It was time for Sassy Jaci, she thought. She needed to throw politeness out the window, so she nailed Leroy with a piercing look. “Why the interest in me? And if you have to color outside the lines, there are hundreds of gorgeous, unattached girls, interested girls, out there you can dally with.”
“My pursuit of you annoys Ryan and that puts him off guard. I like him off guard. But I do find you attractive and taking you from Ryan would be an added bonus.” After a minute, he finally spoke again. “I like to have control in a relationship, whether that’s business or personal.”
That made complete sense, Jaci thought. “And Ryan won’t be controlled.”
“He will if he wants my money.” Leroy’s smile was as malicious as a snakebite. He lifted his hand and the tip of his index finger touched her bare shoulder and drifted down the inside of her arm. “He’ll toe the line. They always do. Everyone has their price.”
“I don’t. Neither does Ryan.”
“Everyone does. You just don’t know what it is yet and neither do I.”
There was a relentless determination in his eyes that made her think he was being deadly serious.
“This conversation has become far too intense,” Leroy calmly stated. “You do intrigue me... You’re very different from what I am used to, from the women I usually meet.”
“Because I’m not rich, or plastic, or crazy?” Jaci demanded.
Leroy’s laugh sounded like sandpaper on glass and it was as creepy as his smile. “At first, perhaps. But mostly you fascinate me because Ryan is fascinated by you. I want to know why.”
There was that one-upmanship again, Jaci thought. What was with this guy and his need to feel superior to Ryan? The chip on his shoulder was the size of a redwood tree. Didn’t he realize that few men could compete with Ryan? Ryan was a natural leader, utterly and completely masculine, and one of his most attractive traits was the fact that he didn’t care what people thought about him.
Leroy had a better chance of corralling the wind than he did of controlling Ryan. Why couldn’t he see that? Couldn’t he see Ryan was never going to kowtow to him, that he would never buckle?
Ryan marched to the beat of his own drum.
“Everything okay here?”
Jaci whirled around at Ryan’s voice and reached for the glass of wine she’d ordered. Taking a big sip, she looked at him over her glass, her expression confused and uneasy.
“Everything is fine,” Leroy said.
Ryan ignored him and kept his eyes on Jaci’s face. “Jace?”
Jaci drank in his strong, steady presence and nodded. He held her stare for a while longer and eventually his expression cleared. He finally handed over Leroy’s glass into his waiting hand, accompanied by a hard stare. Ryan wasn’t a fool. He knew that words had been exchanged and Jaci knew that he’d demand to know what they’d discussed. How serious was Leroy’s need to control Ryan? Jaci wasn’t as smart about these things as her siblings were, but with her career and Ryan’s film on the line, she couldn’t afford to shove her head in the sand and play ostrich.
The lights flickered and Ryan placed his hand on her lower back. “Time to head back in,” he said.
As Ryan led her back to their seats, Jaci thought that they had to manage the situation and, right now, she was the only pawn on the chessboard. If she removed herself, Ryan and Leroy wouldn’t have anything to tussle over. But they couldn’t admit to their lie about being a couple; that would have disastrous consequences. But what if they upped the stakes, what if they showed Leroy that she was, in no uncertain terms, off-limits forever? Right now, as Ryan’s girlfriend, there was room for doubt... Maybe they should remove all doubt.
Not giving herself time to talk herself out of the crazy idea that popped into her head, she stopped to allow an older couple to walk into the theater in front of her and slipped her hand into Ryan’s, resting her head on his shoulder. She sent Leroy a cool smile. “There is one other thing your PI didn’t dig up, Leroy.”
Ryan’s body tensed. “PI? What PI?”
Jaci ignored him and kept her eyes on Leroy’s face. She watched as his eyebrows lifted, those eyes narrowed in focus. “And what might that be?”
Here goes, Jaci thought. In for a penny and all that, upping the stakes, throwing the curveball. “He wouldn’t know that Ryan and I are deeply in love and that we are talking about marriage.” She tossed Ryan an arch look. “I expect to be engaged really soon and I can’t wait to wear Ryan’s ring.”