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“I know. You answer you don’t know to every question I ask you about Jack. What is he hiding?”
I sigh. Isla is super dramatic. She sees mystery where’s none. “This may come as a surprise to you, but there are actually people who keep their lives private.”
“Let me ask you this,” she says. “Has he ever taken you to his place?”
“It has only been a short time, Isla,” I tell her, a defensive tone creeping into my voice.
“Be careful, is what I’m saying,” she says. “You’re so trusting, Grace.”
“Relax,” I tell her. “You’re always saying I need to have more fun, and now that I’m doing it, you sound like my mother.”
She laughs. “Okay, I’ll stop.”
“Let’s talk about Mark. How is that going?”
Isla sighs dramatically. “Still dragging his feet. We can’t date forever. We need to take a step forward. Mark doesn’t seem to realize that.”
“You need a ring.” My tone is blunt.
“Yes.”
“You should talk about it with him,” I suggest. It’s not the first time that I’ve suggested that she prods him in the right direction. There are some guys who are just clueless. I wait for her indignation, and she doesn’t disappoint.
“I can’t do that,” she exclaims. “He’ll think I’m desperate.”
“I think you’re becoming desperate,” I point out.
She giggles. “You’re the only one who can get away with saying something like that.”
We chat and giggle a little longer. By the time we say goodbye, I’m yawning with exhaustion, but I coax myself to the bathroom for a quick shower.
Afterward, I slip into bed, but sleep doesn’t come easily. All I can think about is Jack. In a short time, he has become a part of me, and I can’t imagine not continuing with what we have. I’m not ready to define it yet, but I’m loving it. Something special is brewing between us, and I’m more excited than I’ve ever been about a relationship.
Chapter 8
Jack
I glance at the wall clock in the library. Six-thirty. Almost time. I’ve been up since five to study the manuscript of my next movie, Protecting Home. It’s a story of a wildfire that engulfed a town and killed ten firefighters from that town. I’m playing the role of Damon Knight, the lead role and one of the few firefighters who survive.
My concentration is messed up this morning. My mind keeps straying to Grace and the day we spent together yesterday. The whole day plays like a movie in my head from the moment we woke up, had breakfast, and then she got the call.
Knowing Grace has been like peeling the layers of an onion. I’m not even quarter way yet, and usually, by this point, I’ve had enough, or I’m running scared. With Grace, the usual worries I have of a woman running to the tabloids to sell her story don’t apply. Grace would never do something like that. It wouldn’t ever cross her mind. I would bet my right hand on her. That’s how much I’m sure that she’s a genuine, caring human being.
The plan had been to have uncomplicated fun for these three weeks and part ways without her ever knowing who I am. The problem is that Grace had touched a part of my heart that has never been touched before. I won’t be ready to part ways with her when my time at the fire station is up.
I want Grace in my life.
I finally get to the root of what is bothering me. Whether or not to tell her who I really am. The thought of it makes my heartbeat race to near explosion. What if she changes and joins the list of people who have disappointed me over the years?
I can’t make a decision now. Not yet. I close my manuscript and store it in my desk drawer. I head back upstairs to get ready for work, take a quick shower, and head back downstairs.
By then, it’s seven and my housekeeper, Maria, is already in. She and her husband Carlos live in the compound. Carlos does the gardening and keeps the cars clean while she does the cooking. I have a cleaning company that comes in every other day to clean up.
“Good morning, Kyle,” she says cheerfully.
“Morning, Maria. Can I have coffee to go, and please make it two.”
She shoots me an amused look. “Very good. I hope she’s a good person.”
Maria has been my employee for more than a decade. I’ve seen her and Carlos raise their two boys, see them off to college and start working. We have a relationship that goes beyond employer and employee. We’re friends who care about each other’s welfare. It’s the same with Carlos, although he’s a little reserved. I trust them implicitly. They are protective over me, but that’s because of the stories that women I’ve dated have sold to the press. The tantalizing lure of quick, easy money is not something a lot of people can resist.
