by Tamie Dearen
“About that…” Jerome’s face went serious. “I’ve dealt with reporters all my life. The media attention is nothing new for me.” He reached out to squeeze her hand. “But I’m worried you’re going to hate it.”
Something hurt inside her chest. “Me, too,” she whispered.
He glanced around and lowered his voice. “I’m just glad you invited me to come tonight. It’s been way too long. I’ve been thinking about calling you ever since Dad made his announcement, but I wasn’t sure how you felt about the marriage.”
“I don’t know how I feel, either.” She swallowed a hard lump.
“Speaking of marriage, I’ve been meaning to tell you… I’m getting engaged.”
“To that girl you mentioned a couple of months ago?”
“Six months ago,” he corrected, beaming from ear to ear. “We don’t want to waste any time. Of course, we haven’t made it public yet. I want to surprise her with the ring, and all. Her name’s Charisse,” he said, with reverence.
“Congratulations!” She hugged his neck. “Will I be invited to the wedding?”
“Of course. Especially since the whole world is going to know we’re related, now.”
“That’s one way to put a positive spin on it.” She sighed, closing her eyes, and wishing she could escape from reality. “I’ve got a lot to tell you.”
“Well, I’m all ears. But I don’t think Finn likes me talking to you. Don’t look now, but he’s on his way back. And his face is all pinched, like he swallowed something rotten.”
A gentle hand touched her back, and she turned to Finn, who wore a concerned expression. “I arranged a place for Jerome at our table.”
“Thanks for doing that. I forgot he had a table assignment across the room.” It was a thoughtful gesture, but she was disappointed. She’d hoped he would be a little jealous. Arranging for them to sit together sure didn’t seem like the action of a jealous man.
“Also, the Avanzas would like to see you making the rounds in that jewelry. Be sure the cameras get some good shots of the diamonds.”
“Cameras?” Jerome shot Laurie an alarmed look. “Are there reporters here?”
“Absolutely,” Finn said. “We’ve learned the more cameras there are, the higher the auction prices. We even put the internet bidders up on the screens, unless they ask to be anonymous.”
Jerome sent Laurie a grimace. “I think it’s too soon for us to be together with reporters around.”
“You’re probably right.” She gave his arm a parting touch. “See ya at dinner.”
With a worried expression, Finn watched him walk away. “Why avoid media attention?”
What could she say without revealing too much? “Let’s just say there are people who might wonder why we’re together. I don’t want to start any rumors.”
“Okay, I won’t pry.”
Finn offered his elbow, and she accepted, trying not to stumble as she relived the kiss that had fried her entire nervous system.
“Thanks,” she said when she gained control of herself. “I didn’t really want to walk around alone wearing these diamonds.”
His eyes went to the necklace on her chest and slid up to her dangling earrings, her skin sizzling where his gaze touched, heat spreading all the way up to her forehead.
“You make those diamonds look beautiful.”
“Ha. Don’t you mean that the other way around?”
“No.” He stared straight ahead as he guided her around the border of the room. “I meant it as I said it. The diamonds are lovely… almost worthy of you.”
“Yeah, right.” She let out a nervous laugh, twisting the ring on her finger, and cleared her throat. “Listen, Finn. We need to talk.”
“I agree.”
She almost melted with relief. “Great. Should we talk now? Go somewhere alone?”
“I can say what I need to say while we’re walking.”
“Go ahead. I’m listening,” she responded through the side of her mouth, around a fake smile, nodding at Janice McFarland, investment guru of the stars.
He spoke without moving his lips, an equally false smile plastered on his face. “It’s about Jerome—I don’t believe you’re thinking clearly.”
“Why is that?” Dropping her façade, she stared daggers at him. Not that it did any good. He refused to meet her eyes. “What do you have against Jerome?”
He smiled and nodded toward a group of older men who, from their unbridled laughter appeared to be slightly inebriated.
“I don’t know how to say this without offending you, but it has to be done.” His jaw hardened. “I’ve been paying close attention to everything you’ve said in the past month or so, and I think I can deduce a few things. One of them is that your last boyfriend was probably abusive. Perhaps that was only a verbal thing, but it doesn’t matter. Abuse is abuse.”
“And you think that was Jerome?”
“Do you deny it?”
She managed to keep a straight face… barely. Her last real boyfriend had been in eleventh grade. His name was Bernie, and he’d been wearing braces for five years. Tall and skinny, he was president of the chess club and probably only dated her because he liked her laptop. After that, she only had a couple of dates during her four years of college, certainly none that would qualify as boyfriends. She hadn’t found a guy with enough depth to hold her attention. And for some reason, every guy she met seemed too intimidated to stick around, anyway.
“What if I assured you that Jerome has always treated me with complete respect?”
“I’d ask, if he’s such a great guy, why aren’t you together now?” He waved at Candy and Sam Marshall, whom Laurie only recognized from their pictures.
“And I’d answer that our lives took us different directions.”
His mouth stretched in a grimace. “In that case… if he’s truly good to you and not abusive… you have my blessing.”
She stopped in her tracks. “I have your blessing? Your blessing? I don’t want your blessing. I want—”
“Shhh!” With panicky eyes, he put his fingers to her lips. Curious gazes burned her skin, and she felt like she was in her recurring nightmare where she went to school in her underwear.
How had her plan gone so far off base? He was supposed to be jealous of Jerome, not marrying her off to him. Then a horrifying thought occurred. The only feeling Finn actually admitted to was a connection during that kiss. What if, for him, it was only physical? Maybe the reason he didn’t want to talk about it was to avoid hurting her feelings. What if Finn wanted her to be with Jerome because he truly didn’t want her for himself?
Her eyes stung with threatening tears. How could I be so stupid?
She lifted her chin, blinking rapidly. “As I was saying, I don’t need your blessing or your permission to be with Jerome. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll let the Davenports have a look at this jewelry.”
Chapter 17
Jerome Shields was a hit at the head table. The wildly popular quarterback kept everyone entertained during dinner, which meant Finn didn’t have to be his normal witty and jovial self. It was a good thing, because he couldn’t have been witty and jovial if his life had depended on it. Nodding and laughing on cue, he listened to Jerome with one ear while watching Laurie from the corner of his eye. With dull eyes and an empty smile, she sat on the opposite side of the table from Jerome and Finn, nibbling at her dinner. Finn wasn’t sure exactly what he’d done wrong, but he assumed the count was rather high.
As dessert was served, Finn took the stage to welcome all the guests and give a verbal thanks to all the donors. Next came a five-minute film—Jarrett’s creative endeavor—highlighting the work of Limitless, particularly with disabled children. By the end, with no dry eyes to be found, the audience was primed and ready to empty their pockets. Finn announced that the silent auction would be closing in ten minutes, prompting a surge toward the long row of auction items on the side of the room.
When he came back, only Jerom
e remained on his end of the table, relaxing against his chair with his coat hanging on the back, muscles bulging under his white tux shirt. Finn hesitated to sit down, knowing he’d be forced to carry on a conversation, but Jerome spoke to him, leaving him no choice.
“Great job up there. I’m really glad I came. To be honest, I don’t know much about all this stuff, and I had no idea Limitless even existed. Of course, I know all about PE. Who doesn’t know Phantom Enterprises?”
“Thanks,” Finn replied, slipping his cell phone out, hoping to discourage the chatter. Just because he’d approved of Jerome as a mate for Laurie didn’t mean he had to like the guy.
“I guess I’m going to have to do this the hard way, Mr. Anderson.” Jerome breathed in, his chest straining against the buttons on his shirt. “Laurie is smart, dedicated, honest, and hard-working. She’s obviously poured herself into this project. She deserves a bit of reward, wouldn’t you agree?”
Finn snapped his head toward Jerome. “I don’t like your tone, Mr. Shields. I’ve done my best to show my appreciation to Laurie for all she’s done, but her compensation is a private matter.”
“I just want to know why you feel compelled to fire her.” Jerome slammed his hand on the table.
Finn’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t fire her.”
“Okay, maybe you didn’t exactly fire her. But you told her she needs to look for another job.” Jerome’s finger wagged in Finn’s face. “Whatever you want to call it, I assume this is some sort of retaliation because she invited me to the event, without your permission. But she called me at the last minute. My chair would’ve been empty if I hadn’t come.”
“Wait, I never—”
“I can tell you don’t like me for some reason, but that shouldn’t affect my sister’s job. I came prepared to make a substantial donation to your cause, even before I heard about it. So let’s be straight up… Is this some kind of racial issue? Or do you hate the Bucks?”
Finn’s ears stopped working in the middle of his speech. “Your sister? You’re Laurie’s brother?”
Jerome squeezed his eyes shut and mumbled a quiet expletive. “That’s not public information. Please don’t repeat it.” He lowered his voice even further. “We’re technically only half-siblings, but she’s my sister, as far as I’m concerned. But our relationship doesn’t matter. My point is she shouldn’t be punished for inviting me tonight.”
Finn pinched the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t ask her to quit, Jerome. And I like you just fine.” He chuckled. “At least, I do now.” He chuckled some more, his laughter slowly building until he was out of control and coughing.
Jerome was staring with frightened eyes. “Are you okay? You sound terrible.”
“Sorry about that. I’m not a smoker, even though it sounds like it,” Finn said, coughing a bit more. “I promise I didn’t ask her to leave Limitless. I wouldn’t do that. I like Laurie… a lot. She’s a great employee.”
“Then why did she tell me she had to find a new job?”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “It could be because I gave her my blessing for the two of you to date.”
“You thought Laurie and I…” Jerome burst into laughter, slapping his hand on his knee. “You’re kidding me!”
“I’ll admit, at first, I thought you might’ve been her abusive ex.”
“What? When did she have an abusive boyfriend?” Jerome’s hands balled into fists. “I better not ever find out who it was, because I might kill the guy. No woman deserves that kind of treatment, but especially not Laurie. Nobody’s treating my sister like that. I chased off most of the guys who tried to date her in college.”
“She didn’t mind you doing that?”
He smiled on one side. “It’s possible she didn’t know, but it was for her own protection. Not just any guy is good enough for my Laurie.”
Finn saw the perfect opportunity to defend his position with Laurie. Her own brother would explain why Finn and Laurie shouldn’t be together.
“Just out of curiosity, how would you describe the man who is good enough for her, assuming he even exists?”
Finn prepared to memorize the list and quote it back to Laurie. Or maybe he could persuade Jerome to tell her himself.
Jerome steepled his fingers together, as if contemplating the meaning of life. “It’s pretty simple, really. It doesn’t matter if the guy has money. He sure doesn’t need to be an athlete. That’s almost a strike against him, in my opinion. He just has to love her and treasure her for how special she really is.”
“That’s it? Surely you have higher standards than that, if you chased all those guys off.”
“Well, the word love means he has to put her first and be willing to die for her. That’s all that matters.”
Finn’s chair suddenly felt hard, and he squirmed to get more comfortable. “But let’s say you had something… say untreatable cancer… something that meant you had a high risk of dying young, wouldn’t it be selfish to get married?”
Jerome stared right through him. “If you don’t have much time on this earth, you shouldn’t waste a minute of it.” Then, to Finn’s shock, Jerome’s eyes filled with tears. “You didn’t know, did you? Tell me you didn’t know. I can’t believe you’d be so cruel, if you knew.”
Finn rifled through his mind, trying to remember some detail he must’ve missed. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to know or not know.”
Jerome’s nostrils flared. “That my girlfriend has leukemia.” His gaze turned to ice, his anger so intense that Finn backed away. “We’re getting married as soon as we can, and don’t you dare say either one of us is being selfish. Don’t you dare!”
Finn held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t talking about you.”
“Good.” He shook his head, mouth clamped shut, like he was holding back his fury. “Because I had to beg her to even date me. And she didn’t want to marry me, even though we were in love.” His hand pushed across the top of his shaved head. “She said I should marry someone else. Can you believe that? Like I wouldn’t rather have one day with Charisse than a million days with someone else.” He punched his finger at Finn’s chest. “That’s what I’m talking about! That’s what it means to really love someone… when you know what they’re worth.”
Unsure what to say, Finn waited in silence while Jerome pulled himself together. At last, his anger seemed to subside, and he took a long drink of water.
“For what it’s worth,” Finn said, “I’m really sorry about Charisse. About the cancer. That’s really tough luck.” If there was anything Finn understood it was bad luck—he was a living example.
“No, we’re blessed, and we know it. More blessed than you can imagine. She needs a bone marrow donor, and we’re going to find one.” Jerome wiped his face with the back of his hands. “But I’m lucky to have her, no matter how long that is. I’m the luckiest man alive, and don’t you forget it,” he said fiercely.
Finn tried to swallow, but his throat was like hot concrete.
“I won’t.”
Laurie pumped herself up before going back to the table, having hid in the bathroom for the duration of the silent auction. She had to put her emotions aside. Raising money for the kids at Limitless was more important than her feelings for Finn. Before long, she would have to get up on stage and model that jewelry set with a smile on her face. She was going to look so ecstatic that every single woman in that room would be clamoring to have those diamonds around their necks and on their fingers.
Fortunately, when she arrived, Finn wasn’t at the table.
“What happened to my boss?” she asked Jerome.
“He said he had to make a phone call.” Jerome picked at his fingernails. “We had an interesting conversation.”
“About what?”
He lowered his voice. “I may have accidentally told him we were siblings.”
“That’s a disaster,” she rasped, in a loud whisper. “We can’t tell anyone yet. The press will have a field
day.”
“I don’t think he’ll give it away. But it was a good thing I told him. Get this… he thought we were dating, and that I might be your abusive ex-boyfriend.” Jerome gave a forced laugh. “I set him straight, though. And you won’t have to find a new job either. I told him he ought to appreciate you, and he said he does. Who knows, you might even get a raise. So everything will be great, now.” He had a smug smile. “You can thank me later.”
Laurie’s stomach twisted up like a drawer full of old electrical cords. “I can’t believe you,” she hissed. “You had no business interfering.”
Finn must think she was the most pathetic person on the planet. How could she even face him?
“I was only protecting you.” Jerome pushed out a pouting lip. “You needed someone to stand up for you, and I did it.”
She leaned close to his ear, with barely controlled rage, struggling to keep a neutral expression on her face. “Let me tell you something, brother. If you’re going to get married, you’d better learn this lesson right now. A woman doesn’t want that kind of protection from a man. She wants support. That means you make the decision together. You don’t get to do whatever you think is best, without asking.”
As luck would have it, Finn picked that moment to return, forcing Laurie to end the conversation before she’d discovered everything her brother had said. Finn was extremely solicitous, confirming her worst fears—he now viewed her with pity. When she shivered from the cold draft on her bare shoulders, his tux coat came off and slid onto her shoulders. Her blood burned, not from the warmth of the jacket, but from his scent, which clung to it. Then he disappeared and came back with a cup of steaming coffee that she accepted, despite her pride.
She wanted to despise him for hurting her. As with her father all those years, it was so much easier to respond to pain with animosity. But his considerate actions, combined with everything she knew about him, made the task impossible.
Who said “there’s a thin line between love and hate”? What a stupid idea. I’m ruined forever.