Playing for Keeps (Neighbor from Hell #1)(64)

Somehow she managed to rollover to make room for Jason, but he wasn't there. She looked up to find him pulling his zipper back up.

"Jason?" She slowly sat up. The hurt expression on his face twisted her stomach. She reached out to take his hand, only to find him stepping back.

"Goodbye, Haley," he said softly.

"Jason? Jason!" she cried as her bedroom door shut with an ominous click behind him.

Chapter 25

"Jason?" Haley said, gasping for breath.

"Haley?" the last person on earth she expected to call said.

"Dad?" Haley said, sitting down on the arm of her sofa and doing her best to calm her racing heart. She'd been outside weeding her garden and trying to make it through another day without crying when she heard the phone ring. Afraid that it was Jason calling she ran into the house desperate to hear his voice.

One whole week and not a word and that wasn't from a lack of trying either. She called his phone about a dozen times a day, sent him text messages and harassed the hell out of his friends and family looking for him. So far no luck. Nobody had any idea where the hell he was. Up until yesterday she'd convinced herself that he just needed some time and that he'd be back, but that was before the realtor, the same realtor that failed to sell her house for her, pounded a For Sale sign in his front yard.

Now Haley was desperate to find him. She needed to explain some things to him and probably grovel. Jason wasn't the one that screwed up. She needed him back here so that she could fix this before it was too late.

"Do you have a moment?" her father asked.

Frowning and truly confused and shocked that he'd called, Haley nodded woodenly, then remembered that he couldn't see her and answered. "Yes. What's going on?" she asked, wondering why he didn't just have his secretary call to relay whatever message he needed to give her.

"Your grandmother told me that you took a vacation last week. How was it?" he asked casually, but Haley couldn't help but feel there was more to it. This wasn't like him to actually take an interest in her life.

"It was fine," she said, wanting to kick her own butt all over again. It could have been great if she hadn't overreacted in the first place. Yeah, Jason had screwed up, but it hadn't deserved the level of drama she'd created. If only she'd made him grovel for a few hours they could have had a great time.

Man, she was such an idiot.

"I heard that Jason went with you," he said, followed by a short expectant pause.

"Yes, Jason went with me, Dad. I told you we were dating," Haley said, walking over to the bay window and looking out. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she watched Barbara, her ex-realtor, gesture for a middle age couple to follow her into Jason's house.

"It's nothing serious I hope," he said, drawing Haley's attention back to the conversation.

"What?"

"You and Jason. Your grandmother said that you were serious, but I didn't think you'd be so foolish to waste your life on a man like that," her father said, stunning her into silence. Although by now one would think there was very little her family could say or do that would shock her.

"What do you mean, a man like that?" Haley asked, insulted on Jason's behalf.

He let out a tired sigh. "Haley, do we really need to get into this? We both know you could do so much better, Haley."

"No, I really couldn't, Dad. I love Jason."

"Sweetheart, I know that you think you love him right now, but in time you'll realize that...well, he's not good enough for you."

"And why is that, Dad?" she asked tightly, for the first time in her life she didn't bother to hide what she was feeling from him. "Because he works for a living?"

"You know I don't have a problem with someone working, Haley. I work for a living," he pointed out.

"Then I don't understand the problem," she lied. She knew exactly what her family's problem was from the first moment they laid eyes on Jason.

"He's not one of us, Haley. He'll never fit in. Surely you realize that, sweetheart. When you stop pretending to be someone that you're not you'll come to realize that Jason just doesn't stand up to our expectations for you," he said soothingly.

She laughed without humor. "Oh, now you have expectations for me? Isn't that convenient? The one time you show concern for me just happens to be when you're worried that I'll sully up the bloodlines and marry someone who might embarrass you."

"Haley, that's ridiculous and you know it. I love you and care very deeply for you," he swore. "I'm just watching out for your best interests, sweetheart. In a few years you'll see that. Maybe you should give Robert another chance so that the two of-"

"What do I do for a living?" she bit out between clenched teeth, cutting him off.

"Excuse me?"

"I asked if you knew what I do for a living," she repeated.

"You run a day care," he said with such conviction that even she almost believed it.

"I teach history at Latin Scribe High School," she informed him, trying not to cry. She had absolutely no doubt that if she asked what committees Rose or Martha were on he would know, mostly because they were a reflection of him.

"Oh," he said, sounding surprised. "Congratulations, sweetheart. Why didn't you tell me you got the job? We would have held a dinner to celebrate."