“Jackson.” She batted her fake eyelashes.
“Mrs. Baker, you’re early … like an hour early.” He shoved the last bite of his toast into his mouth as she wormed her way inside without being invited.
“Oh, am I?” The large-busted woman ran her fake nails through her wiry black hair and smiled, revealing red lipstick smudged along her slightly crooked white teeth.
His lungs begged for air as her toxic perfume diffused into the entryway. “Yes.” He coughed. “It’s only nine.”
“Oh, silly me. I still haven’t changed all my clocks since the time change.”
“I see. Well, I haven’t finished my breakfast and I still need to shower so maybe you could come back—”
“I don’t mind waiting. Just pretend I’m not here.” She adjusted her tight top that seemed to be in a wrestling match with her large breasts.
Jackson rolled his eyes behind her back then grabbed his last piece of toast while she surveyed the room as if she hadn’t seen it numerous times before.
“It’s odd that you don’t have any personal pictures on the wall or fireplace mantel. Don’t you think?”
He didn’t respond. After all, she said to pretend she wasn’t there.
“Did you hear me, Jackson?”
“I did, but I don’t really have an answer for you.”
“Where’s Jillian?”
Jackson paused, mid-gulp of his Redbull. “What did you just say?”
“Your sister. I asked where she is.”
“What does your husband do, Mrs. Baker?”
A nervous smile tugged at her thin lips as she ran her fingers over the top of the piano. “He … he died.”
“Oh? Sorry to hear that. When did he die?”
Fiddling with her earring, she cleared her throat. “Two years ago. It was a heart attack.”
“You haven’t remarried?”
Relief washed over her face when a knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Jackson kept his eyes on her until he opened the front door.
“Ryn.”
She smiled but it quickly faded. “Hey, is everything okay. You look—”
“Everything’s fine.” He grinned, hoping she wouldn’t see through it. “Come in.”
“Thanks, I can’t stay long I have an appointment in forty-five minutes. Oh …” She stopped. “Sorry, I thought your first lesson was at ten.”
“Crazy time change.” Mrs. Baker offered her hand. “Meredith.”
Ryn nodded, shaking her hand. “Ryn.”
“Student? Friend?” Mrs. Baker questioned.
Jackson grabbed Ryn’s arms and pushed her toward the bedroom. “She’s nobody. Have a seat, Mrs. Baker. I’ll be right out.”
Ryn jerked out of his grasp the moment he shut his bedroom door behind them. “Nobody?”
“Shh …” He reached for her but she stepped back.
“Are you screwing her?” She gritted her teeth.
“What? No, God no.” Jackson tried to keep his voice low but still get his point across. “Would you just listen?”
Ryn folded her arms over her chest.
“I don’t trust Mrs. Baker.”
“Mrs. Baker?”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “Meredith.”
“I’m not following.”
“Just … it’s complicated. But if there’s any chance that she’s …” he circled his finger in the cuckoo sign “…then I don’t want her anywhere near you or knowing anything about you.”
“You think she’s stalking you?”
More like spying, he thought. The incredulity in her voice and expression held plenty of merit. It did sound crazy. But crazy was his life.
“At very least she’s been lying to me, and until I figure out why, I can’t trust her.”
“Lying to you about what?”
Jackson sighed. He couldn’t have that conversation with her, but the way she kept a safe distance from him led him to think he couldn’t not have that conversation with her either.
“A couple weeks ago she told me about this great restaurant her husband took her to.”
“So …”
“So, today she told me her husband died two years ago.”
Ryn shrugged. “He probably took her there while he was still alive.”
Jackson rested his hands on his hips and leaned forward. “It was the Mexican restaurant we ate at last week.”
“So … oh shit.”
Jackson nodded.
“That restaurant opened like … two months ago.”
“Exactly.” He gave her a see-I’m-not-paranoid look.
She pursed her lips, brow drawn tight.
“I have to take a quick shower.” He kissed her forehead. “Don’t stress. I’ll handle it.”
Jackson hurried through his shower, mind reeling with the mystery of Mrs. Baker. What he didn’t share with Ryn was Mrs. Baker’s knowledge of Jillian … specifically her name. It’s not that it was a secret, he just instinctually felt protective of her so when students asked about her he simply referred to her as his sister—never Jillian.
“Aren’t you worried about her being out there unsupervised, snooping through your personal stuff?”
Jackson dropped the towel from his waist. Ryn’s gaze slipped straight to his cock then it made a lazy ascent back to his face. She blushed a little at the realization that he’d been watching her ogle him. He loved it.
“Done, hot pants?”
“Shut up.” She moved to the window, finding a sudden fascination in the dirty pond out back. “Did you hear what I said about her going through your stuff?”
He pulled on his briefs and his jeans. “I did. She’s not going to find anything.” His phone and computer were in the bedroom. The Knights didn’t exist beyond their address and a few online utility bills. There was nothing for Mrs. Baker to find, which made her presence in his life that much more disturbing.