By Private Invitation (32 page)

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.

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.

Damn, have I no self-respect?

“Good morning, Belle. May I come in?”

A sharp gust of cold air made her catch her breath, and she took an automatic step
away from the door, which Jared took as permission to enter.

And really, it wasn’t like she would have refused him anyway.

Not when he made her stomach flutter when he smiled at her with that wry grin. He
almost looked apologetic.

No, stay strong. The guy practically told you to get lost.

After his mother had been rushed to the hospital.

Jesus, of course I should cut him some slack.

“How’s your mom, Jared? Is she okay?”

As he handed her the coffee, he nodded. “Much better, thank you. She had a bad reaction
to a new medication. She told me to tell you she’s sorry we had to cut our night short.”
He took a deep breath. “And I’m very sorry too. Please forgive my attitude. It was
unconscionable and I have no other excuse than that I was worried about my mother.”

He looked so sincere, her pique with him dissolved in a puddle at her feet. It just
shouldn’t be that easy, she thought. He should have to work for it, right? Maybe grovel
a bit more. Or at least bring doughnuts with the coffee.

“The medication she’s taking is for bipolar disorder. She’s been dealing with it since
I was a kid.”

Her eyes widened with shock. “I’m so sorry. That must be difficult.”

“It is, yeah. But even more difficult to handle was my dad’s infidelity. He cheated
on her and I hated him.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. “What I didn’t realize was that she knew the
whole time. She actually
encouraged
him to do it. I’ve hated my father for years because I thought he was lying to my
mom. That he was making a fool out of her by cheating on her. But she knew. I guess
I’m still having a hard time processing everything because I feel like they’ve both
lied to me.”

She had a hard time swallowing, knowing she was lying to him every day she didn’t
tell him who she really was. “That’s a lot for a teenager to process. I can’t imagine
your dad would hold your attitude against you.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing. He doesn’t. And I’ve treated him like shit for so long, I
don’t know any other way to treat him. I don’t know how to fix this.”

“Maybe you don’t have to fix it. Maybe you just have to accept
him for who he is, put it all aside, and move on. Forgive him and forgive yourself
at the same time.”

There was that smile again, the one that made her knees melt. “Beautiful and smart.
Do you know how sexy that is?”

Her own smile broke free, even though the little voice in her head kept battering
at her, telling her over and over that she, too, was lying to him.

“I’m glad your mom’s feeling better.”

“So am I. Now, what did you have planned today?”

“Where are we off to?” Annabelle asked as Jared slipped into the driver’s seat of
his car.

Jared twisted the key and the car hummed to life. “I thought we’d just drive around
so I can get the lay of the land. There’re a couple of properties I’d like to look
at but mainly I just want to look around.”

“Then you might want to head out Route 568,” she suggested. “There’s some nice country
out there.”

As they drove off, Annabelle let her mind drift. She’d planned to spend the day digging
through the Internet for Beatrice’s missing ring. She’d start her search by contacting
auction houses and antique jewelry dealers in the tri-state area to see if they remembered
seeing or selling the ring at any point.

Beatrice had said the police made a thorough investigation at the time of the robbery.
She’d also hired someone to search for the pieces every five years after they’d been
stolen until about fifteen years ago, when she’d given up on ever seeing them again.

If the ring was out there, it could be hiding in another box of costume jewelry or
buried in someone’s jewelry box. Or safe deposit box.

She’d have to go through her grandfather’s records and see if she could come up with
a name or a receipt for the pin, though she didn’t hold out much hope there. If her
grandfather had bought a box full of what he’d thought was costume jewelry, he’d probably
paid cash and hadn’t gotten a receipt.

Beatrice had promised to email a picture of the ring this morning, though she hadn’t
had time to check. Jared’s grandmother had asked her not to say anything to Jared
about their arrangement and Annabelle had agreed, mostly because it’d seemed an innocuous
request. Maybe Beatrice wanted to surprise her grandsons with the pieces. Annabelle
was determined to give the pin back to her as well, even if she didn’t find the ring.
It really did belong with her family.

She let her gaze land on Jared. Beatrice had said the pieces united soul mates.

Which was pure fairy tale.

Jared was
not
her soul mate.

Neither of them was looking for happily ever after. Nothing had changed since she’d
first met him.

Just because her pulse leaped in anticipation every time he touched her, it didn’t
mean it was love. It wasn’t love. Just pure old-fashioned lust. It could never be
more. She couldn’t imagine the scrutiny she’d be under if she and Jared…What? Got
married?

She huffed. Was she crazy? She wasn’t thinking about marriage. She’d flat out told
him she wasn’t in the market for marriage. And she’d told Kate she was going to break
off their personal relationship.

Look how well that worked out.

So had she changed her mind?

No, of course not. They could work together but mind-blowing sex did not make for
a stable marriage.

No, but great passion did.

“Hey, you’re not falling asleep on me over there, are you?”

Jared laid a hand on her knee, and even through a layer of denim, she could feel his
body heat. His touch wasn’t sexual, just a light squeeze. But electricity jolted through
her body, sparking her ever-present desire for him.

As casually as she could, she shifted so she was facing him more fully, but he had
to remove his hand because her knee was now too far for him to reach. He slid a glance
her way and she smiled at him.

“So, what exactly are you looking for?” she asked. “Was there a property you had in
mind? Did you see something in the newspaper?”

He shook his head. “Not really. I’ll know it when I see it. I don’t like to do a lot
of prep work for something like this. I like to go with my gut. I knew the moment
I saw the building in Philadelphia that it’d be perfect for Haven.”

“And you really think you’re going to find what you’re looking for around here?”

His mouth turned up in a sexy grin, and he reached over to run a hand along her cheek,
making her skin tingle. “This past month has been full of surprises. I’m sure there’ll
be more.”

Okay, the man didn’t even have to touch her and lust threatened to burn her up from
the inside out. Her cheeks flamed and she silently cursed her fair skin.

Luckily, his attention was focused on the road at the moment. They drove the next
few miles in silence as Annabelle tried to stuff her desire back into the little box
she’d nailed shut Saturday night.

She wasn’t having much luck with that.

Instead, she focused on the scenery, on the rolling farmland abruptly interrupted
by sprawling, cookie-cutter housing developments and the occasional thick stands of
trees. The closer they got to Reading, the more developments and less open land. So
they ended up back on Annabelle’s side of the highway, heading into the hills.

The homes were farther apart up here, the trees more dense, hiding buildings at the
end of the unmarked lanes shooting off from the two-lane road.

Jared had punched a couple of buttons on the dashboard and music filtered through
the speakers. Etta James, early Elvis Presley, and several blues musicians she couldn’t
place enveloped them in a warm cocoon that soon had Annabelle fighting to keep her
eyes open.