She sat next to him on the couch. He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her closer to his side. The silence built between them as he continued to sip his drink. But she knew he wasn’t relaxing. If anything he kept getting more tense. She knew he was going over the entire situation in his head.
“Other than Dave’s team who else does Tucker think could do it?”
“No one. He’s pretty focused on Dave and I can’t say I blame him.”
“I can,” she said. No matter the rivalry between them, she couldn’t see her brother tampering with another driver’s car. It went totally against everything that Dave stood for.
“Of course, you can. Dave’s your brother.”
“And Tucker’s your best friend,” she said. “I don’t think either of us is objective where they are concerned.”
“True. But the two of them have been going at it since February and it’s logical to look to each other’s camps when something like this happens.”
“Did he suspect me?” she asked.
Jared leaned his head against the back of the leather sofa and closed his eyes. She knew the answer before he uttered it out loud.
“Yes, he did.”
“What reasons did he use? Just the fact that I was related to Dave?”
Jared turned his head without lifting it. “No, the fact that you’d stayed out of his garage today.”
“But I’ve been staying away for weeks. I only did that because I know his team now and they talk to me because I’m your girlfriend. I didn’t want to accidentally let something slip to Dave like I did to you a few weeks ago.”
He lifted his free hand and caught one of her curls around his finger. “That’s what I figured.”
“And he listened to you?”
“After a fashion.”
“Maybe you can get him to stop suspecting Dave. I’m sure my brother?”
“That’d be impossible. Someone is going to have to find concrete proof that Dave had no knowledge of what happened for Tucker to even come close to believing it.”
“That’s ridiculous. Everyone knows that Dave’s a Jenner and we don’t cheat. You know if Tucker wasn’t such a maverick, he wouldn’t have this problem.”
She knew her words weren’t fair but she didn’t like the tone of accusation in Jared’s voice. It was like he believed Dave might have had something to do with Tucker’s problems.
“You know when you accuse Tucker of being a rebel you’re condemning his entire team.”
“So? You just did the same thing with me and Dave.”
“Are you saying you think I’m a wild card, too?”
“I think you don’t care what Tucker does as long as he wins and gets you owner points and makes you more money.”
Jared sat up, drawing his arm from behind her back. “Don’t hold back, Annie, tell me what’s really on your mind.”
“You’re accusing the Jenner Racing team of spying and sabotage. That’s something we would never do.”
“And I guess now I know where you fall in all of this. Somehow I thought you’d see it differently.”
She shook her head, shades of Malcolm coloring this entire situation. Was she supposed to look the other way and keep her mouth shut so that their relationship could continue? She couldn’t do it. Couldn’t pretend not to see the obstacles in their path.
“Why? Because we’re sleeping together?”
“No. I’d think you’d be the first to defend Tucker because you know how it feels to be accused of something you didn’t do.”
She blanched. She did know exactly what that felt like. Clearly she recalled that moment when Jared had accused her of sabotaging Tucker’s car, which should have warned her where he’d fall in any kind of conflict. “That was a totally different situation.”
“Why? Because you’re a Jenner and above reproach?” he asked, pushing to his feet. He stood there towering over her.
She shook her head. She should have expected this to happen sooner or later. She was grateful that it had happened now before she’d made a deeper commitment to Jared. Yeah, right, she thought, as if she could get any more deeply committed to this man than she already was.
“Somehow I knew this was going to come back to my family.”
“It’s hard to separate you from your family,” he said. “Especially since they are always in my face.”
“What are you saying?”
He shrugged at her.
“I knew that you didn’t really trust me and this proves it.”
Jared shook his head. “All this proves is that you’d choose blind loyalty to your family over anyone else.”