Watch Me Fall (Ross Siblings, #5)(69)

“We can worry about that later.”

“I know what it’s like to have a slug on the couch, and I don’t want—”

“Hey.” He took her shoulders. For all her flirting a few moments ago, she suddenly looked miserable, brown eyes searching his for…something. He wished he knew what. “This is different. This isn’t some situation where you have to, I don’t know, earn your keep. I don’t care if you do sit on the couch all day, as long as that’s what you want to do. But I don’t want you to feel like you’re stuck. If you want to go out, go, and let me know where you are, and be careful.”

“Okay. I’ll probably go to the hospital for a little while.”

“Good. Keep everything locked up, and I’ll check in with you throughout the day. Call me if you need anything. I mean it.” For a moment, staring down at her, he considered giving her the combination to the gun safe. If he did so, she would be the only other person on earth who had it. People he’d known and trusted his entire life weren’t able to get into that safe, not his parents, not his brother—there had never been much reason to give it to them, but still, it was something to consider in case anything ever happened to him.

Surely she would be fine; he would feel much better knowing she was protected, but he doubted she would take it anyway.

“Have a good day,” she told him. He gave her another kiss, savoring her scent and taste, the softness of her hair, the sound of her sigh. It was so hard to let go of her, but he did at last.

“See you tonight, beautiful girl.” Her eyes softened, and if he wasn’t mistaken, her bottom lip trembled a bit.

She stood at the door and watched him drive away. He would have told her to get her lovely ass back in the house, and he would rather she not leave all day, but dammit, she wasn’t a captive here. As her figure became smaller and smaller in his rearview mirror, his chest grew fuller and fuller. His foot ached to slam on the brake. Fuck. Was he doing the right thing? He had a bad feeling leaving her, but at what point did you stop listening to paranoia and get on with life? If she wanted to hide out with him from now on, he would be fine with it.

And last night… Jesus. If he started thinking about it, he would be hard again in no time. Incredible. Just friggin’ incredible. So sweet and dirty, and that had only been a taste.

Jared supposed he should be thankful his dad took that moment to send him a text—that is, if he wanted to get anything at all accomplished today before thinking about Starla derailed him entirely. Since he was still bumping along the dirt road and not yet on the highway, he sent an affirmative when his dad asked if he was coming to work today.

Entering the Stanton Electric building, he traded jokes about his absenteeism with the receptionist who had been with the company for fifteen years and headed for his dad’s office, not quite sure how he was going to answer the inevitable questions. Better to face the music and get it over with. At least he could get up and leave his dad’s office when he was ready, but getting the man out of his office was another matter entirely. Of course, Bill Stanton was on the phone with his big booming voice as usual, so Jared helped himself to a cup of the freshly brewed pot of coffee in the corner of the room. He was just adding cream when his dad hung up.

“So are you over it yet?” he asked Jared, leaning back in his big executive chair.

“Over what?”

“Whatever knocked you on your ass so that you couldn’t work. If you’re contagious or anything, get out.”

Jared laughed, stirred, and sat, suddenly feeling the weight of all those missed hours of sleep the night before. He rubbed his bleary eyes and wondered if tossing the hot liquid directly into them might wake him up faster. “No. I’m not contagious.”

His dad scrutinized him a little more than Jared was comfortable with. “You look like shit, boy.”

“Thanks.”

“What’s going on?”

Hell. He didn’t want to lie to his dad. But not lying to his dad guaranteed that his dad wouldn’t lie to his mom, and then all hell would really break loose. He was surprised he hadn’t already received a dozen phone calls from her after the storm. “I’m helping out a friend.”

“Uh-huh. Wouldn’t happen to be the friend Jack and I met the other night, would it?” The old man was a sharp one, he could give him that.

“The very one.”

“Starla, was it? Cute girl. Seems nice.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty terrific.” He sipped his coffee, eyeing his dad cautiously over the cup rim.

“What’s her trouble that you missed two days of work to help her out?”

Jared shifted in his chair, feeling trapped. Getting up and running wasn’t as easy as he’d thought it would be. Already, he knew what was coming. You don’t need this. And Lord, didn’t he know it. “She’s having some trouble with an ex. We’re seeing each other, and I’m letting her stay with me until he’s caught.”

“Caught? Wait. This guy is wanted?”

“He’s most likely the guy who attacked Brian Ross.”

“Jared—”

“Dad—”

“Think about the girls, son.”

“I am. They’re with Shelly. They haven’t been to the house since all this started.”