He smiled again, but he knew this time it was more like a grimace. He needed to get out of here. Now.

“I’ll call you, Belle. Good night. And thanks for dinner.”

He turned and walked out the door.

* * *

“So he just walked out? Without any explanation?”

On Wednesday morning, Annabelle had a copy of Jared’s layout in front of her on the kitchen table while she drank hot chocolate and waited for the pan of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls to hurry and bake already.

Sometimes a girl needed more than Special K with Red Berries in the morning. This qualified as one of those mornings.

Kate sat at the other end of the table, both hands around her mug. She didn’t start work until noon on Wednesdays and they had a standing date for breakfast.

Except Kate had called this morning to make sure she wouldn’t be interrupting anything. Annabelle had assured her she wouldn’t be and Kate had rushed over.

Now, Annabelle figured Kate’s shocked expression echoed hers from last night.

“He said he had to get back to the hotel. That something had come up.”

And she was trying really hard to believe that. But the look on his face…

“But you don’t believe him?”

Finally, Annabelle looked up at Kate. “No, I think something happened but…he just didn’t want to tell me about it. He shut me out like he’d slammed a door in my face.”

“That doesn’t sound like Jared.” Kate’s frown narrowed her eyes to slits of glittering black.

Annabelle huffed as she dropped her gaze back to the layout in front of her. “Really? Because we know him so well, right?”

Kate paused. “Hey, did something else happen last night?”

Annabelle sighed and shook her head. “Not a blessed thing. Except he gave me this nice little layout for my shop. Needs some work but at least he gave it a little effort before he skipped town.”

“Oh, Annabelle. I’m sorry.”

Shit. She hadn’t wanted to sound that…hurt. Because she wasn’t. “No, forget I said that. We had an agreement, not a relationship. Hell, we had three nights of sex, Kate. I didn’t fall for the guy.”

She forced a smile as the oven timer dinged. Getting up, she pushed Jared’s rough draft and her own more detailed sketch toward Kate. “So tell me what you think.”

Annabelle got the pan out of the oven and dropped the rolls onto a plate. She considered just scooping out the icing with her finger and lathering it on the rolls but that might smack of desperation. And hurt. She grabbed a knife instead.

Kate was still staring at her when she turned back to the table.

“Annabelle…”

She dropped the plate on the table with a clatter and held up her hand to stop anything else Kate may have said. She didn’t want to talk about him anymore.

“I have plans to make, a carpenter to contact, and a shop to run. I really like his ideas and I’m going to move ahead. I’m going to call Henry today, see if I can get him out here to at least look over the space sometime this week.”

Kate snorted. “I’m sure he’ll be able to fit you in. Henry’s been crushing on you for years.”

“Shit, I forgot about that.” Christ, just what she needed. Sweet, handsome Henry Schmidt hitting on her all day. Maybe she should contact another carpenter.

“You know,” Kate said, “Henry is a real sweetheart.”

Annabelle nearly stuck her fingers in her ears like a two-year-old and stomped her feet. “Oh, no. Don’t even go there. Guys are no longer on my to-do list. Hell, I’ll date Teddy before I get wrapped up with anyone else.”

Kate nearly choked on her roll dripping with two hundred calories of icing. “And if you ever date Teddy, I’ll know it’s time to put you out of your misery.”

Misery? She was not miserable. Jared hadn’t broken up with her. Hell, they hadn’t had a relationship to break up. Just sex. Hot sex. Great sex.

But just sex.

“Jared had said he’d be back. And if he doesn’t return…Well, then that’s fine too.”

* * *

“Jared, are you leaving?”

With his hand on the front door knob of his parents’ home, Jared paused for a moment to wipe his face of all emotion before turning to face his father.

It was just after three in the afternoon. He’d caught a few hours of sleep after his mother had finally closed her eyes this morning.

“I have a business to run. I’m needed there.”

His father nodded, his mouth twisting into a slight grimace. As if he couldn’t be allowed a full one. “Then I appreciate you coming. I know how difficult this is for you and Tyler.”

Jared felt the rage start to bubble like lava in his stomach. His hand clenched around the cut-glass knob, so tightly he felt the fine edges nearly pierce his skin. If he didn’t get out of here soon…“Yes, it is.”

He didn’t say anything else, just waited for his father to say whatever it was he wanted to say.

“I just want you to know…how much we especially appreciate your time.”

Staring into his father’s eyes, the exact same shade of blue as his own, Jared had a momentary flash of the man as Jared had seen him fifteen years ago—gleaming smile, hearty laugh, and carefree attitude. With his hand on another woman’s breast and his mouth on her neck.

Only minutes before he’d caught his father in that affair, Jared hadn’t known how much of a farce his parents’ marriage had become.

He’d known they no longer shared the same room and barely spoke to each other. He’d also known, since he’d been at least eight and maybe even before, that his mom was mentally unstable.

She’d have incredible highs, days when she’d keep him and Tyler home from school to go skiing in the Poconos or to New York for a show. A few times they’d flown to Florida to spend time on the beach.

Of course, the incredible lows had followed with screaming fits, crying jags, and a trashed bedroom.

She’d had a “personal assistant” since Tyler’s birth. Jared had realized sometime in his teens that the “personal assistant” was really a registered nurse. He remembered three. He also remembered how each time there’d been a new one, the transition had been difficult. Especially when Jared knew his father had had an affair with the last one, which was what had caused her to leave.

Jared’s eyes narrowed. “She’s my mother and I love her.” He tried hard not to emphasize the “I” in that statement. His father knew how he felt. “Do you know what triggered this one?”

His father’s back straightened, as if preparing for battle. “No. She’s been fine. She hasn’t had an episode like that for more than a year. The medication has made a marked improvement in her control.” His father’s gaze unfocused. “Things have almost been back to the way they were when we first met.”

Jared heard something in his father’s tone, something that sounded almost wistful, and he had to work hard to keep the sneer off his lips. He didn’t want to get into a potential knock-down drag-out with his dad. Not now.

Last night had been exhausting. He’d sat with his mom all night. For some reason, she hadn’t wanted Tyler. Sometimes that happened. They had no idea why. And when Helena started to come down, when the meds did their job, no one wanted to talk about it, much less ask questions.

She had a psychiatrist for that. Jared was no psychiatrist.

And though he wasn’t a doctor, he’d done more than enough reading to know his mother’s bipolar disorder would never be cured. She could only manage it with treatment and drugs.

Some days were better than others. Sometimes she went for months without an episode like last night. But then she’d think she was getting better and would forget to take her meds. Or refuse to take them.

It was a vicious cycle, one they were all trapped in.

She was his mother and he loved her. He’d do anything for her.

But now he wanted to get the hell back to Annabelle.

He owed her an explanation for his abrupt departure last night. He’d promised her his assistance and he wasn’t going to leave her high and dry.

“Then I’m glad I could help.” He turned the knob after giving his father a nod. “I’ll see you later.”

Thirteen

“I want floating walls and I’ve got the paint color already picked out. On the ceiling, I want a track lighting system that can be adjusted depending on the number of pieces I have on the walls at any given time.”

As he’d done Monday, when this had all started, Jared entered the shop unnoticed. This time, though, the passionate dancer had transformed into a focused business woman.

“I’m also going to need you to install a ramp at the outside entrance into the basement to offload furniture.”

From the front room, he saw her consulting with a lanky man who towered over her inside the storage room where she was going to expand her gallery.

Standing with her back to the front room, she couldn’t see him and he could only see the back of her. She had her beautiful hair pulled back into a severe braid and wore baggy jeans and an oversize white shirt that hit her mid-thigh, covering what he knew to be a perfect ass.

Desire made his skin heat and his hands clench with the urge to touch her.

He watched her hands move as she described how she wanted the gallery to look. He wanted those hands on his body. He wanted his hands on her breasts, on her ass, on her thighs, holding her open—

Well, shit. Now he had a hard-on.

Tearing his gaze away from Belle, he looked at the man standing with her, hanging on her every word. Jared didn’t think the guy would notice if a bomb dropped next to him. From the expression on his face, Jared could tell the guy had the serious hots for Belle.