Wordless

by Sabrina Stark

  Chapter 11

  Becka

  From the look on Jack's face, he wasn't thrilled to be put on the spot. But so what? When I made a promise, I stuck to it. And I expected others to do the same.

  Plus, I was getting more than a little worried. Something was definitely going on, and I was desperate to know what. I gave him a no-nonsense look. "Well?"

  With a low curse, he said, "All right. Here's the condensed version. Flynn bought an island."

  If so, that was news to me. "What?"

  "An island," he said. "A piece of land surrounded by water."

  Oh, for God's sake. "I know what an island is. I'm just surprised, that's all." But of course, it shouldn't have been terribly shocking. Flynn was a billionaire. Probably he could buy a bunch of islands if that's what he wanted.

  "And," Jack said, "it's a surprise."

  "For who?"

  He gave me a look. "You wanna guess?"

  "Oh. You mean for my sister?"

  "Well, it wasn't for Imogen, if that's your other guess."

  "Imogen?" What did the floozy have to do with this?

  His jaw tightened. "You know, the girl you thought he was screwing."

  I didn't appreciate his tone. "What was I supposed to think?"

  "Not that."

  "Oh come on!" I protested. "I go to Flynn's house, and I see a half-naked chick in the doorway, when my sister's out of town, no less. You've got to admit, it looked pretty bad."

  "So you think he's a cheater."

  I couldn't help but notice that Jack hadn't phrased it as a question. So, who was assuming things now? I coldly informed him, "I never said that."

  "You didn't have to," he said. "Now answer the question."

  "What question?"

  Speaking very clearly, he said, "Do you think he's a cheater?"

  Under his penetrating gaze, part of me wanted to wilt. But the other part? Well, that part was getting just a little bit ticked off.

  "Just so you know," I said, "you didn't phrase it as a question."

  Jack frowned. "What?"

  "The first time you asked, you forgot the question mark." Lowering my voice, I did my best Jack Ward impression. "So you think he's a cheater." I gave him a stiff smile. "See, that's not a question. It's a statement. And, it just seems to me, as a writer you'd know the difference."

  From look on his face, he wasn't amused. "Okay, so I'm asking now, do you think he's a cheater?"

  Damn it. For reasons that I couldn’t quite fathom, I didn't want to answer. Still, I grudgingly replied, "No."

  Oddly enough, this was true. I didn't think very highly of movie stars in general, but Flynn was different. He was scarily tough and more reclusive than any person I'd ever met. And I knew beyond a doubt that he was crazy about my sister.

  But didn't Jack get it? That was part of the reason I'd been so angry. I'd been so shocked, I could hardly think.

  Jack made a forwarding motion with his hand. "But…?"

  "But what?"

  "But you still thought he was cheating."

  When I made no reply, Jack said, "So, what were you gonna do? Call your sister? Get her all worked up for nothing?"

  "Wait a minute," I said. "Was that why you wouldn’t tell me anything? Because you thought I was going to cause some sort of trouble?"

  "No," he said. "I knew you were gonna cause trouble."

  Well, someone was overly sure of himself. "Oh yeah?" I said. "How?"

  "By selling your sister a load of garbage."

  "In case you didn't notice," I said, "I didn't 'sell' her anything. No. What I did was come up to the freaking door and demand some answers, which your 'non-girlfriend' refused to provide."

  Jack's eyebrows furrowed, but he made no reply.

  Undaunted, I continued. "Oh yeah. I asked her flat-out what she was doing there. And what does she tell me? She says that it's none of my business, even after I tell her who I am and who I’m looking for. I mean, seriously, she could've said, 'Oh hey, no need to worry. I'm here with Jack Ward. I'm screwing him and not your future brother-in-law.' But does she do that? No. What she does is act all sly and sneaky, like she's got something to hide."

  At the mental image, my voice rose to a new crescendo. "Which, when you think about it, is pretty ironic, considering that she wasn't hiding anything, including her shaved pussy!"

  As that final word echoed out between us, I stifled a gasp. Crap. I'd said way more than I'd originally planned, especially that last part.

  Beyond embarrassed, I turned away, intending to march into my bedroom and get packing – not because I planned to leave with Jack Ward, but because I had to pack regardless of where I was going.

  And this, in a roundabout way, was Jack's fault, too. I mean, yeah, my situation sucked, but now any chance of staying, even for one more night was completely out the window – just like my druggie roommate, assuming Jack was right.

  As all of these thoughts swirled in my head, I stomped away, only to pause halfway to my bedroom when it suddenly struck me that I'd never received a full explanation.

  I whirled back to face him and said, "Hah! I bet you think you think you're getting off the hook."

  He was standing in the same spot, eyeing me with an expression that I couldn’t quite decipher. "What hook?" he said.

  With renewed determination, I marched back to him and said, "The explanation. You owe me the rest."

  "The rest?"

  "Yes. You said you'd tell me where Flynn was –"

  "Which I did."

  I gave him a stiff smile. "Just so know, you didn't actually. But hey, I can figure out for myself that he's probably at this so-called island."

  "Which he is. Or will be shortly."

  "Fine, whatever. But you never told me the other half."

  "What other half?"

  As if he didn't know. "You were going to tell me where Flynn was and why you couldn't tell me sooner." I made a vague waving motion with my hands. "Unless you were pulling that seventeen-minute thing out of thin air."

  "Which I wasn't."

  We'll see about that.

  I gave him an expectant look and waited.

  "All right," he finally said. "The reason I didn't tell you sooner was because they were still within cell reach."

  I didn't get it. "What?"

  "I knew the flight path," he said.

  I still wasn't following. "So?"

  "So I knew they'd be out of normal cell range at nine forty-five." He glanced at his watch. "Meaning now."

  Huh?

  I'd been trying to contact Anna for hours, but that was beside the point. I still didn't know what exactly he was getting at. "So?" I said yet again.

  "So if you didn't know Flynn's destination, you couldn’t tell it to your sister." He gave a tight shrug. "But now you can't blab, because she's out of range."

  Blab? Seriously? I'd read all of Jack's books, multiple times. Nowhere in any of them did the word "blab" appear. And regardless of what he thought, I wasn't a blabber.

  Through gritted teeth, I said, "So let me get this straight. You didn't tell me because you thought I'd ruin the surprise for my only sister?"

  "You might've."

  I was beyond insulted. "But why would I do that?"

  He gave another shrug. "Got me."

  As I glared up at him, I considered the ramifications of what I'd just learned. Originally, my sister had been planning to fly back here in just a couple of days, after getting our mom settled. But the way it sounded now, Flynn had surprised her in Wyoming and then had whisked her away to some private island.

  But for how long?

  Earlier at Flynn's place, Jack had implied that Flynn would be out of town for a month. Did that apply to my sister, too?

  Regardless, this explained so much – why Jack had refused to say where Flynn was, why my sister hadn't known that Flynn wasn't here in town, and why she hadn't been answering her cell phone during the last few hours.

  Obviously, she was
on his private jet. And if I knew my sister, she would've turned off her cell phone just to be safe.

  As these realizations hit home, I had to ask myself that same horrible question that I'd been asking all day.

  Now what?

  All along, I'd been counting on Anna returning soon, giving me the chance to crash with her for a few days, just until I figured out what to do.

  Now, I was completely on my own, except for Jack Ward, of course, who was looking more irritated than ever.

  At me?

  It sure looked that way.

  Chapter 12

  Jack

  I should've known.

  From what I'd just heard, Imogen had stirred up more trouble than I'd realized. I recalled her standing in Flynn's entryway, pretending to be surprised that Becka was Anna's little sister.

  Now, come to find out, she'd already known, courtesy of Becka herself.

  I should've caught that. But I hadn't. And now I was dealing with the fallout.

  And Flynn – what the hell?

  For years, he'd been a miserable bastard – pissed off at the world and not bothering to hide it. Now his head was so far up his love-addled ass that he'd left his fiancee's little sister flailing in the wind.

  And she was flailing. Make no mistake about that.

  In the quiet condo, she glared up at me like I was the one who'd screwed her over.

  Maybe I had.

  I'd been a dick from the get-go, but that hadn't been my intention. The truth was, I wasn't big on trusting people, and I'd been determined to play it smart. This included not giving anyone the ammo to mess up Flynn's plans.

  What a cluster.

  But there was still time to fix it.

  I looked to Anna and said, "How much of this stuff is yours?"

  She glanced around the condo. "Not a lot."

  "Good."

  "Why is that good?"

  "Quicker to pack."

  "Yeah, about that…" She blinked long and hard. "Listen, you don't have to stick around, okay? Like I said, there's not much stuff, so…" She gave a loose shrug and didn't bother finishing the sentence.

  It was a hint, or maybe a dismissal. Choosing to ignore it, I said, "Wait here. I'll pull my car into the driveway."

  "But why?"

  "So we can load it up. And your car too if it's needed."

  She bit her lip. "But I just told you, you don't have to stick around. I mean, I'm sure it'll be fine." She tried for a smile. "I've got friends in the area, so…" Again, she didn't finish.

  I knew why. She was full of it.

  I gave her a serious look. "Yeah? And where are they?"

  Her mouth tightened. "I do have them, you know."

  "Right."

  "Look, I can tell that you don't believe me, but I do have friends." She blinked a few more times before continuing. "It's just that, well, Vicky and Sarah are away at college, and Chelsie's doing this work-study thing in Japan. And you know that Anna's gone. So I'm a little short at the moment, that's all."

  Again, she looked around. "And as far as anyone else, I'm not gonna show up on their doorstep with my suitcases. Or boxes, or whatever."

  "Good," I said. "Because you don't have to. We'll go back to your sister's place. Like I said, we'll figure it out."

  "But that place isn't my sister's. It's Flynn's. He's the one who owns it, not her."

  "So?"

  "So it's one thing if I'm staying with my sister, but don't you think it's kind of rude to move into Flynn's house when he's not even there? And it's not like I can call to ask him either."

  "You don't need to ask," I said. "You're family, right?"

  "Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "The leachy kind."

  "Leachy how?"

  "Actually, I don't want to be leachy. That's the whole point."

  I wasn't following, but it didn't matter. "Trust me," I said. "I've known him longer than you."

  "So?"

  "So I'm telling you, it's not a problem."

  "But you can't be sure."

  She was wrong.

  But hey, if she needed reassurance, I could do that, too. "I'll call him," I said. "Not a big deal."

  "But I don't want you to call him."

  "Why not?"

  "Because I don't want Anna to worry or feel the need to rush home."

  "So I'll tell Flynn to keep it just between us."

  But already, she was shaking her head. "No way. I'm not gonna be the cause of secrets between them."

  "You wouldn't be," I said. "I would."

  "Yeah, but that's just a technicality. And besides, you couldn’t call him anyway. Neither of us can, because like you said, they're out of cell range."

  "Not with a satellite phone."

  She hesitated. "You have one?"

  I did, but that wasn't the issue. "I meant Flynn's satellite phone. I've got the number."

  From the look on her face, she wasn't glad to hear it.

  I asked, "What's the problem?"

  "I already told you. I don't want you calling them." She glanced toward the front door. "Look, why don't you just leave, and I'll figure it out, okay?"

  I didn't budge. "Sorry, that's not happening."

  "But why not?"

  I glanced toward her roommate's bedroom. "You've gotta ask?"

  She turned and gave his door a long worried look before murmuring, "Yeah, but he's probably gone, like you said."

  "You think he's gonna stay gone?"

  Again she looked toward his bedroom door. "You never know." From the look on her face, she didn't believe this any more than I did.

  "Listen," I said. "You don't have to decide now. But you do have to pack. We both know that, right?"

  When she gave a reluctant nod, I said, "And you'll need some help loading it. So let's just start there, okay?"

  When she gave another nod, I said, "You pack. I'll get my car. One step at a time, all right?"

  When she made no reply, I took that as a yes. Good thing, too, because whether she realized it or not, I wasn't leaving without her.

  Chapter 13

  Becka

  I was pretty sure he'd tricked me.

  I was slumped in the passenger's seat of Jack's car – or rather the car he'd obviously borrowed from Flynn's garage. I'd seen the vehicle before. It was a dark sedan that Flynn rarely drove.

  The city limits were long behind us, and we'd been traveling in silence for nearly twenty minutes now. Soon, we would reach Flynn's place. And then what?

  As we turned down the final secluded road, I gave Jack a long sideways look. His posture was relaxed as he controlled the car with one hand draped casually over the steering wheel. Casual or not, he looked stupidly good, all lean and muscular, with an annoying degree of confidence.

  But why wouldn't he be confident? He was rich and famous, and so insanely good-looking, it was a wonder I hadn't shown up earlier to find a dozen half-naked girls vying for his attention.

  But of course he'd been half-naked too. In my mind, I could still see him standing there, shirtless, with his washboard abs and chiseled pecs. I felt my tongue dart out between my lips. Nice shoulders, too.

  Damn it. This wasn't what I should be thinking of – or picturing in my mind. Over and over.

  Going for a distraction, I broke the silence between us. "You really didn't have to do that, you know."

  With his gaze still on the road, he replied, "Do what?"

  I gave a nervous laugh. "Drag me out of there."

  "Trust me. If I'd dragged you, you would've noticed."

  I gave him another sideways glance. Oh, yeah. I would've definitely noticed, especially if he weren't wearing a shirt.

  I gave myself a mental slap. Oh, for God's sake.

  Enough already.

  As far as the rest, technically Jack was right. He hadn't dragged me anywhere. No, what he'd done was prod me along one step at a time until I was sitting in the passenger's seat with all of my stuff loaded in the back.

  He'd even t
alked me into riding in the same vehicle by promising to have someone deliver my own car to Flynn's place later on.

  All in all, he'd been pretty darn crafty.

  But who was I kidding? I'd let myself get prodded along because I didn't know what else to do. Cripes, I still didn't know.

  As if reading my mind, Jack said, "What we'll do is crash at Flynn's for the night and figure it out in the morning, all right?"

  He was being surprisingly nice, and I tried to smile. "Technically, you don't have to figure out anything. I'll be fine. But hey, thanks for the help."

  He gave me a long sideways look, but said nothing.

  I winced. "I guess I should've thanked you sooner, huh?"

  He returned his gaze to the road. "That's not what I was thinking."

  "Then what were you thinking?" I asked.

  "Fuck."

  The word made me jump in my seat. "Excuse me?"

  "Sorry."

  More confused than ever, I studied his face in profile. "So…" What was I missing? "You're sorry for swearing, or—"

  "Yeah," he said. "And that."

  His gaze was still on the road, and I turned to look. Already, we were pulling up to Flynn's estate. But that wasn't the thing that made me pause. It was the sight of a long, dark limo idling outside the big iron gate.

  I frowned in confusion. The limo was parallel parked, blocking the gate entirely. Until it moved, we'd have no way to get inside, not unless we abandoned the car.

  I looked to Jack. "Were you expecting someone?"

  "No." His voice hardened. "But I should've been."

  Chapter 14

  Jack

  I knew damn well who was in that limo, and now I had to make a decision. Stop? Or keep going?

  In the end, the call wasn't hard. Running wasn't my style. But the timing? Yeah, it could've been better.

  By the time I pulled the car to a stop, Imogen was already climbing out of the limo's nearest back door. She was wearing the same lingerie getup as earlier, minus the coat that I'd draped over her exposed shoulders hours ago, when the limo had picked her up.

  As I shifted the car into park, I glanced at the limo's license plate and gave a quiet scoff. Same damn limo.

  Under the glare of my headlights, Imogen looked nearly naked, and I gave her a long, careful look.