Little White Lies (6 page)

“I’m not,” Miranda told him confidently.  “I would know it if I was.”

Jack couldn’t help laughing.  “Somehow I don’t think it works like that, sweetheart.”  He cupped her chin and tilted her head back, locking his eyes with hers.  “It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you were.”

She didn’t quite know how to take that, but the tenderness in his voice made her believe he wasn’t entirely appalled by the idea.  “I’m not,” she repeated. 

He nodded slowly but didn’t let it drop.  “If you were though…I’d be there for you.  You and the baby.”

Miranda moved away from him and started piling up the dishes to carry to the kitchen.  “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t possibly keep.”

“What makes you so sure I couldn’t?”

“The truth?  Jack, you consider spending more than one night with a woman making a serious commitment.  Marriage and babies and being there for each other just don’t seem to fit in with your image.”

“What image is that?  Great sex aside, we hardly know each other.”

Miranda felt the sting of that one right down to her toes.  “You’re right, we don’t know each other.  I suppose it was a bit unfair of me to equate you with how I think Holt would handle things.  Actually, it was horrendously unfair considering how different I am from my own sister.”

“The one who loaned you the slinky dress?”

She pierced him with a wilting glare.  “Yes, thank you for reminding me.”

He helped her carry the plates and leftovers into the kitchen and set them on the counter.  “What’s she like?”

“Bri?  What can I say, Brianne is pretty much everything I’m not.”

“Tall, blonde, and stupid?”

Miranda threw a dish towel at him which he caught in mid-air.  “I’m sure there’s a compliment in there somewhere,” she said caustically.  “And no, she’s not any of those things.  We’re about the same height and build, but she has auburn hair and blue eyes.  Men go crazy over her, but I can’t really blame them.  She’s got a bubbly personality, is very confident in everything she does, and she’s smart as a whip.  Men, women, children, cats and dogs; they all love Brianne.”

“Does that bother you?”

She rinsed off her plate and stuck it in the dishwasher then reached for Jack’s plate.  “Oh, that doesn’t bother me at all.  I’m proud of my sister and the fact that everyone adores her as much as I do.  It’s just that sometimes she gets it in her head that I should be more outgoing like she is.  She can’t believe I’m happy with who I am and that I have no desire to be the center of attention where ever I go.”

“Ah, that explains the dress.”

She closed the dishwasher and started it up.  “Yes, and you can see how disastrously trying to act like Bri turned out.”

“Ouch, that was quite an ego buster.”

Miranda laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist.  “I wasn’t talking about you. That’s the one thing that went absolutely right.  I was talking about Holt’s reaction to it and what happened in the parking lot.”

“I’m sure you’re wrong about Holt.”

There was a hollow ache in her chest when she recalled just how adversely the change in her appearance had affected Holt.  “You didn’t see his face, Jack.  He was downright angry with me and he sounded so…harsh.  I know he gets pretty gruff with other people but he’s never talked to me that way.  It really hurt my feelings.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said earnestly.  “Would it help if I had a talk with him?”

“No!  I’m embarrassed enough as it is.  I just hope he has such a wonderful week he will have forgotten all about it by the time we get back to work.”

“I hate to burst your bubble, Miranda, but there’s no way in hell
any
red blooded male could forget how you looked in that thing.  Trust me, baby, if he was angry it was probably because you had him so hot he couldn’t see straight. And since he considers you off limits, it had to have been pretty frustrating for him.”

If only that were true, she thought, then quickly chastised herself for such a traitorous thought.  Jack was a wonderful man and he certainly saw her as a woman; something Holt seemed incapable of doing.  It was rotten of her to regret not being able to have a relationship with Holt when Jack was right here offering her something he had never offered any woman before.

“Regardless of what he thought or whether he feels the need to address it next week, I don’t want you talking to him about it.  I’ll simply tell him the truth.  I was running late and had to rely on Bri to bring me a dress.  Her choice was unfortunate, but it was too late for me to do anything about it.”

Jack cupped her face in his hands.  “Well, I don’t think it was unfortunate.  I think you look beautiful in it; stylish and classy and sexy as hell.  Of course, now that you’re mine, I absolutely forbid you to wear it out in public.”

“And you call me a hypocrite,” she giggled.

“I admit it freely.  I don’t want you to wear anything but turtle necks and baggy pants from now on.”

“If you’re serious, you may actually like my wardrobe.  I’m afraid I’m usually pretty conservative.”

“Conservative isn’t a bad thing if you don’t take it too far.  I’ll tell you what.  Let me take you shopping and buy you something.”

“Jack, I couldn’t.  And anyway, it’s New Year’s Day, nothing is open.”

“Tomorrow then.  We’ll get up early and make a day of it.  We can take a drive down to the beach, hit a few upscale clothing boutiques, and have a nice dinner afterwards.  What do you say?”

“I don’t need you to pay for my clothes, Jack.”

“I didn’t say you did, but I’m going to do it anyway.  And before you try to dissuade me, I think there are a few things we need to come to an understanding about.”  He gathered her closer, lowering his head so they were cheek to cheek.  “I’m crazy about you, Miranda, and I want to do this for you.  I’ve never been one to buy women jewelry or expensive clothes before.  As a matter of fact, it irked me that it seemed to be expected of me if I dated a woman for any length of time.  Consequently, I kept my affairs brief and unemotional.” 

He drew his head back so she could see the honesty of his words in his eyes.  “I don’t feel that way about you.  Just the opposite, I want to take care of you.  I want to dress you in beautiful things and make your life as happy as you’re making mine.”

Tears misted her eyes.  It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her, and coming from a man like Jack who had never ventured into the world of relationships, it was doubly touching. He was offering her the moon and the stars and she wanted so much to accept it because she
did
have feelings for him. But her heart…her heart still belonged to Holt.

“Miranda?  Do you have a problem with a man spending money on you?”

“I don’t know, it’s never happened before.”

Jack couldn’t have been happier.  “Good. That will be two things I’ve gotten to do with you that no other man has.”

“You’re a bad man, Jack Devlin.”  She laced her arms around his neck, a devilish gleam dancing in her eyes.  “If I let you do this and you end up dumping me, do I get to keep the clothes?”

“Who says I’ll be the one doing the dumping?  I’m not always this easy to get along with, you know.  I have a very demanding job and am usually wound up tighter than a clock when I get home.  I like everything to be done my way and can be quite a bear if it doesn’t happen the way I want it to.”

Miranda stood on her toes and trailed kisses along his jaw.  “I think I can find ways to appease your sour disposition when it rears its ugly head.”

A masculine groan caught and held in his throat when she pressed her soft lips to his chest.  Heaven help him, but he wanted her again.  Lifting her in his arms, Jack carried her back to the bedroom.  Long after she’d fallen asleep in his arms, he lay in the darkness staring at the shadows on the ceiling.  He’d been so sure of himself that first time, so damn certain he could make love to her and then just walk away.  He should have known it would be different with Miranda.  After all, she was hardly the type of woman he usually spent time with.  Maybe that’s why she was so special to him.

Jack turned his head towards her and drew in a long, slow breath.  He loved the way she smelled.  Hell, he loved everything about her; the color of her eyes, her beautiful smile, how easily she made him laugh.  Laughter was something that had been lacking in his life for a very long time and in just one day Miranda had managed to make him feel young and light hearted again.  How could he ever have thought any of those other women satisfied him or made him happy?  They had been nothing more than warm, willing bodies. He’d enjoyed having sex with them, but had never really shared himself.  Not like he did with Miranda.

What was going to happen when the week was up and he had to go back to his real life, the one without Miranda filling his days and nights?  He didn’t want to think about it, but of course he had to.  He couldn’t let her stay here, and he didn’t want to impose on her by staying at her place.  Not that he would mind, but he didn’t want to presume too much, especially this early in their relationship. 

Jack almost laughed out loud.  A few days ago that word would have sent him running as far and fast as he could. Now all he could think about was how to make it work.  It would require a lot of fancy footwork on his part and he didn’t relish the idea of deceiving her, but neither could he bear the thought of losing her. 

                        ***

“I’m a little nervous,” she admitted as they turned off the highway.  “I’ve never had anyone but family over to my house before.”

“Why not?”

Miranda shrugged.  “I didn’t want people to get the wrong impression about how I live.  It was just easier that way, and I didn’t have to worry about explaining anything.”

“You’re starting to sound very mysterious, honey.”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to sound that way.  It’s the house.  Not everyone is born into money, you know, and sometimes…”

Jack reached across the seat and took her hand.  “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Miranda.  Not everyone judges other people by how much money they have…or don’t have.  I was fortunate enough to have parents who were in a financial position to help me get my business off the ground, but I realize not everyone has the same opportunities I had.  What I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to be embarrassed about anything.”

Miranda smothered the giggle that bubbled up in her throat.  “So you wouldn’t be ashamed to be with me even if we were different social levels?”

“I could never be ashamed of you.  You outclass those high society snobs any day of the week.” He glanced over at her, but she was looking out the window almost as if she didn’t want him to see her face.  God, he didn’t want money to be an issue between them. “Miranda?  Does it bother you that I have money?”

“No.  I just don’t want you to think you need to buy me things to make me happy.”

“See, that’s where you have it backwards.  Buying you things will make
me
happy.”

“It’s the next exit,” she told him.  “Turn right when you get to the end of the off ramp.  You’ll take another right about a half mile down.”

Jack’s brows drew together.  He tried to recall if there was a middle class district in this area but didn’t think there was.  He knew the area fairly well because a lot of his wealthier clients lived here and he’d even considered purchasing a house on the beach himself but never seemed to find the time to go look at what was available. 

A few minutes later, he was even more perplexed than ever when he made the right hand turn and started up a steep incline.  There was only one house up this way that he knew of, and though he’d never been there before, it was hard to miss.  It was a monstrous thing built high up on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, and it was rumored the woman who lived there was a recluse who never left her house.  When he reached the huge wrought iron gates that guarded the entrance, he put his truck in park and turned to face her.

“Okay, Miranda, what’s going on?  Is this a joke?  Are you really so afraid I’ll look down on you for living in a small house or apartment that you’d bring me here?”

“I never said I lived in small house.  I said I didn’t want people to get the wrong impression about how I live.”  She nodded towards the gate.  “People can be very judgmental and even intimidated by great wealth.  When I graduated college and went to look for a job, I didn’t want to get hired because of my family’s name, but because of my education and skills.”

Jack peered out the windshield at the gate.  Embossed in gold was the name Carrington.  “The Carrington Mansion,” he said, suddenly recalling why it seemed familiar to him.  “I’ve heard stories about a woman who lives alone up here, a recluse who never leaves and is rumored to be…” he stopped abruptly, embarrassed by what he was about to say, but Miranda only flashed one of her brilliant smiles.

“Crazy?  I suppose she seems that way to people who don’t know her, but she’s really just a bit of a free spirit.”