Page 37 of Desire
Jasper scratched the back of his head. “Two years ago, you met at a conference, and that’s it? What happened between the two of you?”
Rod shrugged indifferently. “Nothing much. Both of our companies sent us because they were given free passes. I think the organizers wanted reputable journalists at their shitty and badly run conference.”
Then Rod went on about allthe ways the event planners had failed. He called them imbeciles then explained to Jasper how he would’ve done things differently, point by point. It didn’t take Jasper long to realize that Rod was the kind of guy who could find fault in Mother Theresa. Jasper also had a better idea of why he would make a play for Holly. Deep down, Rod knew she would reject him. The guy was the type who thrived onhow disheartening it felt when life didn’t go his way. If something felt good, Jasper was positive Rod would try to figure out a way to make himself feel bad.
“I’m going to the restroom,” Julia whispered in Jasper’s ear.
He was slightly startled by the sound of her voice. It was a shock, but Rod Huff had managed to pull him into a conversation about best practices when it came torunning a corporation as large as BCN. Jasper smirked as he listened to Rod try to subtly give him input on how to run the company.
“Sure,” Jasper said, answering his date.
“I may or may not be back,” Julia muttered.
He faced her. “What do you mean?”
“I’m done. I’m tired, and really, why are we here? You’re going to ruin everything.” She stood and sauntered off beforeJasper could figure out an appropriate response.
She was right. They shouldn’t have come. After he’d gone to Holly’s hotel room that afternoon, Arthur had called to ask if he had seen her since Christmas morning.
“No, I haven’t,” he had said point-blank and with a hint of agitation.
Arthur had sniffed. “I’ve always known who and what you are, Jasper. Don’t forget it.”
The call ended. Jasper rubbed his face in anguish. Arthur had already known the truth. He had never believed that Jasper was the sort of guy who would fuck around with random women. Doing that repulsed him. The behavior was too much like his father’s. And that meant Arthur had only pretended to believe him when he’d said he would treat Holly as if she were his concubine.
He wonderedwhy Arthur had pretended to believe his deception. More importantly, Jasper wondered how in the hell he had missed the fact that his lie hadn’t worked.
Holly’s face came to mind. His desire for her was making him inefficient. He had made several mistakes that day, including purchasing BCN. But he vowed not to make any more errors.
Suddenly, a voice came over the PA system, tellingeveryone to enjoy the food as they talked about the purpose of the night’s gala. Holly, Kylie, and Rachel had been gone longer than Jasper was comfortable with. However, Rod immediately wanted to resume their discussion. The guy was a talker. While the person at the microphone shared statistics on human trafficking, Rod informed him about how the gala could’ve been planned better.
“Whythe fuck are they serving food right now? After I eat, especially at this hour, I’ll be ready to go to bed.”
Jasper split his attention between listening to Rod and the woman speaking at the microphone and watching to see when the women would return to the table. His eyes were missing Holly. He wanted to see her walk toward the table in her slinky gold dress. Tonight, they were going tofuck. There were no ifs, buts, or maybes about that. Yes, it would be dangerous. But he didn’t care. Whatever detachment from obligation that had infected his brothers and sister was beginning to infect him.
Jasper finally pepped up when he saw one of the women who’d gone to the bathroom walking back to the table. It wasn’t Holly or her colleagues. It was Julia. She was gnawing on her bottomlip and glaring at him with sheer terror in her eyes. She was dramatic in that way whenever she was anxious, which seemed to be something she felt all the time. Soon, she made it to the table and whispered in Jasper’s ear. She said she had something to tell him, something she’d just heard. But they needed privacy.
Jasper excused himself from the table and went with her. They found a quietroom in one of the upper tiers, and that was where she relayed what she had just heard by accident.
