AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Ash?’ He raised one eyebrow. ‘The young guy in Orthopaedics?’
‘He’s the same age as me. And he’s just split up with his girlfriend so he’s got a bit of time on his hands.’ Jess tailed off as Greg’s brow darkened. That was just crazy. Ash was good looking, fun to have around and could no more measure up to Greg than any other man she’d ever met. ‘What?’
‘Nothing.’ He scrubbed his hand across his face. ‘I suppose you’re right. But… ’
‘But what?’ Jess wasn’t going to let him go back to work now. There was already too much that was being left unsaid between them.
‘I promised you that I’d do it.’ A quirk of a smile and suddenly he was back with her, his dark eyes seeming to see nothing else. ‘I might start getting jealous if you and Ash disappear off together to build my model.’
‘Jealous? Are you?’ What the hell was she doing? She hated mind games and had no time for jealousy, particularly when it wasn’t warranted. But suddenly Greg seemed to have started taking notice of her, and she was desperate for even these crumbs of his attention.
He saw through her in a moment. ‘You think I don’t have it in me to be jealous?’
‘Just testing.’ She broke off as he leaned over, his lips finding hers. Gentle hands, propelling her to her feet and then backwards. He perched her on the counter top, sliding his hips between her knees.
‘Getting any answers?’ One hand cupped her cheek and Jess struggled for control then gave up as pleasure oozed across her skin.
‘Yeah.’
‘What are they?’ He pulled her tight against his body and she gasped. Nuzzling at her neck, he whispered into her ear, ‘What are they, Jess?’
She was trembling. She wanted to tell Greg that the only thing she wanted was a little more of his time, his attention, but that seemed like a recipe for disaster. Her mother had always told her that you never begged a man for more of anything and she’d never questioned that. Suddenly it occurred to Jess that she might be about to beg, and she wondered whether her mother had done the same with her father.
‘The only answer I have is that I must be getting a little crazy. I’m not going to play any more games with you just to get your attention. I’d rather just walk out of here now.’
He was suddenly still. ‘You have my attention.’
Not for long, though. She felt as if she was on a ship, pitching in a storm. Sliding helplessly between doubt and love as the deck tilted back and forth beneath her. ‘Do I?’
He stepped back, planting his hands on the counter top to either side of her, eyes clouded with frustration. ‘What do you want from me, Jess?’
Frankly she had no idea. She wanted more than her father had given her mother. That was about as far as Jess had ever really considered the matter. ‘This is not how I thought we’d be, Greg.’
‘I can’t do anything about that right now.’ He turned away from her abruptly, leaving Jess to push herself down from her perch on the counter top.
‘You always have a choice, Greg.’
‘Yeah? What choice do I have? You don’t seem to understand, Jess.’
The world tilted again and this time Jess was slammed hard against a wall of anger. ‘Trying to understand is all I’ve been doing for the last few weeks. If you’re too busy for me then you should just say so and stop stringing me along.’
He rounded on her. ‘Oh, so I’m stringing you along now, am I? You don’t think much of me, do you?’
‘I’m not saying that’s what you mean to do.’
He gave a short bark of a laugh. ‘Well, that makes me feel so much better. I might be callous, but that’s okay because I’m so knuckle-headed that I’m not aware of what I’m doing.’ He marched over to the kitchen cupboard, seeming to need to do something. Flipping it open, he banged two cups down onto the counter.
‘That’s not what I said. If you want to think that about yourself, be my guest. But don’t you dare put those words into my mouth.’
He didn’t turn. He seemed to have switched into autopilot, reaching up for the coffee and measuring the last of the packet into the machine, spilling some as he did so. Jess huffed with frustration. ‘Can’t you at least look at me? We had coffee ten minutes ago.’
He slung the empty coffee packet into the sink, along with the measuring spoon. When he turned, his gaze was cold, proud, but there was something hot-blooded about it that made Jess shiver.
‘I never chose to have anything to do with Shaw Industries, but I’ve been given that responsibility, and I can’t walk away from it. That’s all it is. This is not about you and me.’
‘But it affects you and me.’ That was about as close as Jess’s pride would allow her to get to asking him for more.
‘I’m not going to make any promises I can’t keep, Jess. I have no idea how long this is all going to take. I wish things were different, but they’re not.’
