High-Society Seduction (13 page)

“How about lunch today?” he asked. “Can you get away around noon?”

“That would be wonderful.”

He sounded pleased to be seeing her again, and she felt the same. She’d decided to take this moment by moment, but it made her feel good to know he was putting in an effort to be with her.

Except that when Jenna entered the restaurant, she was dismayed to see Adam wasn’t alone. He was sitting at a table with Todd and Chelsea.

He pushed to his feet as soon as he saw her and weaved through the tables, his eyes set on her face. “Sorry,” he muttered, kissing her briefly on the mouth. “They were already here and I couldn’t ignore them. Now smile.”

She pasted on a smile as he guided her to the table, but Jenna was wondering if Chelsea had known Adam would be here today. It might only have taken a well-placed phone call to his personal assistant to find out.

The other pair welcomed her in a friendly manner, but she couldn’t help notice the friendliness didn’t reach Chelsea’s eyes. Then the other woman’s gaze flickered down over Jenna’s pants and top that until this moment had felt more than passable. Now she felt like something the dog had dragged in.

No one had ordered yet, and while they made their decision Chelsea seemed to go into overdrive again. She laughed loudly at something on the menu, pointing it out to Adam in a flirtatious way, then asked the waiter for another glass of wine as she tossed back the remains of her half-empty glass in a way that actually made Todd’s mouth tighten. At that point Jenna suspected the other pair’s presence hadn’t been by design. They really had been about to lunch together, and now Chelsea was thrown by the appearance of her and Adam.

And then from over at another table in the corner, a baby suddenly started to cry and Chelsea seemed to freeze a moment before her eyes flew to her husband’s face. Something passed between them.

“Chels, don’t—” Todd began.

Chelsea pushed to her feet. “Shut up, Todd,” she choked in a low, pain-filled voice. “Just shut up!” Grabbing her purse, she rushed out of the restaurant.

There was a stunned silence at their table.

Todd surged to his feet, but paused to look at them both. “I have to go,” he muttered, then twisted around and hurried after his wife.

Adam and Jenna sat in a pocket of silence for a few seconds, their gazes following Todd. The noise in the restaurant remained static, so it didn’t appear that others had noticed anything out of the ordinary.

“What the hell was that about?” Adam finally said.

“I’m not sure.”

Outside the restaurant, they saw Chelsea flag down a taxi and almost fall onto the backseat. Todd reached it just as the vehicle drove away. Like a defeated man, he stood and watched as his wife slipped out of sight, then he slowly turned and came back into the restaurant.

He was pale as he flopped down onto his chair. “I’m sorry you saw that.”

Adam frowned at his friend. “What’s up, Todd?”

Todd winced. “I didn’t want to say anything before but…” He lowered his gaze and took a deep breath before looking up again. “About two months ago we found out Chelsea was pregnant,” he said, making Jenna gasp. She felt Adam stiffen beside her. “We were both thrilled. Then…she lost the baby and…” His eyes held anguish as he focused on Adam, sharing his pain with his friend. “Things haven’t been the same since. That baby crying just now tipped her over the edge.”

Jenna tried not to think how
she
would feel in the same circumstances. Not when she might be pregnant herself. Oh, God, she wasn’t going there.

Surprisingly, Adam didn’t speak. Could he be thinking about
her
carrying his child? Or was he silenced by his friend’s heartache?

She dared not look at him as she stepped in the breach and said sympathetically, “I’m so sorry, Todd.”

The other man inclined his head. “Thanks.” Then he looked back at Adam. “I didn’t want to say anything to you, Adam.” He paused. “You can see why, can’t you?”

Adam seemed to pull himself together. “Yes, of course,” he said somewhat abruptly, but he looked pale, and Jenna was reminded how seriously to heart Adam took this friendship with Todd. They were very close.

“Chels hasn’t been the same since it happened,” Todd was saying now. “She seems to have gone off track somehow. We’ve both been putting on a brave face, but I know it’s eating her up inside.”

A couple of seconds ticked by and no one spoke, but both men looked extremely worried. Jenna had to admit Chelsea didn’t seem like a stalker now, just sad. The other woman had a wonderful husband who loved her and hopefully many more babies in their future, but first they had to get through this.

“Have you tried talking to her?” she asked, wanting to help.

Todd gave a short shake of his head. “No. Every time I do she starts to cry and I feel helpless, so I end up letting her be.”

Jenna’s brows drew together. “She needs you, Todd. You really should go after her.”

“She’ll only start crying again.”

“Then let her cry.” She tilted her head at him. “And perhaps you ought to have a good cry right along with her. It might be the only way to deal with this.”

Todd blinked.

Adam cleared his throat. “Jenna’s right. You both need to work through your grief before you can move on.”

There was a pause. “I guess we do have to start somewhere.” A determined light grew in Todd’s eyes as he rose to his feet. “Thanks, you two.” The sincerity in his eyes encompassed them both before he left the restaurant.

Jenna silently wished the pair well.

Then her gaze returned to the man beside her. “Looks like we’ve got our answer why Chelsea has been acting so strange.”

Adam was trying to cope with the shaft of pain in his chest. Todd and Chelsea had lost a baby? Todd had gone through the same thing
he
had gone through? He could understand why his friend hadn’t wanted to tell him. Todd would be remembering Adam’s darkest days.

Of course, Todd would also be aware of one big difference. He at least still had a wife to help him get through this.

Unlike Adam.

Thank heavens he’d thought to cut Todd off before he’d said anything more in front of Jenna. No one knew about Maddie having been pregnant when she’d died. No one except him and Todd and the hospital staff. Todd had promised he’d never tell a soul, not even Chelsea. Adam fully believed that he’d kept his word. Chelsea wouldn’t be acting so foolish toward her husband’s best friend if she’d known they had losing a baby in common.

A baby.

Jenna could be pregnant.

“I suspected there was something more going on between them.”

Jenna’s words jolted him back into the moment. He scowled at her. “You didn’t say anything to me about that.”

She lifted one slim shoulder. “It was a hunch, nothing more. It wouldn’t have helped the situation. We couldn’t do anything about it.”

He thought about that, and admitted, “Yeah, I got the same hunch when Todd invited us to their vacation home. He told me Chelsea had some sort of female problems. He didn’t say it was something serious.”

Jenna began to chew her lip. “I think she might have phoned me once. It was the evening we came back from their vacation home.”

“What!”

“When I answered, no one spoke. It was quiet for a few seconds, then they hung up. I still think it was Chelsea. I suspect she was trying to see if you were with me.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“It was nothing. Not really. And I had no proof.” She sighed. “Poor Chelsea.”

He took a calming breath. “Yes.” Chelsea’s grief had made her look foolish, that was all.

“I guess you were just a distraction from her losing the baby.” There was compassion in Jenna’s voice. She considered him. “I don’t think she’ll be after you anymore, do you?”

She was right. “No, I don’t think so, either.” And that was a great relief. “But she probably still needs to see us together for a while longer. At least until she gets her head in a good place.”

“Good idea.”

He suddenly felt the need to say more. “Anyway, I don’t plan on giving you up just yet, Jenna.” And she’d better not think otherwise. To make sure, he reminded her, “This isn’t only about Chelsea. We need to get the money sorted out with your brother.” There was no escaping that fact. “That’s the reason we came together in the first place.”

Her gaze faltered. “True.” She moistened her mouth. “So, this means I owe you two more weeks of my time. While you find the money for Stewart, that is.”

His jaw clenched and he wanted to say that as far as he was concerned, finding the money wasn’t for Stewart. It was to clear his own brother’s name, if he could.

And one of them was going to lose big-time.

Just then, he caught sight of the waiter coming their way. “Let’s have some lunch.”

She hesitated. “Actually, Adam, I’m not very hungry right now. I hope you don’t mind.”

He realized he’d lost his appetite, too. “I’m not hungry, either.” He pushed to his feet and helped her out of her chair. “Come on. I’ll walk you back to work.”

As they left the restaurant he noticed his cell phone had a couple of messages from the private investigator. He didn’t mention it to Jenna, but his heart had just slammed right into his ribs.

“Really?” Vicki said with dismay. “They won’t talk to me about it? It’s
my
house, for goodness’ sake!”

“Yes, but the account is in Stewart’s name only.”

Vicki frowned. “We never realized it would be a problem.”

Jenna wondered if Stewart had done that deliberately. Of course, he really couldn’t have known he would lose his money. No person in their right mind would put their house up as collateral if they thought they were going to lose it.

Vicki nodded, still clearly worried, but trying not to show it. “Thanks for checking for me, sweetie. I appreciate it.”

“That’s okay. I’m glad to help.”

“I’ll email Stewart tonight and tell him there’s a problem with the account,” Vicki said. “He can email the bank himself and give them permission to talk to me while he’s out of the country. Once he’s back we’ll have to see about putting the house in both names.”

“Sounds good,” Jenna said, though she suspected Stewart’s first action would be to call or email
her
about it. He didn’t know she had forced Adam to help sort this out, and he would be frantic when he received Vicki’s email in case his wife discovered the truth about the money.

No doubt he would come up with a plan for delaying the inevitable. Knowing her brother, he’d soon realize he only had to pretend to Vicki about putting her name down as a contact. Once he returned to Australia, he’d be hoping to replace most of the money himself, though he had no idea the money might still be repaid out of Liam’s account—and she wouldn’t tell him. She didn’t want him to get his hopes up on something that may not come to be.

And why the heck was she being so considerate of Stewart at the moment? She didn’t feel too kindly toward him right now. Either way he’d have covered his own butt.

“That’s right, Mr. Roth. And believe me, I’ve had my people check thoroughly. They know all the tricks and all the places money can be hidden in secret accounts, and there’s nothing to be found. Absolutely nothing.”

It was as he’d suspected. “So Stewart Branson didn’t give any money to my brother?”

“No.”

“So it’s a con job,” he said, his lips flattening with anger. And Jenna was in on it, along with her brother. He should have listened to his gut instinct from the beginning.

“It certainly looks like it. I have some pretty damning evidence.”

Adam scowled. “Evidence? But I thought you just said you couldn’t find anything?”

“I didn’t. But I
have
discovered something very interesting. Did you know that Stewart Branson…”

By the time Adam finished listening, he was more than angry. He was ice-cold furious. He latched on to the feeling, taking pleasure in the pain, knowing it was far better than thinking about any other matter with Jenna that might be totally out of his control.
Nothing
was going to be out of his control again where she was concerned. Not ever again.