Page 26 of One Texas Night...
Of all men, why was she attracted to Jared?
When she rejoined her dad in the kitchen, he waved his hand. “Why don’t you spend the night here? You can go to Jared’s in the morning.”
Smiling at him, she sat beside him. “I’ll do that,” she said, knowing it would please her dad, who no doubt was lonesome.
She didn’t acknowledge her other reason for staying: she wouldn’t have to see Jared tonight.
Not seeing him didn’t mean, however, not thinking about him. She spent a restless night in her old bedroom, plagued by images of him in Dawn’s arms.
In the morning she took her time leaving her father’s house, in hopes that Jared would have already left for his office. She waited until almost nine o’clock to kiss her dad farewell.
She drove to Jared’s house. To her surprise, his black low-slung sports car was in the rear driveway. She hoped Marline and others on his staff were present. She didn’t care to deal with Jared right now. She didn’t want to hear him tell her Dawn was definitely out of his life. Dawn had not gotten the message. Allison didn’t want to think about his kisses, either.
She knew she had to interact with him at some point in order to return to Houston and finish her task. But later was better than sooner in this case.
Steeling herself with a deep breath, she went to the back door and knocked. In seconds the door swung open, and she faced Jared....
And, like a billowing curtain, her resolve went out the window.
Six
“Good morning. I’m glad you’re back.” Jared smiled, and she felt warmth settle on every inch of her, like honey oozing on bread.
All the coolness she’d mustered toward him dissipated in one single heartbeat. She drew a deep breath, passing him while he held the door, and caught a whiff of his masculine aftershave. He wore a tan Western shirt, jeans and boots.
Closing the door, he caught up with her, his fingers closing lightly on her arm as he turned her to face him. “I called you last night, and I sent you text messages.”
“We had company when I visited with my dad. I stayed at his house all night.” She forced herself to step out of his grasp. “Dawn came by here yesterday,” she said, aiming for light and casual and missing the mark. She compounded it by gazing into his eyes. His sinfully appealing green eyes. “I—I think she left afterward for your office.”
“She did. Allison, it is over between us. She was probably bored and couldn’t think what else to do while she’s in Dallas. She’ll be in a show here that’ll run for about two weeks. She means nothing to me. I seriously doubt if I mean anything to her.”
“It doesn’t matter, Jared. It was just a reminder that you and I have different values, different lives,” she said, feeling only a degree better.
“I don’t think we have such glaring differences. Dawn shouldn’t make any ripples between us, because she’s out of my life.”
“She hasn’t gotten that message, Jared.”
“She knows it full well, but if I talk to her again, I’ll remind her.” He closed the space between them and took her arm again. “In the meantime, let’s forget Dawn.”
“Consider it done.” Regardless, she had to get out of this house. Get away from Jared as soon as possible. “How soon do we leave for Houston? I’d like to get back to work.”
He stood looking at her, and she wondered what he was thinking. In spite of her determination to keep him at arm’s length, right now her heart beat faster, and she was intensely aware of his hand lightly on her arm, his steady gaze holding hers.
“I’ll talk to the pilot.” Jared walked away. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket to confer with him. “We take off in less than an hour,” he told her a moment later. “We can leave now for the airport.”
“Fine. I’m ready to go.”
It took her no time at all to grab her things, and within minutes, they were on their way. The ride to the airport was quiet. It wasn’t until they were airborne that they started to talk. Jared shifted in his seat to look at her and asked, “How’s your dad?”
“He’s fine. He told Sloan that I was in Dallas. Sloan came by after work to see us. He stops by a lot to check on Dad.”
“Sloan called me. Again. I saw him at breakfast club yesterday morning, and I didn’t tell him you were working in Dallas. He thought you were still in Houston. He was less than happy with me for not mentioning it. I think I made it clear to him that there is nothing between us, and this job will be over very soon. I told him that you’re busy, and we haven’t seen each other much.”
Allison merely nodded.
“What did your dad think about the items in the mansion?”
“He’s extremely pleased,” she replied, relieved to get back to business. “He thinks you’ve inherited beautiful and valuable antiques, and we’ll be able to have a successful sale.”
