Then I hadn’t heard from him all day, got pushed through to his voicemail, but somehow, he’d managed to find time to go to The Siren and chat it up with my soon-to-be boss. None of it made any sense to me and my addled brain was tired of trying to figure it out.
“It’ll be fine,” I agreed, plastering a smile on my face and hoping it translated to my voice. “Let’s pick a weekend to go dress shopping.”
If anything would make me feel better, it would be seeing Rachel, drinking bottomless complimentary champagne, and trying on beautiful wedding gowns.
The house was filled with the scent of roasted chicken and baby red potatoes by the time Jack got home. I was wearing a short black dress made of a clingy jersey fabric. I liked the way it looked and it brought out my tan. My hair swirled around behind me as I set the table, poured wine, and finished cooking dinner. I glanced up over a pair of tall candles at Jack as he made his way around the corner from the entryway. He did a double take, first checking out my cleavage then the spread on the dining room table, and then back over my curves before his gaze landed on my face.
I smiled. “See something you like?”
He grinned. “I wouldn’t be sure where to start.” He shrugged out of his jacket and I lit the candles. “What’s the occasion? I seem to be asking that a lot lately…”
I sipped my wine. “I got the job at Scoville Properties. I’m going in tomorrow to do the paperwork, and then I’ll officially start next week. The pay is insane and I’ll have full benefits and get this…there’s a company retreat in Tahiti this fall! All expenses paid! I can’t even imagine what that will be like. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, babe!”
Jack smiled but the way his jaw tensed I knew he forced it. My heart sank. Fuck. What now?
I set my wine down a little too hard and some of it sloshed over the rim and onto the eggplant-colored tablecloth. “Damn it.” I scrubbed at the spot with a paper napkin. Thankfully, it was dark-colored linen. But still…
Jack went into the kitchen and I heard running water. He returned to my side and handed me a damp rag. “Here.”
I took it from him and dabbed at the stain. When it was mostly cleaned up, I returned to the sink and rinsed the cloth. “Why aren’t you happy for me, Jack?” I asked, staring down into the sink. I couldn’t look at him.
“Who said I’m not?”
“I can see it in your eyes. I thought we talked about this already.”
“Holly, please don’t do this. Let’s just enjoy this dinner together.”
I whirled around to face him. “No! I want an answer.”
Jack dragged a hand over his face as if the very thought of having the conversation exhausted him. His reaction only infuriated me even more and my hands clenched together. “I’ve just heard some unflattering things about the company. That’s all. I just want to make sure you know who you’re working for.”
I stared at him, shocked by the words coming out of his mouth. “What on earth are you talking about? Noah is a perfectly nice guy and he obviously knows what the hell he’s doing!”
“Noah, huh?” Jack scoffed. “I didn’t know you were on such familiar terms.”
“Oh my God…”
Jack leveled me with a stare but then the edges around his mouth faded. “You know what,” he said, holding up his hands palms facing me. “Forget it. I’m sorry. Congratulations on the job.”
The timer on the stove rang through the kitchen, and I slammed my finger into the button to silence it. “Chicken’s in the oven. Help yourself. I’m going out.”
“Out?”
I threw my hands up in the air. “I can’t do this right now, Jack.”
He snagged my wrist and spun me around. His eyes were wild and searched mine frantically. “I’m only trying to look out for you, Holly. You said you wanted your own business and have busted your ass trying to get it back off the ground. Then some rich guy rides into town and offers you this impossible to turn down opportunity and you just throw away all of your dreams.”
I tugged my arm away from him. “My dreams? I think I threw those away when I agreed to go to Germany with you! And why do you even care that he’s rich? You’ve mentioned it twice, just in the last minute. Who cares what kind of money he has?”
Jack frowned. “Germany? You threw your life away to go to Germany? With me? That’s just great. Fan-fucking-tastic.”
“Jack, I—”
“—and it’s not about what kind of money he has, Holly. It’s about how he makes his money.”
“Uhm, he’s in real estate. He invests in existing properties and flips them or, in this case, builds new properties. He didn’t grow up rich with some silver spoon up his ass, so stop talking about him like he’s some asshole trust fund baby with no fucking clue what the real world is like!”