Still, his claim from earlier echoed in my brain."I could've fucked you in the car."
How humiliating was that?It didn't help that it was true.
Evenmorehumiliating, I still wanted him, even now. And yes, weweresitting in a car.
I gave the back seat a quick glance, enjoying the mental image that popped into my head just before I gave myself a mental slap.
Forget the car.We had not just one, but two, perfectly good hotel rooms waiting and ready.
Good grief.
Maybe Iwasa starfucker, chasing after someone forwhathe was, notwhohe was. It was a sobering thought and scarily appropriate, considering that I knew very little about Jack Ward – meaning the guy, not the author.
And yet I'd been embarrassingly eager to jump into his arms – or worse, his back seat – just because he'd expressed a smidgen of interest.
That wasn't me.And, in spite of my eagerness, I realized just how foolish I'd been.
After a long moment, I said what needed saying. "All right. Here's my favor." I bit my lip. "But it's a toughie."
His gaze met mine. "I think I can handle it."
Oh, God.Even now, he looked so annoyingly sexy that for the briefest instant, I almost blurted out myoriginalfavor – which involved a whole lot of nakedness regardless of the location.
But instead, I stiffened my resolve and said the thing I'd been dreading. "I think we should pretend that today didn't happen."
I braced myself, wondering what he'd say.Would he be angry? Upset? Disappointed at all?
Apparently not.
With a shrug, he replied, "Done."
I should've been relieved. But stupidly I wasn't. "Don't you want to know why?"
"Hey, it'syourfavor. You don't need to explain."
Oh, but I did."It's just that, well, it seems like we went from zero to sixty in just a few hours, and–"
"It's all right," he said. "Like I said, you don't owe me an explanation." And with that, he turned away, fired up the engine, and backed out of the lot.
As I'd done so many times before, I studied his face in profile, wondering what exactly was going through his head.
I didn't bother asking.And why?It was because I fully realized it would be for nothing. He was Jack Ward, the king of non-answers.
When his profile offered zero clues, I finally turned and slumped deeper in the seat.
Who knows? Maybe he was glad that I'd come to my senses.
As for myself, I felt oddly unsatisfied, especially when it became painfully clear that he still expected me to live up tomyend of the bargain.
Chapter 47
Jack
She was a bullet to my heart, and I should've been relieved. Dodging the bullet had been easy, thanks to her sudden bout of sanity. But forgetting the taste of her lips and what might've been – nowthatwas hard.
It didn't get any easier over the next few weeks as we both pretended that nothing had happened between us.
She was a good employee, and I was a decent boss.