Next to You (10 page)

P
hlox walked back
into the bedroom wearing nothing but a smile and carrying a plate of newly-microwaved waffle. Jared had agreed to let her feed him for real this time. Even from across the room, she could hear his stomach rumbling like a thunderstorm.

Speaking of storms … her bed looked like a tornado had torn through it. Her antique quilt was crumpled on the floor, the cotton summer blanket was half on-half off the bed, and the sheets were grinning ear to ear with wrinkles. In the middle of the wreckage sat one gorgeous, hungry man—gloriously naked—turning a torn condom foil around in his fingers.

Phlox set the plate onto the bed and ran her palm lightly over a long red scratch on his shoulder. “I think I added a few to your collection. Sorry.” She laid a kiss on his shoulder.

“Those’ll heal, I’m sure.” Jared tossed the condom foil onto the floor.

“Waffles are good medicine, I hear.”

She held out a forkful of waffle, dripping butter and syrup. She liked Jared this way, relaxed and a little playful. She leaned in to kiss away a droplet of syrup on his chin. He had issues about his face, which she understood, but underneath it all he was a good man. A very sexy good man. She speared another bite of waffle with the fork

“So, no boyfriend back in New York?” Jared asked before closing his mouth around the fork.

She shook her head. “I’ve had several long-term relationships with men over the past year. Unfortunately, they were all doctors.”

“How about before?”

“There was a guy I had just begun to date, right before the accident. A friend of my brother’s. But the accident sort of ended that.”

Jared made an angry noise.

“It wasn’t his fault. And I don’t blame him. We barely knew each other. Certainly not well enough to expect him to take on a gravely injured girlfriend.”

“I would never walk away from someone like that.”

“You run away from me all the time, and I’m perfectly healthy now.”

Jared’s expression turned stony and he ignored the outstretched fork.

“I run away from myself.” He gently pushed the fork away. “I’m attracted to you, Phlox. Hell, who wouldn’t be?” He turned his scarred cheek toward her. “But women never like this. It’s not a good idea for me to get attracted to a woman. It always ends badly.”

“Maybe you don’t give women a chance to see past it.” She popped the piece of waffle into her own mouth.

Jared rose from the bed. “I should get going.” He found his jeans on the floor and pulled them on.

“You’re running away from me right now.”

“I have work to do. I’m not on vacation here.”

“Why don’t you take the day off?”

“What would I do with a day off?” He slipped on his shirt, leaving it unbuttoned and untucked.

“Go to the movies with me.”

“Ah, I, uh … don’t know about that.”

“It’s dark in the theater,” she said, guessing what was on his mind. “And if we go in the afternoon, no one else will be there.”

He took a deep breath, clearly weighing the idea, but made no reply.

“No one will see us, Jared.”

“The people selling tickets. The kids selling popcorn.”

“And where did you get the waffles? Conjure them out of thin air?”

“The waitress didn’t look directly at me the entire time I was there. Putting myself through that once a day is my limit.”

“I’ll let you drive my car.”

“The Audi?”

She nodded. She had him now. She could see him considering the idea.

“Damn. You don’t play fair, woman.”

“Yeah, I’m the negotiator in the company.”

“Ah, so lots of men have driven that car then.”

She smiled at Jared. He was so cute and boyish right now, thinking about driving her speedy little roadster.

“No. I’m the only person who’s driven it. Not even my brother. But I’ll make an exception for you. So what kind of movies do you like? Action? Romantic comedy? 3-D?”

A
s the last
preview faded from the screen, a warm hand engulfed Phlox’s. She smiled in the dark. The lobby of the cineplex had been a bit busier than Phlox had predicted—lots of moms and kids at the matinees. They bought tickets at one of the automated machines, though, and lucked out with a short line for popcorn. Now they were sitting in a small theater where Phlox counted only seven other people, waiting for a dystopian military thriller she’d never heard of to begin.

Phlox didn’t go to many movies, even before the accident. When she wasn’t working … well, she was pretty much always working. She and Zee got invited to lots of events that they attended in the name of publicity for the company, but that was still work. In fact, the last movie she’d been to had been with Zee and Nicholas, a constipated documentary about some little-known seventeenth-century philosopher that Nicholas chose. Zee always went for the super-smart guys with overly large vocabularies. Not that Phlox had anything against smart people—she counted herself among their number—but Zee tended to fall for a particular subset of smart people. Nicholas was nice and treated Zee well, but he wasn’t the sort of guy who would hold your hand in a movie theater.

Phlox liked the feel of Jared’s hand over hers, warm and strong. As she thought about it, his fingers threaded their way between hers, sending a lick of heat down her spine. She was liking Jared Connor more and more. He was sweet and sexy, and his face didn’t bother Phlox. She knew it would cause double-takes on the street but it wasn’t that bad, really. She had looked much worse right after her surgeries. Long lines of black stitches over angry red skin, enough bandages to qualify for her very own crypt.

Oh god.
Is that what she saw in Jared Connor? That he looked worse than she did?

Onscreen, an aging CIA assassin was climbing up the abandoned elevator shaft of the Washington Monument in some future, bombed out Washington, DC. Phlox watched the scene unfold without really paying attention to it. The actor was way too old to be doing that anyway.

Shit. What if that was it?
Phlox was used to being the less attractive half of a couple, used to being the hot body/okay face girl. Was that it? Had she simply turned the tables here? Now Jared was the hot body/okay face. She didn’t dare glance over at him, for fear he would see what she was thinking.
Could I stoop that low?
Would she really do that to someone else?

No, she answered herself firmly. That couldn’t be it. She wasn’t that kind of person.

So then what
was
she doing with Jared Connor? Why was she sitting in a dark movie theater with her caretaker? Her employee? Sex? Did she really just want his body? She hadn’t had sex in over a year so it was a plausible rationale. It was a truly fine body, too. No denying that.

She wanted to be friends too, though. Even if he decided he didn’t want to sleep with her again, she would still want to be friends with him. Phlox doubted he would say the same. The way he hid away, he probably didn’t have many friends.

Wanting more than sex probably wasn’t wise anyway. Eventually she had to return to New York and the business and her real life. As much as she loved her house in Connecticut, she rarely had time to spend here. And what were the odds that he would come see her in the city? Slim and none, as her mother used to say. Even if his face weren’t an issue, he wouldn’t be comfortable in her world. A caretaker in her world of business meetings and receptions?

It would be nice to have someone in her life, but Jared Connor probably wasn’t going to be that person. A sigh escaped her lips just as the movie hit a quiet scene. Jared’s head turned toward her, and a moment later she felt something soft push at her lips. She opened her mouth and let him feed her popcorn, buttery-sweet and salty. Just like her life, she thought. Sweet and salty.

J
ared pulled
the Audi out of the cineplex parking lot. Damn, but it was nice to drive a performance car again. He owned a few himself but they were garaged all over. On the job he needed a pickup truck he could toss mulch and tools into. His favorite car, a Maserati GranTurismo, he kept garaged at Jake’s place. Only until the kids were old enough to drive, Mina had stipulated. Then it had to go. A car like that was a whole lot of temptation for a teenager.

The movie had sucked. If he hadn’t been there with Phlox, he would have gotten up and left. Of course, if he hadn’t been with Phlox, he wouldn’t have gone to the movies in the first place. But it was nice just sitting next to her, holding her hand, feeding her popcorn, letting her feed him popcorn.

It felt … normal. And “normal” for Jared had ended the day he woke up to a house filled with smoke and fire. He’d give up every last cent to his name if he could just have a normal life. A wife, kids, house in the ‘burbs, minivan, a basketball net in the driveway, watching sitcoms in the evening. He wanted what most people wanted, that was all.

Ain’t gonna’ happen, buddy.

“So what would it take to install a hot tub by the pool?” Phlox asked, the question coming from out of nowhere. “How much construction are we talking about? Or destruction, as the case may be.”

Jared grinned as he downshifted into a sharp curve. Man, he missed driving like this. “Depends on what kind of tub. And where you want it.”

“What are my options?”

“An in-ground spa set into the pool deck would be nicest, in my opinion. But that’ll require digging up some of the pool deck. Something above ground or a little further away from the pool would be easier. Quicker, too, if you wanted something this summer.”

He smiled, partly from the sheer pleasure of driving her car and partly from the image that just popped into his head—that of Phlox sitting naked in a hot tub. Hell, he’d install the damn thing for free.

“I could look into it for you,” he offered. “Anything else you envisioned?”

“Well, maybe a little conveyor belt that runs to the kitchen to bring out drinks and snacks.”

He turned to see her grinning at him.

“Cheaper to hire a busboy,” he replied.

“Know anyone who’s looking for a job?”

“Only if you fire me from the one I’ve got.”

“They’d have to wear a uniform, I think,” she mused.

“What kind of uniform?”

“I was thinking a little black bowtie and—” She paused for a minute, considering. “And, well, maybe that’s it. Just a little black bowtie.”

Jared laughed.
Normal.
That’s all he wanted. Driving home from the movies with a girl. Laughing with her. Having fun. Was that too much to ask? It was a question he hadn’t allowed himself to contemplate in a good long while. It was dangerous territory, coveting something you couldn’t have.

But Jared had faced down danger before. Maybe he could have it. Maybe … with Phlox. She hadn’t run screaming from his face yet, and it wasn’t just because she wanted his money.
Because she doesn’t know you have any.
She seemed to have plenty of her own, anyway. And she was smart. Funny. Gorgeous. God, she was gorgeous. She might not be entirely comfortable with her new face, but he was. Totally, one hundred percent comfortable.

Yeah, he was so putting in a hot tub for her.

“Well, I can help you with the hot tub,” he said. “But you’ll have to contact your assistant about hiring the busboy. That’s above my pay grade.”

“Maybe I will. Cherise did a smash-up job hiring a caretaker,” she teased him.

Her smile was so wide and bright. No one smiled at him that way, ever. Not even Jake. Though that was probably on account of Jared usually being an asshole. He wasn’t going to be an asshole with Phlox, though. He was beginning to think he wanted to remain in her employ forever. He’d spend his days tending her flowers and his nights tending her.

“Will you have dinner with me?” he asked.

She shot him a surprised look.

“I have stuff to grill burgers and corn back at the cottage. And beer. Nothing fancy, you know.”

“I’d love that, Jared.”

She would? She’d
love
that? Maybe he really might have a chance with her. He wouldn’t be able to go back with her to New York, he knew that. But when she came to Connecticut, maybe they could be together. He could be her secret lover.

“What’s that little smile for, hmm?” she asked, putting her hand on top of his resting on the stick shift.

He shook his head, the stupid smile still on his face. “Nothing.”

Her hand was so soft on his. He was feeling it in other parts of his body, too, particularly a part that was going to make its presence known if he didn’t get them home soon. He pressed the gas a little more firmly.

The moment was broken by the shrill ringing of her cell phone coming through the car’s bluetooth stereo. They both glanced at the caller ID on the console. Z, it read.

“I should take this. Sorry,” Phlox said, lifting her hand from his.

She pressed the “answer” button. “Zee. What’s going on?”

Zee, her business partner. Jared was definitely interested in hearing her voice.

“Are you in the car?”

He detected a note of suspicion in the other woman’s voice.

“Yes. We ... I went to the movies.”

“Good for you, missy.”

Jared lifted an eyebrow at that, but Phlox just smiled and shook her head.

“I wouldn’t be bothering you while you’re up there,” Zee continued. “But I need a favor.”

“Does it earn me an extra phone call per day?”

“Maybe. A2Z has been nominated for a Glossy.”

Phlox squealed in delight.

Her partner continued. “But I need you to fill in the form about product development. You explain it better than I do. Sorry.”

“Hey, no worries. When do they need it back?”

The bluetooth went silent for a moment, then Zee’s voice came back, small and apologetic. “Tomorrow?”

Phlox glanced over at Jared.
There goes dinner.

“Sorry,” she mouthed at him.

“I can do that,” she said to Zee. “E-mail me the form.”

“You can have a rain check,” he said when she hung up with her partner.

“Thanks. I’ll take you up on that.”

Normally, Jared was happy at the prospect of spending an evening alone. A solitary meal and a good book, maybe a little internet surfing—now there was a good time. He turned onto the winding road that lead to Phlox’s house, a nagging ache in his chest, the source of which he couldn’t identify. It wasn’t until he pulled the car into the gravel driveway of Twelve Oaks that he realized what it was.

Disappointment.

Instead of being relieved by the looming hours ahead with just himself for company, he was disappointed. It had been a thoroughly, wonderfully
normal
day with Phlox. But now everything was back to normal—Jared’s normal.

I
t was just
after nine o’clock when Phlox e-mailed the completed award nomination form back to Zee. Winning a Glossy Award for the A2Z Cream would silence a lot of the product’s doubters. She looked up from her computer and out into the cool night air. She was sitting on one of the Adirondack chairs on the back porch, nursing a bottle of iced tea and ignoring a hungry stomach. Even when she was working on the awards paperwork, she had been hoping to hear the splash of Jared diving into the pool. Instead it had been the usual country quiet—crickets and frogs taunting her from behind the darkness.

Now that she was done working, it was tempting to walk over to the cottage and knock on his door, but she didn’t want to push him too hard. He had gone to the movies with her and gone to the diner in the morning to get breakfast. She got the impression that was two more public appearances than he usually made in a single day.

The crystal chime of her e-mail shattered the quiet. She had two new messages, a thank you from Zee and another message from David Cook.
Congrats on the nomination. Let’s celebrate when you get back in town. Call me.

She decided not to reply to his message immediately. She could probably find it in herself to forgive him for disappearing after the accident. Her injuries had been serious and the revolving door of surgeries had been no walk in the park. Going through that with someone required way more commitment than she and David had. But there hadn’t been much chemistry between them either. Chemistry was never something Phlox had expected with men. Blazing, scorch-your-fingers chemistry was something for other people, attractive people.

Last night with Jared had scorched more than just her fingers.

She was perusing the list of other Glossy nominees on the awards web site when she heard a faint rustling by the side of the porch. Her mind immediately leapt to bears. Black bears were not uncommon in the woods of Connecticut. Not to mention bobcats and coyotes, none of which Phlox wanted climbing up onto her porch. She was a city girl that way. She preferred her company to be human.

She closed her laptop and rose slowly from the chair so as not to startle the animal. She was eyeing the back door nervously when Jared stepped out of the shadows holding a plate in one hand and two bottles of beer in the other. She nearly fainted from relief and collapsed back into the chair.

“I thought you were a bear.”

He set the plate down on the small end table next to her chair and sat down in the other Adirondack chair. He held out a beer to her, already open.

“I’ve seen a few bears up here. Doubt they’d grill a burger for you though.” He took a long draw from his beer and grinned at her.

“Thank you. I’m starving.” She picked up one of the burgers and bit into it.

“I figured. You’ve been out here on your computer for hours.”

He’d been watching her, and Phlox was surprised to find her heart lift at the thought. She wiped a smudge of ketchup from her lips with the back of her hand. “I’m finished now.”

She ate in silence for a few minutes. The burger hit the spot, that was for sure. It was thick and juicy, oozing cheddar cheese. Phlox closed her eyes to better savor the taste. Jared Connor was a good man. Would David Cook do something like this, keep an eye on her to see when she finished working and bring dinner to her? Somehow she doubted it. David ran his own business empire and he treated her like a peer, an eminently capable and independent peer, not someone to take care of. Phlox could take care of herself ... but sometimes it was nice not to have to.

Her mother believed that men were scared away by the success and the time demands of Phlox Beauty. She worried that Phlox would never get married, and some days Phlox worried about it too. She doubted that Jared had a real good sense of how successful Phlox Beauty was, or how wealthy she and Zee were. Obviously, she couldn’t hide that from him forever but she was in no hurry to spell it out either. He would probably be intimidated by it.

Jared’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “I had a good time at the movies today,” he said quietly.

“So did I.”

“Even though the movie sucked? Next time, I’ll let you choose.”

Next time.
Her heart did a little flip flop.

“I wasn’t really there for the movie,” she replied.

“Me either.”

There was another long pause in the conversation, then Jared said, “I wish you had that hot tub already.”

Phlox laughed softly. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“I’ll look into that for you tomorrow.”

“I do have a tub upstairs though,” she added, looking straight out into the night. But in her peripheral vision she saw Jared fighting a smile. “Might be kinda’ tight though.”

She turned toward Jared just in time to catch his face turning red in the pale light leaking through the screen door. She stood and held out her hand to him.

“Spend the night with me again.”

She held her breath and offered up a silent prayer that he would accept. Then Jared’s strong hand clasped hers and he unfolded his long body from the chair.

“Last one in the tub’s a rotten egg,” he said.