River's End (River's End Series, #1)(65)

Jack straightened to his full height, towering over Charlie and her. His hands, long and firm, gripped the edge of one of the chairs. She had to look away as a heat wave swelled in her stomach when she pictured those hands. How could she now face Jack? The only thing to make a bad situation worse would be to have Joey join them.

Charlie trotted off to start setting the table. Ben came down from upstairs and helped Charlie. Erin stood there, feeling useless, with her hands stuck into the pocket of her hoodie.

She finally walked forward, but stared down at the floor and not up at Jack. “Charlie cornered me. I couldn’t say no.”

Jack was, no doubt, looking down at her because she felt the energy radiating off him. He was quiet before she finally raised her eyes to his and thought he looked as grim as she felt. She jerked her eyes away as a flush covered her skin.

“We need to talk.”

She nodded. She knew that. Oh, did she know how they needed to talk. If only to blame her for what happened between them and for her stupid, bikini-uniform job, as well as for being a leech on the Rydell ranch. Yes, she knew they needed to talk about all of that. She didn’t know how she could, however. There was no way her tongue could work properly anywhere near Jack, and possibly, not ever again.

Hearing a knock on the door, Erin nearly whimpered with relief. Jack answered it. She made an effort to avoid staring at the way his shirt stretched over his back and narrowed down to where he tucked it into his pants. He wore his clothes quite well.

Into the room came Allison. Erin closed her eyes in frustration. Jack looked out of the ordinary tonight, which must have been in honor of Ms. Gray. Why shouldn’t he want to look nice and mannerly before the lovely, respectful lady who taught his son third grade?

Allison came in and Jack gallantly took her lightweight suede jacket to hang it on the coat tree. She was a pretty woman. Where Erin was small, almost to the point of skinny, uneducated, and inarticulate, Allison Gray was always dressed in lovely, teacher-worthy clothing. She had full breasts and beautiful curves to match. Clad in pretty, tan slacks and a soft, short-sleeved sweater, which looked utterly appropriate and was of obvious fine quality, her outfit barely hinting at the good figure she had. Allison seemed far more seductive than Erin, who seemed too skinny and too small in her bikini at the coffee stand.

Allison wore her long hair down, and it flowed around her in a straight mass, with a fringe of bangs that framed her big blue eyes. The freckles that made her so cute and so pretty made Erin cringe because she felt like she looked so white and pasty. Her coloring was much too harsh for her black hair and makeup-free face.

Allison noticed her and smiled. “Erin, I didn’t know you were joining us. How nice to see you again.”

Erin stared at her with a suspicious expression as she tried to judge Allison’s sincerity. Was she for real? Or was that really hidden, catty bitchiness? But no, it wasn’t.

Allison was actually sweet, good and nice. She was everything Jack would have approved of in a woman. She glanced over at Charlie as he ran towards his teacher, taking her hand and guiding her inside to show her around. Erin watched for a while. It didn’t take long to figure out what Charlie was up to: setting his father up with his teacher. Erin was a hundred percent convinced of that as she watched them. Charlie sat his dad directly across from Allison, and he sat by his teacher. He chatted the entire meal. Erin sat in a chair that prevented her from staring directly at Jack. She put Ben between them and tried to shrink inside her seat. How often did it occur for Ian, Shane and Joey to all be out of the home at once? Not often. But of course, tonight it would be so. So why did Charlie ask her to dinner too?

Erin barely ate. Her stomach churned in knots as she listened to the conversation that was cheerful, friendly and warm all around her. There was no way to ignore Allison, she was so affable and lively. Being well read, she could talk about anything from the horses to her classroom to current events, and she possessed an ease with herself and her conversation that Erin never experienced.

Erin poked at her food before taking her plate to the sink and cleaning up when she could no longer stand to sit there. It was a liberty she’d never taken before. She felt Allison’s eyes on her. Allison couldn’t figure out where Erin fit into the dynamics of the Rydell household.

Jack came up behind her. She could feel the heat coming off him as he stood there before he set his plate to the right of her elbow. He didn’t touch her, but stayed directly behind her, and she could feel his arm reaching around her. She froze, letting the water run, while the kids talked, but it all felt far away, almost like she just entered a tunnel.

“You don’t need to do those.”

His voice was low, and felt warm on her neck when he spoke. Shivers broke out over her skin. She licked her lips. “I don’t mind.”

He finally stepped back, walking to the side of her where he started the coffee maker. She only breathed after he turned back to Allison.

Jack was chuckling at something Charlie said, and then Erin heard the sweet tone of Allison’s voice as she told a funny story about a kid she used to teach. Erin scrubbed furiously at the pot, banging around in the kitchen and putting things away before filling the dishwasher. She didn’t dare let Allison know she wasn’t fully at ease in the Rydells’ house, and refused to ask where any dishware and glasses went. She simply stuck them wherever she chose. Why should Allison know that she spent almost less time than Allison did inside there? After being intimate with one brother, and starting up with another, she was no more asked to sit at their table than they would ask a stray cat.