, looking supremely satisfied to have made his point.

Jake fixed Sam with a steely-eyed stare. He’d heard enough. “Back to Rob,” he said. “Did you find anything out?”

Sam relaxed. “Yeah . . . well a little, I guess. I need to ask around a bit more.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“I’m not sure which part is true and which is rumor.” Sam shook his head. “But from what I’ve gathered, Rob is definitely involved in starting a restaurant, so he told the truth there. But what really bothers me is the gossip about his partners.”

Jake frowned. “What about his partners?”

“Supposedly, there are some questionable types involved. A few partners have rumored ties to organized crime and supposedly, two or three nights a week, they host high stakes poker games at the half-finished restaurant—
illegal
, high stakes poker games.”

Jake fell back in the chair. “No wonder the restaurant is experiencing construction delays. Do your sources think Rob knows the truth about his partners?”

“They didn’t say, but I’d guess not,” Sam said. “The kid’s only twenty-three and as you know all too well, he’s clueless about three quarters of the time. And, the questionable folks seem to have come in through a minority partner Rob doesn’t know well.”

Jake groaned. “What a mess.”

“That it is,” Sam said. “So what are we going to do about it?”

Jake stood and picked up the folder as he headed to the door. “I’ll guess I’ll pay Rob a visit.”

* * *

When Amanda stepped out of the shower, the apartment phone was ringing. No one ever called her landline phone. Probably a telemarketer. She decided to let the answering machine pick up.

She didn’t subscribe to the voicemail service provided by the phone company. She used one of those old school answering machines from the nineties—the kind that required a cassette tape of the sort they didn’t even sell anymore; the kind that displayed red digital numbers. It had been her parent’s machine and she couldn’t bear to part with it. It made her feel closer to them somehow.

As she dried off, she heard a male voice leaving a message. A raspy male voice. Max.

Amanda dropped the towel, grabbed her robe off the hook and pulled it on. Then she raced down the hall, arriving just as the message ended. Elbows resting on the counter, she pressed the message button and listened intently.

“Hello Amanda, this is Max. I’d like you to swing by today after four, if you can. I’ll be out at the Barrington house. I think you have the address.” He paused and then said, “If you could keep our visit private, I’d be very grateful.”

Private. She bit her lip and rewound the message. She listened three times. Private as in, don’t tell Jake. Private as in, more lies. Would the lying never end?

She sighed. He wouldn’t ask for privacy unless it was something important.

Amanda picked up the phone and punched in the number to Max’s office. His assistant said Max was on a call, so she left a message confirming that she’d meet him at the Barrington house at four.

After she hung up, she yanked a paper towel off the roll and sopped up the puddle of water she’d created on her wood floor. Then she scurried down the hall to finish drying off and getting ready. Kate would kill her if she was late.

Ten minutes later, she was about the flip on the dryer when someone knocked on the door. Amanda trotted down the hall and peered through the peephole.

Jake.

She opened the door and leaned against it. “You seem to have a knack for knowing when I’ve just gotten out of the shower,” she said. “Did you forget something?”

“Can I come in?”

“I’m sort of in a hurry,” she said. “I have to help Kate with the cake tasting for Sam’s party on Saturday.”

“This will only take a minute.” Jake walked in, a manila folder tucked under his arm.

She rolled her eyes. “By all means, come in. It’s not like I’m in a rush or anything.”

“You look perkier than you did a few hours ago,” he said.

“The shower helped as did the three hour nap,” she said, glancing at the clock on the stove. “Listen, I don’t have time for chit chat. Was there something you needed?”

Jake strode into the living room, set the folder on the table and pulled out a stack of papers. “After I left this morning, I asked Sam to update our agreement and I thought we should get the formalities out of the way as soon as possible.” He handed her a pen and clicked the tip.

She sat down, took the pen and pulled the papers toward her.

“Don’t you want to review the terms?”

“No.” She scribbled her name with a flourish and initialed in all the appropriate spaces, then held the pen out. Jake took it, signed and initialed as well and then slid the papers back into the folder.

She stood and started for the door, expecting him to follow, but he remained seated. She stopped and turned around. “Was there something else?”

“Amanda, we‘ll be spending a lot of time together over the next several months.”

She folded her arms. “Yes.”

“I’ve been thinking . . .” He glanced at her and then looked away, clearly uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat and then said, “I wanted you to know. . .” He sighed as he faltered again.

Amanda’s arms dropped to her side and she took a half step forward. He always said those words in her dreams, just before he begged her for a second chance; before he asked if they could give their relationship another try. A real one. She stopped breathing for a moment as her eyes searched his face. She had convinced herself she was over him, but she was just kidding herself. If there’d been even a shred of doubt about that fact, her behavior last night had cleared it up. She’d been dancing very close to the flame and, if not for his cold, calculated mention of their deal, she definitely would have done something she regretted. Thank God she hadn’t. But she knew that if Jake indicated, even hinted he wanted to give their relationship another try, she’d chuck the just business idea and pounce on him.

“I just wanted to tell you . . .” His lips twisted into a lop-sided grin, the one he only made when he was uncomfortable. That’s all it took to convince her he’d finally come to his senses. Her pulse raced as she moved toward him. “I wanted you to know; if you need help with your brother, well, I’m here for you.”

She felt like he’d dumped a bucket of cold water over her. She stopped in her tracks, her voice flat and emotionless. “My brother. You want to help with my brother,” she said, kicking her volume up a notch. Anger simmered inside. She felt stupid and slightly embarrassed for what she’d been thinking. She should’ve known better. Jake was clearly incapable of making a commitment.

“Yes.” He studied her intently as if trying to determine the reason behind her sudden change in mood. “I know you agreed to this deal because of Rob. You know . . . with the debt and all. I’d like to help with him, you know, to guide him or whatever.” He shifted his weight, the expression on his face made his discomfort obvious.

“You want to help me with Rob.” She shook her head in bewilderment. “Might I remind you that I didn’t ask for your help with my brother?”

He frowned. “I know you didn’t. I’m offering it. As a friend. It seems the least I can do after everything you’re doing to help me get access to my trust fund.”

A friend. Nice. Her hands balled into fists and she fantasized briefly about cracking him across the jaw as memories of their countless fights about her brother drifted back. She must be out of her mind. And she definitely needed to stop pinning fleeting hopes and dreams to a man she knew would only hurt her. No wonder her life was in such sorry shape. But instead of saying as much, she drew in a long breath and tried to exude a composure she didn’t feel as she said, “Thanks, but I’ll take a pass.”

“It’s okay to let friends lend a hand, Amanda.” He blew out a long breath and shook his head. “It doesn’t mean you’re weak.”

“I don’t have a problem accepting help from friends,” she bit out the words, still trying to hang onto whatever self-composure she could muster. “But we’re not friends. We’re business partners. And you can’t stand my brother. You’ve always had it in for him.” She jammed a fist onto her hip. “I haven’t forgotten a single nasty, mean-spirited thing you said about him so you’d be pretty much the last person I’d come to for help—assuming I needed any help, that is.”

Jake stood, his jaw clenched. “Wake up, Amanda. That kid’s been without a father figure for some time.”

“Let me get this straight. You want to be a father figure to my brother. You.” She threw her head back and barked out a bitter laugh. “That is the most
ridiculous
thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I just—”

“Actually, it’s hysterical,” she said, continuing her rant. “The last time I looked, you couldn’t make a commitment to anyone. In fact, the only thing you’ve ever cared about or
really
committed to—besides
yourself
of course—was your Navy career. And I guess now, maybe this business you want to start. But people?” She folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head as she eyed him with disdain. “Well, people aren’t really your strong suit, now are they?”

His voice sounded dangerously soft as he said, “I can’t commit.”

“Everyone knows this. And also, if you believe I’d
ever
ask you for help with my brother—or anything else, for that matter—then you are insane.”

His eyes narrowed as he bit out, “Are you finished?”

She lifted her chin. “No,
we’re
finished.” She spun on her heel, but Jake stepped in front of her.

“We’re definitely not finished.” Jake’s gazed down at her. “That much was glaringly obvious to both of us last night—no matter how much you’re trying to deny it now. And continuing to pretend we can keep this deal all business is the most ridiculous thing
I’ve
ever heard.”

He moved closer and she took a half step back. Every instinct warned her to run, but then he touched her. His hand slid up her arm and every nerve ending, every fiber of her being came alive.

“How long are we going to pretend this thing between us is over?” His lips descended and as much as her head screamed run, her body; her soul had different ideas. His arms drew her close and the second his lips touched hers, the internal warring was over. Her arms wound around his neck as their kisses grew more intense, more passionate and for the first time in as long as she could remember, desire won out over responsibility and good judgment as she finally surrendered to the urge of the moment; to her heart.

Jake pulled away and gazed down at her, the deep longing in his eyes telling her more than he would ever say to her. And it was enough. It had to be. She knew he’d never give her anything more and in that moment, she didn’t care. She wanted him. She’d deal with the consequences later.