He looked at her with eyes that seemed to spark flames. “Now Ken’s the reason I keep my hands off her.”
“Oh, my,” Lexie said, leaning back in her chair. “You haven’t fallen in … you know, with her … have you?”
“I’ve known her for less than a week,” Jared said, frowning.
Lexie sipped her coffee and watched her cousin, fully aware that he’d not answered her question. Dilys said that Jared had never recovered from his father’s premature death. Lexie had been told how Jared and his mother had both nearly lost their minds when Six died. Jared had been angry at the world, while his mother had sunk into a depression that no counseling or pills could get her out of.
Then Ken Madsen had shown up and given the boy an outlet for his rage. But nothing and no one had been able to revive Jared’s mother. She’d died soon after her son graduated from high school.
Since then, Jared had been the family loner, living in two worlds, even using a different name off-island.
“And you’re doing all this out of respect for Ken?” Lexie asked.
“I owe him, don’t you think?”
“We all do,” Lexie said, smiling at her cousin. She and Toby weren’t the only people Jared had helped. He’d given friends and relatives jobs, had subsidized the mortgages of two destitute cousins, and he’d stayed with Aunt Addy at the end of her life. “So when are you going to tell Alix the truth about you and her father?”
“I’m not,” he said. “It’s not my place to tell her. Besides, she just found out that Victoria comes here every year.”
“She didn’t even know that?”
Jared shook his head.
Lexie got up to get the coffeepot. “Did you tell her about Victoria?”
“No.” Jared grinned. “She saw the bedroom, called it the Emerald City, and she knew it was her mother’s.”
Lexie laughed as she refilled their cups and sat back down. “I think you need to protect yourself here. When—not if—Alix finds out the truth about her father and you, she won’t be happy that you kept such a big secret from her.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jared said. “I’ll call Ken and say I want permission to tell his daughter about his visiting here because I’m so hot for her that my fingertips ache. That when she leans over me to look at a drawing her breath smells so good I want to swallow her whole. The way her body moves inside her clothes makes me sweat.” He looked at his cousin across the table. “You think if I tell Ken that truth he’ll give me his blessing?”
Lexie could only blink at him.
“Is there any more toast?” Jared asked. “Toby’s jam is great. Alix will like it.”
Lexie took a few breaths to recover herself, then got up to get the bread. “I think …”
“I’m open to suggestions,” he said.
“You didn’t actually promise Ken to keep your hands off her, did you?”
“I did.”
“Oh, my goodness. You have to get him to come here so he can tell Alix the truth. Then you’ll be released from your promise.”
“That should go over well,” Jared said. “Ken shows up and I immediately carry his daughter off to bed.”
Lexie thought for a moment. “The question is, how does Alix feel about you?”
Jared grimaced. “I’m her teacher. Although she doesn’t listen to me much. You want to hear what she’s doing?”
“Sure.” Lexie didn’t let him see her surprise. She’d never heard her cousin talk about any of the women he dated, but then he didn’t stay with them long enough to even remember their names. He had never brought one of them home to Nantucket, never introduced one to the family.
“While I was out on my boat, she and Izzy broke into my office.”
“The one you never let anyone into?”
“That’s the one.” He looked up as his grandfather appeared behind Lexie.