A tick worked Jack’s jaw, and his eyes flared silver. So much anger. I withdrew my hand. He started the car and drove out of the lot, then eased into the traffic-choked street. The silence in the car grew heavy. I understood his pain, I truly did. More, I wished he’d talk to me, say something. Because as much as I hated to admit it, my stomach knotted painfully, knowing that I would say goodbye in a little while.
Hey, at least I had Wilbur waiting for me. But my self-deprecation fell flat. Biting back a troubled sigh, I rubbed my face and looked out the window, trying my best to shore up the feelings overtaking me.
With Jack showing me a side of him I never knew existed—coming to my aid the moment I called, then taking care of me after I got hurt, even showing up to my parents’ home to drop off my meds—he’d cracked through my protective barriers. Then, at the hospital, I’d seen just how much he truly loved his grandfather. How could I not like him? Want to be with him? But that wasn’t in the cards.
I had plans to fulfill, get my degree, then the job I wanted, help my parents…and maybe, eventually, open up my own business.
And Jack? I didn’t know what he sought from life. Well, besides being the guy who tormented me and irrevocably made meseehim. Bottom line was, we came from two completely different worlds.
* * *
As we finally left the city behind, the smell of brine drifted to me from the slightly opened car window. I frowned and straightened in my seat at the unfamiliar landscape and mansions secured behind massive wrought iron gates…
Sea Cliff.
Had Jack actually taken his grandfather’s words to heart that I’d wait for him at their home?
No, I shrugged the thought aside. Jack didn’t seem aware of anything since we left Millbrae.
He drove up to the cream, three-story mansion and parked in front of what appeared to be a four-car garage. His jaw had remained set in the same hard lines since we’d left the hospital.
Guess there’s no point in prolonging this. I retrieved my cell phone from my backpack at my feet, sliding through the apps until I came to Lyft.
“What are you doing?”
His rough voice startled me into looking up. “Getting a ride.”
His features twisted for a second. “Why?”
I sighed. “Jack, I need to go home. Your family will come—”
Derisive laughter stopped my protest. “They won’t. They’re undoubtedly praying like hell for the devil to make it quick and end him.”
His words were like a punch to my stomach, his harshness a vise around my chest. “You don’t mean that.”
“Don’t I?” His cynical gaze met mine. He slammed out of the car and strode around the hood to my side while I tried to get my shocked mind to process his bitter words. He opened the door.
I scrambled out. “Jack—”
“I don’t want you to leave.”
“I can’t stay.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“You knew this was just a one-time thing.”A one-time thing that I wish could be more. “But I’ll go and visit Nigel.”
“Pops wants youherewhen he gets out of the hospital. You heard him. Hell, he goes to visit Chuck just as much to see you, with no care for his health—”
“Don’t you dare make this my fault.”
Cursing, he spun away, hands on his hips, he glared at the flowerbed—the house—I wasn’t sure which. “What are you going to tell him then?” he demanded. “That you couldn’t stay because you fucked his grandson, whom you can’t stand?”
I blinked at his fury. “Jack…” Damn, this was so difficult. “I don’t dislike you—”
He wheeled around, his expression stony, eyes cold. “You do an excellent job of showing me otherwise. All I know is you won’t touch me unless I touch you first. You labeled me a player and now can’t see past that tag—no matter how hard I try to show you that I don’t mess around. Not anymore. Still, you dump me with all those fucking assholes who want to cop a feel of you in that damn place where you work!”
“It’s not like I have a choice when it comes to jobs!” I snapped, hurt. “I need to earn a living, and not many are willing to take on an inexperienced woman in the serious job departments. I’ve tried!”
