B0161IZ63U (A) (10 page)

Lila knew what it looked like.

It looked like the two of them had snuck away to some bedroom upstairs and snuck in a quick fuck before hurrying back down, still panting with the remnants of their desire, eyes wild.  It looked like they’d done something terribly wrong when really, they just hated each other with a passion that stole their breath and widened their eyes. 

What Kelly and Chase thought was unbridled ecstasy, was just debilitating hatred.

At least it was for Lila.

She wasn’t a home wrecker.  Not
knowingly
.  If the expressions on Chase and Kelly’s faces could talk, those would surely be the first words spoken.

Lila scoffed before moving across the room and towards the backyard, unwilling to get tangled up in this madness that she didn’t want to be a part of, but somehow couldn’t escape.

--

Minutes later, Kelly was following Jack down the walkway of Lila’s house.  Cars of the party guests line the driveway and street. From beautiful, luxury vehicles, to broke down hoopties that looked on the verge of death, the cars that lined the street were a perfect reflection of the guests at Lila’s party.

She hated to admit that she’d had fun.  It had been the strangest, but most entertaining group of people she’d ever seen gathered together in one place.  She’d enjoyed herself, all the way up until the end.

She struggled to keep up with Jack as he crossed the tree-lined street to their Range Rover, her arms crossed tightly.  He was moving just fast enough to make it impossible for her to keep up with him without taking up a slow jog.

“Jack…” Kelly hurried after him, watching his back as he crossed the street with his hands shoved in his pockets.  “Baby, what was that back there?”

“What was what?” he asked, without turning to face her.

“You came close to taking the front door off the hinges in your race to get out of there.  You didn’t even say goodbye to Chase.”

He seemed determined not to address it, circling around to the driver’s side of his truck.  “I guess I don’t know my own strength.”

“No?”

This time, Jack did look at her, meeting her gaze across the hood, and the depth in his eyes scared her.

“Who the hell is she Jack?”

“Why the hell did you bring me here?”

He’d always been great at avoiding questions he didn’t want to answer, and now was no exception. 

Kelly threw her arms out, done biting her tongue.  “You nearly broke your neck chasing her out of our engagement dinner.  You were
screaming
at her in the hotel hallway.  The way your switch flips in an instant whenever she’s in the room is incredible. I hardly recognize the person you become when she’s around. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t crazy, so I brought you here, and now I know I was right. You’re angry.”  She’d never seen him in quite the state he’d been after barreling down those stairs after Lila, chest heaving, eyes erratic, and on the verge.  Of what, she didn’t know. 

The Jack Almeida that Kelly knew didn’t give people the power to make him angry.  Anger took effort, and Jack’s effort didn’t come free.  Years of being an illustrious Manhattan lawyer had forced him to slap a price tag on his passions.  If you wanted to see him heated, you’d simply have to show him the money.  It was rare that a person could inspire a genuine reaction from Jack free of charge.  Kelly now knew Lila was one of the few people alive who could. 

It killed her that, embarrassingly, she couldn’t say the same for herself, and she was about to be married to the man.

“I’m not angry.” Jack moved to the door of the car, climbing in.

Kelly was struck at this treatment. The Jack she knew was prickly, sure, but with her, he’d always made an effort to smooth out the sharp edges that always lingered under his skin.  Never once had he been dismissive of her the way he was right then. She yanked the passenger side door open, asking her next question before she’d even finished climbing in.

“Are she and Chase lovers?”

In the midst of putting his key in the ignition, Jack’s head fell.

“I saw how they were together during the party.  Even though they were both working overtime to dial it back. They have a connection.  Is that why you hate her so much?  Do you think she’s too old for him? Is it because he’s a student, and she’s a lecturer?  I mean… it’s not against school policy, but I guess the balance of power is questionable--”

“They’re not lovers.”

Kelly stumbled over her words when he turned his head toward her, still wounded at the tone he was taking. Apart of her almost wished Lila and Chase were lovers.  At least it would explain Jack’s weird behavior in a way that didn’t break her heart.

“Then who is she, Jack?  Because I don’t like the person you’ve become since the moment she showed up.  In fact, I fucking hate it.  Are
you
having an affair with her?”  She was too afraid to hear the answer, so she drowned out the first question with another.  “Who the hell is she?”

“She’s nobody.  It’s nothing.”

“I didn’t see
nothing
on your face when you saw her at this party. I didn’t see nothing on your back when you were chasing her out of our engagement dinner.  And you know what else?  I didn’t see
nothing
when she was looking at your little brother back there either.”

His arms involuntarily flexed, and then tensed from where they were holding the steering wheel. 

Kelly reached across the console and placed a hand on his chest.  His heart raced. How he was able to sit so still, and breathe so evenly when his heart felt like it was trying to pummel its way right through his spine and out of his skin, amazed her. 
This
was the Jack she knew. Controlled and collected, even as a world of chaos raged inside him.

“What can I do?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“No woman should be able to make you this angry but your fiancé.”

“If we’re using that logic, there must be six men out there who have the power to make you spit fire.”

He’d had the good sense to make his tone jokey, but it still struck her.  “Yes, you’re my seventh engagement.  My seventh and
last.
I’ll be damned, Jack, if I let some lecturer
come between the two of us.”

Kelly had tried to bite her tongue, but now she couldn’t stop.  Never in her life had she felt a man slipping away from her quite as rapidly as Jack was then.  She was always the one to pull the plug on her relationships, never the other way around. Now that she had no desire to pull the plug, Jack seemed to be considering it. It shook her to her bones, making the hand she held against his warm chest tremor with anxiety.  If this engagement failed, she would be absolutely humiliated.  If the first six hadn’t killed her, this one definitely would. 

“You know…” she started.  “I’m on the committee that’s handling her performance review this summer.  I play a big role in deciding her promotion.”

Jack turned toward her, just enough to show the strong profile of his nose and jaw, the sharp squint of his eye.

“I could take care of it,” she whispered.

“I didn’t ask you to do that, so don’t. Don’t do that.”

“You ask me to protect her?  I can’t protect someone who does this to you.”

He turned away from her once more, looking out the driver’s side window.

When he showed her the back of his head, she nearly swatted it. “Jack!  Who is she? Tell me right now.”

His eyes met hers, and then he started the car, pulling away from the curb without answering.

They didn’t speak again for the entire drive home.

--

The last guest had finally left, and Chase was elbow deep in suds.

Lila took each dish as he cleaned them, rinsing them under the running water from where she stood next to him.  The water was scalding hot, making steam jump up from the sink and warm her cheeks. Lila didn’t mind that it burned her skin every time she rinsed a new dish.

The pain was a nice distraction.

“I’d say the party was a success,” she said.  “Changing the music was a genius move.  Definitely took it to the next level.”

“This is it.” Chase handed her a glass dish, the last of the dirty dishes that remained from the party.

“You didn’t have to stay behind and help me clean up,” Lila said, rinsing the dish and setting it on the drying rack.  She took the towel hanging on the arm of her oven and used it to dry her hands before offering it to him.

He touched her high on her arm, nearly cupping her elbow, and then let his fingers fall, sending every piece of hair he stroked standing on end before sweeping the towel out of her hand.

Lila covered her arm where he’d touched her, dropping her eyes to avoid his probing gaze.

He dried his hands, and then tossed the towel on the counter.

“You haven’t said more than two words to me in quite a while.”  She leaned on the counter. “Even as you’re helping me straighten up my house.  This is starting to feel like some sadistic punishment.”

Chase took the counter in his hands, leaning.  “Why would I want to punish you, Lila?”

“Professor.”

His eyes met hers and darkened.  “Professor,” he whispered.  “Why would I want to punish you?”

“I don’t know.”

“People only punish people that have hurt them in some way, who’ve done them wrong.  And you haven’t done either of those things to me, have you?”  He cut his eyes at her, giving her a moment to think up a response.  When that response never came, he charged on.  “Did you fuck Jack?”

Lila wasn’t surprised by the question.  It had been lingering in that quiet house, in the strange silence that had swooped in between them, all night long.

“That’s not appropriate.”

“Can you answer my question?”

“I’ve already answered that question.”

“And I’m asking you again.”

She inhaled, still fighting to handle the chaos that commenced in her chest whenever she allowed herself to look into his eyes for too long these days.

“Simple question, simple answer,” Chase pressed.

It wasn’t simple at all.

Lila had a feeling he already knew the answer.

Back when he was thirteen, she could’ve dismissed the question as something completely inappropriate, none of his business.  But Chase was a man now. There was a steadfast conviction that drove him and supported his passions, a conviction that hadn’t been there before.  She could no longer dismiss him.  He was too sure of his own mind, of his own heart, of
her.

He swallowed, and she watched it move down his throat. She didn’t want to hurt him.  She’d rather cut off both her arms.  After seeing he and Jack laughing together just hours earlier, she knew she couldn’t send them all spiraling back to the dramatic place they’d been a year ago.

It astounded her how the answer to one simple question could easily do just that.

“You can tell me, Lila.”

She saw it in his eyes. The hope. Even as he nodded his head, the desire in his eyes was poignant.

“I’m not sleeping with Jack.  Do I want to kill him? Yes.  Do I hate the sight of him? Absolutely.  But that’s almost always been the case.”

“Almost.” Chase’s eyes jumped back and forth between hers, reading her, weighing the answer.  Then his gaze fell to her lips, and he smiled softly.

Lila motioned behind her and spoke, just to wipe the residue of the lie from her mouth. “You two were getting along really well earlier.  It was really nice to see.  Laughing.  Joking.  You’re like two best friends.”

“We don’t hate each other anymore.  Best friends might be a little strong.”

“I’m proud of you, you know.  I’m so proud of you for fixing everything between the two of you.  It’s important to keep him in your life.”

“I know that.  I get that.”

She kicked her feet, smiling down at the tile floors.  “He called me a monster.  The night I got arrested.”  She grinned up at him.  “Do you think I’m a monster?”

Chase’s lips curled down, and he tilted his head back and forth, considering her question.  “Are you a monster?  Nah. Not really.”

“Not
really
?”

“Not a hundred percent.”

“
Not a hundred percent
?”

“I’m sorry,” he said.  “Apparently you were waiting for me to tell you what you wanted to hear, and not the real truth.  My mistake.”  He straightened, clearing his throat. “No, Lila.  You’re not a monster at all.  You’re a grounded, level headed, well-rounded person with a heart of gold and a mind like Rockefeller.”  He nodded.  “Does that work better for you?”

“I hate you sometimes.”

He laughed.  “Like I said, you’re not
all
monster.”

“So I’m just a quarter monster?  A half monster?  A fifth monster?”

“Nowhere near half.  There’s no way anyone as beautiful as you could ever be half monster.”

“Am I beautiful, or am I a monster? You’re all over the place.”

“A beautiful monster,” he decided.

“You can’t just throw a compliment in front of the word monster.”

“Aren’t we all monsters at the end of the day, in one way or another?”

Lila’s eyes searched his.  “Stop saying eloquent things.”

“So Jack called you a monster, and you decided it was a good idea to invite him to your housewarming party?” His eyes traveled her body.  “Masochist.”

“Trust me, I didn’t invite him.”  She took in the confused frown growing between his eyebrows and reached a hand out, running it down his cheek.  “Don’t frown,” she whispered. “It’ll make you look old, like me.”

“You’re outrageously beautiful is what you are,” he said.  “Beautiful monster.”

Lila looked away from him. “Chelsea mentioned she was coming to my housewarming, and Kelly took it upon herself to make sure she was here too.  With Jack in tow.”

Chase raised his eyebrows.  “She’s watching you.”

“Like a hawk. But she has no reason to.”

“No?”

She shoved him, her eyes falling to his lips when he laughed.  “No!”  She calmed herself.  “What makes it even worse?  Kelly is on the ad hoc committee for my promotion.  She, literally, holds my future in the palm of her hand, and she thinks I’m sleeping with her fiancé.  That promotion is as good as gone, and that’s a real shame. I wanted it more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”