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“You know why I can’t.” The only thing that softened the blow of his words was the regret I heard in his voice.
“I know why you say we can’t, but I don’t agree.” Of course, I knew that Jasper would always be a problem between us, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. “Jasper is my brother, not my father. Not my keeper. Or yours, last time I checked.”
He sighed and stood, putting a little distance between us. “Kat,” he groaned, slightly annoyed. “You know this is bad.”
I held up my hands and shook my head. “Don’t worry about it, Ter. Jasper is a good excuse. I get it.”
It stung but I refused to show him just how much.
Our little exchange proved I was right to keep an emotional distance from him. He was feeding me bullshit. I saw it coming a mile down the road. No way, Mr. Manning, will I let my guard down only for you to crush every good feeling I have. I’ll keep things as they are, friends with benefits. That’s all. Nothing would make me change my mind.
“I have some calls to make.” I picked up my cell phone and stared at Terry until he took the hint and gave me some space. For some reason, I flashed on Vanessa and her love for her late husband. But that train of thought would do me no good.
I’ll never have what she and Lance had, certainly not with Terry since he was using my brother as an excuse to keep me at arm’s length.
My first call was to my investigator since Molly had held firm on her decision not to return to Glitz with me or reach out to her sister. She was determined that Mueller was more powerful than he was, and I understood that from her perspective. How would I explain that to Madison, though? Until I figured this out, I needed Rusty to keep an eye on Molly. Make sure she was safe until Mueller was no longer a problem.
Before I could make any more calls, my office and cell phone lit up like a switchboard.
“As soon as I know, you’ll have answers,” I assured one of Sadie’s associates who’d lost six figures on the fight. “Yes, that’s straight from Sadie.”
“You should speak with Jasper about that,” I told another who wanted to know why he still hadn’t been paid for his winning bet.
“I called you, sweetheart.”
“The name is Kat, not sweetheart, Dale. And Jasper can give you a concrete answer, whereas I cannot.”
Sometimes I hated dealing with those douchebags, but they made up a good chunk of Ashby money because they were big time gamblers who couldn’t pick a winner if their lives depended on it. But in their minds, they were winners.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened, over dinner?”
I rolled my eyes and had to suppress the urge to vomit. “That sounds great, but you know Jasper would break your legs if he ever found out.”
My gaze lingered on Terry. I could see his ears had pricked up at this conversation. I said, “My big brother still treats me like I’m a little girl, you know?”
Dale’s deep laughter was so loud, he could be heard across the room.
“You’re definitely not a little girl, Katherine. You are all woman and definitely worth the risk.”
My dark brows arched in Terry’s direction, but I looked away because there was no point poking the bear.
“That’s nice of you to say, but this is a big win for you.” And rare. Chances were good we’d get that money back right away, and then some.
“True. Maybe another time,” he said, true regret sounding in his voice.
“Don’t forget to call Jasper,” I reminded him and ended the call with a smile. I didn’t want Dale or any other man but Terry, who apparently didn’t want me enough to deal with the fallout from Jasper.
“You are, you know.” Terry’s deep voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked up at him, a question in my eyes.
“Worth the risk.”
“Totally,” I said, my tone mocking his words.
“Kat, it’s true.”
I rolled my eyes at him, shaking my head. I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t.
“I don’t need you to soothe my ego. We had a ton of fun in Reno but now we’re back in Glitz and our lives are returning to normal.” It wasn’t what I wanted, but when had that ever mattered in my life?
“I’m not trying to soothe anything. I’m just telling you the truth, even if it’s hard for you to hear.”
I laughed. “My ears work fine, Manning. I heard you loud and clear, I just don’t believe what you said.”
Our eyes locked for several long seconds, a war waging between us, with no clear winner when I finally looked away.
It was useless. What I thought might be the start of something, even if it had to be a secret for a little while, had turned out to be just another one-night stand. It was a depressing thought, one I had no desire to wallow in, so I went back to expense and booking reports. Back to the tedious details of everyday life.
