An Irresistible Bachelor (An Unforgettable Lady #2)(71)



The smile she treated him with made Jack think being gone even longer might not be a bad idea.



Later that week, they were lying in her bed and Callie was on the verge of falling asleep when Jack said, “I want to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Why did you wait so long to have se—to make love with someone?”

For a moment, she wasn’t sure how to answer him. She’d tell the truth, of course, but the wording was difficult.

“Well, aside from being an introvert to begin with, I had to work my way through college and grad school, so it seemed like every minute of the day I had something I needed to do. When I got out of NYU, my mother was sick and getting worse fast. She had multiple sclerosis, and with her increasing debilitation, someone always had to be with her. We didn’t have money for round-the-clock nursing.” She shrugged. “You need time and discretionary energy for relationships, and I had neither.”

She knew he was frowning by the displeasure in his voice. “You shouldn’t have had to deal with your mother’s illness alone. What about your father? Where was he?”

“He was—Ah, it was a difficult situation.”

Jack propped his head on his hand and let his cast fall between them. In the dim light, she could tell he was looking at her with his characteristic intensity.

“So you handled everything by yourself?”

“I had no other choice,” she said. “I just coped, and sometimes not well. There were a lot of nights when I couldn’t stand the pressure and would have done anything to get away from my mother. I cringe at some of the things I felt. She didn’t choose to get sick, to suffer, to wilt in her own skin until she died. But I felt so . . . trapped. I didn’t want to leave her because I was afraid something would happen, but I just wanted to get out of the house sometimes. I could have been better, I think. I could have—”

“You stayed,” he countered. “That’s what counts.”

Callie released her breath in a sigh. “I wish I could do so much of it over again.”

“I think you’re too hard on yourself.” Jack brushed his lips softly over hers. “And I don’t know how your father could have stood by and done nothing.”

“Frankly, it was easier than having him involved. Things could get really messy when he was around.”

“What was he like?”

She looked up at the ceiling, figuring it was probably okay to let some anonymous details out. “He was . . . larger than life. Whenever I was around him, I always felt as if I were in the presence of greatness. He was a tall man, almost as tall as you, and I felt tiny around him. Insignificant.”

“Were you close?”

“Not at all. He was confident, very sure of himself, until he tried to talk with me and then he became so awkward. I think he avoided me because he didn’t like the way he felt when he was with me. Powerful people tend to be comfortable only when they are in control of themselves.”

“That’s a hell of a way for a father to act,” Jack muttered. “What did he do for a living?”

Her eyes flashed to his and she began to think of ways to change the subject. “He was a businessman. But I don’t know much about that side of his life.”

“Was he gone a lot? Working?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“What kind of business was he in?” When she didn’t answer, Jack frowned. “You’re leaving out a lot, aren’t you?”

As she stayed silent, he stared at her for a long moment.

“Let’s talk about something else,” she suggested softly.

“Okay.” She was relieved until he said, “So why don’t you want to tell me about your father?”

Callie felt herself bristle. “I just don’t want to talk about him, okay?”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you have to ask that, I think I know your answer.” He rolled over onto his back.

“I’m just not interested in talking about the man.”

He turned his head on the pillow. “But maybe I want to know.”

Callie sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. “What does it matter, anyway? The past is the past. He’s dead and I’ve moved on from whatever problems I had with him. It’s all a nonissue.”

There was another long pause.

“Callie, I think we need to talk.”

The tone in his voice was grim and she felt her skin shrink. “About what?”

“Us. The future.”

She looked at him over her shoulder. He’d cradled his head in the palm of his good hand and his bare chest was only partially covered by the blankets.

“What do you have in mind?” she asked, hoping like hell she could bear his answer. He’d told her the night of the accident that he thought he loved her, but they hadn’t talked about what was going to happen after she was done with the portrait.

“Have you ever thought of settling in Boston?” he asked. “You could work from here just as well as you could in New York.”

Her slow smile returned. “True.”

“And we could see each other. A hell of a lot.”

She felt herself loosening up. “I’d like that, Jack. I really would.”

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