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“As expected. She was eating out of his hand.”
Elaine’s receptiveness to his flirtation came as no surprise. What Talia couldn’t reconcile was the man she’d been with this morning and the Casanova of last night, who had irritated her no end.
Now, however, it seemed like a caricature, a part overplayed, and which had led to nothing. Because if he had so much as kissed Elaine before she’d arrived at the townhouse, Elaine would have found an opportunity by now to describe it to her with enthusiasm and in minute detail.
No, he hadn’t kissed Elaine. He had wasted the romantic staging in Elaine’s living room and, instead, had kissed her in a parking garage, a setting hardly conducive to romance. He might have been role-playing last night, but there hadn’t been any artifice in his manner this morning. He’d been all too real. Every aspect of him. His anguish. It’s making me crazy. Certainly his desire. I’m damn well going to make it count.
And he had. With fervency and finesse, he had penetrated more than her mouth. He had tapped into a deep-seated loneliness she hadn’t realized was so acute until his own raw need had roused it and caused within her a strong tug of yearning. She could never be alone with him again.
“After today, I won’t have anything to do with him.”
“After today?”
She flinched at the sound of Jasper’s voice and, too late, realized her slip. “Now that I’ve slept on it,” she said. “Until Drex moves out, we’ll keep our distance. Problem solved.”
“Is it? I’m not as ready as you are to dismiss the Key West thing as a coincidence. The way Elaine described his interest, it seemed excessive.”
“Did she pick up on your concern? Can I expect a call from her tomorrow, asking for the lowdown?”
“I told her it was a private and sensitive matter, and asked her never to mention it again. She promis
ed not to.”
Talia groaned.
“What?”
“Elaine loves intrigue. All you’ve done is entice her. She’ll demand the lowdown.”
“If she brings it up, shrug it off. Give her a drink, and tell her I made too much of it.”
“Which you are.”
He looked through the window. No lights were on inside the garage apartment. It was an indistinct dark form among the shadows. “We’ll keep our distance from him,” Jasper said. “If he’s merely the man next door, he’ll get the message and stop making overtures. If he’s more than that, he’ll make a nuisance of himself. That’s when we’ll know.”
“We won’t know.”
“Strongly suspect, then. If he continues to come around, it will confirm my suspicion, and we’ll be forced to take some drastic measures.”
Alarmed, she said, “Like what?”
He patted her hand. “We’ll wait and see. In the meantime, I’ve taken the precaution of changing the alarm code.”
“That’s unnecessary, Jasper. You’re overreacting.”
“Better safe than sorry. The new code is our anniversary date numerically, except backward. Got it?”
“Yes.” She recited the sequence.
“Good. Don’t forget it.” He pushed back his chair and stood. “For now, let’s go to bed.”
“You go. I slept most of the day away. I think I’ll read for a while. Maybe watch a movie.”
“Then I’ll say good night.” He bent down and kissed her cheek, but as he moved away, she reached for his hand.
“Wait. There’s something else. Something you should know.” She wished he weren’t standing over her. Looking up at him at an awkward angle made this all the more difficult. “I have a confession.”
“Regarding Drex?”
