Ask Anyone (21 page)

Finally, with his gaze still diverted, he said, “I found out that J.C. is my boy.”

Jenna moved to an upright position so fast, the boat rocked. “What?”

“I told you you might want to reconsider doing business with me.”

She stared at him blankly. “What does one thing have to do with the other?”

“He hurt Darcy.”

“Why is that your fault?”

“He's my son.”

“Which you didn't know,” she pointed out. “Nor could you have controlled the situation, even if you had known.”

“You'd feel differently if it had been more than a broken arm.”

“But it wasn't,” she said. “And, yes, I am furious with him, but certainly not with you, a man who's had absolutely no input into his upbringing at all.”

His troubled gaze finally met hers. There was so much torment, she eased over and reached for him. His shoulders were warm from the early morning sun. He smelled of sun and salt water and man.

Jenna slid her hands up his chest, then cupped his cheek. It was rough with dark stubble that felt like sandpaper to the touch. She shivered at the sensation, but she didn't draw away, didn't avert her gaze.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered.

“Sorry?”

“That it took so long for you to find out. It must have hurt.”

He shook his head. “So far, I just feel numb.”

She skimmed a finger across his lower lip, felt him shudder. It brought a smile to her lips. “You don't seem numb to me.”

“Inside,” he told her. “I'm numb inside.”

Jenna drew in a deep breath. She wanted more from Bobby. She'd figured that out last night. Today, though, she wanted to give him something for making her feel alive again.

Recalling a time when she'd been bold instead of timid, when she'd been reckless instead of safe, she said quietly, “We could change that.”

Heat flared in his eyes. “Jenna.” The protest was soft and not very vehement.

“I know exactly what I'm saying,” she told him. “Exactly.”

A rueful grin crossed his lips. “We're in a boat,” he pointed out, as if it were a massive obstacle.

“You planning to stay out here forever?”

His gaze stayed steady on hers, unflinching and filled with yearning.

“No,” he said at last, emptying the last pot and tossing it back into the river with a rushed, careless gesture. He reached for the throttle and turned back toward shore. One arm slid around Jenna's waist and held her snugly against his chest.

“You've got about fifteen minutes to change your mind.” His words were whispered against her cheek.

“Not going to happen,” she said, settling back to relish the warmth of his embrace. “Not if we were days away from land.”

Of course neither of them were taking into account the possibility of finding King waiting for them at the dock.

“We need to talk,” he said to Bobby.

“Not now,” Bobby said tersely, not meeting his father's gaze as he tied the boat securely.

“You got something more important going on?” King demanded, then took one look at Jenna. His expression brightened ever so slightly. “Never mind. Call me.”

“One of these days,” Bobby said, all but dragging Jenna along the dock.

“Today,” King ordered.

Bobby looked down into Jenna's eyes and tightened his grip on her hand, then called back to his father, “Don't count on it.”

Jenna expected an indignant response, but instead it was a hoot of laughter that followed them to Bobby's car.

B
obby drove to his house with one hand on the wheel and the other clutching Jenna's hand. For this one instant in time, she was all that mattered, the only thing that was real. Ann-Marie's duplicity all those years ago, his relationship with J.C., his anger at his father's probable involvement, none of that was important. Not right this second.

When had he begun to count on having Jenna in his life? When had she become the person who could keep him grounded? When had his heart finally healed? Because it had.

Looking at Ann-Marie, even learning about her ultimate betrayal, hadn't shaken him as it once might have. All he felt was sorrow for the lost years with his son and regret for the pain J.C. had experienced living with a man who'd apparently resented him from the beginning.

Bobby glanced over at Jenna and grinned at the soft, feminine smile tugging at her lips. “Pretty proud of yourself, aren't you?”

She turned to face him. “For?”

“Luring me to bed in the middle of the morning.”

“Watch it,” she warned, amusement sparkling in her eyes. “We're not there yet.”

“You thinking of changing your mind?” His tone was light, but fear clutched at him.

“That depends.”

“On?”

“Whether you annoy me between now and the time we get to your place.”

The words, which echoed his own warning to her about the risk of being out on a boat with him, made him chuckle. “Then I'll definitely try not to do that,” he vowed.

Jenna's smile spread. “I was sure you'd see the wisdom of behaving yourself.”

Bobby caught her gaze and held it until heat flared and desire darkened her eyes to a deep blue. “Oh, darlin', this has nothing to do with behaving, not if we're doing it right.”

He watched with satisfaction as the pulse at the base of her throat began to race, then swerved into his driveway at an angle and cut the engine.

“Let's go,” he said, all but dragging her from the car. He was not going to create yet another Spencer public spectacle by making love to her on his front lawn…and the odds of that happening were increasing by the second.

“What's the rush?” she asked, digging in her heels and bringing them both to a halt.

“Do you even have to ask?” Bobby demanded. Unable
to hold back a moment longer, he hooked his hand behind her neck and took her mouth with a ferocity that left them both breathless. When he finally released her, she looked dazed and he was hard and aching. He raked a hand through his hair. “I swore I was not going to do this.”

“What?”

“Create a public spectacle.”

Jenna looked around, seemingly pleased at the discovery that the curtains were drawn back in a telling way in at least two sets of windows across the street. Bobby, however, groaned. Sue Kelly and Frannie Yarborough were getting an eyeful. This little incident would be broadcast far and wide by lunchtime.

“I'm sorry,” he said.

“It was a kiss.”

“Describing that as a kiss is pretty much like saying that a tiger's a cat,” he told her wryly. “There's nothing tame about either one of them.”

“Are you really worried about a little gossip?” she asked.

“I am for your sake. If you're going to do business in this town, you don't want people speculating on how you got the job.”

His reply clearly flustered her.

“I'm going to get the job?” she asked.

“I didn't say…” He sighed, then conceded reluctantly, “More than likely.” He held up a hand. “Don't get carried away just yet. There are details to consider. And I have two more presentations to see, but, yes, unless your figures are out of line or something dramatic comes along to change my mind, you're going to get the job.”

The next thing he knew, Jenna had launched herself at him and was plastering kisses all over his face. “Thank you. Thank you. I can't believe it.”

“Jenna,” he warned.

“I know. All those details and two more presentations. I heard you. But I never thought I'd get this far. You have no idea what this means to me.”

“I think I do,” Bobby said, peeling her arms from around his neck. “And I still think we really ought to take this inside.”

Jenna shook her head. “Oh, no,” she said, promptly backing away a few steps. “I can't sleep with you now.”

Disappointment slammed through him. Why hadn't he seen this coming? Hadn't he done his own fair share of lecturing about keeping business and personal relationships separate?

“You can't?” he echoed.

“No. It wouldn't be right. We're going to be business partners. You said it yourself. I don't want people to think I used sex to get this job.”

Bobby sighed heavily. He had only himself to blame for the fact that he was going to spend the rest of the day tormented by what had almost happened here this morning. He'd planted the idea in her head that people might speculate after seeing the two of them here together this morning. He'd been right to consider it, but for once maybe he should have kept his big mouth shut. Being honorable definitely had its drawbacks.

“Is there any way at all I could change your mind?” he inquired hopefully, even as he prepared to get into his
car and head back to the marina. He could all but hear Sue and Frannie's sighs as well. He doubted their regrets could possibly match his own.

Jenna patted his cheek as if she were consoling a kid. “Not just yet, but think of it this way—I have a really
huge
incentive to get this job done in record time.”

 

Bobby took comfort in the heated promise in Jenna's eyes as he reluctantly made his way over to Ann-Marie's just after five that evening. He'd called earlier, and she'd assured him that Lonnie would be home and the three of them could sit down and talk.

But when Bobby rang the doorbell, he noted that there was no sign of Lonnie's truck in the driveway. Ann-Marie opened the door wearing the skimpiest pair of white shorts he'd ever seen and a tank top that stretched across her breasts in a very revealing manner. No bra. Once, that would have turned him on, but tonight it merely raised all sorts of red flags.

“Where's Lonnie?” he demanded, not setting foot across the threshold. “You said he'd be here.”

“He got tied up at work. Come on in. I've got a bottle of wine open. It's the fancy French stuff you like.”

Bobby stayed right where he was. “What's going on, Ann-Marie? This isn't a social call, and you know it.”

“There's no reason you and I can't talk without Lonnie, is there? I mean this is really between you and me.”

“No,” he said firmly. “You put Lonnie right smack in the middle of it a long time ago. He needs to be here now.
We'll set up another time. In fact, maybe I should make the arrangements directly with him. Did he even know I was coming by tonight, Ann-Marie?”

“What are you suggesting?” she asked, pouting. It wasn't as attractive as when she'd done it to get her way years ago.

“I'm out of here.”

“Bobby, don't go,” she pleaded. “There's so much we have to talk about.”

He regarded her with disgust. “Anything you and I had to say to each other should have been said before you ran off with my best friend. Any conversation we have now involves Lonnie—and maybe a couple of lawyers while we're at it. I'll be in touch.”

The door slammed behind him as he walked away. For once in his miserable, meddling life, maybe King had gotten it exactly right, Bobby thought as he got into his car. Maybe his father had known all along the kind of woman Ann-Marie was, when Bobby had been too blinded by hormones to see it.

Since his evening was already pretty much shot, he might as well go for broke and head out to Cedar Hill and get the confrontation with King over with.

He found his father on the porch with a glass of bourbon in one hand and the portable phone in the other. He muttered something into the phone as Bobby approached, then cut it off and all but slammed it down on the table next to him.

“Anything wrong?” Bobby asked.

“That fool woman's still not back from her trip.”

Bobby bit back a grin. “You talking about Frances?”

“Who else?”

“Have you told her you miss her?”

“How am I supposed to do that? I have no idea where she is.”

“You were mumbling at her answering machine just now, weren't you? Maybe if you said something nice, she'd take it to heart and come home.”

“I'll take advice from you when you get your own life straightened out,” King shot back.

Bobby dropped into a rocker and set it into motion. “It's getting there,” he said.

“About time.” He glanced curiously at Bobby. “Jenna?”

“She's a wonderful woman,” Bobby conceded.

“That's been my impression,” King agreed. “That girl of hers is a real pistol, too.”

“She is.”

“It's a darned shame, what happened to her.”

Bobby sighed. “Which brings us to J.C.” He looked his father in the eye. “What were you thinking, Daddy?”

“That there was nothing wrong with the status quo. Ann-Marie would have ruined your life,” he said bluntly, not even bothering to pretend not to understand what Bobby was asking. “Can you tell me I was wrong about that?”

“Not after tonight, no,” Bobby said honestly. “But I had a right to decide things for myself.”

“You were too young to think straight. I'd trust you with a decision like that now, but back then?” King shook
his head. “Hormones and common sense just don't mix at eighteen.”

“And they do now that I'm almost thirty?” Bobby asked wryly. “Or is it just that now you have a different agenda? You want to see me married and settled down.”

“There's truth to that,” King said. “And Jenna's a different sort of woman. She had a rebellious period, same as you, but she's got some maturity on her now. She's got a good level head on her shoulders. Anyone can see that.”

“Then you'd approve if something happened between Jenna and me?”

King's chuckle was deep. “The way things looked this morning, I'd have bet it already has.”

Bobby glowered at his father. “I am not discussing that with you.” He stood up. “I've got to go.”

“Just one thing before you do,” King said. “You gonna leave the past in the past?”

“When it comes to Ann-Marie or to you?”

“Both, for that matter.”

Bobby heard the real worry in King's voice, saw the hint of fear in his eyes. He reached down and gave his father's hand a squeeze. “You're forgiven, if that's what you're asking.”

King nodded. “I only did it for your own good.”

“I know that now. A few hours ago, I might not have been so generous.”

“Then I'm grateful to whoever changed your mind.”

“It was Ann-Marie, actually.” He chuckled at his father's startled, dismayed expression. “Not the way you think. I just saw what you saw.”

“That's good then. What do you intend to do about J.C.?”

“I'm working on that. I'll keep you posted,” he said as he started off the porch. He turned back. “And whatever payments I suspect you've been making all these years can stop. I'm taking over now.”

“Your call,” King said.

“Yeah, right,” Bobby retorted with a snort of disbelief.

Two uncomfortable meetings down, Bobby thought as he drove to the marina. Just one to go. When he reached his office, he picked up the phone and dialed the number for Randall Pennington. As long as he was going to spend the evening mending fences, he might as well get to work on the one between Jenna and her father, though something told him she wouldn't thank him for it.

 

Jenna sat in Bobby's office and stared at him as if he'd turned into a freak in a circus sideshow. “You did
what?
” she demanded.

“I called your father. He'll be here in time for dinner tonight.”

Jenna's stomach rolled over. She couldn't decide if she was more furious with Bobby or more terrified of facing her father. Mostly the former, she concluded, scowling at the man sitting smugly behind his desk.

“What right did you have to do that?”

“Jenna, you're representing Pennington and Sons. It makes sense that I'd want to meet the head of the company,” he said reasonably. “He needs to be on board for this.”

“Because you don't trust me,” she said, trying not to sound defeated. How could he do this to her after everything she'd told him? It was
her
proposal he was buying, not her father's. Her father didn't even want this job.

“I do trust you,” Bobby said emphatically. “If I didn't, I would never have made that call. Maybe it's about time you learned to trust yourself.”

She frowned at that. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“That the only way to win your father's confidence and approval is to face him and prove to him that you're good at this job.”

“So you're doing me some huge favor by giving me that chance?” she asked skeptically.

“Exactly.”

“Hogwash! You don't know what you're talking about, Bobby. My father will see this as proof that I'm not doing a good enough job. He'll be convinced that you called him down here to rescue me. He'll think it's because you want his assurances that he'll back me up. In other words, he's going to snatch this chance away from me because he'll be absolutely certain that I'm going to mess it up the way I have every other important thing in my life.”

Filled with frustration, she stood up and began to pace. Eventually she paused, leaned down and stared straight into Bobby's eyes. “I'm telling you, the next thing you know, my brothers will be crawling all over Trinity Harbor, checking everything I've already done and probably doubling the costs in the process. By the time
they're finished, your mayor will have those condos he wants so badly.”