In Bed With The Devil

Seven

When Jack finished getting dressed after his shower, he debated going downstairs for coffee or heading up to the loft to check in with his office.

Coffee won, mostly because he hadn’t gotten much sleep the previous night. Sharing a bed with Meri had been anything but restful.

He walked out of his bedroom, then paused at the landing to look at the picture he’d mostly avoided since arriving at the house. It showed him and his friends during college. When everything had been easy and they’d called themselves the Seven Samurai.

Hunter laughed into the camera, because he’d always enjoyed whatever he was doing. Luke and Matt-twins who couldn’t be more different-held Ryan in a headlock, while he and Devlin poured beer over the group. He knew that just outside the view of the camera sat a teenage girl on a blanket, her head buried in a book. Because Meri had never quite fit in.

Hunter had worried about her, especially after he’d found out he was dying. That’s when he’d asked Jack to take care of her.

“Hell of a job,” Jack muttered to himself as he turned away from the picture. Sure, Meri was all grown up now, a woman who made her own choices. That was her excuse for what had happened the previous night. What was his?

He’d wanted her. Who wouldn’t? She was smart and funny and pretty as hell. She challenged him the way no one else dared. She was sexy and irreverent and so filled with life and ideas. Hunter would have been proud of her. Then he would have turned on Jack like a rabid dog and beaten the crap out of him. Or at least he would have tried. Knowing it was all his fault, Jack knew he just might have let him.

So now what? Meri had claimed she wanted to seduce him, which she probably thought she had. Did they just move on now? Pretend it hadn’t happened? Because it shouldn’t have, no matter how good it had been. If he could turn back time…

Jack shook his head. No point in lying to himself. If he could turn back time, he would do it all over again. Which made him a pretty big bastard and a sorry sort of friend.

He glanced back at the photo. Now what?

He heard footsteps on the stairs. But instead of a petite blonde with an attitude, he saw Betina climbing toward him.

“Morning,” he said.

She reached the landing and looked at him. There was something in her eyes-something that warned him she was not happy about certain events.

“What?” he asked.

“That would be my question to you.” She drew in a breath. “Look, it’s not my business-”

Great. She was going to get protective. “You’re right. It’s not your business.”

She glared at him. “Meredith is my friend. I care about her. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“What makes you think that’s going to happen?”

“It’s in your nature. You’re the kind of man who is used to getting what he wants and walking away.”

True enough, he thought, not sure what that had to do with anything. “Meri’s not in this for the long term,” he said.

“That’s what she keeps telling me, but I’m not so sure. I think she’s in a position where she could get her heart broken.”

“Not by me.”

Betina rolled her eyes. “Are all men stupid about women or is it just the ones in this house?”

“You expect me to answer that?”

“No. I expect you to respect someone you’re supposed to care about. You’ve known Meri a long time. She’s not like the rest of us. She didn’t grow up with a chance at being normal. She managed to fit in all on her own.”

“I heard you had a part in making that happen.”

Betina shrugged. “I gave her direction. She did the work. But she’s not as tough as she thinks. What she had planned for you was crazy-and I told her that, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“Typical.”

“I know. My point is I don’t want anything bad to happen to her. If you hurt her, I’ll hunt you down like the dog you are and make you pay.”

He gave her a half smile. “Going to hire someone to beat me up?”

“No, Jack. I’m going to tell you exactly how much she’s suffering. I’m going to point out that you were her brother’s best friend and that he asked only one thing of you and you couldn’t seem to do it. Not then and not now. I’m going to be the voice in your head-the ugly one that never lets you rest.”

He met her steady gaze with one of his own. “You’re good.”

“I care about her. She’s part of my family. She deserves someone who loves her. Are you that guy?”

He didn’t have to think about that. “No.” He’d never loved anyone. He refused to care. It cost too much.

“Then leave her alone. Give her a chance with someone else.”

“Someone like Andrew?” Jack had a bad feeling about him. He would get his report soon enough and then figure out what to do.

“Funny you should mention him,” Betina said, looking amused. “I guess you don’t know.”

“Know what?”

“He’s here.”

Meri pulled back, stood in front of the open door and wondered if she looked as guilty as she felt. While she and Andrew had agreed that they were on a relationship hiatus, saying the words and having him show up less than four hours after she and Jack had made love for the third time of the night was a little disconcerting.

“You’re here,” she said, feeling stupid and awkward and really, really guilty.

“I missed you.” He smiled that easy Andrew smile-the one that had first drawn her to him. The one that told the world he was pleasant, charming and curious about everything. “Did you miss me?”

She’d spent five months working on her plan to seduce Jack Howington III and nearly a week putting that plan into action. In her free time she’d been consulting for two different defense contractors and working on her solid-rocket-fuel project. Who had time to miss anyone?

“Of course,” she said, resisting the urge to fold her arms over her chest and shuffle her feet.

“Good.” He stepped into the house and put his arm around her. “So this is where you’ve been hanging out.”

“I’ve actually been down in Los Angeles a lot. Remember? The consulting.”

“I know. Is your team here?”

“They’ll arrive in an hour or so.”

“How fortunate.” He pulled her close again. “So we have time to get reacquainted.”

Ick and double ick. She couldn’t get “reacquainted” with Andrew right after having seduced Jack. It was wrong on many, many levels.

She stepped away and looked at him. Andrew was tall like Jack but not as muscular or lean. His brown hair was longer, his blue eyes lighter. Jack was a sexy version of the devil come to life. He played every hand close and gave nothing away. Andrew was open and friendly. He assumed the world liked him-and most of the time it did.

Which didn’t matter, she told herself. There was no need for comparisons. She had a relationship with Andrew and she had nothing with Jack. They’d been friends once, she’d proved her point and now she was moving on. She should be happy Andrew was here. He was part of the moving-on bit, wasn’t he?

Andrew’s blue eyes clouded. “What’s wrong, Meredith? Aren’t you happy to see me? It’s been weeks since we met at The Symposium in Chicago. I’ve missed you. You said you wanted time for us both to be sure about our feelings. I’m still sure. Are you?”

Life was all about timing, Meredith thought happily as Colin walked into the room, saw Andrew and grimaced.

“Oh. You’re here,” he grumbled. Colin had never been a fan.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault, Meri told herself. Andrew was inherently athletic and Colin…wasn’t. She wasn’t either, but she tried and she always forced her team to attempt something new a couple of times a year. She ignored the complaints and reminded them it was good for them.

“Colin!” Andrew said cheerfully, ignoring the other man’s obvious irritation at his presence. “Haven’t seen you in a long time. How’s it hanging?”

Colin looked Andrew over with the same enthusiasm one would use when seeing a cockroach in one’s salad. “It’s hanging just fine.”

Colin poured his coffee and left.

“I think he’s starting to like me,” Andrew said in a mock whisper. “We’re really communicating.”

Despite everything, Meri laughed. “You’re an optimist.”

“Hey, you like Colin and I like you. Therefore I must like Colin. Isn’t that some kind of math logic? You should appreciate that.”

She should, and she mostly did. She appreciated that Andrew was never tense or intense. She enjoyed his humor, his spontaneity and how he seemed to live a charmed life. According to every women’s-magazine survey she’d ever taken, Andrew was perfect for her.

So how had she been able to be apart from him for six months only seeing him for a few days at a time and not really mind?

Before she could figure out the answer, she heard more footsteps on the stairs. She turned, expecting to see Betina, who would be a great distraction. Instead Jack walked into the kitchen.

The room got so quiet Meri could actually hear her heart pumping blood through her body. She felt herself flush as she tried to figure out what on earth she was supposed to say.

Andrew stepped forward, held out his hand and smiled. “Andrew Layman. I’m Meredith’s boyfriend.”

Jack looked him over. “Jack Howington the third. Friend of the family.”

Meri stared in surprise. Jack had used his full name, including the number. Why? He never did that.

The two men shook hands. When they separated, it seemed that they were both crowding her a little.

“So you know Meredith’s dad?” Andrew asked. “You mentioned you were a friend of the family, but she hasn’t mentioned you before.”

“I knew her brother. Meri and I were friends in college. We go way back.”

“Interesting. You never came to D.C.,” Andrew said easily. “I know all of Meredith’s friends there.”

“Sounds like you keep a close watch on her.”

“I care about her.”

“Apparently not enough that you mind a six-month absence,” Jack told him. “You haven’t met all of Meri’s friends here.”

“I already know them.”

“You don’t know me.”

“You’re the past.”

Jack’s gaze was steady. “Not as much as you might think. Meri and I have a history together.”

Meri rolled her eyes. It was as though they were a couple of dogs and she were the favorite tree they both wanted to pee on. While she was sure Jack was more than capable of winning the contest, she was surprised he would bother to play. She also hadn’t expected Andrew to get drawn in. Since when had he become competitive?

“There’s a little too much testosterone in here for me,” she said as she stepped back. “You two boys have fun.”

Meri made her way to Betina’s room and found her friend typing on her laptop.

“Girl emergency,” Meri said as she closed the bedroom door and sat on the edge of the bed. “How could he be here?”

“Andrew?”

Meri nodded. “I had no idea. We’ve been staying in touch via e-mail and we’ve talked a little on the phone, but there was no warning. He just showed up. How could he do that?”

“He got on a plane and flew here. It’s romantic. Does it feel romantic to you?”

“I don’t know,” Meri admitted, still unclear how she felt. “It’s been weeks and weeks. I thought he was going to propose and I thought maybe I would say yes. Shouldn’t I be excited that he’s here? Shouldn’t I be dancing in the streets?”

“We don’t have much in the way of streets, but maybe if you danced in the driveway, it would be enough.”

Meri started to laugh, then sucked in a breath as she suddenly fought tears. “I’m so confused.”

“You slept with Jack. That was bound to change things.”

“It was supposed to make them more clear. I was supposed to be healed.”

“Maybe the problem is you were never broken.”

Meri nodded slowly. Maybe that was the problem. She’d always thought there was something wrong with her and that it could be traced back to Jack’s painful rejection. But what if that had just been a normal part of growing up and, because of her freakishness, she hadn’t been able to see it? What if she’d made it too big a deal?

“You don’t think I needed closure with Jack?” Meri asked. “You don’t think getting revenge on him will move me to a higher plane?”

Betina sighed. “I don’t think anything negative like revenge is ever healthy. You’ve felt emotionally stalled and unable to commit. Was that about what Jack did or was it simply that you needed more time to integrate who you were with who you wanted to be? Being book-smart doesn’t help you grow up any faster or better. Sometimes it just gets in the way.”

“I figured that out a while ago,” Meri grumbled. “You’d think I could deal with it by now.” She drew in a deep breath. “I was so sure that revenge was the right way to go. I knew that if I could just make him want me, then walk away, I’d be happy forever.”

“Maybe that’s still true.”

Meri wasn’t sure. “Like you said-it’s not healthy to be so negative.”

“But it is done,” Betina reminded her. “Deal with what you have now. Closure. So on to Andrew-if that’s where you want to go.”

An interesting idea. The only problem was Meri wasn’t sure what she thought about anything anymore.

“I need to clear my head. I’m going to run. Could you get the group started without me?”

Betina grinned. “I love it when you leave me in charge.”

Later that morning, Jack went looking for Meri. She wasn’t in the dining room with her team, although Betina had told him she was in the house somewhere. He checked out his bathroom, but no beautiful, naked women waited for him. Damn. There were days a guy couldn’t cut a break. Then he saw something move on the balcony and stepped out to find her sitting on a chair, staring out at the view.

She looked up as he joined her. “I was going to use the telescope, but it’s kind of hard to see the stars with all the sunshine getting in the way.”

He glanced at the bright blue sky. “I can see where that’s a problem.”

“I thought about spying on our neighbors-you know, catch someone sunbathing nude. But I just can’t seem to get into it.”

Her big eyes were dark and troubled. The corner of her mouth drooped. She looked sad and uncomfortable, which was so far from her normal bouncy self that he found himself saying, “You want to talk about it?”

She shrugged. “I’m confused. And before you ask why, I’m not going to tell you.”

“Makes it hard to help if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“Maybe you’re the problem.”

“Am I?”

She sighed. “Not really. A little, but it’s mostly me.”

He took the chair next to hers and stared out at the lake. It was huge, stretching for miles. “Did you know Lake Tahoe is nearly a mile deep?”

The droopy corner turned up. “Someone’s been reading the chamber of commerce brochure.”

“I got bored.”

She looked at him. “Why aren’t you married?”

The question made him shrug. “No one’s ever asked.”

“Oh, right. Because you’re so eager to say yes?”

“Probably not. I’m not the marrying kind.”

Now she smiled for real. “Sure you are. You’re rich and single. What was it Jane Austen said? Something about any single man of good fortune must be in search of a wife? That’s you. Don’t you want to get married?”

“I never much thought about it. My work keeps me busy.”

“Meaning, if you have too much time to think, you take on another job.”

How had she figured that out? “Sometimes.”

He liked to stay busy, involved with his business. He had some guys he hung out with occasionally. That was enough.

“No one gets close?” she asked.

“No.”

“Because of Hunter?”

He stretched out his legs in front of him. “Just because we slept together doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you everything I’m thinking.”

“Okay. Is it because of Hunter?”

He glanced at her. “You’re annoying.”

“So I’ve been told. Do I need to ask again?”

“I should hire you to do interrogations. And, yes, some of it is because of Hunter.”

“People die, Jack.”

“I know. I lost my brother when he was still a kid. It changed everything.”

He hadn’t meant to say that, to tell her the truth. But now that he had, he found he didn’t mind her knowing.

“It was like with Hunter,” he said quietly. “He got sick and then he died. We’d been close and it hurt like hell that he was gone.”

The difference was he hadn’t kept his brother from going to the doctor. When Hunter had first noticed the dark spot on his shoulder, Jack had teased him about being a wimp for wanting to get it checked out. So Hunter had waited. What would have happened if the melanoma had been caught before it had spread?

“You didn’t kill Hunter,” Meri told him. “It’s not your fault.”

Jack stood. “I’m done here.”

She moved fast and blocked the door. She was small enough that he could have easily pushed past her, but for some reason he didn’t.

“You didn’t kill him,” she repeated. “I know that’s what you think. I know you feel guilty. So what’s the deal? Are you lost in the past? Are you afraid to fall for someone because you don’t want to lose another person you love? Or do you think you’re cursed or something?”

Both, he thought. And so much more. He wasn’t allowed to love or care. It was the price he had to pay for what he’d done. Or, rather, what he hadn’t done.

“I’m not having this conversation with you,” he said.

“Wanna bet?”

She probably thought she looked tough, but she was small and girlie and he could take her in half a second. Or a nanosecond, to talk like her.

“Get out of my way,” he growled.

She raised her chin. “Make me.”

She was like a kitten spitting at a wolf. Entertaining and with no idea of the danger she was in.

“You don’t scare me,” he told her.

“Right back at you.” Then she smiled. “But you probably want to kiss me now, huh?”

She was impossible. And, damn her, he did want to kiss her. He wanted to do a lot of things to her, some of which, if they stayed out here on the balcony, would violate the town’s decency code.

So instead of acting, he went for the distraction. “Andrew seems nice.”

“Oh, please. You hate him.”

“Hate would require me thinking about him. I don’t.”

“So macho. What was up with the I-know-Meri-better game?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, even though he did. Establishing dominance early on was the best way to win.

“And they say women are complicated,” she murmured.