“Ken and Victoria want her here.” Jared took a breath. If he was the reason she left, everyone would be angry at him. “When is she planning to leave?”
“I heard her father—the man who made you what you are, I might add—ask her to give him twenty-four hours to change things. Did he mention that time allotment to you?”
“No, he didn’t. At least I don’t think he did, but then he yelled a lot. It was hard to keep up with every word.”
“Good man. Protective of his child. It looks like Kenneth’s leaving it up to you to figure out something to do to make her stay. If she weren’t his daughter, what would you do to keep her here?”
“Go upstairs and get in bed with her.”
Caleb grimaced. “In this case, that’s not an option.”
“When it comes to women, I’m better in bed than out of it,” Jared said in a matter-of-fact way.
“There must be something you know how to give to women outside of bed.”
“You’re talking about your old-fashioned ideas of courting, aren’t you? And when have I had time for that? I’ve worked seven days a week since I was a teenager. I only stopped to be with Aunt Addy. As for gifts, my assistant took care of that, usually from Tiffany’s. Maybe—”
“No jewelry.”
Jared stood there in silence, thinking, but he came up with nothing.
“How did a descendant of mine get so smart yet so dumb?” Caleb asked in disbelief.
“Maybe we better not talk about stupid acts of the Kingsley men.
Tell me again what happened to your ship that was so horrible that you aren’t allowed to leave this earth?”
Caleb glowered, then shook his head and smiled. “All right, we’re equally befuddled when it comes to women. However, I’m trying to teach you what I’ve learned in my lifetime.”
“Which spans a few years.”
“More than a few of them. How about flowers?” Caleb asked.
“Okay, so tomorrow morning I go buy her a bunch of flowers. That’s easy.”
“In my experience, ‘easy’ doesn’t win a woman. They like men to climb mountains for them.”
“Right. And get the single, rare blossom on the top. Of course nowadays we know doing that will wipe out an entire species.”
Caleb grimaced. “And you wonder why women don’t hang around you.”
“For your information—”
“I know,” Caleb said, “you leave them, they don’t leave you. I think she should wake up to find flowers.”
“Where would I get them? It’s too early in the season to pick them in the garden. Think I should break into a florist shop?” He was trying to add some humor to the whole thing, but Caleb wasn’t smiling.
“It wouldn’t be the first time you’d done something like that,” Caleb said.
“No, but it’s been a while.”
“If only we knew someone who grew flowers even when it’s cold outside.”
Jared blinked at Caleb as understanding came to him. “No,” he said, then stood up. “No, no, no. I won’t do it.”
“But—”
“I’m not going to. Lexie will give me hell and I don’t want to hear it. I’ve had enough of being yelled at today.” Jared left the room and went to the back door in the kitchen.