“Before that lunatic tried to kill me?”
“That’s right.”
“Oh,” I smiled. “You like me.”
“I do.” He leaned in and gave me a kiss that sent sparks flying through my veins, all the way from the top of my head to my toes. I was about to give myself up to the passion when I felt Jasper pull away.
“Before this goes any further, I think there’s something you need to know, something about Jane.” Those green eyes were serious and I sensed an unspoken plea.
“Okay. I’m listening.”
“You remember those photos Jane got before she dropped the charges?”
“Sure. That bastard Kyle….” Jasper cut me off mid-sentence.
“I was one of the naked guys in the photos.”
“What?” I felt like I was in a bad dream, in desperate need of a pinch. “I don’t understand.”
“You think Jane left because she was embarrassed that she was raped. The truth is she left because Kyle stole her stash of dirty photos. Jane always took photographs of the guys she took to bed. I know because I was one of them.”
I felt it in my gut, like a big, fat sucker punch that knocked the air out of my tires. I was surprised I didn’t double over with the pain. Not only was Jane not the victim of a rape, the man who just told me he was interested in spending time with me was one of her conquests.
“When Kyle sent those photos, he wasn’t trying to blackmail her. He was sending Jane a message that there were plenty of guys available to testify about her sexual activities.”
I thought about that trip to the police station with Jane, about her tearful description of the terrible things Kyle had done to her, about the evidence gathered by the emergency room doctor. For so long, I had been disappointed in Jane, not only for not standing up to a bully like Kyle, but for running away, taking her friendship with her. She had made it all up. It never happened.
“But why?” I heaved a great sigh. How could any woman do this? What had she hoped to achieve?
And then I remembered the conversation we had in our senior year of college. We were talking about what we planned to do after graduation. Jane had decided she was going to get married.
“Who’s the lucky guy?” I had asked her. I can still remember that sly, little smile she wore as she sat on my bed.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“But that means you’re not in love,” I replied. “Why would you want to get married if you’re not in love?”
“Oh, grow up, Suzanne. Marriage isn’t about love. It’s about getting what you want. You have to wheel and deal to win, and sometimes, you have to make a man do things he doesn’t even know he wants to do.”
“And how are you going to do that?” I had laughed.
“I have my secret ways,” she insisted. I finally figured out what she meant by that.
“It was a long time ago,” Jasper said in his own defense. He was studying me carefully. “Twelve years, to be exact.”
“Oh.” I had no idea Jane even dated him. She never told me. I thought we shared everything about our lives. It turned out there was another Jane, a secret Jane, a woman who was cunning and even ruthless in her efforts to meet her goals, even those goals that were twisted and shaped by bad judgment. Now I understood why Jasper had seemed so cold when we ran into each other again.
“That’s why you blew me off when I came up to you at the restaurant?”
“I thought you knew what Jane did. I thought you were a part of it. Kyle warned all of us. We knew you and Jane had gone to the cops and to the hospital, and that she was planning to claim Kyle raped her. We were all waiting for the cops to knock at our doors.”
“That’s terrible.” I looked down at my hands, thinking of how I had patted the tearful Jane reassuringly as she gave details of the incident to the police woman.
“It is. This all got very complicated because Kyle is Kyle. His problem is that he’s really a sleazy guy. Why wouldn’t you think he killed Susan? Especially after the shabby treatment he gave you. If it’s any consolation, Kyle told me he had his hands all over you because he was trying to provoke you into claiming assault, so he could prove you and Jane conspired all those years ago. Only none of the guys who had slept with Jane had ever even gotten to second base with you.”
I nodded, still stunned by the revelation. It suddenly dawned on me that Jane ran away from Glendale, not because she was the victim of a crime, but because she had a secret life and was afraid it would all be revealed, no matter what she did.
“Who knew people could be so awful?” I sighed. “You think you understand the people around you and it turns out they’re really strangers.”
“You were right about Eva,” Jasper said. “She really was all wrong for me. Just like Jane. All the wild sex was exciting — I won’t deny that. But I always felt like I was living two different lives. The truth is I never really liked either of them as people. And I sure as hell never respected them.”
“I guess some of us have to learn the hard way,” I said softly, still lost in thought. And then I realized what I had just said. “Oh, I didn’t mean it the way it came out!”
“It’s okay, Suzanne. You’re actually right. My mother likes you, by the way.”
“She does?”
“She thinks you turned out okay. You have a good head on your shoulders now.”
“What does that mean?” I looked at him, thinking back to my days at the dress shop, and my run-ins with his mother.
“June thought you were a little too easygoing back then, a little too casual. You thought everything was perfect, no matter what the status quo. She says you’ve begun to see life isn’t always a bed of roses.”
“I have a confession to make,” I admitted. “I thought your mother was a royal pain in the ass. She was very picky.”
“And you weren’t picky enough.”
“Maybe.”
“Could be all the building you’ve done over the years with your brother forced you to make better choices,” Jasper suggested. I considered that in light of the men I had dated over the last ten years. It was true that my standards had risen considerably. I was no longer satisfied by a good time and some laughs. The truth was I wanted a whole lot more out of life than just that. But I was also beginning to think I was too picky, pricing myself out of the marriage market with a growing list of needs. Jasper cleared his throat.
“June says you’re good for me.”
“She does? Why?”
“She says I’ve loosened up a bit since I came back here. She thinks I ought to ask you out on a real date.”
I sat there, staring straight ahead at the rolling waves, as this handsome man with the lips that were so tantalizing and the eyes that were so mesmerizing leaned into me. There was a part of me that was tempted to jump on top of him and smother him with my own hot, hungry lips. Every nerve in my body seemed to be on fire. But somewhere, deep down inside me, a little voice called out. Make him work for it. Make him want it. Make him commit to the relationship. Don’t settle for what isn’t his best. Make him be a better man. Build the relationship.
“So?” Jasper gently poked me in the ribs. “What do you think?”
“It doesn’t really matter what your mother says. What matters is what you think about us.”
“I think we should give it a try. We enjoy each other’s company. We have fun together. And you don’t take any of my crap.”
“Well,” I replied, trying to keep my hands from shaking, “I suppose it’s worth a shot. Of course I should warn you — I don’t do dirty pictures.”
“No, I wouldn’t expect that of you,” he replied, chuckling.
“And I’m never going to be a hard-driven business woman.”
“No, I didn’t expect that either. It’s one of the reasons I like you so much.”
“Is this relationship likely to end in marriage?” There it was, the big question. “Because I should tell you upfront that I’d like to have kids, so i
f you’re one of those guys who thinks kids are a bother, we shouldn’t waste each other’s time by dating, especially if there is no future for us. I’m not going to invest any energy in a fling.”
“Well,” Jasper shrugged, “I am just getting out of a very complicated relationship. I’m not sure I can promise marriage and children.”
“But can you rule it out completely?” I turned my gaze on him, seeing that face and wondering whether we could make a relationship work. “I’m not going to pretend that I’ll be your buddy, come what may, through thick or thin. I’m saying that I’m in the market to settle down, whether it’s with you or with some other guy. So, if you’re just looking to fill the hours, I’m the wrong girl for you.”
“That’s rather a direct approach,” he replied, somewhat shocked by my bluntness.
“Take it or leave it. I’d rather not have my heart broken by some guy who can’t make up his mind.”
“Wow. Sounds like you expect me to dance to your tune.”
“I guess I do. I like the music and I like you. What’s it going to be?” I kept my eyes on him, speaking steadily as I observed his reaction. The truth was I was fed up with wafting through relationships. After all these years, I had finally left the sidelines as a wallflower and decided I was hitting the dance floor. I set my sights on what I wanted and I would settle for nothing less than the whole ball of wax — the romance, the passion, and even the stability of a good relationship. I deserved it. I earned it. One way or another, I was going to have it, even if it meant walking away from Jasper. I wanted a partner I could move in sync with, someone who would catch me when I stumbled, someone I could move with even if he faltered momentarily. I wanted strong arms around me as I stepped into life’s dips and twirls.
I watched Jasper rise to his feet and my heart sunk. Had I gone too far? Had I pressed for too much? Perhaps it was better to find out now than to waste any more of my life on empty promises. As I sat there, gripped by fear, I saw him extend his arms in my direction.
“In that case, madamoiselle,” he grinned, taking my hands and lifting me to my feet, “shall we dance?”
That warm smile spread across his face, inviting me to join him. I felt his fingers wrap around mine and felt the distance between us disappearing. I took a step towards him and fell into his arms.
“We shall.”
Sara M. Barton has written other books you might enjoy:
The Bodacious Baby Boomer Escapades:
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Prometheus
The Deadly Secret of Dr. Arcanum Lock’s Evolutionary Spirit Project
It Will Be Our Little Secret
The Practical Caregiver Capers:
Murder at the Mountain Vale Inn
Murder on the High Seas
The Inscrutable Case of the Nobbled Netsuke
The Passion Beach Psycho Strikes at Midnight
Who Snatched Aunt Marion?
Having a Killer Time, Wish You Were Here — PC Capers Anthology — Volume One
The Practical Caregiver Guides:
The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Basic Care
The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Cancer Care
The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Home Hospice Care
The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Amusing Sick Kids
The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Caregiver Support
No Hiding Behind the Potted Palms! A Dance with Danger Mystery #7 Page 39