Third Time's a Charm (Holland Springs #3)(18)
“Her baby?” Jason laughed. “I know for a fact that it’s her sister, Summer’s.”
Sasha clenched his jaw. Ivy wasn’t an it. “Ivy is the baby’s name.”
“Whatever,” he said with a shrug. “Ready to go? We’re meeting Brenda and Harrison at Market House.”
“Fantastic.”
But Jason made no move to leave, only lingered in the foyer, his dark eyes never straying from the top of the stairs. “You sure she won’t be coming down?”
“Quite.” Sasha fished his keys out of his pocket and pressed the unlock button on his key fob several times.
“This place is like a living nightmare, but the perks of living here have to be worth it.” A knowing smile covered the lawyer’s face.
Sasha managed to maneuver Jason outside before he locked and shut the door behind him. “If by that you mean a cat that hogs the bed and a house out to get me—yes.”
***
The Mercedes easily handled the twists and turns of the back roads as they made their way to Wilmington. Sasha tried to keep the conversation light, but all he could think about was the hunger he’d seen in Jason’s eyes. That damned smile.
As they waited at a deserted intersection for the light to change, Sasha turned to him and asked, “How well do you know Rose?”
“Intimately.” Jason grimaced. “Although that ugly-ass birthmark on her thigh was almost enough to make me reconsider.”
Sasha quickly calculated how much recovery time he would need if he drove his car into the nearest tree, making sure that the passenger side took the brunt of the crash. Unfortunately, the car’s safety features would prevent Jason from being seriously hurt.
“Yet you persevered.”
“More than one way to screw a Holland.” Jason leaned forward to fiddle with the multiple buttons of the sound system.
“Obviously things didn’t work out.”
“For one of us.” Jason pulled out his cell, running his finger over the screen.
Sasha’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. “Cried yourself to sleep over the break-up, did you?”
“Got away just in time. She thought it was more serious than it was. I had to stop her from embarrassing herself with the L-word.” Jason shuddered. “Enough time’s passed since then, and judging by her lack of dates, it’s obvious she’s not over me.”
“Obviously.” Sasha clenched his teeth.
“I’d figured I’d try to patch things up. Take her flowers or some kind of shit women like. Shouldn’t be too hard to convince her, since I was nice about the whole thing.”
“What a gentleman.”
“Yeah.” Jason nodded. “I even took her to a real nice restaurant on our last date to break the news to her.”
Yeah, he bet the bugger did. “So she wouldn’t cause a scene,” Sasha murmured. Would the bloody light change already? He had to get to dinner before he did bodily harm to his lawyer.
“Exactly. Rose wasn’t living up to her reputation. You do know about the Hollands’ reputation?”
The slowest light in history finally changed to green and Sasha hit the gas. “Sorry, not up-to-date on all the gossip.”
Jason laughed. Too bad it wasn’t one that sounded creepy and warned women away from an ass like him. Everett was tall, fit and had a mega-watt smile. “Let’s just say that the Holland women have always had a way with men. Married, single—it doesn’t matter. They never marry the babies’ daddies. Hell, I’m willing to bet Summer doesn’t even know who her kid’s dad is.”
According to Rose, Jason would win that bet. “Lots of women make a go of it alone.”
“Every Holland woman makes a go of it alone. No strings and no emotional attachment. It’s the best damn thing about them.”
“Except for Rose,” Sasha said.
“There’s a weird one in every bunch.”
“And Skye?”
“Not a chubby chaser.”
Sasha glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “A what?”
“I’m not into fat girls,” Jason clarified. He cracked his knuckles. “Rose was pushing it, but Summer wasn’t around. So I settled.”
The lawyer would never know how close he came to needing an oral surgeon tonight. Just as Sasha applied the brakes and began looking for a secluded spot, Jason pointed out Market House. Sasha pulled the Mercedes up to the curve and parked.
Two valets rushed over, opening their doors.
“There’s a bar on Fifth that has the hottest cocktail waitresses. We should hit it up after dinner,” Jason said.
Sasha nodded, tipped the valet, and followed Jason into the restaurant. “We should.” But they wouldn’t. If Sasha had his way, Jason Everett would be walking home tonight. There wasn’t a chance in hell Sasha would spend the rest of his night with the asshole.
Jason checked in with the hostess, then turned to Sasha. “Looks like they beat us here.” He craned his neck. “There they are. Brenda’s the blonde in the corner sitting with the guy wearing glasses.”
Brenda Jackson, the mayor of Holland Springs, rose to her feet as soon as she spied them, waving Sasha and Jason to her table. Tall and willowy like her daughter Jemma Leigh, she exuded warmth and charm. “Alexander Romanov, what a delight,” she said, her friendly smile reaching her eyes. “It’s so good to put a face with a voice.”