The sneer remained on Lilly’s face. “With all your money, you could buy hair like mine.”
The snide tone of her comment hurt, but Jaye kept her expression light. “I don’t think we’ve seen each other since high school. How is your family doing?”
“They’re not too happy I’m working on a Saturday,” Lilly muttered.
“I’m so grateful you were willing to come in so we can get a jump start on the project. I’ll keep the meeting as short as possible.”
“No matter what, I’m leaving at three.” Lilly left the buffet and sat with a bunch of programmers.
Jaye thought about joining them, but one man met her gaze and delivered a surly squint. She could feel his thoughts as though he’d spoken them aloud. He believed she got the new software project because she was the owner’s daughter, not because she was competent for the job.
A dull ache pounded in her temples. She felt transported to seventh grade again, when she stood at the front of the cafeteria and couldn’t find a welcoming face in the crowd. Her parents had thought they were doing her a favor sending her to public school, but her wealth and her innate shyness branded her an immediate outcast. Her only friends consisted of a bookish boy nicknamed “Shrimp” and a girl who could squirt milk out her nose.
Not spotting any fellow loners looking for company, Jaye carried her plate into a nearby conference room. On a whim, she texted Veronica, Sarah, and Abigail to see if they still wanted to play poker on Tuesday.
Her cell phone buzzed right away. “Yes! Bring dessert.”
The heavy cloak of loneliness lifted a little.
Over the past two years, Mitch proved to himself he could live a solitary life—but spending seven days with Jaye had changed everything. His empty driveway didn’t look right without her silver car parked there. The house was too quiet without the subtle rhythm of her movements. His gut ached with the knowledge he wouldn’t see her for the rest of the weekend.
How had he gotten to this point so fast?
Thanks to the bargain they struck, he was rewarded with her company at dinner almost every night, but their meals never lasted long enough. As soon as the plates were cleared, she retreated to her bedroom to stay out of his way, just as she promised.
She had no idea how much he wanted her to stay in his way.
He loved the way she looked—slender with just the right amount of curves. Her beauty was enhanced by a sharp intelligence and bright sense of humor. Sometimes, he prolonged their conversations just to see what she’d say next.
Best of all, she was willing to laugh at herself. He savored the memory of how she couldn’t stop giggling after nearly spitting a mouthful of hot cheese onto his plate. When his antics made her laugh even harder, he felt connected in a way he hadn’t felt in ages. Her good mood never seemed to wane—until this morning.
When he returned from hunting, he spotted bloodshot misery in her gorgeous eyes and shock punched him in the jaw. For a gut-wrenching moment, he thought he’d done something to upset her. The realization an ex-boyfriend caused the tears glittering in her eyes caused a surge of jealousy that cut him down at the knees.
In her absence, his demons sank their teeth into his stale existence. His empty house was no longer a refuge, but a dungeon. He fled to the factory and spent most of Saturday in front of the roaring furnace, indulging in the rare chance to shape molten glass into something other than stemware. In every long curve of the glass, he saw the sexy shape of her legs, the delicate column of her neck, the taut contour of her abdomen. How the hell could anyone cheat on a woman who looked wickedly hot and crushingly adorable at the same time?
Determined to douse this dangerous longing, he reminded himself she was setting up an online store that would keep him elbow deep in stemware for the rest of his working life. Problem was, he was beginning to think making stemware for the next thirty years wouldn’t be so bad if she’d spice up his wretched personal life.
Unsettled by how much he wanted her, he worked so hard he barely had the energy to drag his hide to bed Saturday evening. He was determined to prove he was not like his mother, who had listened to her passionate, artistic soul at the cost of walking away from everything she built. He couldn’t give into the same longings. Too many people were depending on him to keep the factory running, so he returned to the factory on Sunday to put in twelve more hours.
When the beam of Jaye’s headlights flashed across his bedroom window late Sunday night, he felt his ridiculous masquerade of indifference split into keen relief.
After barely surviving the weekend without Jaye, Mitch fought the urge to see her on Monday. He worked in the studio all morning, ate lunch in his office, and delayed picking up the mail until quitting time. As he thumbed through his letters, he glanced at Sarah. “How was everything today?”
She shrugged into her coat and grinned. “We have a new problem. The phone keeps ringing.”
He frowned at the phone on her desk. “Doesn’t it usually ring?”
“Nope, not this much.” She pointed down the hall. “I blame Jaye. When she isn’t writing code for our website, she’s visiting every imaginable forum on the Internet to put our name out there.”
“I even input a couple of new vendors into the system today. Jaye is drumming up new business before the website goes live,” Veronica chirped, brushing a speck of dust off the shiny new brass lamp on her desk. “Better yet, she’s got really bad luck. She lost so many hands of poker last week, I won enough to buy this lamp. Maybe she’ll lose more
