Make Me Melt(16)

“Do you like your job?” she asked, intercepting whatever he might have said in response to her suggestion that he switch assignments with Deputy Black. “I mean, is it everything you’d hoped it would be?”

He gave her a bemused look, and then his smile broadened. “Yeah, it is. In fact, it’s even better than I’d imagined.”

“Tell me about it.”

To Caroline’s astonishment, he actually seemed a little embarrassed. “Nah. You don’t want to hear about my job. I’ll have you bored to tears within minutes.”

She doubted that very much. The one thing Jason had never made her feel was bored.

Aroused? Frustrated and angry? Yes. But never bored.

His smiled faded, and she saw his expression change to concern. “Hey. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. It was just a shock to see so much blood....” Her voice trailed off, and she looked down at her hands, blinking back sudden tears. “I should have been here. I should never have moved so far away.”

Reaching across the table, Jason caught her chin in his fingers and tipped her face up so that she was forced to look at him. “You have every right to live your own life, and your father didn’t want it any other way. He’s always been proud of you and what you’ve accomplished. You’re working for one of the best law firms in Virginia.”

Caroline pulled away. “It’s mostly just divorce and child custody cases,” she demurred. “Nothing exciting.”

She couldn’t say why, but she was reluctant to tell him about her work with Virginia’s Child Protective Services, or how most of her time was dedicated toward safeguarding the rights of abused and neglected children. She was afraid if she did tell him, he’d realize the impact he’d had on her life, and she didn’t want to give him that kind of power. He’d once called her spoiled and selfish, and she preferred to let him believe that. It would be easier to keep him at a distance.

“Do you enjoy it?”

“Sometimes it’s emotionally grueling,” she admitted, thinking of Devon’s case, “but I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

“Family law, huh?” he mused, his lips twitching. “Who would have thought?”

Caroline flushed. “There’s actually quite a bit of casework involved. And we’re talking wealthy clients. You can’t take that lightly.”

“Of course not. Do they pay you well?”

“I get by.” Caroline thought of her small apartment in a modest section of the city. If she accepted the job offer from the district attorney’s office, she’d need to find more affordable housing, or advertise for a roommate. The cut in pay that came with that job meant she wouldn’t be able to stay in her apartment without making some lifestyle changes. But the thought of downsizing didn’t alarm her. She’d done a lot of growing up since she’d left for Richmond, and she’d realized that material wealth no longer gave her the same pleasure it had when she was young.

Jason frowned, reading her expression. “If you’re struggling, why wouldn’t you just ask the judge to help you? Christ, Caroline, you have a trust fund.”

“I don’t want to rely on my father or on my trust fund,” she replied. “I want to succeed on my own merits, the same way you did.”

He leaned forward, and she saw a muscle flex in his jaw. “You think I got here on my own?” he asked. “If it weren’t for your father, I’d be dead or in prison. I only got this far because of him. He literally saved my life.”

She made a dismissive noise. “That’s not what I mean. He might have pointed you in the right direction, but you did the rest on your own.”

Jason lounged back in his chair and considered her. “So you’re telling me that you don’t dip into your trust fund at all?”

Hearing the disbelief in his voice, Caroline raised her chin. “It’s true. I haven’t touched a cent of it since I was in college.”

“So you’re spending your salary on—what?” He indicated her outfit. “Clothes? Because even a simple guy like me knows designer clothing when I see it.”

“I buy this stuff secondhand. You’d be surprised how many upscale consignment shops there are in Richmond, and how many prominent women use them.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You think because my father is wealthy that I just blow through money? That I spend all my free time shopping?”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, I’m sorry. I just seem to remember that you spent a lot of time at the mall as a teenager, and you’d come home with more shopping bags than you could carry. I just assumed that you use your trust fund to underwrite your current lifestyle. If that’s not the case, then I apologize. No offense intended.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You once accused me of being spoiled and getting whatever I wanted—”

He shot her a quelling look, causing her to clamp her mouth shut.

“You did,” she insisted, after a long moment, keeping her tone cool. “That last night at the beach house, when I was sixteen. You said my problem was that I always got whatever I wanted, even when it wasn’t good for me.”

He stared at her, his expression dark. “Caroline, whatever I said that night, I said out of self-preservation. You were sixteen. I would have said anything to get you to leave me alone.”