An Irresistible Bachelor(87)

She put down the wooden stick and cotton bud she was working with and checked her watch again. It was late, very late, and Jack still wasn't back from the office. He'd taken to coming home well into the night and he disappeared into his study as soon as he walked in the back door, even if it was nine or ten o'clock. She kept hoping he'd come to her room, but every morning she woke up having spent the night alone.

The night before, she'd cracked. She'd sat in the kitchen, halfheartedly doing a crossword puzzle and prepared to wait until dawn. When he'd finally come through the door, she'd followed him down the hall, trying to get him to talk about something, anything. He'd been silent, but at least he'd made eye contact with her as he'd poured himself a bourbon.

She'd been on the verge of steering the subject to them when he'd sat down and started flipping through the piles of documents that had sprung up all over his desk. When she'd asked what he was doing, he'd given her a curt answer, something about that blood company deal he'd been working on.

She'd lingered in the doorway, willing him to look up at her again, but he'd been lost in his papers. Going by the furrow in his forehead and his single-minded focus, he'd clearly not been prepared to be interrupted by anything. Or anyone.

When she'd finally turned away, after he'd seemed to have forgotten she was there, she'd been on the verge of tearing up.

Callie closed up her jar of solvent and shut off the light, knowing that she was looking at another dinner alone. Another night spent tossing and turning in an empty bed. Another dawn that held the promise of a day she could only hope to limp through.

She couldn't go on like this. Tonight, she wasn't going to play it soft. She was going to demand they talk. She might have had trouble opening up to him, but he was shutting her out completely.

She went back to the house, and was fixing herself something to eat in the kitchen, when the back door was thrown open and a tall man walked inside.

It was Jack. She squinted. Well, not really. The long hair and the roughed-up leather jacket were nothing like the man she loved, but pretty much everything else was.

"Hello there," he said, in a low, appreciative tone. "Who are you?"

She looked out the windows behind him, at an old Saab that was parked cockeyed between the coach lights in the driveway.

"I’m Callie. You must be—”

"Nate." He stuck his hand out. "Jack's brother. Is he around?"

As they shook hands, she thought there was something instantaneously likable about him. Maybe it was the rakish grin. Or the fact that she was looking into a pair of familiar hazel eyes without seeing cold reserve in them.

"He should be home any minute."

"Working his tailbone off as usual. I've got to get that boy loosened up." Nate cocked his head and regarded her seriously. "Are you his..."

The question dangled between them and she forced a smile, trying to keep her emotions in check. "Well, that all depends on the noun you were going to finish up with. Employee fits. I'm working on a portrait."

"That's right, the Copley."

She nodded and he smiled.

"And how long have you been with my brother?" Nate cut off her stammering with a shake of his head. "Don't bother with the denials. You're wearing one of his shirts under that sweater. I can tell by the monogram on the cuff."

She looked down and knew she'd been caught. She'd put the shirt on that morning, figuring no one would notice if she covered it up. Jack had left it in her room the other night, before things bad gone badly, and she'd put it on because it was the closest she could seem to get to him.

"No offense," Nate said, "but you don't seem like Jack's type. Which is a really good thing."

She was shaking her head and smiling when Mrs. Walker's Jaguar pulled into the garage. She tensed up, and tried to feign nonchalance as Jack came striding toward the house. As he walked inside, she thought he looked exhausted, but he grinned as soon as he saw his brother.

The men embraced, clapping each other on the back. Jack spared her a nod and then focused on his brother.

"It's good to have you home, Nate."

"Happy to be here. You've clearly gotten into some trouble." He nodded at the cast.

"Ah, hell, it doesn't hurt much anymore. And it makes an excellent weapon. I threatened a securities and exchange lawyer with it today. You eat yet?"