Not Quite Dating (Not Quite #1)(56)
Author: Catherine Bybee

Gravel kicked up by the wheels of a car sounded outside before Jessie recognized the squeal of brakes. She tossed the magazine in her hands aside and opened the curtains.

Her heart gave a hard kick in her chest when she recognized Jack’s truck in the drive.

He sat in the driver’s seat with both hands on the steering wheel, staring at her car parked in front of his. Jack moved and Jessie shot back, letting the drapes fall into place.

“Oh God.” Now what?

Heavy boots climbed the few steps to her mother’s porch, and finally Jack knocked on the door.

For a fleeting moment, she thought she could hold still and he would walk away.

“I know you’re in there, Jessie. I saw you in the window.”

So much for that plan.

“I’m not leaving until you let me explain,” he pleaded from the other side of the door.

Jessie moved to the opposite side of the room and sat in a chair. She closed her eyes and gripped the edge of the chair. She’d just as soon get this over with so the healing could begin. As sure as Christmas would come, Jack wouldn’t leave until he spoke with her…if only to make himself feel better. “The door’s open,” she finally said.

The knob on the door made a loud click as Jack twisted it. He breached the door quickly and then hesitated before opening it up enough to see her.

His haggard clothing and the growth of stubble on his chin were evidence that he might have had a sleepless night or two. Good, she thought. He didn’t deserve to sleep after the pain he’d caused her.

Shutting the door slowly, Jack took his time to walk into the room. His eyes drifted around the small mobile home before coming to rest on her. What did he see? Jessie looked around the space and saw memories of her childhood. Some pleasant, others well worth forgetting. For better or for worse, this was home. This was the place she ran to when faced with difficult decisions.

Jack was better and worse and a difficult decision all wrapped up in one package. The dress shirt and slacks she’d seen him in at the hotel were replaced with jeans and a flannel shirt. She couldn’t help but wonder if he wore his “Jack Moore” clothes in an effort to look the part. What did he prefer? Business attire or Levi’s?

Jessie shook her head, dispelling the questions as fast as she could.

I don’t care what you wear. Say your piece and leave so I can get on with my life.

Sounded simple, but she knew getting over Jack was going to take more than words.

“Can I sit down?” he asked, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

“Sit. But don’t bother getting comfortable. You’re not staying.”

A streak of fear slashed over his face.

Jack perched himself on the edge of the sofa and leaned forward on his knees. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

“You’ve had two days to come up with more lies, Jack. What’s the matter? Losing your touch?” The harsh words helped stiffen her spine.

“I didn’t want to lie to you.” As the words left his mouth, Jack sucked in a breath.

“I didn’t see anyone with a gun to your head.”

His gaze slid to his hands and then back to her. “No.”

“Then you must have wanted to lie. Not one little lie, but over again so many times. You must have kept a chart to keep yourself straight. It’s quite a talent, when you think about it.” Thinking of his massive web of deceit angered her.

“Let me explain.”

“You’re sitting there, Jack. Weave the best lie ever, but get it over with. I don’t want Danny to walk in and have any hopes that his Uncle Jack is here to shower him with more attention and gifts.” Danny was the innocent one here.

Jack’s gaze leveled with hers. “The night we met, after the guys and I returned from Vegas, I walked into your diner and collided with the woman I wanted to share my future with.” His words were slow and backed with emotion. “I wasn’t expecting you, Jessie. But there you were. All sass and smiles. You blew me away.”

Don’t fall for it, Jessie, she warned herself.

“Mike, Dean, and Tom are friends I’ve had for years. True friends that don’t hang around because of what I can do for them, of where I can place them on the corporate ladder. Friends who have never and will never use me because of the financial mecca behind my name. I’ve been feeling like I was missing something for a while. After a weekend with them, I realized what I was missing in my life. I’ve dated a lot of women. My name has cast a shadow on every relationship I’ve had.”

Jack stood and started to pace. “When you smirked and made that comment about my wallet and my ego, I was both amused and, I’ll admit, enchanted.”

The memory of that night floated in and out of her head. Her attraction to Jack had been just as instant, although she’d done her best to ignore her feelings.

Jack stood before her mother’s fake Christmas tree and ran his finger over an ornament either she or her sister had made when they were about Danny’s age. “So I lied to you. Omission of truth, really. I won’t deny the overall lie.”

A tug in Jessie’s neck brought her attention to the fact that she was clenching her jaw. “What else?”

“Excuse me?” He dropped his hand from the ornament and pivoted to face her.

“What else did you lie to me about?”

Jack tilted his head back, as if the answers were written on the ceiling. “There isn’t a grand lost and found at the hotel. I bought the dress, shoes…”

“Earrings?”

“I told you I bought those.”

That’s right. She couldn’t fault him for the earrings. Costume jewelry was relatively cheap. “Oh God. The earrings…they’re not real. Right?”

Jack’s brows lifted and he shrugged one shoulder.

“Holy cow, Jack. What were you thinking? You don’t give a woman diamonds and pass them off as cubic zirconium. I could have tossed them on my dresser and lost them.” She hadn’t, but she could have easily misplaced them like so many pairs of cheap dime-store trinkets.

“I was on duty the night of the Christmas party at the hotel,” he continued where he’d left off.

“What?” Jessie was still reeling from the earrings.

“You want me to come clean. I’m telling you that I was serving the guests at the hotel the night of the party. We had a management and waitstaff reversal for the night. Sam, he was the man who was having trouble balancing the tray.”