Page 16 of Fairy Tale Lies
“No. Sometimes I help my uncle Marty. He owns Careful Moves, if he’s desperate for an extra pair of hands or needs me to install some antique piece for a customer of his. You know, like the chandelier your parents had purchased.”
Oh.
A heavy silence filled the room. What to say now?
The quiet became oppressive. She gnawed on her bottom lip and fidgeted with her small gold and diamond bracelet. “Can we pretend the afternoon never happened?” she blurted.
Anger flashed over Jacob’s features. “Fine,” he said flatly. “I’m sure you’d prefer it.”
“I don’t mean to offend you. I thought it best for us both, given our current situation…”
“Yes. We wouldn’t want Daddy learning his precious daughter had been messing around with the help.”
Jerk. There he went again, like when they first met, assuming she was some elitist snob.
“Of course, I don’t want my father knowing you, and I had some sleazy fling, especially with you disappearing right after. It doesn’t paint either of us in a good light.”
His expression was ice. “I disappeared because that’s what you wanted.”
Her guilt brushed against his anger. It appeared Rae had read the situation better than Greta. “I gave you my number.”
“That was to quiet your conscience about our “sleazy fling”.”
She let out a caustic laugh. “Wow, a business owner, delivery guy, and psychologist. A man of many talents.”
Some of his other more carnal talents flashed through her mind, and she roughly buried those memories.
“Oh, please, anyone with half a brain could figure you out. The condom was barely off before you were shoving me through the back door. The rest of the day you avoided me like the plague. I was a fuck to you, nothing more.”
She shoved her chair back and away from Jacob. She needed space from his crude words and anger. “My mother was on her way,” she snapped.
“Exactly. You didn’t want your family to know you’d been slumming it with the deliveryman.”
His irritation was surprising. She’d expected discomfort or annoyance, running into a past fling. Instead, he appeared more upset with her supposed brush-off than anything else.
“I was—I was unnerved.” She stumbled over her words. “I had never done that…before. Plus, if my mother and stepfather had any inclination of what we’d done, it wouldn’t have boded well for your uncle’s business. They once blacklisted a moving company merely because they dropped and dented something. Can you imagine the repercussions for your uncle’s business if they’d found us together?”
He stared at her, blinking a couple of times, as if rewiring his brain. Then his shoulders slumped, and the anger seemed to drain from him. “I had no idea. Why didn’t you tell me, instead of avoiding me?”
“Because I didn’t want to take the chance of making my parents suspicious. The guilt would’ve killed me if your uncle was punished for my recklessness.” She stared at her lap, running a palm along her skirt, and decided to tell him everything. “Like I said, I’d never been so reckless. I didn’t know how to act around you. Or how’d you treat me after I behaved inappropriately.”
The wheels of his chair squeaked, seconds later his fingers rested on her chin, lifting it with two fingers. Startled, she faced him. He ran his hand along her jawline.
His touch was comforting.
“Do you think I’m that type of man? To spurn you for something I want just as much?” He gave her a wicked grin, the one she remembered and had adored. “And I’ll have you know. I loved your inappropriate ways.”
A shiver of want coursed through her. The way he said “inappropriate” made her want to do improper things to him.
Before she could form a response, there was a light knock. Rae lingered at the door. “So...should I leave again?”
Jacob scooted back.
“No. We’re good,” Greta said.
Because, really, what else did they have to say to each other? They’d had a fling, and it’d been incredible, but nothing would come of it. Even without their incorrect assumptions, they’d probably have suffered through a couple awkward phone conversations before calling it quits. They had nothing in common. Plus, she’d recently left a long, disastrous relationship. The last thing she needed to do was jump into another one.
Not that Jacob had mentioned anything of the sort. For all she knew, flings were his thing. He gave a curt nod and stood, giving Rae back her seat. She offered him another one.
