Redeeming the Playboy

by Carol Marinelli

  ‘Is the chair okay or do you want me on the mat again?’

  ‘Very funny, Jack.’ She laughed, but she was still cringing about what she had told him last night.

  ‘Nina, don’t ignore me in the corridor again. I told you, I don’t do awkward,’ Jack said, simply addressing the situation between them.

  ‘Thank you.’

  And then Jack got to another reason he was there.

  ‘I heard their might be some news.’

  There was. The news was still fluttering in her chest, still new and shiny and hard to take in, and she hadn’t actually said the words out loud yet.

  ‘I’ve got custody …’ She was shaking just saying it. All those years of study and work and scrimping and saving, just to get to this point, and finally, sooner than expected, she could say it. ‘It’s temporary custody for now, but they’ve been to look at the flat, and apparently Blake isn’t happy where he is.’ She hated so much what they had all been through. ‘They’re not horrible people or anything, they’re just older and can’t deal with him …’

  ‘You’ve got them now.’ Jack came and leant on the desk beside her chair. ‘They’re good kids.’

  ‘They are!’ Nina was adamant on that. ‘I know Janey can be a handful, but I’m really going to work on her. I’m going to show the department just how much better she is with me.’

  And he knew he had to step back here, that it wasn’t his place to tell her how to raise them. After all, what would he know? Professionally, yes, he had his opinion, but on family …? He thought of his own family, the complete dysfunction behind the smiling façade, but more than that he needed to do some serious thinking.

  Serious thinking.

  ‘Say hi to them for me.’ He gave a thin smile. ‘Tell them I’ll come by and see them some time soon.’

  ‘I think we need some time together …’ She saw him frown, saw the slight startlement in his eyes and realised he’d misunderstood what she had said, that he must have thought she was working out a way to schedule some alone time for them, so she made things a little clearer. ‘Not us.’ God, it hurt to lose him. ‘Me and the kids. We need some time to settle in with each other and …’ She gave him a smile when she felt like weeping. ‘Really, Jack, it might just confuse things if you keep coming round.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I told Blake that I’d get him a Rangers top,’ Jack said.

  ‘You can give that to me at work.’

  ‘And I also said to Janey that I’d check in and see that she was okay, wherever she was … so, tough, I’m coming round.’

  He walked back through the hospital and popped into ICU before heading for home, and for Jack things couldn’t be more confusing.

  He was being dumped and surely he should be sighing with relief, cracking open the champagne and celebrating, because Jack Carter with a twenty-five-year-old, anti-fashion girlfriend, who came with two messed-up kids in tow was so not part of the plan.

  And he was still confused when he got home and looked around his tastefully furnished apartment, because all it looked was sterile. He looked into the mirror as he shaved the next morning, saw the fading bruise and decided that if he saw Vince again he’d happily repeat the experience.

  He wanted something more from this relationship, wanted something he had never known, and, no, he didn’t understand it.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  NINA DIDN’T SAY his name. Instead, she pursed her lips when on Friday night Jack came to her door just as she was about to start dinner.

  ‘I rang your office.’ Jack smiled. ‘They said you left at five.’

  ‘I did.’ Nina tried to move out to the hall so that Blake and Janey wouldn’t realise that he was there. ‘I’ve got a lot to do, Jack—there’s a lot to unpack.’ She still hadn’t set up the chests of drawers in Janey’s room, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

  ‘I thought I might help. Maybe I could go out and get dinner.’ He sniffed the air. ‘Is that chicken? I thought you didn’t eat meat.’

  He spoke too loudly so she did move out into the hall as there was no way she wanted Blake to hear him. ‘Just because I’m vegetarian it doesn’t mean that they have to be.’

  ‘Jack!’ Like a Jack-seeking missile, Blake came out to the hall. ‘Did you get my top?’

  ‘Blake.’ Nina was stern. ‘Don’t be rude.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ Jack said. ‘No, I haven’t got your top yet. I’m working on it.’

  He’d probably get one signed by the whole hockey team. Nina could just picture it.

  ‘Are you going to ask me in?’ Jack said. ‘Or is it chicken for two?’

  It was a chicken for three and Nina just had the vegetables. It worried her how much Blake adored him. Janey even asked him for some help with her homework a bit later and Nina heard him ask if she knew what she wanted to do in the future.

  ‘No idea,’ Janey admitted. ‘Anyway, I think I might have left it too late to get good grades.’

  ‘You’re fifteen,’ Jack said. ‘It’s not too late to turn things around. You just need to focus.’

  After dinner Nina thanked him for coming over and though she did it nicely it was clear she was asking him to leave.

  ‘I’ll be off, then. Oh, and, Nina …’ he gave her a smile ‘… you do remember that you agreed to go to the dinner dance tomorrow for the burns unit …?’

  ‘I didn’t agree,’ Nina said.

  ‘Well, it’s a bit too late to back out now—I’ve put your name down, bought the tickets …’ Annoyingly he smiled. ‘It’s for a very good cause.’

  ‘I can babysit,’ Janey chimed in, before Nina could use that as an excuse, but she shook her head.

  ‘I’m not going out your first Saturday night here and leaving you to babysit.’

  ‘Why not?’ Jack asked, and she wished he would just butt out. She could hardly stand here and say that she didn’t know if she trusted Janey, but she had no choice but to agree, making it clear that she’d rather he went home now.

  ‘I’ll pick you up at seven,’ Jack said, and then said goodbye to Blake and Janey.

  ‘You were mean,’ Blake said accusingly.

  ‘I wasn’t mean,’ Nina said, but it was said rather forcibly to override her disquiet, because Jack had seemed to genuinely want to be there and yet again it had been a good evening.

  ‘That’s how I used to feel,’ Blake said when she went in later to kiss him goodnight.

  ‘When?’

  ‘At Dianne’s. I always felt that she just wanted to get back to her family.’

  ‘It’s not like that with Jack.’ Nina did her best to explain what she didn’t herself understand. ‘Jack’s a very good friend.’

  ‘He’s more than your friend.’

  ‘Yes,’ Nina said carefully.

  ‘So why were you mean to him?’

  ‘I wasn’t mean. The thing is, Jack comes from a very well-to-do family, he’s a very …’ She stopped because it was impossible to explain.

  ‘You said things like that don’t matter.’

  ‘They don’t.’ Nina blew out a breath. How could she tell Blake that Jack couldn’t possibly be ready for this ready-made family? That really, as fun as the time had been that they’d had together, it would be marked in days, weeks at best.

  There was not just one but three hearts that could be very easily broken here if she wasn’t careful.

  ‘Let’s just worry about us for now.’ She gave him a kiss goodnight.

  ‘What are you wearing for the dinner?’ Janey asked when Nina came out from saying goodnight to Blake.

  ‘I’m not sure yet.’

  ‘Are you going to buy something?’

  Nina shook her head. She was already worrying enough about dropping her hours, without buying a new dress, and anyway nothing she could afford could even begin to match the lavish women that would be there.

  No, things like that shouldn’t matter, but it was going to be an embarrassing way to prove a point.

  ‘Th
ere’s a nice retro store I know. They have some top-end stuff,’ Janey suggested. ‘We could go shopping tomorrow.’

  And it was the most normal suggestion Janey had made, just two sisters going shopping, and of course Blake would come along too but, yes, the thought of having some quality time with Janey and possibly finding a dress that wasn’t going to make her stand out like a sore thumb worked on so many levels that less than twelve hours later Nina found herself being bullied to try on dresses that were absolutely not her style.

  ‘It’s nice,’ Nina said, because it was the best of the bunch, ‘but …’ She turned around in the mirror and wasn’t quite so sure. It was a chocolate-brown dress that looked great from the front but from the back showed rather too much of her spine. She thought of the glossed and buffed women who would be attending, women who would have spent ages in preparation, and suddenly Nina felt more than a little nervous. She had no interest in competing with them, but at the same time she didn’t want to embarrass Jack.

  ‘You’ve got shoes that will go with it,’ Janey reminded her. ‘And I’m also starving.’

  ‘So am I,’ Blake said, thoroughly bored by the whole shopping expedition. ‘When can we go home?’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ Nina said, but pleased with her purchase she was actually glad Janey had suggested that they come here, and once home and eating lunch she told her so.

  ‘I enjoyed it,’ Janey admitted, and then looked at the clock. ‘You’d better start getting ready.’

  ‘He’s not picking me up till six.’ It had been seven p.m. that Jack was to pick her up but he’d texted that morning with a last-minute change of plans. They were going to stop by and have drinks at his parents’ house and then go to the dinner from there. The thought of meeting his parents was more daunting than what would follow.

  ‘Which gives you four hours,’ Janey pointed out. ‘You’ve no idea, have you?’ Janey just stared at her older sister. ‘Some of these women will have spent days preparing for this.’

  ‘Okay, okay.’

  ‘And you’re going to his posh parents’ house—you’ll have to look nice for that too.’ Janey actually laughed. ‘I can’t believe he’s taking you to meet his family.’

  ‘It’s nothing like that.’ Oh, she knew better than to read anything into it. The Carters were sociable people and no doubt wanted to briefly meet her before they shared an evening at the same table but, still, it was for that reason that she allowed Janey to paint her fingerand toenails and let her do her hair.

  ‘I don’t want it straightened,’ Nina said as Janey plugged her equipment in.

  ‘I’m not going to straighten it.’ Janey rolled her eyes at her very out-of-date older sister. ‘I’m going to give you curls.’

  Which she did.

  Over and over she pulled the straighteners and it was nice to sit in the bedroom as Janey got to work and just chat, to find out that this was the sort of thing Janey liked to get up to with her friends, just spend the evening doing hair and nails and things; that beneath that scowling expression and black eyeliner was actually a very young, very nice young girl. It made her heart thump in her chest to think of what might have happened if Jack hadn’t handled things so well.

  ‘You should have a few friends over one night,’ Nina suggested as Janey got to work on her make-up.

  ‘So you can interrogate them?’

  ‘No. So you can have some fun with them here.’

  ‘Tonight?’

  ‘No.’ Nina knew Janey was teasing, because they’d had some very long conversations. ‘Tonight you’re in charge of Blake and I’m trusting you to get this right.’

  ‘You mean Jack’s trusting me.’

  ‘Okay,’ Nina admitted. ‘Maybe he did push for it, but I think he’s right—you’re nearly sixteen you should be able to look after your brother. I’ll be home before midnight. Go easy with the make-up,’ Nina said, pulling away.

  ‘I have,’ Janey said. ‘You’re done! But you need to see it with your dress and shoes on and everything.’

  Nina was somewhat nervous going over to the mirror. While she was all for encouraging Janey, she didn’t want to go out tonight looking like a complete clown, but when she stood in the hall and stared into the long mirror she didn’t comment for a while.

  ‘You like it, don’t you?’

  Nina did like it, perhaps because she barely recognised herself.

  Her hair, which she usually pinned up loosely or pulled back now fell in loose ringlets and her make-up was amazing. It had felt as if Janey was putting far too much on, but actually it was all very subtle. Her skin looked creamy and her eye shadow was brown, which brought out her deep blue eyes, and her lips were a pinkish neutral. The only place Janey had been heavy with was the eyelashes. From long, fair and invisible, they were now soft and black and really long, and however she looked in the mirror she knew that there was no way she could have put this all together herself.

  ‘You’re really good at this.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘I mean,’ Nina said slowly, ‘really good at this.’

  ‘Are you nervous?’ Janey asked.

  ‘A bit,’ Nina admitted.

  ‘Maybe Jack is,’ Janey said, but Nina shook her head.

  ‘These things are no big deal to Jack. He won’t be giving it a second thought.’

  She could not have been more wrong.

  As his driver brought him closer to Nina’s, Jack was having serious second thoughts.

  He must have been mad to suggest that she come to his parents’ for drinks—a table at dinner would have been fine, but to bring her into his home? He’d been thinking of himself, wanting to show Nina first hand what was so hard to explain, except he hadn’t properly considered the effect it might have on Nina … until now.

  He could just imagine his mother’s disapproving eye as she saw Nina in an off-the-peg number. He wouldn’t put it past her to even question out loud if her was dress was suitable for tonight.

  As the car stopped outside Nina’s apartment Jack climbed out and even as he took the lift he wondered if he should suggest they stay at her apartment for a while and just meet his parents at the venue.

  ‘Hey, Jack …’ Blake let him in. ‘She’s been getting ready for ages.’

  ‘You’re not supposed to tell me that.’ Jack winked. ‘Trust me on that one. Here …’ He handed him a bag and smiled at Blake’s expression and shout of delight as he took out the top. He hadn’t had it signed by the entire team but there was Blake’s favourite player’s signature and a signed photo, and the little guy was so excited he dashed off to show his sisters, leaving Jack standing in the hallway. And after a moment he let himself in.

  ‘I hope you said thank you.’

  Jack said nothing. He wasn’t trying to get Blake into trouble, but for a moment there he actually forgot he had a voice, because she looked nothing like he could have expected—she looked incredible. Still Nina, still different, but she would turn heads for different reasons tonight.

  ‘You look amazing.’

  ‘Thanks to Janey,’ Nina said.

  ‘Thank you, Janey.’ Jack smiled.

  ‘So am I going to get paid for being personal shopper, make-up artist and babysitter?’ Janey asked as Nina filled her bag.

  ‘No,’ Nina said. ‘That’s what….’ She gave in then. Janey had saved her a fortune tonight and in years to come she had her own personal stylist under her roof. What wasn’t to love? So she gave her some money and didn’t notice that Jack gave her some too, but with a warning that he expected her on her most responsible behaviour tonight.

  ‘I will be,’ Janey insisted. ‘I want Nina to have a good time.’

  So did Jack.

  For the hundredth time he wondered what the hell he was doing. He actually felt a bit sick as the car approached his family home, the same nausea he had always felt at the beginning of the school holidays, knowing he would have to spend the summer here, or Christmas …

  Jack had f
ar preferred his time at boarding school.

  ‘I’m nervous …’ Nina said.

  ‘I know.’ Jack helped her out of the car. ‘They’re pretty daunting.’

  It wasn’t the answer Nina had been expecting. She’d hoped he’d reassure her that it was no big deal, that he brought friends home all the time, that they’d met so many of his girlfriends that they’d struggle to remember her name for the night, but he said nothing, just took her arm and led her to a front door she’d seen pictured on the covers of lifestyle magazines and Sunday papers and that soon would admit her.

  ‘They’re used to this, though.’ She was speaking more for her own benefit than his, trying to reassure herself when he didn’t. ‘You’d have brought a lot of women here.’

  ‘I’ve never brought anyone back here.’ She turned and frowned just as she heard someone approach from the other side of the door. ‘I’ve never brought a friend home, even when I was at school, and certainly I’ve never brought a date back here.’

  ‘Never?’

  ‘Never,’ Jack said. ‘And I’m really sorry to put you through this.’

  She had no idea what he was talking about.

  The door was opened by a servant, who took their coats, and Jack led her through a house that was huge. Then she stepped into the gorgeous lounge that she had seen in the pages of a magazine.

  ‘Jack …’ His mother turned as he walked in. She was sipping a glass of champagne and chatting on the phone, but she muted it for a moment and naturally Nina recognised her and gave her a smile.

  ‘Mother, this is Nina Wilson.’

  She gave a brief nod in her conversation and it was Jack who introduced her. ‘Nina, this is Anna,’ he said as she resumed talking on the telephone, bitching about the guests that were going tonight. Nina sat there, cheeks scalding, stunned as everything she thought she knew about the Carters was wiped out of existence.

  The father walked in and Jack Carter Senior sort of gave a brief nod in their direction and snapped for a maid to hurry up with his drink.

  ‘What time are we leaving?’ were his first words to Jack.

  ‘We’re to be there for seven-thirty, so soon,’ Jack said, as Nina realised exactly why Jack had been in no hurry to leave her place. They were the coldest, most distant people Nina had ever met. Everything she had read or seen had been an complete act. This was so not the all American family they portrayed.