He should at least be grateful she'd let him touch her again. Shouldn't he? And how pathetic did that sound?
"Fuck." Scrubbing a hand over his face, he hoped he could come up with a way to break down Lys's walls before he went completely insane.
She'd always driven him crazy. First, when he didn't have a clue how to turn their work relationship into an everyday friendship, and then when he'd achieved that, how to take it to the next level, how to get closer. Now, he had married the woman and he still didn't believe he'd gotten any closer to her than he'd been all those months ago when they started having sex.
Dragging both hands up and down his face, he tried to stop the spiral of confusion twisting his brain. He needed to clear his head.
He'd go for a run except doing that would depress him since his running partner had quit on him. He'd spent the last three months only working out in the gym because Lys had stopped training with him the day Penny showed up. She could be running without him. How would he know? He was beginning to wonder if he knew anything at all about Alyssa Drummond.
Motherfucker.
There he went again, driving himself crazy—or letting her drive him crazy. Heknewshe no longer ran because the first time he'd gone to her house after Penny arrived, Lys had told him she couldn't take the time away from her sister.
Throwing back the covers, Jack bounded out of bed with more enthusiasm than he actually felt in the hope of convincing himself everything was fine and headed for the shower. He'd clean up seeing how his wife hadn't let him do it with her before she'd left for work.
After the first morning when Lys had let him take care of her, he'd hoped she'd keep letting him. Nope, this morning she'd locked him out of their bathroom telling him he was a distraction she couldn't deal with. Plus being late for work—again—wasn't an option.
Jack had just turned the water on when his phone rang. He debated letting it go to voicemail but in the end, worried something might have happened to Alyssa, he raced into the bedroom and snatched it off the nightstand before it switched over.
"Yeah?" he barked, fear and urgency clear in his voice.
"Hey. You okay?"
"Maryn?" He breathed easy. It wasn't Lys.
"Yeah, sorry, I know it's early, but this couldn't wait."
"What's up?"
"I've got paperwork I need you to sign. Any chance you can fly to Vegas for the day?" Maryn asked.
Shit!He wasn't in the mood to deal with anything except the situation with Alyssa. Unfortunately, he didn't just have a punch-in, punch-out job at Townsend. Today might be his day off but he'd learned over the years that being CEO and Chairman of the board didn't really have set working hours.
Besides, Lys was at work for the next twenty-four hours; he couldn't talk to her even though she was just across town. And maybe some time away from Sunnyville—and Lys—would clear his head and give him a new direction to take in his efforts to win over his wife.
He didn't need to worry about Penny; she had school and Roark had her covered during those hours. He could fly to Vegas and back between the beginning and end of her school day, which would mean he could still spend time with her later like he'd planned. Sucking in a deep breath, he let it out slowly.
"Do I need to come to the office, or can you meet me at the airport?" He hoped for the latter; it would make his trip that much shorter.
"I can meet you. It'll be good to get out of the office for a few hours. The barracuda has decided to actually work for that salary she receives."
"What the hell is she doing? She doesn't even have a job title, never mind an actual job to do." Damn Emmaline. And damn his father for not firing her when he'd left the woman. She'd been making Jack's life hell for twenty years and he'd had it. First thing, once he sorted out his marriage, he'd find a way to remove his stepmother from the Townsend Group.
"Well, her assistant does work for the foundation when not required by the barracuda to pick up her dry cleaning." Maryn laughed. "I think Dana has her drumming up donations for the auction next month."
"At least the items won't be shit." One thing about Emmaline Townsend, appearance mattered; she was all about looks and how people perceived the family she'd married into, and she'd take it as a personal slight if any of the auction items were below her standards. "Everything else okay?"
"Don't you think one of your boys would tell you if it wasn't?" she asked.
"Roark's here."
"I know. But don't for one second think that man doesn't knoweverythingthat goes on within these hallowed halls. How's it going up there anyway? Have you told Alyssa yet?"
"No."
"Jesus, Jack, I love you but you're a dickhead."
"Gee, thanks."
