“Atherton.”
I frowned. I knew the affluent resided there. “Who are you going to see?”
“My sister…and Mother.”
I glanced at him. “And your grandmother?”
His mouth tightened a smidgen. “Yeah. She’s likely home today, and I have to drop off some plans for her.”
I nodded. Jack had never spoken about this side of his family. “And your father, what does he do?”
“You really know nothing about me, do you?” he asked with a sardonic twist of his lips. “Even considering all the shit the papers put out on us.”
“I don’t read the papers. Current news is too discouraging. To be fair, I prefer the way you are nowadays to back then.”
He didn’t say anything for a second, then gave a slow nod. “I wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with me either. I was a mess. I’m just glad I kissed you now and not back then, never mind I’d dreamed about you in my drunken fantasies.”
“You did?”
“Ray, do you not look at yourself in the mirror?” he tossed my words back at me.
“I’m too busy for that.”
A burst of laughter left him. “I love your honesty…I love everything about you.”
Wait…what?I didn’t blink, I couldn’t, not when I sat frozen in my seat, my heart jammed in my throat at Jack’s admission. He’d used the L word.
What did that mean?
Sure, we had this crazy attraction to each other, and my feelings for him have grown…still, I swallowed.
Then he was speaking once more. “Ray, you’re beautiful, sexy, and too damn nice. It’s why those drunken dickheads at the bar hit on you.”
“They’d hump anything in skirts,” I murmured, trying to get my mind to focus. “But I did punch two of them—at different times—for grabbing my ass. And Jude put up aNo hitting the customers!sign in the staff room.”
“For protecting yourself?” Jack scowled. “If I find him, I’ll kill him.”
“Well, I did break the one’s nose.”
Jack’s startled gaze snapped my way, then he smiled. “Good.”
An hour later, Jack drove through the elite suburb of Atherton. And since he didn’t mention the L word again, I let it go.
At a cul-de-sac, he entered a gated property and cruised along a winding road edged with dense shrubs and tall conifers. The vegetation finally gave way, revealing a stunning white French Chateau-style three-story mansion surrounded by rolling landscaped gardens.
Jack parked on the paved driveway opposite a water fountain, and I gaped at the massive building, a little overwhelmed. But knowing the wicked witch of Atherton resided here had my stomach twitching.
As Jack came around the hood, I opened the door and got out, and hip-bumped it shut.
“Okay?” he asked, his warm, steady gaze skimming my face.
I forced a smile and nodded, smoothing my damp palms down my jeans-style.
“I’ll just be a few minutes, then we can leave.” Jack slid his fingers through mine and loped up the few steps to the enormous, dark wooden door. He opened it and ushered me into an elegant black, white, and caramel marble entryway. An imposing central staircase with a black and gold balustrade led upstairs, lording over the foyer.
Soft footsteps sounded. An older, dark-haired maid dressed in a black uniform and a white apron hurried toward us. When she saw me—or maybe Jack, holding my hand—her eyes widened slightly before the smooth mask appeared once more. “Mr. Jack, your mother and sister are in the north living room. I’ll inform them you are here.”
“If you must, Aida.”
