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She opened the door to find Jared standing there. He hadn’t changed, but then he’d looked good before.
His eyes slid over her body. She fought the urge to suck in her stomach or fiddle with her hair. She heard her cell phone ringing in the background.
“Go ahead and get that. I’ll wait here,” he suggested.
“Come in,” she said, stepping back so he could enter. She hurried to the counter where she’d left her cell phone.
“Hello, Mom.”
“Hey, sweetie, where did you disappear to?”
“I wanted to get a look at the photos I took today and that party really isn’t my scene,” she replied. She didn’t want a bunch of questions, especially in front of Jared. Her family would be like Dave, warning her about dating another man in the racing world. Especially one they didn’t know. She appreciated that they were protective of her, but at the same time she wanted to just be a girl going out with a boy. Not a Jenner going out with the team owner of a rival race car.
“We’re all heading over to Uncle Steve’s place. Do you want to join us?”
“Umm…not tonight. Tell everyone I said hello,” she said, hanging up with her mother.
Jared had come into the main room of the condo and stood on the threshold of the kitchen, staring at the images on her computer screen.
“You’re good at what you do,” he said.
“Thanks. Sorry about the call.”
“No problem. I have to take calls all the time.”
She’d bet his calls were about business, not from overprotective relatives. “Does your mom phone you all the time, too? It’s like she still thinks I’m twelve.”
He shook his head. “My mom’s deceased.”
Great, Annie. Nice way to start the date. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t know. And it’s been a long time.”
“Were you close?”
“Yes, we were. I’m an only child so my parents doted on me.”
“Ah, so you were the typical spoiled only child?” she asked, wanting to know more about him. Maybe the appeal of Jared was that she knew so little of him.
“Not typical,” he said. “What about you? Spoiled princess or tom girl?”
“A bit of both actually. When Dave and I were little we’d tag around after my dad when he was in the garage before races. But at home I was definitely a princess. My family can still be kind of protective.”
She led the way to the front door and locked up when they were both outside. Her condo was on the ground floor and the smell of hibiscus filled the air.
“I think I like that about them,” he said.
He put his hand on the small of her back and directed her toward the parking area. The night breeze was cool and she was glad she had on her leather coat.
“You wouldn’t if you were the one being protected.”
“I don’t know about that. I’ve never had anyone try to protect me.”
She tipped her head to the side, stared up at his profile and realized just how much he’d revealed to her. “Not even your parents?”
“They did hire a bodyguard for me when I was seven,” he said.
The comment was so off-handed that she knew there had to be more to the story. “Why a bodyguard?”
“My father had annoyed some people and they threatened me.”
She knew so little about Jared. “Who is your father?”
“Benjamin MacNeil,” he said. “Captain of industry and CEO of one of the largest banks in the world. My father had been born into money and then proceeded to make more of it before his death. My mother had been an actress/model from another wealthy family.”
She couldn’t imagine what it had been like growing up in the MacNeil family. But she was curious. Her family had money and were well-connected, but they’d never traveled in the kind of circles the MacNeils had.
“My car’s over there,” he said, pointing to a silver Aston Martin. Everyone she knew drove American cars. Her brother was a Chevy driver, so they all drove Chevys except for her dad, who’d driven a Buick back in his racing days and still had one in his garage.
“You’ve got to take a lot of flack for this car.”
“It’s worth it. Drives like a dream.”
He opened the door for her and seated her in the car, then walked around to slide inside. The smell of his aftershave lingered in the air. She glanced over at him and felt the weight of his stare on her.
Their eyes met and held. She tried to tell herself this was just a dinner date, one like every other one she’d been on before, but there was something different about Jared. Something that made her wish…that she still believed in fairy-tale love and happily-ever-after because he definitely looked and acted like Prince Charming.
