God damn it. Why did the kid have to call him? Couldn’t he see that Jared wasn’t qualified to give advice, especially to a thirteen-year-old boy who needed his father?
“Was that Anna?” Jenny said, coming into the family room. Lately, she’d taken to bundling herself from head to toe in her pink robe with only the bottom cuffs of her pj’s peeking out from the hem. Wet hair hung down her back and over her shoulders. A few strands were beginning to dry and curl around her face. It didn’t matter what she wore. Just being around her was enough to drive him crazy.
“No. It was Cody.”
“Cody? What did he want?”
Jared forced himself to stop trying to find her breasts buried under the thick robe. “To tell us he can’t play in his game tomorrow, and he won’t be able to come this weekend.” The telephone call should have made him feel relieved. The kid would be out of his hair.
Jenny walked into the kitchen and put the teakettle on. “How come?”
Jared wanted to blow off her question, tell her he didn’t want to be dragged into her family drama. “Because he’s missing some schoolwork, so your sister has him on lock-down.”
“I doubt it’s as bad as that.”
Jared ran a hand through his hair. “Not according to Cody.”
“He’s been a bit of a handful lately. I’m sure Anna is doing the right thing.”
Jared stood and walked to the fireplace. He picked up the poker and jabbed at the cold ashes. “It’s only a couple of assignments. Cody seems like a good kid.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
Jared turned from the fireplace and faced her. He knew it was none of his business, and he should keep quiet, but he couldn’t. “It sounds like your sister is making a mountain out of a molehill.”
“Believe me, Anna has never taken a wrong step in her life, especially where Cody is concerned. I’m sure she’s doing the right thing. Besides, neither of us is a parent. What do we know?”
Jared stabbed once more at the half-burned log. “You’re right.” She smelled like fresh powder and tropical flowers. He grew hard and felt his gut tightening. He wanted to lay her out on the couch and strip off that damn robe and lick her from the bottom of her feet all the way up to that soft spot on the side of her neck, making sure to pause in all the right places. She was driving him insane, and she didn’t even know it. It was supposed to be the other way around. He was supposed to be making her burn up and melt inside. “You’re right,” he said again. “I don’t know a damn thing about being a parent. But I know something about businesses. And all those calls you’re making are a waste of time. Tell me, have you ever got past a secretary?”
The teakettle whistled, but she didn’t make a move to turn off the burner. Instead, she stared at him through baby blues, wide with confused anger. “Why are you turning mean?”
She didn’t know what mean was. He’d been waiting around for what seemed like forever for her to cave and go running to Mom and Dad. But she hadn’t. She wasn’t. Instead, she was working her ass off to save this business. If he’d been anyone else, he’d be damned impressed. But the more time he was around her, the less he thought about Mexico.
Anger at her—anger at himself—turned his tone icy cold. “Business is about the bottom line. Period. I’ve been through the office. I saw the files you worked up. If you’re the businesswoman you say you are, you’ll figure it out.”
EIGHTEEN
Two days before the charity event, Jared stood outside the house and looked around. Ever since Cody’s call, he’d done nothing but keep busy. He’d hung the new door at the side entrance of the hangar and trimmed it out; he’d power-washed the roof and cedar shake siding, repainted all the white trim, cleaned and restained the porch, fixed the leaky faucet in the kitchen, and about a dozen other projects. He’d organized and reorganized the inside of the hangar so many times it looked like a damn showroom. But no matter how many chores he gave himself, he couldn’t keep his mind occupied and off of the hurt he’d seen in Jenny’s eyes.
If you’re the businesswoman you say you are, you’ll figure it out.
After jerking on a pair of leather gloves, he hefted three brand-new