“I don’t know,” he stated flatly. “She must have taken them off.”
“And you didn’t notice? Sorry, Jarred. My naivete doesn’t extend that far!” Kelsey yanked her arm from his. The sapphire pendant swung at the base of her throat, catching Jarred’s attention once more. He reached for it, then closed his fingers around it. Kelsey jerked backward, away from his touch. They locked glances and she could see how angry he was.
“I’m leaving you,’’ she said in a scarcely audible voice.
“The hell you are,” he grated right back.
It was her next involuntary step backward that broke the chain. The snap of the fragile links sounded loud like a gunshot, and when they both stared at the broken necklace, the symbolism was too great to ignore.
Kelsey left without another word and spent the night packing. Jarred never came home at all. She left the following morning, murmuring vague threats of divorce, and until the accident, nothing had changed.
“Kelsey?”
Gwen’s voice brought her back to reality with a bang. Kelsey jumped in surprise. She was standing just outside the Georgian Room. Gwen hovered near her elbow, a fiftyish woman whose once stylish appearance had changed for the worse with time and who now regarded Kelsey with a tense expression that bordered on pure anxiety.
“Oh, hi. I’m sorry. I was just thinking so hard I forgot where I was. One should never think that hard,” she added with a smile. “It’s bad for the brain.”
“You had me wondering,” Gwen revealed. “You looked like you were in a trance.” She looked around herself as the maitre d’ came forward to guide them to a table.
It gave Kelsey a moment to collect herself. The maitre d’ pulled back Gwen’s chair, then did the same for Kelsey. Seating herself, Kelsey accepted the gold-tasseled menu and struggled to put thoughts of Jarred aside. Gwen had asked her here for purpose and she wanted to hear what that purpose was.
As if divining her thoughts, Gwen suddenly lowered her menu. She fiddled with the silverware. A strand of dyed black hair dipped over her eye and she pushed it back with faintly trembling fingers. Kelsey noticed how strained her eyes looked, and suddenly she wasn’t thinking about Jarred at all but about the women across from her who looked as if she’d seen a ghost.
“What is it?” Kelsey asked.
“Oh, I don’t know how to say this, so I guess I’ll just jump in. I’ve—I’ve heard you on the phone to Jarred. I know you’re worried something’s going on at the company, and I agree.”
“You do?”
“Someone wants to do Jarred harm.”
Kelsey lowered her menu as well and stared at Gwen.
She lifted a hand to her head. “I’ve got such a headache starting. I’m sorry. It’s Will, Kelsey. He’s undermining the whole operation. I think it’s jealousy.”
“Will?” she repeated faintly. “Are you sure?”
“I’m really, really sorry. He’s Jarred’s brother—well, half brother,” she amended, “but Jarred believes in him completely.”
Kelsey’s head swam from so much information. “How do you know?”
“You’re not the only one I’ve overheard,” she admitted, lowering her eyes. “I’ve caught him on the phone with Trevor Taggart. Maybe it’s innocent. I don’t know. I just thought you should know.”
Kelsey didn’t want to believe it. Not Will. Not to Jarred. “Well, if Will’s the one giving Trevor information, then it’s because of Sarah,” Kelsey defended. “They’re together all the time, talking over deals. I’m sure she’s involved!”
Gwen pursed her lips and shook her head. “I know you don’t like Sarah, but she wants the company to succeed. It’s Will who wants it to fail. He’ll never measure up to Jarred and he resents it. I’m telling you this in confidence. I have no proof, but I know. So what are you going to do?”
Kelsey shook her head.
“Don’t tell Jarred. At least not yet. Not until he’s better. This’ll kill him for sure. Will’s the only person he truly trusts.” Gwen rubbed her temples with her fingers. “I just wanted you to know that I know you’re not the spy who’s been leaking information. You can count on me to help, Kelsey.”
“Jarred wants to know what’s going on,” Kelsey murmured. “Did he mention to you that he believed there was a spy within the company?”
“No. Will and Sarah mentioned your name a few times. I put two and two together.”
The waiter came to take their order and Kelsey realized she had absolutely no appetite. She couldn’t think. Not Will. No, no, no.
“What are you going to do?” Gwen asked anxiously when Kelsey declined anything but a cup of coffee. “I’ve upset you. I’m sorry.”
“No. Don’t be. I’ve got to… think about this.”
“Don’t tell Jarred,” Gwen appealed again. “Not if you want him to recover.”
“I was thinking about talking to Will.”
Gwen shivered. “I don’t know. But promise me you won’t tell Jarred yet. Oh, what do I know anyway. I’m just an old woman who meddles too much. I’m jumping at shadows.”
“You’re not old, Gwen.”
“Promise me, Kelsey. Please.”
Because she was so terribly upset, Kelsey said, “I promise I won’t tell Jarred anything yet. Not until there’s something more concrete. I don’t know how I’d ever tell Jarred anyway. He would never want to believe this about Will.”
Chapter Eight
“So what’s eating you?” Will asked, regarding his brother with a slight frown. “You’ve barely said two words all night. Oh, wait. It’s not because of Kelsey, is it? Are you starting to doubt her sincerity, too?”
It was all Jarred could do to appear as if he possessed even a modicum of desire to talk to his younger brother. Almost on cue, as soon as Kelsey had pulled out of the driveway, Will had pulled in. He rang the bell and called out, but Jarred was helpless to do much more than gnash his teeth in frustration at his own immobility.
Growing concerned, Will had pushed the buttons for the garage-door code and let himself in. Upon hearing Jarred’s grunt of greeting, he’d shot up the stairs and strode into the room, ready for battle. “My God, I thought you were being attacked or something!”
“I’m just fine,” Jarred responded shortly.
Will’s bristling health and strength were enough to lower Jarred’s spirits still further, so he’d spent the last hour attempting to keep from revealing how outmatched he felt against his half brother’s extreme hardiness. What a killer. He humbly realized how much he’d taken his health for granted. Faced with Will, he found it daunting to ever believe he’d be back in that kind of shape again.
“I’m actually glad Kelsey’s not here,” Will revealed, making himself comfortable in one of the sitting room chairs, oblivious to Jarred’s darkening mood. “I know you trust her and want her at the company. Fine. We’re all trying to help her out.”
“Are you?”
Will inclined his head, slightly acknowledging the rebuke. “Until you’re back at the company, we’re walking on eggshells, and yes, we all want to make this work. It’s what you want, so it’s what we want. But…”
“But?” Jarred prodded when Will didn’t seem to know how to proceed.
“There are some issues that need to be cleared up. That’s all.” He spread his hands.
“Such as,” Jarred asked, shifting his weight. Carefully—oh, so carefully—he rose into a sitting position, conscious of the sweat pouring down his back at the effort it took to hide the jarring pain even this small movement created.
“I want to talk about the money she’s been hiding.”
“Hiding.” Jarred snorted. “Hardly the word for it.”
“Well, you uncovered it and you thought it was pretty damning before. Now, I realize you’ve had a change of heart, but, Jarred, just don’t forget about it.”
Will’s logic was impossible to completely ignore even though everything Jarred believed cried out that it wasn’t true. F
or the years of their marriage Kelsey had withdrawn sizable chunks of cash from her checking account with no explanation. Because they’d never divorced, and she’d never bothered to take his name off her accounts, Jarred had been able to keep accessing those accounts, checking the deposits and withdrawals. And those cash withdrawals had continued.
And now he felt ashamed for spying on her.
“Apparently she’s been shifting some serious dollars around. You thought she was giving the money to Chance Rowden for drugs.”
Jarred couldn’t deny it. “It was her money,” he pointed out.
“It’s nice you feel that way. You didn’t before.”
“I didn’t do a lot of things before,” Jarred pointed out, losing patience.
Silence fell between them. Jarred recognized Will was right, but that recognition didn’t endear him to his brother. He wanted to kill the messenger. “So what’s the story with you and Danielle?” he asked, needing to shift the spotlight.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on. You’ve been digging at me and my personal life ever since I woke up in the hospital. How come I haven’t seen or heard about your wife?”
“I suppose because she’s not likely to be my wife much longer.” The quiet pain in Will’s voice rang through like a chime.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Jarred was sympathetic. “That bad?”
“Even worse.” When Jarred waited for an answer, Will shrugged and got to his feet. “Things happen. Danielle wants different things than I do. It’s been a problem for a while.” To Jarred’s continued silence, he added, “There’s another man involved.”
Jarred felt a jolt of memory. He certainly knew how that felt. “Ouch.”
“Yeah, well, all I’m saying about Kelsey is maybe you should get to the bottom of this money thing. You’ve got her working for Bryant Industries now. You need to know what she’s up to.”
Jarred nodded, forced to at least acknowledge that Will had a point. Will tried to further his argument by bringing • up past problems in Jarred’s marriage, but a cold, quelling look from his brother kept Will from going to far. Eventually he gave Jarred a pat on the back and left.
Jarred sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. It was flat-out depressing to be faced with the fact that Kelsey might have a hidden agenda, yet it was worse to hide his head in the sand. Something was going to have to be done. Some confrontation would have to be faced. Probably tonight.
Weary to the bone, he grabbed the crutches and made his way to his bed. Inside his room, he hesitated, however, as his mind ran over all the events of the evening, lingering on those moments when he’d held Kelsey in his arms, his blood singing with desire. He might be tired, but he wasn’t dead. Yet.
To hell with this invalid stuff. He wanted his wife, and he wanted her now.
Tired, worried, her head full of Gwen’s accusations and her heart full of worry, Kelsey parked her Explorer next to Jarred’s Porsche and let herself into the house. Tossing her keys on the counter, she headed upstairs, anxious to see her husband again. The hallway door to Jarred’s suite was ajar. After pushing it open, Kelsey tiptoed into the unoccupied room. The lights were still on, creating warm pools of illumination, but a kind of dead silence reigned. Jarred had obviously gone to bed.
Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. She hadn’t realized how much she’d looked forward to the “evening report” until now. Disappointed, she walked down the hallway to her own rooms, then pushed open the door to her sitting room. She’d apparently left the bamboo lamp atop her nightstand on, for a thin shaft of warm yellow light spilled from the slightly open bedroom door.
She sighed. Maybe it was just as well Jarred wasn’t awake. She would hate to have to lie about what Gwen had said concerning Will. No, it was better for Jarred to learn later. Tonight wasn’t the right time to make unfounded accusations.
After unbuttoning her blouse, Kelsey slipped it off her shoulders and pulled it from her slacks. Then she pushed open the door and crossed the threshold from the sitting room to her bedroom.
Dark head on her pillow. A man in her bed.
She screamed without thinking. Terror choked. Frozen. A millisecond later she realized it was Jarred propping himself up on his elbows. Jarred, whose expression changed from anticipation to sheepishness.
“My God! You scared me!” Kelsey’s voice shook.
“I’m sorry.”
“I thought you couldn’t even make it back to your own bed!”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Kelsey narrowed her eyes at him. His voice was shaking with repressed amusement. “Not funny,” she told him, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I’m not laughing.”
“Oh, yeah?” She arched a brow.
“No.” The shit-eating grin plastered on his face told a different story.
Kelsey fought a smile. “If I thought for a minute that you were amused by this, your life wouldn’t be worth living.”
“It’s not even remotely funny.” His blue eyes danced with humor. His mouth curved. He fought the little chuckles of amusement that set his body shaking and lost the battle.
She laughed. “Okay, it’s funny. But you scared the bejesus out of me!”
“I didn’t mean to,” he admitted. “I just couldn’t stand being so helpless, and as soon as you left, I wanted to drag you back.”
“You were exhausted,” she reminded him, crossing the room.
His hand curved from the bed and circled her waist, pulling her close. “I got a second wind. After Will left, I decided to meet you on your own turf.”
“Will was here?” She fought to appear normal.
“Just for a while. What did Gwen want to talk about?” he asked, trying to stifle a huge yawn.
“Nothing much.” Kelsey wouldn’t have been able to bring up the truth about Gwen’s suspicions even if Gwen hadn’t already sworn her to secrecy. There were just too many questions still, and she didn’t feel like finger pointing. “She just wanted to make certain you’re on the mend. I think she’s worried about you.”
“No need. I’m fine. So are you coming to bed?” He fought another yawn. “Better make it quick.”
“Let me change.”
“Just take off what you’ve got on and crawl in,” Jarred suggested.
“I need to wash my face and do a few things first.”
Kelsey escaped into the bathroom, her pulse beginning to race again in spite of herself. Was this what she really wanted? Yes! But should she? Everything was happening so fast, and so little had actually been resolved.
After scrubbing her face with more force than necessary, she patted her skin dry with a fluffy yellow towel and stared at her own reflection. “It’s just sex,” she whispered.
Liar.
Stripping down to her bra and panties, she ran her hands over her flat stomach. There was no way she could take off every stitch. It had been years since Jarred had touched her or seen her completely nude or shown any interest in her emotionally or physically. She felt like a schoolgirl now: inept and inexperienced and way too excited for the circumstances.
After a number of tense minutes, she softly opened the door, clicked off the switch, and let her eyes adjust to the room, which was dark because Jarred had turned off the nightstand light.
Mr. Dog barked softly. He’d entered through the open door to the hallway. Kelsey bent down to the dog and silently rubbed his silky ears; then she led him to the door and gently shoved him outside. After closing the door, she waited in tense expectation. Jarred’s even breathing told a story. Her shoulders slumped. Damn, damn, damn, she thought without heat. She should have known.
As if sensing her indecision, Jarred half surfaced. “Kelsey?” he murmured.
“Right here.”
“Climb in,” he murmured. “Please…”
Without further ado she crossed the carpet and slipped under the covers. He was on his side but his hand
reached back for her. She snuggled against the curve of his spine, loving the closeness.
Memories instantly assailed her. She recalled those times when she’d never wanted to get out of bed—how she’d begged him to sleep late with her, how they’d made love for hours.
His arm pressed her close to him. Kelsey slipped her own arm around his torso, her fingers curling in the fine hair on his chest. She closed her eyes. His hand slipped to the curve of her hip. Her eyes flew open, a warm heat rising inside her despite her own misgivings about making love to her husband again. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from rubbing her lips against his back. As if the devil himself were guiding her fingers, she slid her hand downward and realized Jarred was wearing nothing at all. She should have known. Pajamas weren’t his style. He was all masculine angles and taut skin, and she sighed with genuine regret that he was so done in.
He started to shake with laughter.
“You’re awake!” she declared.
“Well, yes, I am.” He sounded inordinately pleased with himself.
“You fooled me!”
“You were thinking about not getting into bed with me. I had to come up with something to change your mind.”
“By pretending to be asleep?” Kelsey asked.
“It worked,” he said simply.
With that, he carefully turned toward her. With his lips a hairbreadth from hers, his eyes open and gazing at her, and his nose nearly touching hers, Kelsey was torn between desire and nervous laughter. A soft breath escaped her. More a moan than a laugh.
But he wasn’t going to have it all his way.
“So are you ready for the report, Jarred? As I recall, you wanted to know each and every little thing that’s been happening at work.”
For an answer, Jarred kissed the soft, shining hair at her temple, his lips warm against her skin. Kelsey swallowed and ignored the tender assault. “Let’s see
I’ve won Meghan over to my side, too. She’s Sarah and Will’s gofer. She’s more than helpful. Sharing an office with Will makes it kind of tough to get anything really done. I keep trying to answer his phone when he’s not there, which is most of the time since he’s always in your office. On the other hand, when he is around, I get more information about what’s going on. Sarah tends to be wherever he is, and when the two of them get talking, they seem to forget I’m listening. Or at least they act that way. Meanwhile, there’s talk of clearing out one of the storage rooms for me. That would put me closer to your office, however, so I get the feeling Will and Sarah are reluctant to do that. Am I boring you?”
Not Without You Page 14