Strong Enough (Tall, Dark, and Dangerous #1)(64)

Both other men are nodding their heads, probably already making plans, but when my moving gaze settles on Jasper, his eyes are trained on me.

—

Nearly an hour later, after all sorts of unintelligible plans and decisions and codes have been established (at least they’re unintelligible for someone not in their little group), the party breaks up.

Rogan stops at Jasper on his way through the kitchen to the front door. “Good seeing ya, man. I’ll be in Georgia for a few weeks. Up in Enchantment. Doing that bit for cable. You should come up if you get a chance. It’s been a long time.”

“I’ll try. I’ll be in touch either way.”

Rogan nods and they do that manly hug that men do, replete with hard slaps on the back that would probably break the bones of a less solid person. And then he turns to me, offering a hand, which I take.

He smiles and, despite my frustrating captivation with Jasper, my belly flutters a little. “Nice to meet you, Muse. You made this trip very worthwhile.”

I can’t help returning his smile. He’s devilishly charming, that’s for sure. “Is that right?”

“Gospel truth,” he declares with a wink.

“I bet you’re the most dangerous one of all, aren’t you?”

“To you? Never,” he replies, still slowly shaking my hand up and down. I think the most thrilling part is that I can feel Jasper’s cold-as-ice gaze on us. It gives me a touch of satisfaction to know that he does feel, that he does react to me, and to others who might find me attractive. Under different circumstances, I might be tempted to flirt with Rogan and rub it in a little. But now’s not the time for that.

“Better get on the road, Ro,” Jasper says sharply, interrupting. Rogan raises his eyebrows and looks from me to Jasper and back again. He grins bigger and then walks away without another word.

Tag follows behind him, reminding me even more of Jasper when I see him walk. He’s got a fluid way of moving that reminds me of a dancer. A dangerous, sure-footed dancer.

“Don’t be a stranger,” he says to Jasper, repeating Rogan’s manly hug. “You’re always welcome at the vineyard.”

“Appreciate it. I’ll be in touch.”

Tag nods to him and then turns to me. His eyes are unnervingly direct and . . . admiring. They’re like puffs of sultry smoke bottled in the orbs of his eyes, and they hold an intensity that might well rival Jasper’s.

He leans in to brush his lips ever so slightly over my cheek. “It was a pleasure, Muse,” he says in his gruff voice. And then he, too, is gone.

“I’ll be back,” Jasper tells me before he turns to follow them out.

When I hear the front door close, I relax onto a stool at the island, all the emotion, all the uncertainty, all the worry of the last few days coming together to just about put me on my ass.

“God, I’m tired,” I breathe, my father approaching me cautiously.

“Muse, you have to know that I would never do anything to hurt you. I would never knowingly put you in danger.”

I raise my prickling eyes to my father’s and my stomach sinks. This isn’t over yet. Nowhere close.

“Dad, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course you can.”

I hold his gaze for several long seconds, taking in his casual expression, his attractively creased face. He controls himself almost as well as Jasper does, but I’ve known him my whole life. I think I’d be able to tell if he was lying to me. As far as I know he never has, so I have nothing to compare it to, but still, I think I would know. I think I’d feel it somehow.

“Is there anything I should know about Mom?”

The change is so subtle, I could easily have missed it had I not been watching him so closely. But I am watching him closely, so I didn’t miss the shift. His nostrils flared the tiniest bit before settling back into their normal state. It was a miniscule reaction, but a reaction nonetheless.

“What’s got you thinking about your mother? She left a long time ago.”

“Did she, Dad? Did she really just up and leave like you said? Or was there more to it?”

“What’s this about, Muse?”

My heart, worn out from the events of the last few hours, isn’t too worn out to accelerate, flooding my muscles with blood and adrenaline. “Tell me what happened, Dad. Everything that happened. The whole truth.”

His eyes search mine. I wonder if he’s looking for a weakness to exploit, some way to spin this that will make it more palatable. Because I know it’s not. The fact that he’s hidden something from me for so long tells me that it’s nothing that I want to hear. But the thing is, I need to hear it.

“Before you go trying to soften the facts for my poor virgin ears, let me remind you that I have been through a lot in the last year. I’m done with blind trust. I’m done with partial explanations and being stuck in the dark. If you don’t tell me what I want to know then I’ll find someone who will. And that probably won’t end well. We both know what could happen if I go snooping around in your affairs. Nothing good, I’d say.”

I see his Adam’s apple bob with his gulp and my nerves tingle with dread. His eyes never leave mine as he pulls out a stool and sits facing me. “Muse, before I answer your question I want to remind you that all I’ve ever done has been for the good of you or the good of this country. Sometimes both. There are things I’m ashamed of just because of the nature of the way they happened, but if I could go back and do it over, I don’t think I’d change anything, because it’s all been the right thing to do.”