Middle of Knight (Jack & Jill 2)

“And the fucking poison stole her hair and eventually her life.”

“Yeah, that.” She frowned.

After a long pull of his beer, he sighed. “I was thirty-one when we met. She was my student when I taught an intro to business class at a community college.”

“Sounds scandalous.”

Drew chuckled. “Her parents were not happy. At our wedding when the minister asked who gives this woman, her dad just grunted.”

“No!”

“I’m serious. We were married five years before he stopped scowling at me.”

“That’s just it. I can’t imagine dating someone significantly younger than me. Not to be sexist, but I think older women dating younger men get more scowls than the other way around. Obviously your in-laws weren’t this way, but most people don’t think much of the older-man-younger-woman relationship these days.”

“So how young are we talking?” Drew asked.

Ryn smiled while taking a sip of her iced tea. “I don’t know. Thirty-ish? But I could be off and I don’t think in my direction. With my luck he’s in his mid-twenties and the perfect guy for Maddie.” She waved a dismissive hand. “It doesn’t matter. He’s celibate.” She laughed. “Of course I have been lately too.”

“When I turned forty my wife swore I had a midlife crisis. I swore forty was too young to be considered ‘midlife.’ We’d been trying to get pregnant but it just never happened. So I told her to quit her job—she was an accountant and hated it anyway—and we traveled the world for two years living like gypsies. We left our naked ass prints on many beaches.” Drew wiggled his brows.

Ryn laughed.

“We would have stayed longer, but that’s when they discovered her cancer. We were in France. I berated myself for being so reckless. Had we just stayed home, maybe they would have found it sooner. But she refused to regret any of it. She said my midlife crisis was the best two years of her life. She said she’d never felt so alive and we all deserve to feel that way at least once. After all, why the hell else are we here?”

Ryn loved that story. But what she loved the most was how many times Drew had told it to her. Each time it felt like the first, and each time he came up with a new moral.

“So you think I should leave my ass print on the beach.” She said that every time too, but it was never the moral.

“Exactly.”

Ryn gasped. “Seriously?”

Drew smiled and nodded, looking off into the sunset while sipping his beer. “Rob the cradle, have sex on the beach, and fucking embrace your forties. You’re at your prime, Ryn. What do you have to lose at this point?”

A lot, starting with her dignity and her mind. Maybe he made a valid point. There was just one problem. The cradle she wanted to rob had a warning sign that said “celibate.”

Chapter Five

“Your favorite neighbor just pulled in his garage,” Jackson announced as he came in the back door, dripping with sweat.

Jillian didn’t care, at least that’s what she told herself every morning to muster the strength to get out of bed.

“No response?” He plopped down in the chair next to hers. “Good. Let’s talk about me then.”

His mouth held a pleasant smile, one that said he had a secret ready to burst from his lips. He marked time much better than she did, going through the motion of each day like a good soldier. But it had been a while since she’d seen him look happy.

“Let’s.” She found her own smile. It was his moment.

“I know I was a little pissed about you telling Ryn that I’d taken a vow of celibacy … which I did not do.”

“You had sex.”

“I did not.” His grin held firm. “But I think I should now. I think I’m ready.”

“I agree. You should, but not with Ryn.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because she works for us.” Jillian drummed her fingers on the table. A tight grin pulled her lips into a firm line.

“She works for you. Technically, I think you hired her.”

Jillian shook her head. “She’s probably married with kids. Don’t be a home wrecker … that has never been your thing, so don’t start now.”

“She’s not married. I asked.”

“Are you going to marry her?”

“What does that matter?”

“Because this house has never looked so clean and unless you marry her it will eventually end with her quitting because of you. And … she’ll probably quit working for AJ too, just so she doesn’t have to be in the same neighborhood as you.”

“You’re full of shit. Look at yourself. You’re a walking disaster. I had to pick up your room before Ryn came just so she could find the floor to vacuum it. You’ve been a slob your entire life. And a certain doctor that I shall not name … he knew it too, and it drove him crazy, and you know I’m right. I know for a fact you thrive in disorder. So either you intended Ryn to be a gift for me or you’re using her to worm your way back onto AJ’s good side. And just to be clear … I’m not sure he has one.”