She turned to face the sitting room doors as they swung open. Martha announced the new arrival.
“Mr. Jones has arrived,” she said before ushering him through.
Logan and Keaton had moved forward and obstructed her immediate line of sight to the newcomer.
“Good evening, everyone. I hope I’m not late?”
The man’s voice was deep and resonant and there was something disturbingly familiar about it. The niggle in Kristin’s mind morphed into a full-blown sense of misgiving.
“No, not at all,” Hector hastened to assure him. “Everyone, please welcome my good friend Jackson Jones.”
And there he stood. All six feet three inches of him clad in bespoke Armani and, according to her accelerated heart rate, looking even more fiercely attractive than she remembered. His dark blue eyes focused on her with laser precision. His nostrils flared ever so slightly on a sharply indrawn breath.
Jackson Jones.
The first man she’d ever loved.
The first man she’d ever slept with.
The man who’d walked out on her without a single word or a backward glance.
The man she’d sworn to hate for eternity.
Two
Shock plummeted through him like an intensive bolt of electricity. Jackson forced himself to scan the room and smile as if catching a glimpse of Kristin Richmond hadn’t just been an apocalyptic blast from the past. He eyed the faces of the assembled family group. Hector stepped forward and pumped his hand in greeting, and pulled a beautiful older woman forward to meet him.
“Jackson, glad you could make it. This is my fiancée, Nancy Richmond. Nancy, this is Jackson Jones. You’ve heard me talk about him at length and I’m glad you now get to finally meet him.”
Jack bent his head and took the woman’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he intoned smoothly.
All along, he was aware of the burning imprint of Kristin’s gaze on the back of his head. As if he was the target and her eyes a nocked arrow in a bow. Kristin had never spoken in detail about her family but she had said she only had one brother and Hector had told him this family had no less than six adult children. Richmond wasn’t such an unusual name, but of all the Richmond families in the world he had to fall into this one? Seemed like karma really was a bitch.
He focused his attention on his host and hostess with some difficulty, yet remained constantly aware of the younger woman on the periphery of the room.
“And you, too, Mr. Jones,” Nancy replied.
“Please, call me Jackson, or Jack.”
“Jackson, then. Come, meet my family.”
Nancy effected introductions to the two identical males standing just behind her. Jack studied them carefully, knowing he’d probably be tested at some stage on being able to tell them apart. He was relieved to note that Logan had a small chicken pox scar above his right eyebrow, and made a mental note to remember that tiny detail. The men’s partners came next and then the final family member in the room came forward. As his gaze alighted on her features, the air in Jack’s lungs deserted him.
Kristin Richmond. Every cell in his body lurched to unwelcome attention. The physical memory of how it had felt to touch her reared up from the darkest recesses of his mind. She’d always had the softest skin—everywhere. And her scent had been something he’d never fully forgotten, no matter how much guilt or time had passed. He dragged in a breath and let it go slowly. They hadn’t seen each other since the day they’d graduated college. The day that had started as his proudest but had rapidly become his most shameful day, ever. He extended his hand to her.
“Ms. Richmond, it’s good to see you,” he said.
“Is it?” she answered sharply.
The strain around her eyes showed she was as shocked to see him in her family home as he was to discover her family was his newest client. Between finalizing the decision to accept Hector’s offer, buying a house here and moving from California as well as moving into the offices and meeting the staff, Jackson hadn’t yet had time to read the files for all his new clients. Hector had failed to mention the names of all the members in the Richmond family and, to his cost, Jackson hadn’t had time to research them fully before meeting them, either. That was something he would definitely amend the second he returned to his office.
“Kristin!” her mom admonished in horrified tones. “We don’t speak to our guests like that. I’m sorry, Mr. Jones—Jackson—I assure you I brought her up to have better manners than that.”
Nancy laughed awkwardly but Kristin wasn’t giving an inch. She also wasn’t giving him her hand, so he let his drop uselessly to his side and fought the urge to clench it in frustration.
“Mr. Jones and I knew each other in college,” Kristin said to her mother before returning her attention to him.
Her clear, gray eyes bored into him like lasers.
“I didn’t know you’d changed to law. But then again, you never did tell me what you were doing.”
To anyone else her words could almost have sounded as if she were teasing, but there was a barb there that would pierce armor plating. She hadn’t forgiven him for disappearing from her life the way he had. He didn’t blame her for it, either. What he’d done was unconscionable, but he’d had damn good reasons. Reasons he simply couldn’t articulate at that time. Reasons he wasn’t in a hurry to go into under the current circumstances, either. He looked into her eyes and for the briefest second lost himself in the memory of her. She’d always been a passionate woman, even when angry. That hadn’t changed.
Hector interrupted them before he could say anything, offering him a drink. Jack accepted a glass of mineral water—he needed to keep his wits about him with Kristin shooting daggers at him. He knew that he was going to have to make a long overdue apology to her. He should have done it years ago, but after his parents scandalous deaths it had been easier to walk away and leave the wreckage of his old life behind, even if that meant leaving Kristin behind, too.
What he’d done then was wrong, and it was clear, from the way she obviously still harbored a grudge, that he’d hurt her badly. He would feel the same way if the situations were reversed. But her family had been nothing like his. Would she have understood what he’d gone through?
As they entered the dining room, Jackson scanned the table. Discreet name cards marked where each person was to sit. He and Kristin were seated together, he noted. While being in such close proximity to her would play havoc on his senses, he could handle it, he told himself. And, on the bright side, he wouldn’t be facing her, staring into those cold, angry gray eyes over the meal. Eyes he remembered more vividly being clouded with desire and satisfaction when they’d made love, or alight with intelligence and vivacity as they’d discussed their lectures.
They’d both majored in economics, with Kristin doing additional papers in business management and him in psychology. His choices had been driven by his need for independence from his family, and a last-ditch attempt to understand what it was that made his parents’ relationship so dysfunctional. Kristin had told him very little about her family but he’d understood how close they were. He’d decided she would never be able to understand the twisted dynamics of his life and he’d never bothered trying to explain them, either.
Jackson stepped forward to pull out Kristin’s chair for her, still deep in thought. In retrospect, knowing what he’d recently learned about Kristin’s father, Douglas Richmond, and his double life, maybe she’d have a better understanding now.
“I can manage for myself,” she snapped as she sat on her chair and pulled it in to the table herself.
And then again, maybe understanding wasn’t her strongest suit right now, he conceded wryly. Nancy shot her daughter another one of those “mom looks” that made it clear her behavior was unacceptable. But Kristin remained defiant, deliberately turning her head to her brother Logan, who was seated
on her other side, and acting as if Jackson wasn’t even there.
Over the first course, Nancy directed her attention to him. “Tell us, Jackson, where have you been practicing until now?”
He smiled at Nancy and ignored the way Kristin stiffened next to him. She was trying so hard not to touch him it would have made him chuckle and call her on it if she hadn’t made her antipathy toward him so obvious already. Even though he’d only just met the rest of the family, he’d felt their acceptance of his presence. And since he already had nothing but the utmost respect for Hector, he was determined to make this work.
“After I graduated I worked in litigation in California. I made a shift to general law several months ago, after taking a year off. When Hector made me his offer, I couldn’t refuse.”
“A year off? That was rather indulgent of you. It’s a long time to be out of the loop.” Kristin asked pointedly.
“It was necessary.”
He could have gone into specifics but he was well used to keeping his personal life private; and the thought of discussing the last, distressing months of his late wife’s life, together with his own recovery and grieving process after her loss, was abhorrent. Hector knew, and that was all that mattered to Jack. Hector and Jackson’s late wife, Annie, had been at law school together and remained friends over many years. Yes, that meant he’d married a woman old enough to be his mother, but he wasn’t about to make explanations here and now. Aside from the fact that her loss was still a raw wound in his heart, it was his business and his alone. And, more importantly, it wouldn’t affect his ability to do his best for this family on legal matters.
A difficult silence spread across the table. One that Hector hastened to fill.
“Jackson was the first person I thought of when I realized I was ready to retire. We have been good friends for a long time and I both respect him and trust him implicitly. And I knew he was more than ready for a change of scenery. You’ll be in excellent hands.”
“He may have excellent hands,” Kristin said provocatively, “but trust needs to be earned.”
“I’m for accepting people at face value until proved otherwise,” Logan interjected. “And I’m happy to accept Hector’s recommendation. Jackson, thank you for taking us on. As you can see, we’re a bit of a mixed bunch of personalities.”
“Speak for yourself,” Keaton said with a laugh. “Seriously, though, Jackson. We’re glad that if we have to lose Hector as our attorney, he could recommend someone as highly as he speaks of you.”
Jackson inclined his head in acknowledgement. To his relief, as the first course finished and the second was brought to the table, conversation turned to more general topics, and he was able to sit back and listen to others talk. The dynamics of the family interested him. While the twins certainly looked identical, they were very different kinds of men. Hector had told him about Logan’s background, that he’d been abducted as a baby and had only discovered his true identity a little over a year ago. He wondered if that made him still a bit of an outsider with Kristin and her other brother, Keaton.
He knew what it felt like to be an outsider in your own family. An only child of parents who were alternately viciously fighting or passionately absorbed in each other, he’d understood from an early age he was merely a peripheral accessory in his parents’ lives. It had made him a loner growing up, slow to make friends. But despite his determination not to get into a romantic relationship while at college, Kristin’s vibrancy and her intelligence, not to mention her looks, appealed to him on every level and he hadn’t been able to resist asking her out. One date had led to several, despite her father’s edict that she not date while she was in college, and before they knew it they were secretly living together. He’d always wondered what her dad was like—especially how he expected his daughter to focus solely on her studies at the exclusion of everything and everyone else. And, despite knowing from the outset they were from different worlds, he hadn’t been able to resist the flame that was Kristin Richmond, when he’d met her. At least until the day his world had crashed through their bubble of joy and he’d walked away and never looked back.
“Jackson?” Tami, Keaton’s partner, interrupted his thoughts.
“Sorry, I was miles away there. What did you say?”
Kristin flung him a look. “Goodness, Mr. Jones. If you can’t even follow dinner conversation, how on earth can we trust you to handle our family’s legal affairs?”
She’d commented lightly and with an entirely fake smile, but he hadn’t missed the emphasis on the word trust. He had a lot of work to do.
“Kristin, you’re being too harsh. You all can be overwhelming to newcomers, at first. Jackson, I was asking what you like to do in your spare time.” Tami said with a friendly smile.
Jackson focused his attention on her. It was easier than acknowledging the prickly atmosphere that surrounded his neighbor at the table.
“I like hiking, sometimes on overnight treks, sometimes longer.”
“So, not a team player, then?” Kristin asked, archly.
“I can play nicely with others,” he responded, fighting the urge to grit his teeth. He kept a smile on his face as he continued. “But when I have time to myself, I tend to prefer my own company at least some of the time. Doesn’t everyone?”
He felt as if he’d scored an invisible goal as everyone around the table, bar Kristin, murmured their assent.
“Earlier this year we had staff team building retreats in Sedona. There are some beautiful trails through there and it’s such a contrast to the Pacific Northwest,” Keaton commented.
The conversation thankfully turned to the twins’ and their partners’ experiences in Sedona and the personal obstacles they’d overcome, and Jackson let the conversation wash over him and listened carefully as they explained how Richmond Developments had initially specialized in building new residential and business precincts but, since Logan’s return, had also begun repurposing existing heritage structures into community-friendly hubs that integrated well into modern living. He made a point to inject a pertinent comment here and there, if only to prove to the woman beside him that he really was paying attention. By the time dessert was served and eaten he felt as exhausted as though he’d run a marathon. While the food had no doubt been delicious, as well as artistically presented, he couldn’t have told anyone what he’d eaten or what it had tasted like. But he could tell you exactly how the fragrance Kristin Richmond wore smelled.
She’d barely eaten anything during the course of the evening but had refilled her glass several times. As they stood to leave the dining table she swayed a little. He was quick to put a hand to her elbow to steady her. As expected, she tugged herself free.
“I’m fine,” she muttered. “I don’t need you pawing me.”
“Good to know,” he answered as neutrally as he could.
Her attitude was seriously grinding his gears. They needed to talk and clear the air. He was a professional and had put their past aside. He needed to know she could, too, which meant making a genuine apology and hopefully wiping the slate clear so he could continue to do his job. When Hector had offered him the opportunity to move to Seattle, he’d left everything behind in California—he needed to make things work here, because, when push came to shove, no matter what decisions he’d made, or when he’d made them, work was pretty much the only thing he had left. He would protect his ability to do his job to the best of his proficiency with whatever it took. Drunk ex-girlfriends notwithstanding.
“Kristin, darling. Are you feeling all right?” Nancy asked as they walked toward the large sitting room where the evening had begun.
“To be honest, Mom, I’m not feeling all that great. I think I just need a good night’s sleep. I’ll call my ride and head home, okay?”
“I’ll take you home,” Jackson heard himself saying.
What the hell? Where had that moment of chi
valry come from? Yes, he knew he needed to make an apology to Kristin and to clear the air between them, but tonight was probably not the best time to do so. It appeared she felt the same way, judging by the expression of incredulity on her face. Even then, she still looked beautiful, dammit. Jackson realized the others had gone into the sitting room, leaving them hovering outside.
“That’s not nec—” Kristin started, but Nancy overrode her.
“Oh, Jackson, that is wonderfully kind of you. You’d really soothe this mother’s concerns if you could see her home safely.”
Kristin flung her mom an incredulous look. “Mom, you’ve just met him and you’re prepared to let him see me home?”
“Don’t be silly, darling. He’s Hector’s friend and colleague. Besides,” Nancy added quietly, “it seems to me that you have some apologizing to do for your behavior tonight. The ride home will be the perfect opportunity for you to do it. I don’t know what’s gotten into you this evening but you’re not yourself and I don’t like it.”
“It’s okay, Mrs. Richmond—Nancy,” he corrected himself. “I can understand Kristin’s reluctance to trust. Your family has been through a great deal in the past year and if I’m to work successfully with all of you, I need to put in the effort to understand exactly where you’re all coming from.”
“You’re too kind,” Nancy said with a smile and a pat on his arm. “I’ll have Martha get your coats while I get Kristin’s bag. I’ll be right back.”
The second her mom was gone, Kristin turned on him, her voice seething with antipathy.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Jackson Jones, but I’m not happy about this. Not one bit.”
“I get it, you don’t trust me. I can assure you I won’t try to put a hand, or any other body part, on you for the duration of our trip to your home.” At the reminder of their body parts touching he felt an unwelcome twinge of desire before he quelled the sensation as quickly as it had arisen. He took a breath. “We do, however, need to talk. Although perhaps tonight isn’t the best time for it.”
What Happens at Christmas… Page 2