Shattered Dreams (13 page)

“Carl always had an excuse, and I wanted to believe him. He’d always charm his way out until I started doubting myself.”

She sighed, thinking of all those things Carl had done in the past few months to charm and cajole her into believing he’d changed. As the memories played, she shut her eyes tightly to block out the pain of her stupidity. How could she have been so gullible? Why had she put up with him for so long?

She opened her eyes and turned to Jason, offering a rueful smile. “I was too trusting.”

Jason’s gaze raked over her face in a scrutinizing manner. She detected only understanding in those softening features, which gave her enough encouragement to continue.

“I didn’t know until a few days ago that his lying was much more extensive than I’d imagined. Of course, drugging me and leaving me on the boat with all that blood didn’t endear him to me.”

Neither had trying to abscond with the loan money or all their investments, she thought, not mentioning that fact out loud. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to take half of what she’d built while waiting for his parents to die. The lying low-life thought he deserved it all.

“I found some charge card receipts bunched into a drawer, and after a little research, I figured out where he was staying. Seems he’d been frequenting the same place for quite a while, using a company card. I’m sure your investigator found the same information. On Wednesday morning, I drove to the hotel. Imagine my surprise when the clerk gave me a key to his room without much hassle. I knew Crystal was involved then, but I only smiled, pretending to be her, and acted as if I’d been there before. It was all so easy. Then I confronted the bastard.”

She stopped talking and stared out the window. Listening to her own story as it came out made her feel pretty miserable. She couldn’t believe she’d actually been taken in one last time.

“It’s not your fault.” Jason’s tone held sincerity and warmth.

She looked at him. His eyes were on the road ahead, but there was something else in his voice, empathy maybe, as if he understood exactly how she felt.

“Don’t feel bad about wanting to believe in your spouse,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”

“I feel so stupid.”

“You trusted him. Marriage needs trust or it can’t survive.”

“It also needs fidelity, which I never had.” She sighed. “I’ve been thinking about what you said the other night.”

Glancing at her, Jason quirked an eyebrow and waited.

Claire smiled. “I think you were right about Crystal.” Her smile died, and her gaze returned to the window while she stared at nothing in particular for several minutes. She sighed. “He probably did know it was her. I was such a fool to believe him over my twin.”

She leaned against the headrest again and closed her eyes. More pain shot through her system. Her marriage had been a sham from the first day. He’d barely waited a few hours before hitting on her sister.

“Maybe not,” he said. “There’s definitely something going on between them now. So I could be wrong.”

“You aren’t wrong. You’re looking at it objectively. That incident cost me my sister. I believed Carl over her, and now I realize it was my actions, not Crystal’s, that put the final wedge between us.”

Claire heaved another heavy sigh and slanted a glance at Jason, who still focused on the road. For three years she’d defended the bastard. Well, no more.

“Crystal came to me a few months ago and asked me if I’d had enough.”

When she said no more, he threw her a questioning look. “And?” he prompted.

Claire snorted. “Said she was going to help me get out of my marriage and keep my company intact at the same time. I declined her kind offer and tried to work things out with Carl.”

She then spent a few minutes telling him about the document she’d signed, sealing her fate.

“I hate knowing that part of my not wanting to make waves was because I didn’t want a divorce to affect the company. Now I see I was settling.”

Claire couldn’t stomach the idea that her company, the one she’d babied from infancy, would no longer be hers. Her sweat, her blood, and her tears had built the business, now worth tens of millions.

Carl Carter wanted full ownership. That had always been his price for divorce. After all, he’d put up the money for the major growth, so he felt entitled. He’d overlooked that he’d spent more than ten times the amount he’d provided on his toys and women over the last three years without adding anything else, and also overlooked her role in the success of that growth.

She shook her head and looked down at her hands, studying her fingernails for a moment before whispering, “Isn’t that sad,” referring to how she’d settled.

It was more than sad. She’d let Carl manipulate her. Perception was everything to her husband, as he was so fond of telling her. Being perceived as a successful businessman with a beautiful wife was something money couldn’t buy. Why should he settle for half, when he had it all? And she’d given it to him without requiring anything in return.

Claire sighed, wondering why she’d divulged so much information, and also wondering how her life had gotten so screwed up. And now she was fighting an attraction to Jason. An attraction she had no intention of acting on because she had no idea of where she was going. Getting involved with him wouldn’t solve any problems, but could only make things worse. Although, at this point she didn’t see how her life could get any worse.

Everything had bottomed out two days ago when she told Carl she changed the locks on the house and to let her know where she could send his belongings.

She smiled wanly and sneaked another peek at Jason. He stared straight ahead, no longer allowing her to read anything in his expression. Inhaling a deep breath, Claire leaned deeper into the seat cushion. Maybe there was something to be said for confession being good for the soul, as at that moment her problems seemed lighter.

“It’s been a long week,” she said. “I don’t want to think about Carl or my situation any longer. Let’s talk about something else.”

“You okay?” Jason shot her a concerned look. “Have you eaten anything today?”

Claire laughed. For the first time in days, she felt almost giddy. She pushed out the thought of how the last time she’d felt this way, she’d been with Jason. She should keep her distance from the man, especially since she liked being with him, too much. Yet she couldn’t help herself. She was tired of feeling sad, tired of thinking about how messed up her life was, and most of all, she was tired of dwelling on Carl.

What would Crystal do in this situation? She mentally snorted. That wasn’t hard to figure out. Her twin would probably push for a night of meaningless sex. The thought brought her up short. Maybe that was just what she needed.

She eyed Jason speculatively. The idea certainly had possibilities. In fact, the more she thought about it, the better she liked it, because she was really tired of being the nice twin.

“This time I’ll feed you.” Her smile broadened. “I packed food in the cooler.”

Chapter 16

After parking in the marina lot, Jason quickly unloaded the car, handing Claire her bag and the cleaning supplies. Then he grabbed the cooler and followed her to the boat slip.

As Claire went about the task of filling buckets with soap and water, he noted her mood had improved. Unanswered questions filled his brain. The lady was hardly forthcoming, yet he understood she was walking a tightrope over a field of emotions right now. He could wait to satisfy his curiosity.

He took the bucket she handed him and got busy. He sprayed the dried substance from the deck with running water from the nozzle before scrubbing it, while she went below to clean the polished teak floor.

“That didn’t take as long as I thought it would,” Claire said as she put away the supplies. “Want to take her out?”

Jason looked at his watch. Two thirty.

“If you have time.”

“Let me make a call to find out.” He stepped to the bow out of Claire’s earshot. Elise was dropping off the girls around six for his week.

“Okay, we’re on,” he said thirty seconds later as he tucked his phone into his pocket and walked toward her. “I can spare a few hours. Elise agreed to keep the girls longer.” God, she was gorgeous, he thought as he noted the warmth sweep over her face over his favorable answer. He grinned. “It’s my week.”

“Then a quick sail and early dinner. How’s that? I promised to feed you, remember?”

“Fine,” he murmured.

He loved seeing the way sunlight played off Claire’s hair. Under the rays, the lush tresses came alive with color, ranging from cinnamon to dark brown and everything in between. She’d tied it back. But uncooperative, unruly curls sprang free, framing her face with a few tendrils of auburn. He opened his hand and closed it, stilling an urge to run his fingers through the thick hair while he wondered what that coppery mane would look like draped over a pillow after making love.

A surge of raw lust shot through to his gut at the smile she flashed. He pushed the X-rated thoughts away and concentrated on helping her ready the boat. Sex wasn’t a good idea.

But his mind wouldn’t cooperate. Too many times over the course of their sail, his focus landed on her mouth. All he could do at that point was remember. Remember how he’d tasted those lips. And he was dying to taste them again.

Claire appeared to be doing everything in her power to incite his senses, he realized once she set a plate of food down and smiled. That provocative smile was what finally clued him in, set him back, and made him question her motives. Her smile definitely held the promise of something. Though leery of it, he couldn’t ignore it.

Still, she seemed unsure of herself. This strange dichotomy intrigued him the most. He eyed her warily and waited. What the hell was going on in her mind?

Watching her bite into a burger and lick at a dab of ketchup near her lips, desire flared. Blood surged through his veins and heat engulfed his groin. All five senses went on sexual alert. He tamped down an urge to ignore his brain’s warning as he struggled to eat his meal, not tasting anything but what he remembered of her lips. He was on edge, excited, on the verge of jumping off a precipice.

Jason could barely breathe. Not with her so near. And when he did manage to inhale, a delicate floral scent filled his nostrils, sending even more signals to his groin.

He worked to hide his thoughts behind the act of eating and shoved lust away, finishing the burger and salad in slow, easy bites.

All too soon, they came about, tacking back to the marina because the wind blew from the opposite direction.

When Claire reached to take his paper plate, his hand shot out, grabbing hold of her arm.

She looked up with astonishment, causing a smile to spread across his face as he pulled her onto his lap and nuzzled her neck.

“Leave it. It’s not going anywhere,” he murmured softly, nibbling on her ear and shoving hands through that thick, lush hair. “I can think of better ways to spend the next few minutes than cleaning up.”

She surprised him by throwing her arms around him and doing some nuzzling of her own. The effect was like lighting a match to tinder as heat flared between them.

His groin hardened into a firm erection. His lips sought hers and weren’t gentle as they plummeted moist depths. Jason wanted her with a passion he hadn’t felt in over a decade, and he couldn’t slow down. For too long, simmering emotion had sat waiting to boil, and now burst out of his soul.

For endless moments, he kissed her, using his mouth and tongue to transport her to the fevered point he’d already surpassed. Claire responded so readily, moaning and rubbing against him. More blood raced through his veins. He was close to losing control; the siren in his arms affected him too much. He had to slow down, or it would be over before it began.

When her hands reached for his erect penis, stroking the taut fabric of his fly, warning bells went off. His brain revisited the question of her motives. Something didn’t seem right. She was too eager and bold . . . too unlike the woman he’d kissed the other night. The thought was enough to cool his ardor to gain him some restraint. His lips broke contact, and he grabbed her wrist.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked, breathing heavily with his lips barely an inch from hers as he stared into her passion-filled jade eyes.

“Jason, if you don’t know, then I think we’re in trouble,” she purred, offering a throaty laugh as she trailed the other hand up and down his chest.

A bucket of ice water couldn’t be more jarring than her actions. Thank God they squelched the urge to take her fast and furious as he’d been dying to do only a moment ago.

He sat up and released her, eyeing the horizon.

“What’s wrong?” Straightening her clothing, Claire scooted away from him, seeming wary and hesitant all of a sudden.

“If I’d wanted only sex, I could’ve slept with Crystal,” he said, refocusing on her and meeting her gaze. The guilt spilling from her eyes meant he’d pegged the situation correctly. “Is that all this is? A quick screw?” He shook his head in disgust at the flush of embarrassment rising from her neck to her hair and added, “You’re more like her than I imagined.”

He stood and turned away, stilling the urge to kick something. The tension in his body tightened, and his mood turned savage. How had he been so wrong about her?

“I’m sorry.”

Her whispered voice shot through his ears. The sincerity in the two words drew his glance. She sat staring at the water while tears streamed down both sides of her face.

He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair, unsure about what to do next.

Shit!
This was definitely not one of his finest moments, nor was it hers.

He closed his eyes, willing himself not to respond to her tears, not to take her in his arms and comfort her. If he did, he wasn’t sure he could stop at just comfort. Desire for her still pounded in his blood, but sex wasn’t what either of them needed at this point.

Once he felt confident enough to meet her eyes again without giving in to what his body screamed for, he nodded and said softly, “It’s time to come about.”